Wikipedia

Wikipedia:University of Edinburgh/Events and Workshops/WAC editathon

< Wikipedia:University of Edinburgh‎ | Events and Workshops


We Can Edit
Building a Biography - simplified
Creating a Wikipedia Userpage

Info about the event edit

Did you know that most volunteer Wikipedia editors are male (~85-91%), and that there are fewer and less extensive articles on Wikipedia about women and issues important to women? There are thousands of brilliant women who meet Wikipedia’s standards for notability but don’t yet have a page. In November 2014, just over 15% of the English Wikipedia's biographies were about women. Founded in July 2015, WikiProject Women in Red strives to increase the percentage, which has reached 19.59% as of 26 June 2023. But that means that of 1,947,344 biographies, only 381,470 are about women. Not impressed? "Content gender gap" is a form of systemic bias, and our meetups seeks to address it in a positive way.

Come and help us add more notable women to Wikipedia at our WAC editathon!

Your 1,2,3 to get started! edit

  1. Create your Wikipedia account
  2. Once you have created your account join the Wiki dashboard
  3. Grab a cup of tea or coffee!

Schedule edit

  • 1:30 pm - 1:45pm: Introduction to Wikipedia
  • 1:45 pm – 2:30 pm: Wikipedia training from Ewan McAndrew.
  • 2:30pm - 3:45pm Research and Editing with aim to publish by 4pm
  • 3:45pm - 4:00pm: Publish articles with help from Ewan McAndrew

Join us as we help make Wikipedia better!

Events and resources after today edit

Editing edit

Questions about editing? Read the Wiki-editing FAQ!

Things to remember - anyone can edit BUT cite what you write! edit

  1. Wikipedia is a tertiary source. Articles are backed up by facts from reliable, published secondary sources. Primary sources tend not to be used. A breadth & depth of quality sources helps demonstrates notability which is an important yardstick for articles staying on Wikipedia.
  2. Write with encyclopedic content in mind. Not academic essay. Strip back your writing to the facts.
  3. Write accessibly with a lay audience in mind. Any jargon needs explained the first time it is mentioned.
  4. Write with a neutral point of view. Split text up into sections with headings.
  5. Cite everything you write. Keep a note of urls (open access if possible), Journal articles DOI identifiers, Book ISBN numbers. Page numbers, volume numbers and book chapters should be included in your citation information too.
  6. Draft content in your sandbox draft space first. Wikipedia is a work in progress for sure but you can prepare articles or new sections for articles in peace in your personal draft space (the sandbox) and migrate it when ready.
  7. Write in your own words as much as possible. Even close paraphrasing counts as copyright violation. Short quotes can be included but need to be attributed.
  8. Links in the main body of the article should only be to other Wikipedia pages. You only need to add links when the term is first mentioned in the article. Linking every time is considered overlinking. Sites outside of Wikipedia should be linked in a separate section at the foot of the page with an External links heading. No more than 5-8 links to websites outside of Wikipedia - we are not a link farm!
  9. Images have to open-licensed to be allowed on Wikipedia. CC-0, Public domain, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA licensed images are allowed and are hosted on sister project, Wikimedia Commons. Open images can be searched for using search aggregator tools such as CC Search.
  10. Want to learn more? Go to our website, join/email Wikimedia UK or just mail me at ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk with any questions or ideas for collaborations.
 
Long Boi, a celebrity duck in York has a page on Wikipedia but 1,000s upon 1,000s of notable women still do not. We can change that. #WeCanEdit!

Images and videos edit

Wikipedia pages can feel a tad lifeless without an image or short video to help illustrate it. We can change that. We can edit!

  • Openverse.org - You can use image search tools like Openverse.org to find open-licensed images elsewhere on the internet. Just restrict your search for acceptable open-licensed images by filtering to only (1) Public domain, (2) CC-0, (3) CC-BY, or (4) CC-BY-SA images.
  • Wikimedia Commons - Once you have found an image with one of these licences then you can upload this image to Wikimedia Commons (a media repository of over 90 million free to use images, sound clips and movie clips) and it can then be inserted into a Wikipedia page.
  • Commons:Flickr2Commons is a handy tool to help import both an image and its description information across from Flickr automatically using the unique Flickr image ID or Flickr album ID to import an entire album of images. You just need to login to the tool on Mediawiki using your same Commons login details.
  • Commons:Video2commons is another handy tool to help convert video files to acceptable open formats (.ogg and .webm) for Wikimedia Commons and auto import the file to Commons once conversion is complete. You just need to login to the tool on Mediawiki using your same Commons login details.

