Objectives: Wikipedia has been accepted worldwide as a credible source of health information by lay people, medical students, and healthcare professionals. With about 155,000 medical articles getting about 400 million pageviews each month, there is an urgent need for ensuring that information available on Wikipedia is accurate, current, reliable, and free from bias. As Cochrane contributors and gatekeepers for ‘trusted evidence, informed decisions, and better health’, helping to ensure the quality and reliability of Wikipedia medical articles is a logical extension of our mission to produce, disseminate, and advocate for the best available evidence.
Description: This workshop is for new or novice editors in Wikipedia who wish to learn more about Wikipedia and to actively contribute to the improvement of medical articles. We aim to introduce the participants to: 1) Wikipedia, its contributor community, and the values it holds important; 2) how to edit articles in Wikipedia, specifically how to register as a user, creating userpages, general editing, citing and referencing, and following some good practices. Participants wishing to make specific edits are encouraged to prepare and bring edited text, references, and other resources in advance of the workshop to maximize efficient use of limited time. Please also bring a laptop.
This workshop will be a part of a series of Colloquium events geared towards strengthening the partnership between Cochrane and Wikipedia.