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''This post was written by Robert Forsythe, former Wikimedian in Residence at Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums''
''This post was originally published by Anabel Marsh, a new Wikipedian. You can see the [http://anabellibraryworld.wordpress.com/2013/11/18/scottish-women-on-wikipedia/ original post here]''


[[File:WMUK_Tour_of_Neville_Hall_and_Wood_Memorial_Hall_2013-11-06_04.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A photo taken during the tour]]
[[File:Bridgeton_Library_at_Olympia.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Bridgeton Library, site of the editathon]]


For fans of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture Victorian Gothic] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Tardis Dr Who’s Tardis], a visit to Newcastle upon Tyne’s [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:North_of_England_Institute_of_Mining_and_Mechanical_Engineers North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers] (also known as “The Mining Institute”) is a must. The building is an outstanding creation in the Victorian Gothic style and, as with the Tardis, it is much more spacious than the outside might suggest.
I've often dipped into Wikipedia, but I didn't start to take it seriously until a couple of years ago when I attended a Teachmeet at which one of the presenters changed my mind. He convinced me that Wikipedia was more accurate than I had thought – and where it isn't accurate, it says so. It tracks and discusses revisions so, rather than banning students from using it, they should be taught to use it responsibly. However, it never occurred to me to become an editor until Glasgow Women’s Library, where I volunteer, was approached by Graeme Arnott with a proposal for an “Editathon” on [[Scottish_Women_on_Wikipedia|Scottish Women on Wikipedia]]. The title had two implications – to get more Scottish women editing Wikipedia, and to increase the content about Scottish women. Graeme, myself and Laura Dolan of GWL made some plans and the event took place at Bridgeton Library on Saturday, assisted by Ally Crockford, Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland. We ended up with eight potential new editors, two complete articles (so far) and several in preparation.


Robert Forsythe began talking to the Mining Institute about a relationship with Wikimedians in the summer, a relationship cemented by a visit from Harry Mitchell – which itself was a direct result of the first Newcastle meetup in September. The outcome was a very successful [https://wiki.wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Editathon,_North_of_England_Institute_of_Mining_and_Mechanical_Engineers editathon at the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers] on 6th November. Harry Mitchell led the event and 12 people attended from the North East of England. Four Wikimedians (Peter Gans, Dan Garry, Chris McKenna, and Harry Mitchell) travelled to Newcastle to assist. One newcomer to Wikimedia travelled all the way from Plymouth and was so impressed by the day she requested an editathon for her institution. At least five new accounts were created on the day (several people had already created accounts in anticipation of the event) and the new editors, helped by the experienced Wikimedians, made edits to multiple articles relating to the Mining Institutes’s collection and uploaded a couple of images to Wikimedia Commons.
Although advertised as a drop-in, most people were there all day. We spent the morning learning the basics from Graeme (a very patient teacher) and were then let loose in the afternoon. I've been blogging for a long time and use several social media platforms, but I found Wikipedia harder than all of them because you have to do more of the formatting yourself. However, once you've mastered a few rules and realised you can basically copy the code from other articles it becomes easier – but still very fiddly.  


<span class="plainlinks">[http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/11/1995/ <nowiki>[</nowiki>Report continues...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>
<span class="plainlinks">[http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/11/scottish-women-on-wikipedia/ <nowiki>[</nowiki>Report continues...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>


|events=<!--Aim to have between 8 and 10 events listed to avoid this section taking up too much or to little space-->
|events=<!--Aim to have between 8 and 10 events listed to avoid this section taking up too much or to little space-->

Revision as of 18:10, 21 November 2013

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Cymraeg | English

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