In May I attended the LD4 (Linked Data For…) conference in Boston, MA at Harvard Medical Center. I was lucky enough to sit on the program committee which helped plan this event. This was the second LD4 conference — a Mellon-funded initiative to increase linked data use and production in libraries. There were many engaging sessions with … Continued
Like Wikipedia, Wikidata is a collaborative online community that organizes knowledge and presents it to the world for free. This global repository is important for so many reasons, chiefly among them that the data stored in Wikidata is machine readable. That means when you ask Alexa or Siri a question, it’s likely that the answer is coming … Continued
Why is Wikidata important to you? You may not know it yet, but Wikidata is very important to you. For years most people were suspicious or cautious about Wikipedia being a reliable source. Now the Library of Congress tracks items in Wikidata, making it an authority whose reliability has improved significantly in recent years. And … Continued
Only about 17% of biographies on Wikipedia are about women. That number is slowly changing thanks to WikiProject groups like Women in Red and Women scientists. Now, scholars who take our professional development courses are also helping close that gap. New courses that train scholars with the skills to make a difference on Wikipedia begin this month. One … Continued
Representing the history of voting rights on the world’s most-accessed source of information is a noble pursuit. And this group of scholars, professionals, and citizen archivists are up to the task. Using source materials from the National Archives, they will improve Wikipedia articles about the history of women’s voting rights in the United States in … Continued
Our new program trains scholars to improve Wikipedia articles in their areas of expertise. The 3-month online course (which meets virtually once a week) presents an opportunity for professional development and public scholarship, equipping scholars with the tools they need to expand the impact of research in their discipline. So far, cohorts are improving Wikipedia’s … Continued
Contributing scientific content to Wikipedia means being able to distill complex topics to a general audience who may not have a scientific background. Experts are well positioned to do this sort of ‘translating’ because they have access to the latest research and have a deep understanding of these topic areas. It’s no secret that the … Continued
The Visiting Scholars Program at Wiki Education creates a bridge between academic institutions and experienced Wikipedia editors. This bridge allows Wikipedians to disseminate Universities’ scholarly sources and collections to the millions of reader accessing Wikipedia every month. The Wikipedian is thus supported in their efforts to continually improve the world’s largest repository of free knowledge; … Continued
We kicked off another cohort of Wikipedia Fellows last week. Fellows in this cohort will have the opportunity to explore contributing to areas of their choosing. We selected Fellows with a diverse set of interests so that they may contribute to and improve a wide range of Wikipedia articles. Familiar with sources in their areas … Continued
