By Ewan McAndrew

Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Edinburgh. English & Media Teacher. Film, Travel & Open Knowledge enthusiast.

Featured

Ada Lovelace Day 2024

On Tuesday 8th October 2024, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2024 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).  All based in the Main Library, details will be confirmed when you book.

As usual, we will have an afternoon of talks, activities and training planned for Ada Lovelace Day.  Confirmed speakers:

Activities will include:

We’ll also have a Robotics themed Wikimedia Editathon after the talks in the afternoon.

Activities will start at 11, lunch at 12, talks at 12.30 and the editathon will start at 2.30.

Book your place now!

Ada Lovelace Day 2023

On Tuesday 10th October 2023, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2023 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

We have an afternoon of talks, activities and training planned for Ada Lovelace Day.  This will take place on the first floor of the Main Library (Central Area) from 11:00-17:00 in Room 1.07.

You can confirm your attendance via Event Booking now (open to all University students and staff):

Book your place

Schedule

  • 11am-11:15am
    • Join us for tea, coffee and cake  in Room 1.07 Main Library
  • 11:15am-1pm 
    • We have a series of lightning talks including:
      • Dr Melissa Highton, Assistant Principal University of Edinburgh on why we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day and inspirational women in STEM
      • Professor Frauke Zeller, Professor of HCI & Creative Informatics in the School of Computing and Engineering & the Built Environment at Napier University to talk about her research in big data analyses, audience analytics, AI ethics and Human-Computer and Robot Interaction. She will tell us the story of the world’s first hitchhiking robot with a talk titled “Can a robot be your friend? The creativity in robot research”
      • Professor Ruth King, Thomas Bayes Professor of Statistics Mathematics, with an intriguing talk titled “A life in Statistics motivated by Agatha Christie – the “Queen of Crime””
      • Dr Catherine Bromley, Head of Service (Digital Strategy & Product Development) for Public Health Scotland.  Catherine will talk about the public good of statistics
      • Bhargavi Ganesh – an Informatics PhD student  who works in the area of AI will be giving a talk titled “Tracing Tree Rings: Embracing Unconventional Paths in STEM”
  • 1pm-2pm settle down for some lunch, colouring in, badge and sticker making, and green-screen photos with Ada Lovelace
  •  2pm-5pm ‘Changing the ways the stories are told’ – a Wikipedia editing event
    • 2pm-3pm Join our Wikimedia editathon (Full Wikipedia training – learn how to edit the free encyclopedia!)
    • Short break
    • 3pm-5pm Researching & writing new pages (50-100 words+) about Women in STEM to publish and share. Nominate your STEM heroines here

Other Activities Happening

Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail

Throughout the week, use the Edinburgh Women in STEM Trail (self-guided) to visit places in Edinburgh connected with women in STEM. How many of these locations can you find? If you like, take a photo of your visit (selfie or not, as you prefer), post in Twitter/X, tag @UoE_LTW and add the hashtag #UoEAdaDay2023. We can’t wait to see your photos!

 

uCreate Studio

If you’ve not heard about uCreate Studio, the University’s biggest community makerspace, they are running some induction sessions in the library during Ada Lovelace day:

Book now to make sure you get a place!

 

Empowering Women in STEM – A Progressive Learning Journey

This is a curated LinkedIn Learning pathway created by our Digital Skills Team especially for Ada Lovelace Day.

Learning pathway (requires University login)

 

Tweeting your experience?

Use our tag – #UoEAdaDay2023

 

Data and Programming Fortnight

Celebrate Ada Lovelace Day with two weeks of data and programming courses offered by the Digital Skills Team from the 9th to 20th of October. Open to all students and completely free to attend!

Read more details and register here – https://edin.ac/44UITUJ. Also stay tuned for the Digital Skills Team’s upcoming themed fortnights!

 

Ada Lovelace Day 2021

On Tuesday 12th October 2021, the University’s Information Services team are celebrating Ada Lovelace Day 2021 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

This year #ALD2021 will have fun & impactful Wikipedia editing activities and evening networking events. After a year like no other, it is even more important that we come together online and in-person (if we can) to celebrate and support one another this year.

Who was Ada Lovelace? 7 facts you need to know.

Programme overview

There are two events at our Science and Engineering campus:

  • 2-5pm: Women in STEM- a Wikipedia editing event in Teaching Studio 3212 in the James Clerk Maxwell Building (JCMB) to create new articles focused on the lives and contributions of notable women in science, technology, engineering and maths. Book to attend on Eventbrite.
  • 5.16.45: Networking event at the School of Chemistry (Zoom and in-person).

All events are open to staff and students at University of Edinburgh. You can read about our work Changing the Way Stories Are Told: Improving Wikipedia Content about Women in Scotland in a new Open Access book on Wikipedia and Academic Libraries.

