The ‘Women, Science and Scottish History editathon‘ series of events in Innovative Learning Week at University of Edinburgh was a great success. We ran sessions on 4 days, had plenty of new students, staff and friends join us, edited more than 30 articles and trained dozens of novice wikipedia editors.
Each day, the one-hour introduction to editing Wikipedia focused on offering tips and insight into different approaches as well as practical training. Participants were welcome to attend as many days as they would like: everyday we added something new. Our Wikimedia trainers (principally Ally, the Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland) was on hand to provide assistance, and our librarians ( Marshall, Gavin and Grant) provided specialised materials focusing on the subjects covered.
Knowledge was shared openly. Articles were created or improved. Networks of connections were made and shared topics of interest explored. Copious cake and cookies were eaten, and a fun time was had by all. We plan to do further events and some research to maintain and sustain momentum and support our fledgling crowd community. In December, at the EduWiki conf Ally reported that she had not seen much engagement from University of Edinburgh in Wikipedia projects . At least that’s changed.
The hashtag was #ILWeditathon. Read Our story in a storify
Articles improved
- Emily Davies
- Sophia Jex-Blake
- Margaret Todd
- Marion Ross
- Isabel Thorne
- Edith Pechey
- Lesley Yellowlees
- Edinburgh Seven
- Noreen Murray
- Mary Crudelius
- Elsie Inglis
- Matilda Chaplin Ayrton
- Eleanor Campbell (scientist)
- Agnes McLaren
- Christian Maclagan
- Annie Altschul
- Scottish Women’s Hospitals