Note from Andrea: And we’re back! If you are a long-time reader of Unwritten Histories, you know that last year I helped Krista and Jessica promote the first Canadian history Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. So of course I’m super excited to do so again! While I am not teaching this semester, last year my students participated in the Edit-a-thon and really loved it. I’ll include some more information about what I did at the end of this post.
In October 2017 Krista McCracken and I hosted the first Canada Wide Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for Canadian history. This national event encouraged folks from across Canada to join us in editing Canadian history content on Wikipedia and much to our surprise they did!
The event resulted in 12.9K words being added to Wikipedia, 259 total edits being completed, over 36 editors contributing, and 60 articles being edited. We had numerous classes, community groups, and individuals participate from all over Canada. You can read a full summary of the event on Krista’s website.
I was particularly thrilled to have Grade 9 students from Connect Charter School in Calgary, Alberta participate in this event. Educators Chris Wilding and Jaime Groeller and students Lucas Braun and Benjamin Green wrote about and shared their experiences in an article on CanadasHistory.ca.
On October 24, 2018 we will be hosting the second annual Canada Wide Canadian History edit-a-thon. We’re inviting folks from throughout Canada to join us in editing Canadian history content on Wikipedia. Keep reading to learn about what an edit-a-thon is and find out how you too can participate
Why Edit Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is the fifth most frequently accessed website in the English-speaking world. Wikipedia is a place researchers, students, and the general public visit to find background information on a range of topics.
As of 23 July 2018, there were 107,811 articles on Wikipedia that relate to the subject of Canada, making up only 1.9% of Wikipedia’s total number of articles. WikiProject Canada is an official initiative aimed at increasing this percentage, while also improving existing articles that fall within its purview. There is great value in creating Canadian content on Wikipedia that is accessible; Wikipedia is a place so many Canadians turn to for information but there are so many parts of Canadian History that are not covered on Wikipedia.
Creating new articles and improving existing content on Wikipedia has the potential to impact what the general public knows about a historical event, improve learning experiences, and shape historical narratives.
As historians and educators, we have skills that can be directly applied to editing Wikipedia. We know how to write clearly and concisely, we know how to do solid secondary source research, and we know how to build citations. All of these skills can be used to improve Wikipedia content.
Why should academics or students should contribute to Wikipedia? Wikipedia can have a huge impact on public perceptions and understandings of an event or subject. Creating high quality content on Wikipedia can help broaden student and public understanding of history and who better to help create that content then historians?
What is an Edit-a-Thon?
Wikipedia edit-a-thons are planned events (essentially hackathons or content creation blitzes) aimed at improving content on Wikipedia. These events are often related to specific themes, topics, and goals. In the case of our event we’re focusing on content related to Canadian history – be that national, regional, or local history.
Edit-a-thons can be in-person events or completely virtual, and anyone is welcome to participate. For this event we are welcoming participants to gather at regional host sites or to join us virtually. A list of physical host will be available on the Wikipedia Outreach Dashboard and the Facebook event. And if you are interested in acting as a regional host please get in touch!
For more information on edit-a-thons and the logistics behind them check out Danielle Robichaud’s article “Wikipedia Edit-a-thons: Thinking Beyond the Warm Fuzzies”
How Can You Participate?
Below is a list of different ways you can participate in this event. You can also fill out our Google form to receive more information about the participation options and to be connected with other edit-a-thon participants.
- Hosts: These are people who can help facilitate a physical space for experts, contributors, editors, and translators to meet on October 24, 2018. This space can be in a classroom, museum, archive, or library. It should be a place that would be open to the public on this day, have a strong wifi connection, outlets, and comfortable seating. Additionally, hosts should be willing to welcome people of all genders, races, religions, nationalities, sexual orientations, and ability levels. We’ll be providing regional hosts supports, including a draft press release, posters, and other logistical support to get you started.
- Wiki editing experts: If you have experience contributing to Wikipedia, we could use your expertise! Whether you’re into history or not, the more experts able to answer random questions on-site and online the better! You can provide editing support in-person at a regional event or by supporting folks virtually on our event Slack channel.
- Contributors/Editors: No experience necessary! If you don’t fancy yourself an expert on a specific topic there are a number of existing entries on Wikipedia that need your help. From footnotes to copyediting there is something for you. You don’t have to start an article from scratch to participate!
- Translators: Wikipedia articles can be available in many different languages or just one. If you write more than one language, this role might be for you.