Booking details – Tuesday 12 October 2021

1. The Wikipedia editathon in the JCMB building – booking is now open!

  • 2pm – Arrive in Teaching Studio 3212 in James Clerk Maxwell Building.
  • 2:15pm to 3pm – Learn a new digital skill in learning how to edit Wikipedia
  • 3pm to 3.15pm – Tea break!
  • 3.15pm to 4:30pm – Researching and writing new pages about inspirational #WomenInSTEM
  • 4.30pm to 5pm – Publishing your new page on Wikipedia!
  • 5pm – Show off your brand new page and event close.

We are also currently accepting nominations for suggested Wikipedia articles:

We just need a name suggestion of someone suitably notable/eminent in their field and some sources of information (reliable published secondary sources ideally independent of the person themselves) to get a bio written of 50-100 words or more and help others all around the world read, discover and be inspired by their work.

Photo of people chatting at Ada Lovelace Day 2018 evening event at King’s Buildings campus.2. Evening networking event – Women in Chemistry (5.30-6.45pm (Zoom and in-person event)

The School of Chemistry are organising a hybrid event to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day and the 5 year anniversary of the Christina Miller Fellowship scheme, with the 5 Christina Miller Fellows sharing their stories and experiences (inc. Dr. Jenni Garden). In this short video, Dr. Jenni Garden and Professor Michael Seery discuss “What do we want the modern graduate to be?”

The online part of the event will run from 5:30 – 6:45pm using Zoom.

More details are available on Eventbrite.

3. Ada Hack

The Edinburgh Hoppers have decided to organise a hackathon in honour of Ada Lovelace. It’ll be taking place from 15th – 17th October, virtually. Here is the link to the Adahack website for more information :  https://adahack.tech/.

 

4. Colour your own Ada and Mary – Ada Lovelace OERS

These Open Education Resources are free to use and colour in from our Interactive Content Blog, Flickr and Wikimedia Commons:

Garden of Ada (Ada Lovelace):

Blog page: https://interactive-content.is.ed.ac.uk/ald15/

Mechanism of the Heavens (Mary Somerville):

Blog page: https://interactive-content.is.ed.ac.uk/mechanism-of-the-heavens/

More OERs can be found on our OER Service page:

Ada Lovelace Day OERs

5. Free short online STEM courses

More than 4 million learners have taken one of our free short online courses, and more than half of the learners on FutureLearn and Coursera are women! We’ve a huge choice of STEM short online courses you can take – and they’re totally free. Here are just a few:

Browse our whole catalogue of STEM short online courses here!

6. Why we still need to talk about Diversity in STEM

The Imperial College physicist Dr. Jess Wade was named one of Nature’s ’10 people who matter in Science’ 2018, as she made the resolution to make a Wikipedia page every day to highlight the often underacknowledged work of women, LGBT+ and scientists of colour. She has now written almost 1,500 biographies of women in STEM onto Wikipedia now. Jess recorded this talk for us last August and this one for the Women in STEM Society , on Why we still need to talk about Diversity in STEM.

Jess is only one person and we need LOTS more editors to help combat gender inequality. Only ~10% of Wikipedia editors are female which skews the content available in our search results so we need more female editors but we need more men to step up too to write about these gaps in our shared knowledge. Some suggested names for inspiring women in STEM missing from our search results are on this Women in Red list.

There will also be Wikipedia editing events happening in England, Wales, and New Zealand on the same day.

7. Resources to bridge the digital gender divide

In celebration of Ada Lovelace Day 2021, the Digital Skills and Training team have created a resource list dedicated to bridging the digital gender divide. As Ada Lovelace Day celebrates the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), we thought it was time to shine a light on the barriers that women and girls the world over face when it comes to digital participation – particularly, the abuse and harassment that women face online. The following resources offer more information on the digital gender divide and the steps needed to close it. Content warning: Sexism, violence.

Link: Resource List

LinkedIn Learning – ALD20

These resources are all presented by or feature influential women in STEM and are recommended by  the Digital Skills and Training, Information Services Group.

LinkedIn Learning – ALD 2020 collection

The following resources are all presented by or feature influential women in STEM and are recommended by the Digital Skills and Training team, Information Services Group.

The Digital Skills and Training team have a wealth of resources around the topics of data and programming. Take a look at some of our online resources and webinars below, and book your place to develop your skills in the spirit of Ada Lovelace:

  1. Basic Data Visualisations, 13th October 10.30am: Book here.
  2. Developing Your Data Skills Programme: Book here.
  3. Online Learning: Introduction to Python:  Book here.
  4. Online Learning: Python for Data Science: Book here.

We also have a new ‘Introduction to Programming’ webinar coming up in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for the pilot announcement!

ALD 20 playlist on LinkedIn Learning

What is LinkedIn Learning?

