I’m excited to announce that Wiki Ed has signed a partnership agreement with another academic association—the American Society of Plant Biologists (ASPB). Plant scientists and their students will add important research to Wikipedia, making information available to people outside of the discipline. ASPB’s mission to advance the scientific study of plants aligns with our goal of improving Wikipedia’s science articles, making them the perfect partner for the upcoming Year of Science.
Mission alignment is one of the primary reasons Wiki Ed focuses on building educational partnerships with academic associations. Targeted outreach to experts in a shared discipline means we not only increase Wikipedia’s breadth and depth in that topic area, but we also open the door to systematic support for students. We can create subject-specific handouts, generate content gap lists, and use an association’s resources and expertise to identify women in the field who are underrepresented on Wikipedia.
Outreach Manager Samantha Erickson and I attended ASPB’s conference last month, and we will continue to engage their members to improve Wikipedia’s coverage and quality of plant science. Members can join the Classroom Program by assigning their students to edit Wikipedia, or they can host a Visiting Scholar at their institution’s Biology department or science library.
The Year of Science starts in January 2016, so we’re excited to engage scientists and their students now, as it takes time to develop meaningful, impactful partnerships with like-minded organizations. ASPB is our first partner for the Year of Science, and we are in talks with other experts who have identified Wikipedia as an important resource that needs to reflect the scholarship in their field. We will also continue partnering with non-science academic associations.
If you are interested in starting a Wikipedia initiative or participating in the existing initiatives with the National Women’s Studies Association, the Midwest Political Science Association, the American Sociological Association, or the Association for Psychological Science, please contact me at jami@wikiedu.org.
Jami Mathewson
Educational Partnerships Manager