Worklist edit

Articles to create edit

Cite what you write! 50-100 words or more written with a neutral point of view AND backed up with citations from reliable published secondary sources is enough to get a new article published. e.g. Example of minimum requirements Use the Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women to write your new Wikipedia page

  1. Ta-Kr-Hb Mummy in Perth museum [1] [2][3]
  2. Anne 'Annie' Johnston born Barra 10 Feb. 1886, died Barra 6 March 1963. Gaelic folklorist. Daughter of Catherine McNeil, and Angus Johnston.
  3. Euphemia Johnston born 1824 Inveresk, died after 1867. Lady’s nurse. Daughter of Jean Brackenridge, and James Alexander.
  4. Caroline Johnston born Alva, Clackmannanshire, 25 July 1849, died Alva 4 July 1929. Philanthropist.
  5. Christian Johnston born Edinburgh 12 June 1781, died Edinburgh 26 August 1857. Journalist and woman of letters.
  6. Bessie Stivenson - Stirling accused witch
  7. Jean Gordon (1670 to 1746) born into one of the gypsy tribes of Kirk Yetholm, died Carlisle 1746.
  8. John Kincaid (witch pricker) (witch pricker, 1660s)
  9. Elizabeth Stewart (singer), singer of traditional ballads and songs. [4][5]
  10. Janet Keiller (shopkeeper) n. Mathewson, born Dundee c. 1737, died Dundee 23 July 1813. Shopkeeper, associate in marmalade family.
  11. Elizabeth Keir n. Rae, born probably early 1750s, died Edinburgh 3 Nov. 1834. Writer, philanthropist.
  12. Dame Elizabeth Ker (‘Old Lady Buccleuch’), born c. 1478, died Catslak Tower, 19 Oct. 1548. Victim of a bloodfeud.
  13. Isabella Kerr (Isabel), n. Gunn, born Enzie, Banff, 30 May 1875, died India 12 Jan. 1932. Medical missionary.
  14. Jessie King (childminder), born Glasgow 27 March 1861, died Edinburgh 11 March 1889. Childminder.
  15. Mary King (bondager), n. Kerr, born Bellshiel, near Swinton, Berwickshire, 12 Dec. 1905, died Edinburgh 25 May 1998. Bondager and domestic servant.
  16. Mary Joan Knight, OBE, born Walton-le-Dale, Lancs., 27 Sept. 1924, died Perth 20 Dec. 1996. Theatre director.

