Creating an Open Body of Knowledge editathon series

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The History of Medicine and Medicine in Literature. University of Edinburgh: Innovative Learning Week 2016.

Where? LG.07, David Hume Tower Building, George Square, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JX

When? Tuesday 16th February - Thursday 18th February.

Point of contact: Ewan McAndrew - Wikimedian in Residence at University of Edinburgh User:Stinglehammer,

Twitter: Follow updates via the #ILWeditathon hashtag and stay in touch if you're a distance learner joining in!

Cost: Free

What do I need? Please bring a laptop as desktop computers will not be provided.

How do I sign up? (Staff & Students of Edinburgh University) If you are a student or a member of staff at the University of Edinburgh you can signup here: Staff and Students - Click here!

How do I sign up? (Members of public & distance students) If you are not a staff member or on-campus student at the University of Edinburgh then you can sign up for each day at Eventbrite here:
Tuesday 16th Feb (2-5pm)
Wednesday 17th Feb: 10-5pm (Lunchbreak 1-2pm)
Thursday 18th Feb: 10am-5pm (Lunchbreak 1-2pm)
If you have any other queries about signing up then you can message me at the above email/Wiki username for more details.

How distance students should register for the Collaborate online session


Feedback from attendees at last year's editathon event:
"Fantastic week, one of the geeky best. Had a great time at the #ILW2015 #ILWeditathon, researching the #Edinburgh7"
 "Shared delight in learning new things about the period & these people"
 "Day 3 of #ILWeditathon and I’m getting hooked!"

About the event

Unravel myths, discover truths and re-write the Wikipedia pages of Edinburgh’s infamous medical figures including gruesome body-snatcher William Burke and intriguing alumni Dr. James Miranda Barry. Come join us for all the fun and gain digital skills, learn how to edit Wikipedia, explore our history and harness the power of the web for public engagement. Lunch and refreshments provided.

Building on the success of last year's editathon on 'Women, Science and Scottish History', the University of Edinburgh is following it up with a brand new editathon event for 2016's Innovative Learning Week.

Have you ever wondered why the information in Wikipedia is extensive for some topics and scarce for others? During the University of Edinburgh's 2016 Innovative Learning Week, the University's Information Services team will run a series of Wikipedia 'editathons' over three days. Each editathon will focus on improving the quality of articles about the history of medicine and medicine in literature.

Join us this Innovative Learning Week as we help make Wikipedia better!

Working together with archivists, academic colleagues and, not one but two, Wikimedia experts, we will provide training on how to edit and add information and participate in an open knowledge community. We will explore how writing Wikipedia articles develops digital literacy and academic writing skills. Participants will be supported to develop articles covering areas which could stand to be improved. Namely: Edinburgh as the birth place of medicine, distinguished Edinburgh alumni, historic locations etc.

Dissected skull, Maison Tramond model, Paris, nineteenth century (24226156362)

This series of events will run over three days with focused topics. Participants can attend just once or on multiple days and can select topics that engage them and which need development on Wikipedia. Training, technical support and subject area advice will be provided throughout. Each workshop can be attended on a full day basis or half day basis and is open to all: campus-based students, distance learning students, all staff and members of the public who are interested in the topics we are working on.

Workshop schedule

This series of events will run over a series of afternoons. Each day, the one-hour introduction to editing Wikipedia will focus on offering tips and insight into different approaches as well as practical training. Participants can attend as many days as they would like: everyday we will we will cover something new! A Wikimedia trainer or trainers will be on hand all afternoon to provide assistance, and we will also provide specialised materials focusing on the subjects covered in the articles to edit section below.