LinkedIn Learning is on an online skills development service offering an extensive library of high-quality video courses in business, creative and technical skills. The University of Edinburgh has a campus-wide licence, offering staff and students unlimited access to the service via the web and mobile apps.

Further information about LinkedIn Learning

Ada Lovelace Day 2020

On Tuesday 13th October 2020, the University’s Information Services team are running a range of events to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day 2020 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

This year #ALD2020 will have a series of lightning talks, fun & impactful Wikipedia editing activities and evening networking events. With social distancing restrictions in place it is even more important that we come together online to celebrate and support one another this year.

#WomenInSTEM assemble!

Programme overview

The day is split in four parts:

All events are open to staff and students at University of Edinburgh. Book to attend one session, two, three or all four.

Booking details

1. Lightning Talks – book here

  • 12pm-12:10pm – Housekeeping and welcome from Melissa Highton, Assistant Principal for Online Learning.
  • 12.10pm to 1pm – Lightning talks.
    • Professor Jane Hillston, Deputy Vice Principal for Research and Head of School of Informatics will reflect on her experiences and the importance of mentors in STEM careers.
    • Dr. Athina Frantzana–   along with the Edinburgh University Women in STEM (EUWiSTEM) Society, Spread the Word  conducted an investigation into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students’ experiences of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) at the University of Edinburgh. Athina will present her findings.
    • Kirsty Lingstadt, Head of Digital Library, and Mike Boyd, manager of UCreate Makerspace will introduce the huge range of creative making opportunities available to students and staff at the University of Edinburgh.
    • Dr. Victoria Madden, Digital Safety Officer will present her findings which highlight the experiences of women online.
    • Lilinaz Rouhani, Equality and Data Officer will present the findings from her research into how different groups have experienced the shift to working digitally from home.
    • Ruth Boreham, writer and researcher will tell us stories of  Ada Lovelace‘s Scottish mentor, Mary Somerville after whom the data centre at Kings Buildings is named.

2. The Wikipedia editathon on Zoom – book here

3. Evening networking event – Women in STEM Society (5-7pm)

Book here.

For Ada Lovelace 2020 we will be virtually celebrating our role models with lightning talks, followed by a networking social to allow students to meet each other, industry professionals and our amazing speakers.

5:00pm: Welcome and Introduction

5:10pm: Lightning Talks

    • – Dr Alexis Cartwright-Taylor
    • – Nathalia Rus
    • – Dr Rosa Santomartino
    • – Maxim Cramer
  • 6:00pm: Networking sessions x 3
  • 7:00pm: End

4. Evening networking event – Women in Chemistry (7-8.15pm)

Book here.

Hosted by the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh and ScotChem this free online event will feature talks from our invited speakers followed by a panel discussion to raise awareness, promote discussion and celebrate women in STEM. Our speakers include:

  • – Dame Athena Donald, University of Cambridge.
  • – Debra Carr, DASA.
  • – Hilary Jones, Chair of the Brewing Industry Leadership Group.
  • – Aruna Ivaturi, University of Strathclyde.
  • – Kiani Jeacock, University of Edinburgh.

Additional details on the Wikipedia editing event, including article to be created or improved:

We are also currently accepting nominations for suggested Wikipedia articles:

The following resources are all presented by or feature influential women in STEM and are recommended by the Digital Skills and Training team, Information Services Group.

The Digital Skills and Training team have a wealth of resources around the topics of data and programming. Take a look at some of our online resources and webinars below, and book your place to develop your skills in the spirit of Ada Lovelace:

  1. Basic Data Visualisations, 13th October 10.30am: Book here.
  2. Developing Your Data Skills Programme: Book here.
  3. Online Learning: Introduction to Python:  Book here.
  4. Online Learning: Python for Data Science: Book here.

We also have a new ‘Introduction to Programming’ webinar coming up in the next few weeks. Keep your eyes peeled for the pilot announcement!

Celebrating Women in STEM

On Tuesday 10th October 2017, the University’s Information Services team are running an edit-a-thon to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day 2017 which is an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

This year the event will have a particular focus on Women in Chemistry and #ALD2017 is to be hosted, for the first time,  smack dab in the university’s Science and Engineering quarter in the James Clerk Maxwell Building.

There will be a range of guest speakers in the morning followed by fun technology activities from 11am to 2pm. Full Wikipedia editing training will be given at 2-3pm. Thereafter the afternoon’s edit-a-thon will focus on improving the quality of articles related to Women in STEM!

In particular, our editing will focus on the 19 petitioners denied admission to Royal Society of Chemistry in 1904 as evidenced in this article: Pounding on the Doors: The Fight for Acceptance of British Women Chemists.

The day will close with Professor Polly Arnold, the Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry and winner of the Rosalind Franklin Award, introducing the short film, A Chemical Imbalance before taking part in a discussion panel.