Articles to improve edit

  • Magdalene Blair - Stirling accused witch
  • Mary Marjory McDonald- the 'Scottish Queen of Thieves'. [6]
  • Marianne Hesketh n. Richards (15 May 1930, died Dervaig, Mull, 24 April 1984) was an actor and theatre manager.
  • Margaret Gillespie (singer) - (12 December 1841 - 1913) was a Scottish singer of traditional songs.
  • Henrietta Keddie [Sarah Tytler], born Cupar 4 March 1827, died London 6 Jan. 1914. Novelist. Needs infobox and subheadings to split text up
  • Dinah Kaye (n. Kay Cumming), born Burma 2 Feb. 1924, died Edinburgh 12 Sept. 2011. Jazz singer. needs image e.g. Blanche Blackwell page
  • Honoria Somerville Keer, born Toronto, Canada, 26 Dec. 1883, died London 20 March 1969. Surgeon for the *Scottish Women’s Hospitals during the First World War. Image? Expand article?
  • Gabrielle Muriel Keiller, n. Ritchie, m1 unknown, m2 Style, m3 Keiller, born North Berwick 10 August 1908, died Bath 23 Dec. 1995. Golf champion and art collector. needs image e.g. Blanche Blackwell page
  • Janet Kennedy, Lady Bothwell, c. 1480–1547. Mistress of James IV. Needs infobox and expanding
  • Anne Kerr, Countess of Lothian, c. 1615–1667, probable author of ‘One year begins, another ends’, also known as ‘Lady Lothian’s Lilt’. Needs infobox and expanded.
  • Rose Kerrigan, n. Klasko, born Dublin 11 Feb. 1903, died London 10 July 1995. Communist activist. Can it be expanded? Made more discoverable?
  • Jessie Kesson, n. MacDonald, born Inverness 29 Oct. 1916, died London 26 Dec. 1994. Novelist and radio playwright. needs image e.g. Blanche Blackwell page
  • Isabella Keyzer, n. Mitchell, born Dundee 29 August 1922, died Dundee 18 July 1992. Weaver and welder. Can it be expanded? made more discoverable?
  • Margaret Henderson Kidd, DBE, m. Macdonald, born Carriden, Bo’ness, 14 March 1900, died Cambridge 22 March 1989. Pioneer lawyer. needs image e.g. Blanche Blackwell page
  • Ellen King Elizabeth, m1 MacPherson, m2 Pearson, born Renfrew 16 Jan. 1909, died Parkgate, Cheshire, Feb. 1994. Swimming champion. can it be improved? expanded? made more discoverable?
  • Georgina Kinnear born Edinburgh c. 1826/27, died Edinburgh 26 April 1914. Governess and headmistress. needs a better lede/opening sentence
  • Margaret Kennedy Knight, n. Horsey, born Waltham Cross, Herts., 23 Nov. 1903, died Aberdeenshire 10 May 1983. Humanist campaigner, psychologist and broadcaster. needs image e.g. Blanche Blackwell page

Other ideas edit

More useful links edit

Here are some other useful links to help you with your editing:

  • Read up to find out more about sources and verifiability.
  • Check out the notability guidelines and what topics can be written about on Wikipedia.
  • Consider whether you have any conflicts of interest.
  • You can find advice on how to search for relevant sources on any scientist here.
  • All sorts of helpful guides and online resources can be found below:
  •  
    A speedy guide on where to find the different buttons on Wikipedia, and explaining what they do - useful for complete beginners!
  •  
    Very straightforward step-by-step instructions on how to add a piece of information to an existing Wikipedia page - useful for complete beginners!
  •  
    A guide to elements to include in a wiki-biography, with a checklist to ensure you include as many as you can when editing.
  •  
    A guide to adding infoboxes (those handy things on the right side of a page with a summary of key info).
  •  
    A complete beginner's introduction to adding information onto Wikidata. If in doubt, take a look at someone else's Wikidata entry for inspiration!
  •  
    Steps to adding a photograph to Wikimedia Commons so you can use it in a Wikipedia article - the picture has to be your own for you to add it.
  •  
    Guide to creating your Wikipedia userpage to introduce yourself to other editors.
  •  
    Using talk pages
  •  
    Citing your sources
  •  
    Avoiding plagiarism
  •  
    Classroom handout - moving out of your sandbox
  •  
    Polishing your articles
  • You can add pictures for use on Wiki-pages and beyond on Wikimedia Commons. Your Wikipedia account will work on Commons too - as well as all the other Wiki-projects and different language versions of Wikipedia.

Here are some ways to keep track of your edits:

  • You can view all your contributions to Wikipedia by clicking "Contributions" (in the top right of this page).
  • The Pageviews tool is a great way of measuring how many people are looking at the page you created/edited. You can even export the data if you'd like it for reports, etc.

After today edit

Once you've learned the basics of editing using Wikipedia’s Visual Editor, I hope that you'll stay logged in and edit or create more articles. As a first step you may like to check out what What Wikipedia is not along with its 5 guiding principles: The 5 pillars.

  • Please sign your messages on talk pages with four tildes (~~~~). This will automatically insert your "signature" (your username and a date stamp). The   or   button, on the tool bar above Wikipedia's text editing window, also does this.
  • If you would like to play around with your new Wiki skills without changing the mainspace, the Sandbox is for you.
  • Check out upcoming Wikimedia in Scotland editing events.
  • Check out upcoming Wikimedia UK editing events.

Video guides to editing Wikipedia edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh/Events_and_Workshops/WAC_editathon&oldid=1167542100"