Science Literacy Week Wikipedia Edit-a-thon at B.C. Post-Secondary Libraries

National Science Literacy Week is Sept 18-24, 2017. Libraries, museums, schools and community science groups will be celebrating Canadian science and scientists through a number of events. One of the events to start things off will be libraries at BCIT, Kwantlen Polytechnic, Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia and perhaps a few others will be hosting Wikipedia edit-a-thons starting on September 18, 2017.

Post contributed by Katherine Miller, Librarian, Woodward Library, University of British Columbia

A Wikipedia edit-a-thon is an event where new and experienced writers and editors come together to make edits, add citations and create new content in Wikipedia. Wikipedia is everywhere. Google searches bring up Wikipedia articles often as the first result; and Wikipedia is a reference source frequently used by students and the public. Learning about how to edit and add content to Wikipedia provides many relevant and authentic learning experiences for students, staff and researchers covering areas as varied as open access, scholarly communication, copyright, construction of information, evaluation and situating information in context, digital literacies, peer-review, and more. Wikipedia edit-a-thons offer a practical, hands-on experience of writing and collaborating on research.

This collaboration between higher education libraries will be expanding with new university and college libraries joining in the fun and the learning. All edit-a-thon events are open and no Wikipedia editing experience is needed.

Learn more:

Interested in learning more or holding an edit-a-thon at your campus? BCcampus will also be hosting an informational webinar with some of the organizers on August 28^th. Join us from 10-11 am to learn more about the event and how to participate. Wikipedia: Meetup/BC/SciLit17
Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for Science Literacy
Science Literacy Week 2017