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;Building the Open Access Button
;Free information, the internet and medicine


[[File:Screenshot_of_the_Open_Access_Button_map.png|frameless|right|320px]]
[[File:Project_Leaflet_WikiProject_Medicine_back_and_front_v1.png|frameless|right|280px]]


''This guest blog post was written by David Carroll, Open Access Button Project Lead''
''This post was written by Vinesh Patel, a student at Imperial College, London''


Earlier this month, as I sat at the Wikimania Open Data Hack in the Barbican, silently whirring in the back of my mind was an impending anniversary. It had been one year since the first line of code of what would later become the Open Access Button was written. The surroundings themselves were not dissimilar, a year earlier we were a little way across the city of London at The BMJ’s hack weekend and it was there we found an incredible team of developers to make the Open Access Button Beta a reality.
A new adventure for Wikimedia UK began this summer with a project in collaboration with Imperial College School of Medicine.


The motivation for building the Open Access Button came just a few months earlier, when in March 2013, Joe McArthur and I learnt that people are systematically denied access to research every day. hen we learnt this, we wanted to do something about it. Over the following months, we worked every second of our spare time with an amazing team of volunteer developers and in November 2013 we launched the Open Access Button.
In a recent BBC article, Wikimedia UK highlighted the need for everyone looking for medical information to remember Wikipedia is simply an online encyclopedia, and nothing more.


The Button is a browser bookmarklet that allows users to report when they hit a paywall and are denied access to research. Being denied access to research is often an invisible problem and through the Button we aim to make the problem visible, collect the individual experiences, and showcase the global magnitude of the problem.  
A ganglion is a type of benign fluid collection that can form from fluid around tendons on your hand and some people used to claim it could be cured with a well judged thump with a Bible. However, evidence doesn't support this practice. An encyclopedia with a similarly hard book covering would be judged by most laypeople today to be about as useful in solving such medical problems, and they would probably just see their doctor about a lump on their hand.Yet there seems to be a great tangle when the same information is put in an online encyclopaedia.


<span class="plainlinks">[https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2014/08/building-the-open-access-button/<nowiki>[</nowiki>The post continues here...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>
It is this tangle that is being explored by 3 groups of medical students, as they seek to edit selected Wikipedia articles within the field of medicine. 10 of them from different year groups are collaborating with senior academics to edit academic field they find interesting.
 
The format is they select a B or C class article from Wikiproject medicine and look to develop it over several months. They collaborate over several months to edit an article offline and then transcribe their work on to a WP page, having given notice they are going to conduct the edit on Wikipedia. One individual puts their work online after they . They receive help and guidance from senior academics. After putting their edits on WP they work with editors around the world to improve the article through normal routes of discussion on the talk page. The project is running from
 
The primary aim is to allow the students to develop their academic skills, but it is also hoped that the question of how free information on the internet is used in medicine will be given some practical answers. In future the program may be expanded to allow students to collaborate with students in developing countries. In fact, many students said the most inspiring aspect of the project is the potential to spread free medical information to their less privileged colleagues around the world, harnessing the possibilities of the internet.
 
<span class="plainlinks">[https://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2014/08/free-information-the-internet-and-medicine/<nowiki>[</nowiki>...<nowiki>]</nowiki>]</span>


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Revision as of 15:10, 21 August 2014

Cymraeg | English

Wikimedia UK

Open knowledge for all

Wikimedia UK is hiring – We are now accepting applications for a Membership, Fundraising and Operations Assistant

Our website

If you'd like to see what Wikimedia UK is working on, our website is the best place for our community of volunteers, donors and members to stay up to date.

About Wikimedia UK

The Wikimedia projects are special: they are written and curated by thousands of volunteers. They are also supported by voluntary donations, through Wikimedia UK, the Wikimedia Foundation and other international chapters.

Wikimedia UK is a charity registered in England and Wales that supports and promotes Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects such as Wikimedia Commons. Our mission is to help people and organisations create and preserve open knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all. We do this by supporting volunteer editors and contributors ('Wikimedians'), by working in partnership with cultural and educational institutions, by hosting training sessions and editing events, and by acting to advocate the benefits of open knowledge generally.

There are several ways to get involved in the charity's work. You can become a member for just £5 per year. You can volunteer to work with us in a variety of ways, both online and offline. You can also make a donation (and if you're a UK taxpayer, we can claim Gift Aid). Subscribe to our Friends' Newsletter to stay in touch. Click the buttons below to learn more.

Contact us

General inquiries: infoatwikimedia.org.uk
Media: pressatwikimedia.org.uk

You can follow us on Twitter (@wikimediauk) or Like us on Facebook (WikimediaUK).

You can also sign up to the email discussion list for the Wikimedia community in the UK.

More contact details

Get Involved

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Join Wikimedia UK

Members play a key role in shaping the future of the Chapter. Membership is open to all and costs just £5 a year.

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Events

We organise dozens of events each year, including meetups, editing events, "Backstage Pass" events at museums, workshops and conferences.

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Volunteer

Participate in one of our ongoing outreach projects, working with the cultural and education institutions of the UK.

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Project grants

Request a project grant to help you with your editing or outreach activities on any Wikimedia project.

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Donate to Wikimedia UK to keep Wikipedia running free from advertising and support our work getting more people and institutions working with Wikipedia and its sister projects.

We are always interested to hear from new volunteers. If you have an idea you'd like to help make happen, or time and skills you would like to offer Wikimedia UK, please get in touch on volunteeringatwikimedia.org.uk


Для української мови Вікіпедії ласка, відвідайте http://uk.wikipedia.org; для Вікімедіа Україна відвідайте http://ua.wikimedia.org
For the Ukrainian language Wikipedia please visit http://uk.wikipedia.org; for Wikimedia Ukraine please visit http://ua.wikimedia.org

Want to suggest changes to the content and presentation of this page? Comment on the talk page, or experiment at the Sandbox