Improving Wikipedia for International Women’s Day

Sixty-four Wikipedia articles on notable women in science have been recently updated, thanks to a small group of mostly-new editors in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, the edit-a-thon was hosted by GEMS in STEM at the University of Otago. Experienced editor Tamsin Braisher led a group of staff and students through the basics of editing Wikipedia, with the goal of improving the coverage of women mathematicians, statisticians, physicists. The group spent the morning learning about updating and improving content, researching reliable sources, uploading photos, and adding citations. 

The 195 total edits made by the group included adding photos to the articles of Aotearoa New Zealand scientists Mary Sewell and Barbara J. Anderson, along with updating the pages of the latest women elected as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

Another positive outcome of the event was the trial of a behind-the-scenes helper, dubbed the WikiPixie. While the on-site organiser has their hands full answering questions, the WikiPixie provides remote support by keeping track of the edits as they happen, posting on talk pages to welcome newbies, provide feedback and support, along with monitoring the dashboard and event page.

That afternoon, Radio New Zealand’s Jesse Mulligan got in touch with Tamsin to find out more about the event, her efforts to improve Wikipedia content, and the Women in Red project.

Ngā mihi maioha to Tamsin Braisher and the GEMS in STEM group for their contributions.