Wikipedia:Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute/Online Edit-a-thon August 2021

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Online Edit-a-thon August 2021
When and Where
DateWednesday, August 18, 2021
Time2:00pm-4:00pm EDT
AddressOnline Videoconference via GoToWebinar
SlidesSlides are here

Wikipedia is a frequently used resource, accessed by patients and clinicians as well as the general public when they are looking for information on health care. While Wikipedia is an open resource and editable by anyone, there are many rules for how medical and scientific data can be shared. Wikipedia has tremendous potential for reaching both public and professional communities. As a result, it is important to edit Wikipedia with high-quality evidence from trustworthy sources.

This PCORI Edit-a-thon is intended for both internal staff and external partners of PCORI, and is free and open to the public. Sign-up information for it may be found here.

This landing page provides logistics and registration information for this event, and is being led by Jeffrey Keefer, PCORI's Wikipedian-in-Residence.

Pre-Work before the Editathon[edit]

All attendees should complete this Pre-Work by the end of Tuesday, August 17.

Before you attend the editathon, you will need to:

  1. Sign up for a Wikipedia account of you do not have one, and
  2. Register for the session using the link below so we can track output and outcomes from the event.

If you already have a Wikipedia account, you can use that one. If so, skip to the "Please register and check-in here" link below and then simply log on to register for this session.

If you do not yet have a Wikipedia account, when you click the link below to register for this session you will be invited to create one. Some people use their real name on Wikipedia, yet others use a pseudonym for privacy reasons. All Wikipedia contributions are tied to your username indefinitely, including mistakes and edits to controversial topics. For example, the facilitator of this editathon itself uses the username FULBERT instead of an actual, legal name. This is up to you, though it is one of the few things on Wikipedia that is very difficult to change afterward, so please consider this before creating a Wikipedia account.

Whether you have a Wikipedia account or will create one now, make sure to associate your account with your email address and respond to the confirmation email. This will allow you to get notifications and alerts of changes to your edits if you choose, and will also allow Wikipedians to contact you if there is a need. Please note, your email will not be publicly visible or given to anybody else without your consent. Additionally, a confirmed email address is the only way to recover an account if you ever forget your password.

> > > Please register and check-in here < < <

Agenda[edit]

The two-hour edit-a-thon webinar will introduce you to Wikipedia and why it is a highly utilized website, how basic Wikipedia editing works, and how the editing of medical and health-related articles is actively monitored at a higher standard than most other articles. You will begin editing articles yourself in real-time. The session will wrap-up with a debrief and suggested next steps and ongoing support. No previous editing of Wikipedia is expected.

All participants should have access to Wikipedia via their web browser during the session.

0:00-0:05 - Welcome
0:05-0:20 - Intro to Wikipedia & Why we should care about it
0:20-0:60 - Editing 101
1:00-1:45 - Wikipedia editing of health articles
  • Add at least one sentence
  • Add at least one citation
1:45-1:55 - Check-in & Questions
1:55-2:00 - Debrief & next steps

Getting started with editing[edit]

"Editing Wikipedia articles on medicine"

The following steps may be useful during our session:

  1. After we introduce Wikipedia and explain basics about editing (including How to edit WikiProject Medicine), you will be encouraged to find a Wikipedia article that lacks credible sources to substantiate the claims that are made within it.
    1. Alternatively, outside of Wikipedia, find a fact in a credible source (such as systematic review) to cite, and then browse Wikipedia to find an article that could benefit from including this fact.
    2. Finally, you can see the list of Medical articles that require clean-up (not working) or Medical articles that are missing (and need to be written).
  2. Refer to Identifying reliable sources (medicine) for specific guidance in how medical articles get edited.
  3. Insert your fact in that Wikipedia article, add a citation, and then click Save/Publish with a brief summary of what edit you made.
  4. Congrats, you did your first edit!

Optional: Go to WP:WikiProject Medicine and ask for feedback.

  1. From that medicine project page, click "Talk" at the top to go to the Talk page
  2. Click "New section"
  3. Say, "I am a new Wikipedia editor, and I just edited XYZ article. Can someone review what I did and give me some feedback? Thanks."
  4. After writing a message, the Wiki custom is to sign your name with "~~~~". The symbolism here is a signature with a wavy line.
  5. After the event everyone can access the event report from the page where you signed in, linked at the top of this page.
  6. If you like, there is a tutorial at Editing Wikipedia. Note that you can take the medical lesson, if you like.

External resources[edit]

Other support[edit]

Organizations providing Wikipedia support for this presentation include the following:

All of these organizations endorse this classroom outreach and educational experience. The facilitator, User:FULBERT, is the Wikipedian-in-Residence at PCORI and is a board member of Wikimedia New Your City. The nature of the support is as follows -

Contact[edit]

For post-session questions or support, ping me on User_talk:FULBERT or Email me.



Developing Wikipedia is a collaborative effort. Thanks to everyone who contributes to the success of this and other programs.

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