This document is a presentation by Brian Kelly from Cetis on editing Wikipedia and supporting users. The presentation provides 11 top tips for librarians on Wikipedia, including understanding why it is important, being willing to update articles, creating an account and profile, understanding principles, and supporting others. It also discusses case studies on Wikipedia use in education and outlines the structure of a workshop to train others on editing Wikipedia.

1. Presentation by Brian Kelly, UKOLN on 25 October 2012
for an Open Access Week event at the University of Exeter
1
Talk by Brian Kelly, Cetis on 15 May 2014 at the CILIP Wales 2014
conference: Making a Difference: Libraries and Their Communities
Editing Wikipedia: Why You Should and
How You Can Support Your Users
Event hashtag:
#cilipw14

2. Editing Wikipedia: Why You Should and
How You Can Support Your Users
Brian Kelly
Innovation Advocate
Cetis
University of Bolton
Bolton, UK
Contact Details
Email: ukwebfocus@gmail.com
Twitter: @briankelly
Cetis Web site: http://www.cetis.ac.uk/
Blog: http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/
Slides and further information available at
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/cilip-wales-2014-editing-wikipedia/
Event hashtag: #cilipw14

3. About Me
Brian Kelly:
• Innovation Advocate at Cetis, University of
Bolton
• Was UK Web Focus at UKOLN, University of
Bath (1996-2013)
• Prolific blogger (1,290+ posts since Nov 2006)
Involvement in Wikipedia and Wikimedia UK:
• Created first article in 2004
• Involved in Wikipedia training and Edit-a-thons
since 2013
• Accredited Wikipedia trainer
Introduction
3

4. 4 4
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Source cited!

5. About You
Who has:
• Has a Wikipedia account?
• Has edited Wikipedia
articles?
Who would:
• Like to create an account?
• Create a user profile?
• Perhaps even update an
article?
Feel free to do this during this
talk!
5
Can this figure be updated?

6. About You
Who has:
• Has a Wikipedia account?
• Has edited Wikipedia
articles?
Who would:
• Like to create an account?
• Create a user profile?
• Perhaps even update an
article?
Feel free to do this during this
talk!
6
Click here from any Wikipedia page

7. Is Wikipedia Relevant?
Who has:
• Used Wikipedia?
• Spotted errors in Wikipedia?
• Updated Wikipedia?
7
Wikipedia in the library - the elephant in the
(reading) room? Nancy Graham and Andrew
Gray, LILAC 2014

8. Is Wikipedia Relevant?
Who has:
• Used Wikipedia?
• Spotted errors in Wikipedia?
• Updated Wikipedia?
8
Wikipedia in the library - the elephant in the
(reading) room? Nancy Graham and Andrew
Gray, LILAC 2014

9. Why Wikipedia is Important
From Wikimedia UK
https://wiki.wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Expert_outreach

10. Top Tips
No. 1: Understand why Wikipedia is important to librarians
10

11. Eduwiki (UK) 2013
Eduwiki conference:
• Held in Cardiff on 1-2 Dec
2013
• Second EduWiki UK
conference
Covered:
• Welsh language issues
• Case studies from higher
education and schools
• Broader considerations
11

12. Two Case Studies
Summary of two case studies presented at EduWiki 2013:
• Safe Use of Wikipedia in the Transition from School
to University, Lisa Anderson and Nancy Graham,
University of Birmingham (now Roehampton)
• Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English
Villages, Humphrey Southall, University of
Portsmouth
12
EduWiki2013

13. Outreach work by University
of Birmingham Library
• Demonstrate information
literacy approaches to
school pupils
• Students surprised that
Wikipedia was shown
13

14. Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages
This was the assignment (see “Telling the stories of rural
England with Wikipedia” )
14
Humphrey Southall at
EduWiki conference
EduWiki2013

15. Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages
15
Notice how:
• Neutral Point of View principle was addressed
• Students introduced to concept of citations
EduWiki2013

16. Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages
Example of article chosen for updating by student
16
EduWiki2013

17. Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages
Article after updating
17
EduWiki2013

18. Introducing Students to Independent Research
through Editing Wikipedia Articles on English Villages
Students learn about researching and citations 18
EduWiki2013

19. Wikimania 2014
Wikimania 2014 will be held in London in August 2014
19
Wikimania 2014, annual international
conference, London 8-10 August 2014.

