UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — In celebration of Women’s History Month, Penn State University Libraries will host a virtual monthlong Wikipedia editathon focusing on Native American women activists and environmentalists from March 27 through April 18.
Wikipedia editathons are organized events held with the intention of increasing representation on Wikipedia of identified underrepresented groups and providing basic training to new editors. First-time Wikipedia editors are welcome to join the virtual event regardless of level of technology knowledge or experience. Experienced editors will be on hand to answer questions and suggest articles to edit and references to use.
Links to all event programs, including those listed below, will be available on the Penn State Libraries Wikipedia Editathon Dashboard. Participants can access the dashboard and contribute to the selected pages anytime throughout the period.
- Monday, March 27, 1 to 2 p.m. — Julie Reed and Cathleen Cahill, faculty members in the Department of History in the College of the Liberal Arts, will provide a Zoom training session covering the basics of Wikipedia editing and best practices for writing about Indigenous people and reading and using sources.
- Wednesday, March 29, 11:15 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. — Nicky Michael, a member of the Lenape, a.k.a. Delaware Tribe of Indians, and interim president and executive director of Indigenous Studies and Curriculum at Bacone College, will speak in Foster Auditorium. Her talk is co-sponsored by the Department of History.
- Although participants can edit at their convenience throughout the month, there will be four virtual drop-in meet-ups where participants can edit alongside others:
- Wednesday, March 29 — 1–3 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 4 — 10 a.m.–noon
- Wednesday, April 12 — 1–3 p.m.
- Tuesday, April 18 — 10 a.m.–noon
For information about getting started with a Wikipedia account, visit the Wikipedia meetup page for the event. For information about this event or accommodations, contact Marty Coyle, music and AV cataloger, at mcc5012@psu.edu, or Ana Enriquez, scholarly communications outreach librarian, at aee32@psu.edu.