Wikipedia:Meetup/Boston/Prince 2020

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Prince-o-pedia! Sign in here: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/MIT/Prince-o-Pedia_-_A_Prince_editathon

What: Prince themed edit-a-thon

When: February 1st, 1-5pm

Where: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 14N-132 (building 14, Room 132 - the library computer classroom).

Introduction[edit]

When Wikipedia was founded back in 2001, it offered a lofty mission: to catalog the world’s knowledge. While the encyclopedia has grown to include nearly 300 different language editions--27 billion words in 40 million articles across 293 languages--it still has a long way to go to adequately represent the world around us.

Specifically, Wikipedia has a diversity problem.

Part of this is due to the fact that more than 80% of Wikipedia’s editor base for the English language edition is comprised of white males between the ages of 18-34, which obviously influences the content that receives coverage and inclusion on the site. This skewed contributor demographic might be explained by some of the barriers that prevent a broader sample of people from writing in Wikipedia--everything from lack of digital access to limited community awareness about how the project works.

This event at MIT aims to change that by educating and empowering attendees to enhance coverage in Wikipedia of Black History and Culture, with a particular themed focus on PRINCE!

Event Overview[edit]

This afternoon workshop will will train participants to become Wikipedia editors and encourage them to contribute to the encyclopedia by adding content about Prince and affiliates as well as R&B/Soul Music more broadly.


Please bring your laptop!

Potential articles for expansion or creation[edit]

Update/expand the Prince article

Expand and add citations to articles related to Prince affiliates

Add/expand articles related to particular albums, tracks, or Prince collaborators


Schedule[edit]

Sunday, January 12, 2020

  • 1:00-130 Arrival
  • 1:30-2:00 Welcome and Wikipedia editor training
  • 2:00-4:30 Editathon
  • 4:30-5:00 Wrap-up

Questions?[edit]

Email Amy Carleton (amymarie@mit.edu).

Participant list[edit]

Please add your Wikipedia username below

Evaluating Wikipedia brochure (Wiki Education Foundation)


Click "edit source." Add the # sign (to continue numbering.)

Then, create your signature by typing four tildes [~] in a row and hitting "Save changes."

FAQ[edit]

How reliable is Wikipedia?

Who edits Wikipedia?

Also worth knowing about

Thinking like a Wikipedian[edit]

Basic guidelines, communication customs, editing customs

The focus here is on developing your "Wikipedia hat," so you can read and evaluate Wikipedia articles based on Wikipedia's standards, not those from your own areas of expertise. (n.b.: Modified from exercise created by User:AmandaRR123)

Editing Wikipedia brochure EN

Read over the following Wikipedia policy/guideline pages, and then we will use what you've learned to evaluate an article together.

(Hint: Read "nutshells" and intros most carefully, then skim the rest of each policy/guideline page. That will give you the sense you need.)

Rating and Communicating on Wikipedia

Some options for making your first edit[edit]

Citation Hunt: A tool from Wikimedia Foundation Labs to help where [[citation needed]]

WikiGrabber: Another tool to help find where [[citation needed]]

Training to edit Wikipedia[edit]

AfroCROWD Youtube Tutorials / Training to edit Wikipedia and Wiki Commons[edit]

AfroCROWD Wikipedia Training via Youtube Tutorials

Going forward: some resources to help you determine what and how to contribute[edit]

Good Digital Citizenship and Activism in Wikipedia: Underrepresented Groups and Topics[edit]

Problem: Wikipedia is a globally distributed network where judgement of quality is not based around contributor expertise, but rather work according to the standards of the project itself -- the most legible unit of work is a good citation. As one of the oldest communities on the Internet, Wikipedia gives students to a chance to practice good digital citizenship: use their critical thinking skills to discover community values, norms and styles of communication, and contribute in a way that will make sense to other community members.


However, Wikipedia can, like many other communities, have a bias towards the status quo. Therefore, those working on issues related to underrepresented groups can expect to be accused of activism, bias, an agenda, as if those things do not already exist on Wikipedia Digital citizenship is doubly important to those working on issues related to underrepresented groups: one must know how to communicate effectively using community standards to convince the Wikipedian community that changes in the status quo does not automatically equal violating policy, and that you are still partners in the same goal of wanting to improve the encyclopedia.

Resources we can draw from[edit]

Google News
Google Books
Google Scholar Note! You can synchronize Google Scholar with your institution's library. Check it out!
Better Googling: NYU Libraries Google search tips

Partners:[edit]

The AfroCROWD Usergroup


To sign up for this event: Log in or create an account.
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