20. Top Tips
No. 2: Understand how Wikipedia is being used in education
20

21. Wikipedia Behind the Article
Who has looked at the information about
a Wikipedia article? 21

22. Wikipedia Behind the Article
We can see the history of the development of an
article (contributors, update dates; …) 22

23. Top Tips
No. 3: Gain a better understanding of the Wikipedia service
23

24. Beyond Consumption of Wikipedia
You:
• Spot an error in a
Wikipedia article
24

25. Be Willing to Update Wikipedia Articles
You:
• Spot an error in a
Wikipedia article
• Identify an area for
improvement
25
As an information professional wouldn’t you wish to
ensure that such information is accurate?
(Especially if this can be done in minutes!)
Will need updating in 2014

26. Top Tips
No. 4: Be willing to update Wikipedia articles
26

27. Why You Should Have a Wikipedia
Account
Using a Wikipedia
account to edit
articles is
recommended:
• Openness
• Record of
contributions
Ability to:
• Create new
articles
• Join in
discussions
• Have
customised
preferences
• … 27

28. Creating an Account
Feel feel to:
• Go to a Wikipedia page
and click Create
Account
• Then complete the form
A: New
users
28
Did you do it in less than
a minute?

29. Top Tips
No. 5: Create a Wikipedia account
29

30. Create a User Profile
Nancy Graham’s user profile
30
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Msnancygraham
User: msnancygraham
Use search box as a quick
way to find user profiles

31. Create a User Profile
Nancy Graham’s user profile
31
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Msnancygraham
User: msnancygraham

32. Today’s Goal : Create a User Profile
http://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/User:Lawsonstu
32

33. Categories
33
[[Category:Wikipedian librarians]]
Add this to bottom of your user
profile to be included
{{Userboxtop}}
{{template:User librarian}}
{{Userboxbottom}}
Add this to top of your user
profile to display a badge

34. Top Tips
No. 6: Create a Wikipedia profile
34

35. Be Ethical!
Quality of
Wikipedia
articles is
provided by
volunteer effort
Please do not:
• Introduce
errors to see
how soon
they are
corrected
35
[[Swansea city centre|central Swansea]]

36. Outreach work by Uni of
Birmingham Library
• Demonstrate information
literacy approaches to
school pupils
• Surprise that Wikipedia
was shown
36
Discussion:
“Live edit a Wikipedia entry – highlight
how quickly edits are corrected”
But should pages be ‘vandalised’ in order
to demonstrate how the community fixes
such vandalism?
Highlighted need to address best practices
for those who teach use of Wikipedia.

37. Top Tips
No. 7: Be ethical
37

38. Content Can Change!
Changes to the Jalalpur, Bihar arty=icle
38Minor edit made (to check processes for new editors)

39. Content Can Change!
Changes to the Jalalpur, Bihar arty=icle
39
This article was proposed for deletion by
Lfstevens on 2 May 2014 with the comment:
unnotable, uncited stub
It was contested by Necrothesp on 7 May 2014
with the comment:
all settlements are considered to be notable;
cleaned up

40. Top Tips
No. 8: Be prepared for your contributions to be changed
(but be willing to get involved in discussions on Talk page)
40

41. The Five Pillars
Fundamental principles by which the Wikimedia
community operates...
Wikipedia:
1. is an encyclopedia
2. is written from a neutral point of view
3. is free content that anyone can
edit / use/ modify / share
4. editors should respect each other
5. does not have any firm rules
41

42. Key Principles for Content (1)
No original research
All research must come from published sources e.g.
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Peer-reviewed books
• University-level textbooks
• Magazines, journals and books published by
respected publishing houses
• Mainstream newspapers
42

