Guest post by Anna Judelson, PhD student and Assistant Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Edinburgh.
I started my internship as an Assistant Wikimedian in Residence almost four months ago, and it has already been one of the most rewarding work experiences I have had. The work is varied, creative, and, most importantly, impactful. It makes me genuinely excited about the remaining two thirds of this placement.
When I began, I did not realise how powerful Wikimedia could be as a tool for digital activism. It offers free, community-owned access to knowledge, but there are still significant gaps to address before it can be truly inclusive. For example, only about 20% of English Wikipedia’s biographies are about women, while people of colour and members of queer communities remain similarly underrepresented.
So far, I have created and edited four articles on remarkable individuals from marginalised communities, the most recent being an article on Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies, Paget Henry. I have also supported dozens of others in doing the same.
Creating a Wikipedia article from scratch is an incredibly empowering experience. Knowing that millions of people use the platform every day makes contributing to it feel both meaningful and slightly surreal. As a researcher, I also see it as a valuable way to build a portfolio of published work with real-world impact.
Through organising Wikipedia editing events, or edit-a-thons, I quickly developed from a beginner into a confident trainer. Since late November, I have conceptualised, planned, and hosted six edit-a-thons as part of the Wikipedia Women in Red project and in collaboration with University departments and societies. These events have led to the creation of new articles on women in education, engineering and physics, queer women, Jewish history in Scotland, and philosophers from underrepresented communities, with more in progress.
The most recent edit-a-thon I ran was our largest so far and took place in celebration of International Women’s Day. It was held in a newly opened, well-equipped space named after Molly Fergusson, the first female Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers and a University of Edinburgh graduate. In collaboration with the Molly Fergusson Initiative, we created a welcoming environment to celebrate the legacy of women engineers and physicists through the creation of new Wikipedia articles. The event also featured talks from Initiative representatives and PhD researchers, who shared stories of women whose contributions remain under-recognised.
International Women’s Day edit-a-thon participants in the new Molly Fergusson room at University of Edinburgh’s Science and Engineering campus, CC-BY-SA.
Despite ten years of social and educational impact, the Wikimedian in Residence programme is still not widely known across the University. Within a large and complex institutional structures, it can easily be overlooked. This is why, looking ahead, I hope to build more collaborations across the University to encourage wider participation in Wikipedia editing. I am currently reaching out to communications teams across the three colleges, beginning with the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine as it approaches the 300th anniversary of the Medical School. Word of mouth remains one of the most effective ways to build awareness, and we are working to expand our reach in this way. Our aim is to demonstrate that Wikimedia in Residence programme is not only a platform for events, but also a valuable tool for teaching and learning (e.g. our 2025 booklet of 21 case studies of Wikimedia in UK education) that can enhance both academic and extracurricular experiences (e.g. our Digital Volunteering with Wikipedia – Edinburgh Award programme).
This internship has also allowed me to develop my content creation skills. Through training in Canva and responsibility for event promotion, I have been experimenting with a range of outreach channels, from University newsletters to external social media platforms. It has been particularly rewarding to track how these skills are developing over time.
Overall, this has been a creative and supportive environment where I have taken on meaningful responsibilities and seen the tangible impact of my work. I am looking forward to the next six months and the opportunities they will bring.
If you are interested in collaborating with us, please get in touch (drop an email to ajudelso@ed.ac.uk and ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk).
We welcome ideas for events, training workshops, presentations, or support in designing Wikipedia assignments at any level of study. You are also very welcome to join our edit-a-thons or suggest your own!
Anna