- Sponsors: If your organization would like to support this initiative but is unable to provide a physical space, we can connect you with a local host to help you provide what they need. For example, coffee or snacks to help fuel a group of local editors or provide an honorarium for a local Wiki editing expert.
What if I’ve Never Edited Wikipedia Before?
Don’t worry, we’ve got your back. We are building in supports for first time editors. You can:
- Check out these webinars that deal with the technical side of editing Wikipedia:
- Getting Started on Wikipedia: https://youtu.be/c-7O4RFxSi8
- Diving into Wikipedia Editing Basics: https://youtu.be/-JTm0i33PKU
- Join the Facebook event and ask questions in the discussion section.
- Use the #editCDNhist hashtag on Twitter to ask questions and connect with other event participants.
- Join the #editCDNhist Slack channel for support before and during the event. This channel will be monitored throughout the edit-a-thon by experienced editors who can provide suggestions if you get stuck.
I’m an Educator, How Can I Involve My Class?
Classes are welcome to participate in this edit-a-thon. Prior to the day of the event we suggest you have your students do the following tasks:
- Create a Wikpieda account.
- If you are unfamiliar with editing Wikipedia work through a Wikipedia Tutorial, the Wikipedia Adventure, or the Wikipedia training modules.
- Sign-up for the #EditCDNHist event using the Outreach Dashboard.
- Pick an article to create or an article to improve. Do some background reading and research on the article topic before class so you are reading to edit during class.
- For information on how to develop an assignment around Wikipedia and for instructor tips tracking student contributions to Wikipedia check out the Wiki Education Foundation.
- Consider using Wiki Education step by step editing tutorials to introduce Wikipedia to the class.
- Encourage your students to setup Wikpedia accounts prior to the event date. You can also apply to have the IP Account Creation Cap temporarily lifted during the event so don’t run into any new account creation problems.
What if I want to host an event but I’m concerned about cost?
We recommend local hosts apply for Rapid Grant funding through the Wikimedia Foundation. The Rapid Grant program funds Wikipedia projects with budgets of $500-$2,000 USD. Applications to this grant program are accepted between the 1st and 15th of each month, with funding decisions being made by the end of the same month.
These grants can cover food costs, logistical costs of organizing an edit-a-thon, swag, printing of training material, and other costs. We are happy to discuss the grant application process with any interested hosts and help support hosts in their application.
October 24, 2018 is going to be a great day filled with historians expanding Canadian History content on Wikipedia. We’re building a supportive editing community for this event and we hope this blog post inspired folks to join us.
Krista McCracken (They/Them) is a public history professional and archivist. They work as an Archives Supervisor at Algoma University’s Arthur A. Wishart Library and Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre, in Baawating (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario) on the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and Métis people. Krista’s research interests include community archives, residential schools, access, and outreach.
Krista is an editor of the popular Canadian history website Activehistory.ca. Krista also currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Council on Public History and is a member of the Steering Committee on Canada’s Archives – Response to the Report on the Truth and Reconciliation Task Force. When not working they can be found drinking tea, watching Doctor Who, and editing Wikipedia.
Jessica Knapp (She/Her) is a Canadian public historian working as an independent consultant. She specializes in digital outreach and engagement, relationship building and collaboration, and project coordination. Her digital work has received national recognition through the Canadian Online Publishing Awards. Jessica is active in the public history community in Canada and internationally through the National Council on Public History.
Thanks so much to Krista and Jessica for organizing this event for a second year! As promised, here’s what I did: I should say first that Krista and Jessica’s advice was extremely helpful, and I cannot recommend it enough! Rather than doing my usual group discussion activities, I had my students form into groups of between three and five students. I walked them through a basic tutorial on how to edit Wikipedia (using the one listed above). Then, each group selected a topic from the list provided on the Outreach Dashboard, and were responsible for writing that piece. Each student was responsible for sending me a screenshot of their work afterwards, with a short description of what they had done, and a mark out of 5 for each of their group-mates. In hindsight, I would recommend doing the editing Wikipedia tutorial a class ahead of time, to allow students more time to familiarize themselves with the system. You may also want to allow them to select a topic beforehand, so that they can be better prepared to write in class. But I did find that a lot of problems were avoided by having students work in teams. Once again, I cannot recommend this highly enough. My students commented that it was a highlight of the semester, and that they really enjoyed making a real impact in the world of Canadian history.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog post! If you did, please consider sharing it on the social media platform of your choice! And don’t forget to check back on Sunday for a brand new Canadian history roundup. It’s going to be a massive three-in-one edition! Need to start limbering up my fingers…. See you then!
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