Expert outreach

We are working with scientists, scholars, learned societies and funders to help experts improve Wikipedia and its sister projects, bringing that expertise to the widest possible public.

Many scholarly societies are, like Wikimedia UK, registered charities whose mission includes informing and educating the general public. These common goals are advanced with internal training events, publications and public events. This work complements WMUK's partnerships with galleries, libraries, archives and museums as well as its support for higher education.

Guidance

We are developing guidance for researchers and public engagement professionals on how Wikimedia can magnify the impact of their work.

• Wikimedia as a public engagement tool for scientists
• Wikimedia as a public engagement tool for the arts and humanities

A separate page answers questions we have been asked by potential expert contributors.

• A guide for expert contributors to Wikipedia published in PLoS Computational Biology by a group of Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute scientists (and Wikimedia UK volunteers)
• Feature article for the Physics World magazine and site (free registration required) by Martin Poulter and Mike Peel

Wikipedians in Residence

The Royal Society and the British Library are among the organisations that have employed Wikipedians in the UK.

From July 2013 to April 2014, Jisc and Wikimedia UK are jointly supporting a project to encourage a range of audiences (librarians, teachers, researchers and students) within learning and research to engage with Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia projects. This includes a programme of workshops in institutions on "Wikimedia: linking research impact and open education". Follow the links for more details.

Events and training

Our Expert outreach events cover a wide range of academic subjects and partner organisations, including universities, scholarly societies and charities.

Please contact Wikimedia UK if you would like to run a joint event or if you want a speaker or a guest article.

Call for volunteers

Wikimedia UK is seeking volunteers to give introductory talks, promote Wikimedia at conferences or deliver training. We can support travel and subsistence, and we can provide handouts and freebies to distribute. Drop a message to daria.cybulskawikimedia.org.uk stating your username on Wikimedia projects, where you can travel to and any relevant background.

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Expert views

"If you're serious about ensuring public engagement in your research then you need to make damn sure your work can be incorporated into Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the most important engagement channel for your research."

—Cameron Neylon (Public Library of Science) "Wikimedia UK Annual Review 2012-13"

"Wikipedia is an illustration of the way that academic work needs to change to benefit from a more educated public, a more networked world, in an age of information abundance. 21st-century scholars should be working with it, not against it."

—Amber Thomas (Jisc) Ariadne, November 2012 "21st-century Scholarship and Wikipedia"

"One of the most rewarding aspects can be in helping shape the public image of their field, say contributors. For many subjects – including scholarly topics – it is very often Wikipedia pages that are the top hits on Google, and for scholars who want their field represented accurately or interestingly, contributing to Wikipedia can help."

—Zoe Corbyn, The Guardian, Tuesday 29 March 2011 "Wikipedia wants more contributions from academics"

"The key challenge for the scholarly community [...] is to work actively with Wikipedia to strengthen its role in 'pre-research.' We need to build stronger links from its entries to more advanced resources that have been created and maintained by the academy."

—Casper Grathwohl, Oxford University Press, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 7 January 2011 "Wikipedia Comes of Age"

"I request that the public fund my research through their tax and charitable contributions; in return I consider it my responsibility to provide them with accurate, up-to-date and free access to the scientific progress they pay for."

—Darren Logan (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute), Wellcome Trust Blog, 18 May 2011 "Being a scientist in the age of Wikipedia"

"Perhaps other academic societies and professional bodies can contribute to upgrading and extending Wikipedia entries. [...] [T]he advent of several geoscientific Wikipedians would greatly enhance Wikipedia's geological coverage, to the benefit of all."

—Brian Whalley (University of Sheffield) Ariadne, July 2012 "Wikipedia: Reflections on Use and Acceptance in Academic Environments"

"Wikipedia's user-friendly global reach offers an unprecedented opportunity for public engagement with science. Scientists who receive public or charitable funding should therefore seize the opportunity to make sure that Wikipedia articles are understandable, scientifically accurate, well sourced and up-to-date."

—Alex Bateman and Darren Logan (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute), Nature, 9 December 2010 "Time to underpin Wikipedia wisdom"

"Dear Wikipedia, I want to thank you and to compliment you on your service. I often use it, especially also for technical information in physics and astronomy. Just now I was impressed by the density of information in your article on QCD, the theory of the strong interaction, in particular, its history."

—Jack Steinberger, 1988 Physics Nobel Laureate, 9 September 2010