Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon

Listening to an episode of Q on CBC Radio in April, I happened to hear an interview with Sarah Stierch, the Wikipedian-in-Residence at the Smithsonian Archives. Our event was planned while her voice still echoed in my kitchen. The discussion was about the presence of female scientists on Wikipedia, where women make up only 9% of the editors.  The average Wikipedia editor is college educated, 30 years old, white, and male (Stierch, 2012). By not becoming a Wikipedia editor myself, I was allowing history to be written by rich white men yet again.

I have learned how to edit Wikipedia and I have collected resources on female scientists, now I need your help to change these statistics. Note: if you are a college educated, 30 year old, white man you are also welcome to attend. 

We will be holding a Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon on Thursday September 20^th from 6-9pm in the Canal Building Room 5301. Bring snacks to share and we will learn how to edit Wikipedia together and add some female scientists to the list of notable historical figures represented on Wikipedia.

Due to high interest we have to limit the number of participants to this event to 40. Please RSVP here!

Stierch, Sarah. Q. CBC Radio One. 91.5 FM, Ottawa. 18 April 2012. Radio.