Wikipedia

Wikipedia:Meetup/Toronto/Black History Edit-A-Thon (February 2021)

< Wikipedia:Meetup | Toronto
Black History Edit-a-Thon 2021
When and Where
DurationFebruary 2021
register and edit anytime
Training sessions
(times in ET)		Feb 5 & 19, 1-4pm
Feb 12 & 26, 10am-1pm
Link to joinRegister to receive (#Schedule)
Social media
Hashtag#BlackHistoryMonth
#UofT
#(your group/institution)
+ if you're participating from a library: #1Lib1Ref

We invite you to celebrate Black History Month with us. Learn to edit Wikipedia and help us improve its coverage of Black histories!

Event details

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When

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This virtual editing campaign will last through the month of February 2021.

There will be kickoff and closing events at the beginning and end of the month. We will also run regular, facilitated editing sessions over Zoom.

To join a virtual event, please register in order to receive the video call link. See #Schedule of events for details.

Where

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Online. You can edit without joining a virtual event, or join a facilitated virtual event (kick-off event or weekly editing hours).

Who

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This event is open to anyone who would like to help grow the sum of fair, dignified, and gender-inclusive Black histories on Wikipedia. All levels of skill are welcome.

What you will need

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You will need internet access and a device (PC, tablet, etc.) which can handle text editing and web searches.

If you are new and would like to learn to edit over one of the facilitated sessions, you will need simultaneous access to Zoom.

Schedule of events

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Please register for events to receive zoom links. Registration is open to the public.

Event Date/Time Register Notes
Kickoff February 1, 12:30-2pm ET (time zone converter) event page Please join us for a facilitated conversation on:
  • Black histories in public knowledge
  • empowerment of Black voices
  • the promise and place of technologies like Wikipedia

We will hear from poet, journalist, and activist El Jones and dancer and educator Tyrell Black.

Editing sessions February 5, 1-4pm ET (time zone converter) event page Facilitated editing sessions. Come for community, and learn to edit if you're new!

Training happens in the first half hour, and again at the 1.5 hour mark.

If the session runs from 1-4pm, training happens between 1-1:30pm and 2:30-3pm.

If the session runs from 10am-1pm, training happens between 10-10:30am and 11:30am-12pm.

February 12, 10am-1pm ET (time zone converter) event page
February 19, 1-4pm ET (time zone converter) event page
February 26, 10am-1pm ET (time zone converter) event page

Acknowledgements

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We thank all participants (you!) and organisers who kindly share their time to make this virtual editing campaign possible. This event is a joint effort by library staff at University of Toronto's three campuses (Mississauga, Scarborough, and St. George) and the Toronto Public Library. It also builds on a previous event hosted in February 2020 at UTSC Library.

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To join a virtual event

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You can edit without joining a virtual event. If this is your preference, see #To edit (the next section).

If you do wish to join a virtual event (kick-off event or weekly editing hours), please register to receive video call links. Registration links can be found in #Schedule of events.

To edit

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Log in or sign up for an account through one of these Outreach Dashboards:

How:

  • If you have an account, log in and click Join program under Actions (bottom right section) to register.
  • If you don't have an account, click Request an account at the top of the page to request one. You will then obtain an account registered with the edit-a-thon.

If you run into any difficulties, you can email us.

Once you are registered with the event, you can begin editing! See #How to edit and #Tasks for an overview of what you can help with and how. The list of #Online resources may also spark some ideas on what to edit. You are, of course, always welcome to find ways to edit beyond what has been suggested. If you start editing an article in #Tasks, please mark it as "Started" in the Status column.

You can edit in any language. See notes in #Languages. You can also edit on Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.

You can register with the event anytime. We can count your relevant edits for the duration of February 2021 as long as you are registered by the end of the month. At the end of the event, we will supplement Dashboard counts with data from Event Metrics.

Languages

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You can edit in any language. We are currently counting edits in the following language Wikipedias:

If you are editing in a language which does not appear on this list, event facilitators are happy to assist. Please leave a request on User:Utl_jung's talk page and they will get to it as soon as possible. We can count edits retroactively, so you can start editing without waiting for the facilitator's confirmation.

How to edit

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Main pages: Wikipedia:FAQ/Editing and Help:Introduction

This is a non-exhaustive guide to editing, simplified and organised by type of edit. You can supplement the notes below with this DIY slide deck. You can also try some editing exercises.

On Wikipedia, you can improve old stuff (existing articles) or write new stuff (new articles). If you're new to Wikipedia, it may be helpful to start by improving existing articles. Please bear in mind that the instructions below take the English Wikipedia as their basis. Basic editing "how-to"s apply across all language Wikipedias, although templates are specific to each Wikipedia and you will need to find and use the appropriate ones.

