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University Library STEM Wikipedia Edit-a-thons

IGB Fall 2023 Wikipedia Edit-a-thon!

Women in STEM Wikipedia Edit-a-thon: Spring 2025

A QR code that leads to the URL: https://go.illinois.edu/STEMwikiDuring this hybrid event, we'll celebrate Women's History Month and improve Wikipedia's women in STEM representation. Wikipedia expert Jamie Flood will guide participants through the process of an edit-a-thon and our librarians will be available in-person and online to provide reference support and library expertise. Online attendees, we will be enabling live captioning, have an online moderator, and the presenter will be using a microphone. We will have food and light refreshments. Please bring your laptops or use one of ours*!

*20 laptops available; first-come, first-served!

Seats limited to 40 people. Please inform Celenia Graves at celeniag@illinois.edu if you have any accessibility requests.

 

Editing Event: Kick-Off January 13, 2025

During this hybrid kick-off meeting, Wikipedia expert Jamie Flood will guide you through the process of an edit-a-thon. The kick-off is open to all library workers who are interested in learning more about this process.

We will be using IGB's Edit-a-thon 2023 Spreadsheet to help learn and practice Wikipedia editing.

If you'd like extra practice, we recommend trying out The Wikipedia Adventure Game to practice Wikipedia editing!

Wikipedia Edit-a-thon Speakers!

Jamie Flood, Monday January 13 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and Thursday, March 13 from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. 

Jamie Flood is the Senior Wikipedian and Outreach Coordinator with USDA National Agricultural Library in the Agricultural Law Information Partnership. In May 2024, Jamie graduate from UIUC with her master's in Library and Information Science. Jamie is a founding member of the Wikimedians of Indiana User Group, chairs the Wikimedia Working Group with the Digital Public Library of America, and is an active Wikipedia editor, trainer, and organizer.

Research
Her current research and digital projects focus on Farm Worker rights and conditions, Heirs’ Property, food justice and equity, utilizing timelines and other online digital exhibits to re-examine historical narratives, and utilizing Wikipedia as a means for knowledge equity and information discoverability. She extensively edits Wikipedia around agricultural and legal topics, women and Black and Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) historical figures, and historical landmarks and local history.

Jamie was a Wikipedia Edit-a-thon Speaker at the IGB Edit-a-thon on Friday October 13 and Monday November 13.

Mackenzie LemieuxMackenzie Lemieux 

Mackenzie is a 4th year medical student at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis.

Mackenzie Lemieux is an avid Wikipedia user and has been creating Wikipedia pages since 2019. During the pandemic, Mackenzie wrote over 100 Wikipedia biographies of women in STEM in an attempt to increase the representation of women on Wikipedia and improve their visibility online. Mackenzie has taught Wikipedia editing across the country at local, national, and international events.


Research and career
Beyond editing and teaching others, Mackenzie conducts research exploring gender and racial biases on Wikipedia. Her recent paper highlights the biased use of specific tags on Wikipedia that lead to deletion of Women's biographies. Her current research explores gender bias surrounding images on Wikipedia biographies and how images impact search algorithms and search engines. Her future career aspirations are in obstetrics and gynecology where she plans to continue to advocate for gender equity, diversity, and inclusion in STEM and medicine. Mackenzie was the IGB Wikipedia Edit-a-thon speaker on Thursday, September 21, 2023.