"A complete delineation of the entire anatomy engraved on copper" - Thomas Geminus
Tuesday 16 February: 2pm to 5pm - Editathon: Basic Editing Skills and Making Connections
  • This editathon will show you the basics of how to edit a Wikipedia article. We will also cover important guidelines for writing neutral biographical articles on Wikipedia. This editathon will also show you how to create your first page and engage in 'Wiki etiquette'. Further, it is important to make connections across Wikipedia to improve coverage on a topic. In addition to giving you the basic tools to edit a Wikipedia article, we cover ways that you can help bring information together on Wikipedia by helping create a strong infrastructure within Wikipedia. Create links between articles, add information that's been left out, and cover the events, organisations and influences that will make other articles better. We'll also show you how to use Wikipedia's categories to make less obvious connections and find new information. After the training is complete, you will once again be welcome to work on a new topic or to continue an article that you're already working on, and we will again provide support and resources from the University of Edinburgh Library and Archive to help you fill in the blanks in the history of medicine!
Wednesday 17 February: 10am to 5pm (includes 1 hour break for lunch at 1-2pm) - Editathon: People
  • Learn how to create or improve biographical articles on Wikipedia before putting your skills into practice! In addition to offering a refresher session on how to edit a Wikipedia article, and the important guidelines for writing neutral biographical articles on Wikipedia, we will show you how to determine whether a person is notable enough to warrant an article, and how to show that when you're writing; we'll also look at what kinds of sources are valuable, and what you should avoid. Did you know that writing a biography for a living person is different than writing about a historical figure? We'll show you how to do both! Once the training is complete, we will provide support and resources from the University of Edinburgh Library and Archive to help you improve or create Wikipedia articles about those important figures steeped in the history of medicine and science, and Edinburgh alumni. Leave your mark on the world's largest online encyclopaedia by helping to address those inadvertent errors of omission!
Thursday 18 February: 10am to 5pm (includes 1 hour break for lunch at 1-2pm) - Editathon: Illustrating Wikipedia and Places
  • A picture tells a thousand words, and that is something that Wikipedia has taken to heart. In this editathon we will show you how to add images to a Wikipedia article to make it even better. Did you know, for instance, that an article with a picture is fifty percent more likely to be read than one without a picture? In this editathon, we will introduce you to Wikimedia Commons, the open access image library where every single image on Wikipedia is hosted. We'll not only show you how to find fantastic images to add to your Wikipedia article, we'll also teach you how to add your own. We'll cover important guidelines for copyright and using images from the internet, and we'll even give you tips on taking photographs especially to add to a Wikipedia article! Once training is complete, you will be able to finish working on an article from earlier in the week, or to work on something new. Again we will provide support and resources from the University of Edinburgh's Library and Archive. We've even found some places with exciting significance in medical history and there will be opportunities for photographic walking tours to get those much-needed photographs of important landmarks in medical history which can then be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and help illustrate the stories we have uncovered.
  • In this event we will also focus on writing Wikipedia articles about places. We will teach you the basics for editing a Wikipedia article before offering tips and guidelines for writing specifically about places. We'll show you how to write about the history of an important building or site, as well as how to include factual information like geographical coordinates that will link your article to data from around the world, all in a few simple steps! Once the training is complete, you are welcome to edit on a new topic or continue working on an article from the day before; once again we will provide support and resources from the University of Edinburgh Library and Archive to help you uncover the history of medicine.
Portrait of James Barry Wellcome L0022265

How each day's session will work

You work on topics selected by the organisers with source materials brought to the editathon, or you can select topics that you would prefer to work on (you need to bring source materials if needed).

The first hour of each day will provide tailored training for that day’s focus, and technical support and subject area advice will be provided throughout.

Please note: there will be a one hour lunchbreak between 1pm to 2pm on Wednesday 17th February and Thursday 18th February. We will provide lunch vouchers for those who want to edit all day (i.e. attending the morning and afternoon sessions) but there is also a café with comfy seating in the basement of David Hume Tower Building that sells soup, sandwiches etc. along with a variety of other local takeaways within a 5 minute walk.

