Wikipedia thrives as the internet’s preeminent hub of collective information by pooling the knowledge from around the world. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, individuals across the globe can contribute to and edit articles, bringing their shared experience and expertise to the collective consciousness, helping fulfill Wikipedia’s ambitious goal of being the “sum of all human knowledge.”
However, that goal is undermined by a significant gender gap: only 13 percent of Wikipedia editors identified themselves as female in a 2010 survey. While there are many possible explanations for that gender disparity, one thing is certain: any crowd-sourced resource needs input from a diverse pool of editors if it wants to be factual and unbiased.
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the McGill Library will join GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) organizations from around the world for an Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon. This inclusive, hands-on, drop-in event is designed to improve coverage of women and the arts on Wikipedia and encourage female editorship by showing participants how to edit articles on art, feminism and more.
“We’re hosting this event as a means to empower students, faculty and staff to not only edit and create Wikipedia articles about women, but also help readers worldwide by linking back to all sorts of treasures in McGill Library’s collection,” said Emily Kingsland, McGill librarian and event co-organizer.
Open to everyone and to all editing experience levels, the Edit-A-Thon will explain the basics and benefits of creating a Wikipedia account and show participants how to add content using resources from the library’s collection.
In addition, the event will feature a 30-minute discussion beginning at 12:30 p.m. with Alex Kohn, Head of the Library’s Copyright Office, on “Copyright, Creative Commons and Free Cultural Works: tips for editing in Wikipedia’s open culture environment.”
If possible, please bring a laptop with you. Wifi usernames and passwords will be available for anybody who needs to connect to the internet.
For more information about the event, please visit: bit.ly/mcgillwikiedits
To learn more about the Art+Feminism movement, check out: http://art.plusfeminism.org/
Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
Blackader-Lauterman Library
(3rd Floor, Redpath Library Building)
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