43. Key Principles for Content (2)
Neutral Point of View
Content should be provided from a neutral point of view:
• If your viewpoint is in the majority, then it should be
easy to substantiate it with reference to commonly
accepted reference texts;
• If your viewpoint is held by a significant minority,
then it should be easy to name prominent
adherents;
• If your viewpoint is held by an extremely small
minority, then — whether it's true or not, whether
you can prove it or not — it doesn't belong in
Wikipedia, except perhaps in some ancillary article.
43

44. Top Tips
No. 9: Understand the Wikipedia principles
44

45. Supporting Others
About a training course – see
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/lilac-2014-getting-to-grips-with-wikipedia/ 45

46. Supporting Others
Approaches to the following aspects:
• Registration
• Creating a Wikipedia profile
• Editing existing articles
• Creating new articles
• What can go wrong?
• Conforming with Wikipedia principles
• Useful resources
• Question time and discussion
46
Structure of a one-hour hands-on session

47. Structure of Workshop
Structure of hour-long session:
• About the session
• Creating an account: 1 slide.
Now login and do it! (not needed for
some, so some moved on to next part,
creating or editing user profile based
on existing profiles)
47
BasicEditing
Case study 1:
Basic editing
Change examples to relevant profiles
(e.g. for sessions for librarians)
See
http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/wikipedia-training-the-trainer-34540111

48. Structure of Workshop
Structure of hour-long session:
• About the session
• Creating an account
• Creating a user profile: 4 slides
Now create a profile using plain text
48
BasicEditing
See
http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/wikipedia-training-the-trainer-34540111

49. Structure of Workshop
Structure of hour-long session
• About the session
• Creating an account
• Creating a user profile
• Wikimedia syntax (formatting,
headings and links): 1 slide
Now improve your profile; feel
free to reuse ideas for profiles
we’ve shown. Slide left on
screen during exercise.
49
BasicEditing
See
http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/wikipedia-training-the-trainer-34540111

50. Structure of Workshop
Structure of hour-long session
• About the session
• Creating an account
• Creating a user profile
• Wikimedia syntax (formatting,
headings and links)
• Next steps (adding metadata and
finding pages to be improved): 4 slides
50
BasicEditing
See
http://www.slideshare.net/lisbk/wikipedia-training-the-trainer-34540111

51. Top Tips
No. 10: Support others (and feel free to reuse existing
materials)
51

52. Don’t Forget Wicipedia
Don’t Forget Wicipedia Cymraeg (the Welsh Wicipedia):
http://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defnyddiwr:Llywelyn2000
52

53. Learning from Others
Example of contributors to Wikipedia Wales
53

54. Top Tips
No. 11: Don’t forget Wicipedia!
54

55. The Top 10 (+ 1 bonus) Tips
1. Understand why Wikipedia is important to librarians
2. Understand how Wikipedia is being used
3. Gain a better understanding of the Wikipedia
service
4. Be willing to update Wikipedia articles
5. Create a Wikipedia account
6. Create a Wikipedia profile
7. Be ethical
8. Be prepared for your contributions to be changed
9. Understand the Wikipedia principles
10.Support others (and feel free to reuse existing
materials)
11.Don’t forget Wicipedia!

56. ANY QUESTIONS?
Cartoon
56
Continue the discussion: see the blog post about this presentation:
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/top-wikipedia-tips-for-librarians

57. Questions?
Any questions, comments, …?
57
Continue the discussion: see the blog post about this presentation:
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2014/05/14/top-wikipedia-tips-for-librarians

58. This presentation, “Editing Wikipedia: Why You Should and How You
Can Support Your Users” by Brian Kelly, Cetis is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Licence
Note the licence covers most of the text in this presentation. Quotations
may have other licence conditions.
Images may have other licence conditions. Where possible links are
provided to the source of images so that licence conditions can be found.
58
Slides and further information available at
http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/events/cilip-wales-2014-editing-wikipedia/
Licence and Additional Resources