All three events are free and open to all so taking part in Ada Lovelace Day is as as easy as 1,2,3.

You can book to attend one session, two sessions or all three.

Programme

1. Talks and Fun Science/Tech activities in Room 1206C James Clerk Maxwell Building

Book here to attend the talks and fun science/tech activities.

2. The Wikipedia editathon in Room 4325C James Clerk Maxwell Building

Book here to attend the editathon.

How do I prepare? for the editathon?

  • Sign up for the event
  • Create a Wikipedia account
  • Bring a laptop (wi-fi will be provided)
  • Learn about editing if you like. there is a fun Wikipedia Adventure that takes 45-60 mins at home and leads you by the hand through the main guidelines and how to use the Source Editor. Then on the day, we will introduce you to the new improved Visual Editor interface which has made editing Wikipedia “easy“, “fun“, “really intuitive” and “addictive as hell“.
  • Think about what you would like to edit – there are some suggested articles to create/improve below.
  • Consult the Manual of Style for Biographies on Wikipedia

3. Film screening and panel discussion in James Clerk Maxwell Building – Lecture Theatre B

5:15pm to 6:15pm – A Chemical Imbalance – film screening and discussion with Professor Polly L Arnold, Crum Brown Chair of Chemistry.

‘Breakdown on evening programme (subject to alteration):’

  • 5pm to 5.15pm – Housekeeping and Welcome.
  • 5.15pm to 5.30pm – Introduction from Polly Arnold.
  • 5.30pm to 5.45pm – Screening of ‘A Chemical Imbalance’.
  • 5.45pm to 6.15pm – Panel discussion chaired by Anne-Marie Scott, Head of Digital Learning and Applications at the University of Edinburgh.
  • 6.15pm – Close.

‘A Chemical Imbalance‘ is a short documentary film and book that ask why Edinburgh has such a long history of successful female chemists, and why women are still under-represented in all science fields. Following the film, Anne-Marie Scott will chair a panel discussion of the issues raised in the film; namely the low participation of Women in STEM fields and equality in the workplace.

The confirmed panelists are:

Book here to attend the film screening and discussion panel.

It promises to be a great day so come along to learn about how Wikipedia works and contribute a greater understanding of Women in STEM!

Booking for is now open

Booking for Ada Lovelace Day 2016 is now live – please feel free to pass on details to people you feel maybe interested in coming along.

ada_lovelace_in_1852
Ada Lovelace, “The Enchantress of Numbers”, in 1852.

On Tuesday 11th October 2016, in Room 1.12 of the University Main Library, we will again be running a Wikipedia edit-a-thon to celebrate Ada Lovelace Day 2016, an international celebration day of the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

Beginning at 10am with a range of guest speakers in the morning, this will be followed by fun technology activities from 11am to 1pm (Metadata games, BBC Microbit, Sonic Pi, Lego calculators/adders).

Full Wikipedia editing training will be given at 1-2pm. Thereafter the afternoon’s editathon from 2-5pm will focus on improving the quality of Wikipedia articles related to Women in STEM!

The event page can be accessed here: http://bit.ly/2cGapkn

For booking purposes, the day is split in two parts: talks & technology activities in the morning and the Women in STEM Wikipedia editathon in the afternoon.

You can attend both morning and afternoon sessions or just one.

Time for lunch? The fun technology activities from 11am to 1pm can be dropped in and out of and there is the Library Cafe downstairs where you can get refreshments and a bite to eat.

Not a student or staff member of the university? You can book tickets through Eventbrite.

Suggestions for notable Women in STEM who could & should be represented on Wikipedia?

Feel free to suggest name of notable women we could include as part of this day of celebration. Email me at ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk

Hope to see you there!

Ada Lovelace Day 2016

Hi all,

Just a gentle reminder that Ada Lovelace Day 2016 will be coming up on Tuesday 11th October 2016 and we will be looking to reconvene a working group to prepare for an Ada Lovelace day of events; incorporating a Wikipedia editathon celebrating the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).

http://findingada.com/

The focus might shift a little this year to female mentors given that Mary Somerville is to grace the £10 note this year so with an extra focus on women in maths too.

If you were part of the working group last year then we’d love to get the group reconvened and if anyone who wasn’t involved last year would like to be this year then we’d love to hear your ideas too; hopefully building (geddit?) on the success of the Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage Lego and Raspberry Pi covers from last year. Similarly, if you know of someone who would like to be involved then please feel free to forward on the event details and let them know I’d love to hear from them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh/Events_and_Workshops/Ada_Lovelace_Day_2016

I’ve created the Wikipedia event page accordingly so that we can populate it over the next few months with some notable women in STEM.

Other projects are in development too. If you would like to be involved in them then email me.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh#Projects_in_Development

Many thanks,

Ewan