It is advisable to attend the morning session (10am to 1pm) to benefit from the longer editing training in the morning. The afternoon session will be more practical writing and editing although shorter training will also be available.

How do I prepare?

Once you have registered to attend an editathon or a couple of editathons, there are a few things you can do to prepare before you attend:

  • Create a Wikipedia account
  • Learn about editing if you like: visit the Wikipedia Tutorial, or Getting started on Wikipedia for more information
  • Think about what article you would like to edit - you can even prepare some materials to bring with you on the day
  • Bring a laptop - the room being used has a monitor for each table but this will be used to project information on during the event. There will be 4-way adaptors provided should you need to charge your laptop.
  • Note, light refreshments will be provided (tea, coffee, juice, nibbles etc.)

Articles to edit

Lists of suggested or requested articles to create or improve can be added here. Please feel free to make your own suggestions on the talk page. here.

Terms: There are a number of terms that are not well covered or don't yet exist on Wikipedia:


Masks of Burke and Hare, Edinburgh Medical School

Biographies


Places


***For those participating in person or online, please add your signature next to the article that you intend to create or improve by typing four tildes (~~~~) next to it. This will ensure that there are no conflicts or duplicate articles. Note: you may need to log in separately to Wikimedia UK even if you are logged in to Wikipedia. Once you have finished working on an article, you can remove your signature to allow others to contribute to it***


Edinburgh Seven and Women in Medicine: There are a number of people on the list from last year's editathon event whose articles could yet be improved:

UofE Innovative Learning Week 2015 editathon
UofE Innovative Learning Week 2015 editathon

Material

The main link to refer to for research materials for all the above topics can be found here: Click here for resources

Participants are also encouraged to make full use of the University of Edinburgh's extensive online resources, such as databases and e-journals, as well as any of their own research material that they may have access to.

Additional resources are available through the National Library of Scotland's digital galleries and licensed digital collections. Any NLS reader has free access to the licensed digital collections with an online account, and if you are not a reader, you can become one quickly and easily by registering as a new user or a new online user using any residential address in Scotland.

If it is your first time editing Wikipedia, you might find some of the following instructional videos helpful. There will be training on the day, but these videos can act as refreshers if you need them!

Please also note: Wikipedia editing has never been easier to do than at this moment in time because of the implementation of the new Visual Editor interface. This WYSIWYG interface ("What You See Is What You Get") makes editing in Wikipedia as easy as using Microsoft Word or utilising a Wordpress blog.

  • Video: Creating a user page

  • Video: Talk pages

  • Video: Sandboxes

  • Video: Basic editing techniques

  • Video: Improving an article on Wikipedia

  • Video: Creating an article on Wikipedia

  • Video: Understanding Wiki Categories

Attendees

Once you have signed up and created your Wikipedia account, why not add your username below? Don't worry about formatting if you aren't sure, we can help you on the day!

Trainers

Below is the list of trainers that will be present at each workshop.

  1. Ewan McAndrew aka Stinglehammer
  2. Sara Thomas aka lirazelf (Tuesday, Wednesday morning, Thursday)

List of buildings to photograph

Address Historic Scotland Reference Listing Significance
3-6 Atholl Crescent 28260 A Second site of Edinburgh School of Cookery and Domestic Economy
2 Brandon Street 28341 B Site of Lilian Lindsay’s dental practice
16 Chambers Street 27991 B Site of Chambers Street Union, previously Edinburgh University Women’s Union
30 Chambers Street 27622 B Site of Medical College for Women
31 Chambers Street 27622 B Site of Edinburgh Dental Hospital and School when Lilian Lindsay matriculated.
5 Chester Street 28517 B Home of Sarah Mair and the Ladies' Edinburgh Debating Society
Court of Session, Parliament Square 27699 A

Outcomes

Articles created or improved, and other outcomes from the editathons as they develop

Articles improved

TBA.

Articles created

TBA.

Other outcomes and coverage

TBA.

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