Improve old stuff

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Here are some ways you can improve an existing article:

  • Link one article to another. For example, in Eglinton West there is a sentence on reggae which should be linked to reggae.
  • Cite to verify statements which do not yet have a source. Everything on Wikipedia needs to trace back to a source.
  • Add sentences based on sources. Keep in mind:
    • Please only summarise and paraphrase the information found in the source being cited, to avoid plagiarism and copyright issues.
    • The source cannot attest to more than it claims.
      • For example, a source that says 'A' can only anchor 'A', not 'A therefore B'. To write 'A therefore B', you will need a source that says 'A therefore B'.
  • Reword or rephrase in favour of terms that are specific, up-to-date, and chosen by relevant individuals/cultures/communities.
  • Add templates to an article to make them easier to find, read, and improve.
    • You can add an infobox to the top of an article. An infobox summarises key facts about the article's subject, and looks different based on topic. It can include an image or a map if appropriate and available.
      • The infobox should only summarise information which is in the body of the article. If you have new facts to add, write and cite that information in the body of the article then use the infobox to summarise.
      • There are many kinds of infoboxes. Use an infobox appropriate for the article's subject. Take a look at similar pages in editing view to see what others have used, or look on Wikipedia:List of infoboxes for infoboxes which are bolded and/or have a higher transclusion count (=more frequently used). Commonly used infoboxes include infobox song (example), infobox film (example), infobox musical artist (example), infobox person (example), infobox radio station (example).
    • You can add these templates to the bottom of an article, if applicable:
      • {{authority control}} - if the article is about a person or an organisation
      • {{stub}} - if the article is small and needs more development.

Write new stuff

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To write a new article, take the following steps:

  • Choose a topic whose notability can be established through several reliable sources. You should find at least 3-5 sources which:
    • are independent from the subject of the article (avoid conflict of interest)
    • stay constant over time (avoid social media)
    • can be summarised without additional interpretation (avoid sources like a photograph with no accompanying description)
  • Look through related Wikipedia articles in case you find the same topic covered in a section of another article. Use a search engine to find relevant articles.
    • For example, History of insulin is not an article in itself, but there are relevant sections in Insulin#History and History of diabetes#Insulin.
    • If you do find a section which addresses your topic, you can build on that section instead of creating a whole new article. Or if the section is notable enough to merit its own article and you'd like to dedicate some time to creating it, you may do so. You can then link to the new, standalone article from relevant sections using Template:Main.
  • Gather many different sources on the topic. A Wikipedia article is the sum of what is known about a topic, so your collection of sources will be your writing material. No need to worry about perfection, but you can give it a strong start that others can build on.
  • To get a sense for article structure, refer to other well-developed articles on the same topic area (e.g. place, biography, organisation, event).
    • Take a look at some recognised articles by topic in Wikipedia:Good articles. These will give you a sense for what your article can look like.
  • Draft the article, adding citations at the end of each sentence. If you used one source for many sentences, you may cite it at the end of the last sentence.
    • You can draft the article in your Wikipedia sandbox. This is your scratchpad - you can find it in the top right corner of Wikipedia.
    • Make sure to summarise and paraphrase the information you find in a source, to avoid plagiarism and copyright issues.

How to submit an article for creation

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Main page: Wikipedia:Articles for creation
  • When you are ready, use Wikipedia:Article wizard to submit your article as a draft. The article will be pushed to draftspace and be titled "Draft:[Article name]".
  • While the article is in draftspace, others can help improve it before it is created in mainspace.
  • You can submit the article for creation by clicking Submit for review. If you don't see this button, add the code {{subst:submit}} to the top of your draft in the source editor. Once you publish changes, you will see a yellow tag which indicates that the article has been submitted for review.
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Tasks

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This section has been relocated to a stand-alone project page for the task list.

Online resources

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Below are some free, open-access resources on Black histories in Canada. (Feel free to add resources by editing this section!)

Searching on Google Books is another good strategy to find info on a particular subject.

If you have a university library card or public library card, you can access academic journals (e.g. JSTOR at U of T) or archival newspapers (e.g. Toronto Star Historical Archive at TPL) and other useful databases to find info on a subject. (You sign up for a Digital Access Card from Toronto Public Library online).

Alberta

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British Columbia

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New Brunswick

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Nova Scotia

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Ontario

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Prince Edward Island

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Québec

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  • Show Girls - Documentary film about the Black jazz clubs in Montreal from 1920s to 1960s from National Film Board of Canada.

Saskatchewan

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Yukon

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Canada

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