Wikipedia aims to collect “the sum of all knowledge.” But what counts as knowledge, and how we get it, is a complicated, and often untold, story. That’s why history of science courses can make a real difference on Wikipedia. The history of science calls on students to explore the roots of scientific concepts. They draw … Continued
Wikipedia’s coverage of linguistic topics is ripe for improvement. Currently, only 12 of the 4,668 highest-quality articles on the English Wikipedia relate to language or linguistics, and many articles about languages are still stubs. As part of our Year of Science initiative, and our partnership with the Linguistic Society of America, we’ve seen some excellent … Continued
The Gulf of Maine has been a major fishing area in the Northeast Atlantic region of the US since the 1700s. It’s also warming faster than almost any other ocean on Earth. That’s having significant impacts on wildlife and New England’s fishing industry. Decreasing stocks of Atlantic cod, pollock, and haddock led to the creation … Continued
A major component of the 2016 Year of Science is engaging scientists to work with Wikipedia, and improve Wikipedia’s science content. One way we’re doing that is by partnering with major scientific societies for a series of ‘edit-a-thons,’ workshops, and talks at conferences throughout the year. During edit-a-thons, conference attendees learn the basics of Wikipedia … Continued
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But reptiles are, for most beholders, not quite as cute as a pygmy goat. This human gravitation toward fuzzy, baby-eyed animals is actually a big problem for environmentalists struggling to preserve endangered and threatened species. Call it the “tyranny of the cute.” When it comes to conservation … Continued
Highlights The Wiki Education Foundation officially announced our new partnership with the American Chemical Society (ACS). The ACS mission demonstrates how aligned our organizations are in sharing knowledge: “To advance the broader chemistry enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of Earth and its people.” We are excited about working with chemistry instructors and students … Continued
Wikipedia is the top source of health information on the internet. While that fact has been the cause of great consternation over the years, it’s also an opportunity (some say an obligation) to provide reliable health information to the public. Of course, time is in short supply for trained medical experts. Some do find the … Continued
The Year of Science is all about the big stuff: Thousands of students working on thousands of Wikipedia articles, bringing better information to millions of readers. Today we’re going to look at students who focused on the small stuff. A “Prokaryote” is one of a diverse group of single-cell organisms, once commonly synonymous with “bacteria.” … Continued
Wikipedia has nearly 8,000 pharmacology articles, and these are accessed 40 million times per month. In the US alone, Wikipedia’s health-related searches outnumber those leading to websites such as the NIH, WebMD, and Mayo Clinic. While information on health information can always be improved, we’re intrigued by Dr. Ye Li’s course at the University of … Continued
