Wikipedia:Meetup/UKY/BlackLivesMatter2021

When and Where
Date	Thursday, February 25, 2021
Time	3:00PM – 7:00PM
Address	University of Kentucky
City, State	Lexington, Kentucky (online)

UKY #BlackLivesMatter Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

As part of our celebrations of Black History Month, UK Libraries is planning a Black Lives Matter Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for February 25, 2021 with UK CELT, members of the English department at the College of Arts & Sciences, and other groups on campus.

Event information

Our official local website
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021
Time: 3:00 - 7:00PM
Location: online, Zoom info provided for registered users
Registration: Both advance registrants and participants on this day are encouraged to add their Wikipedia usernames to the #Sign up below.

Sign up for the UKY #BlackLivesMatter edit-a-thon

To sign up for this event: Log in or create an account.

dashboard link

Further info

Why Wikipedia? Wikipedia is the largest and most widely consulted encyclopedia in the world, but it has a well-documented diversity problem. In some measures, as many as 91% of Wikipedia editors (the individual people, members of the public, who contribute content to the encyclopedia) identify as white. The lack of diversity leads to bias, such as notable Black people not being represented by good articles in Wikipedia, and the accomplishments of Black people being hidden from discovery when researchers consult Wikipedia.

What is an Edit-a-thon? A Wikipedia “Edit-a-Thon” is a fun event that aims to change that! Edit-a-thons can happen online or in person, and they bring people together -- expert Wikipedia editors as well as brand new Wiki users and anyone interested -- who make time during the edit-a-thon for some intensive, targeted Wikipedia editing that will improve coverage of a certain topic in the encyclopedia. Existing articles are strengthened with more information, links and citations are added, and brand-new articles are prepared. There are ways for users at any level to contribute at a Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon.

BlackLivesMatter There are lots of groups working to improve Wikipedia coverage’s of Black history, such as:

and other local community projects! UK Libraries are excited to contribute to these efforts and celebrate Black History Month with a #BLM edit-a-thon this year.

Get involved UK Libraries welcomes participation in any and all stages of the edit-a-thon, including event management, outreach and campus partner recruitment, student promotion and participation, attending or creating Wikipedia tutorials, day-of teaching, day-of participation, and anything in between! Sign up with your Wikipedia account at the link above.

Articles to Create/Edit

Check out the Notable Kentucky African Americans (NKAA) database:

nkaa.uky.edu

This database, created by UK Libraries librarian Reinette Jones, is a great place to search for more info on existing articles, and a great resource to explore if you want to create a new article on someone who's not represented in Wikipedia yet.