Say my name, say my name

With the Year of Science underway, we’ve been seeing a lot of enthusiasm from instructors, partners, and the media. People are sharing stories and talking about the difference this assignment has made. It’s great.

But there’s been a lot of confusion, too, so we thought it might be time to put some things out there.

• We’re called the Wiki Education Foundation because we work with higher ed to bring new content to Wikipedia. That includes Wikipedia articles, images, even video. But because we aren’t affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation, we can’t use the Wikipedia or Wikimedia trademarks in our name.

• We’re not “WikiEdu,” despite what our brand mark says. We know it’s confusing, but we would never ask anyone to say “WikiEdu” out loud. We tried it for three days, and gave up. The office sounded like we all had a mouth full of marbles.

• So, we’ve since adopted “Wiki Ed.” We like “Wiki Ed” because it ties the “Wiki” world and the higher “Ed” world together, and so do we. It’s also a lot easier to say. Try it! Preferably very loudly, out a window, at your college or university. And if anyone asks why, you can share our website address: wiki e-d-u dot org.

• Which brings us to the most important part: We’re new, and we’re focused on reaching more students and more libraries – and to make Wikipedia an even better resource. To do that, we’re counting on enthusiastic participants spreading the word about the positive experiences they’ve had with us.

If you’ve been inspired by the results of our programs, share that with a colleague. Share your course results with local or campus media. Follow us on Facebook or Twitter, and share the posts that resonate with you. Write up your experience, and send us your story. Ask an instructor or librarian you know on campus if they’ve ever thought about working with Wikipedia.

And, if you do, please say “Wiki Ed,” because we really wouldn’t ever ask you to say “WikiEdu” out loud.

Photo: Destiny’s Child performs “Say My Name” in 2005. The album won two Grammy awards. Photo by Misocrazy – Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3590855