Great care and attention is required in the judicious use of online sources in academic work. No online source has gained more publicity than Wikipedia, whose distrust perhaps stems from a misunderstanding of how it works in real terms.
Wikipedia’s many volunteers globally perform updates to help build the encyclopaedia and improve the quality of Wikipedia for all. Wikipedia is increasingly being used by lecturers and librarians In the development of digital skills and critical thinking.
Supported by Wikimedia Ireland’s Dr Rebecca O’Neill, UL’s Michelle Breen and Sinéad Keogh will host a Wikipedia Hackathon at the Glucksman Library on March 22nd.
This workshop on how to edit Wikipedia will help to evaporate the many misconceptions that persist with this online resource. According to Wikimedia Ireland’s Rebecca O’Neill, “even a brief introduction to editing illustrates quickly how rigorous the standards are on Wikipedia in relation to references and plagiarism, as well as how quickly vandalism can be reverted and even minor errors be corrected”.
Wikipedia has a significant backlog of wikis that editors can update. In this Wikipedia Hackathon participants will gain the skills to join a global community and develop expertise in finding information and using those skills to make Wikipedia a better, more reliable place, one citation at a time!
After attending this Wikipedia Hackathon, participants will have learned how to:
- Edit Wikipedia
- Find articles that are in need of edit
- Add reliable citations.
This event at UL is organised as part of the pan-European All Digital Week
Workshop places are free, but limited, please book a place on EventBrite.