Did you know that you can help close the gender gap on Wikipedia? Want to learn more - in a fun, stimulating and informative setting? Then join us for the 2023 International Women’s Day edit-a-thon on March 8th from 17h30 to 21h00 at Kunstinsituut Melly in Witte de Withstraat, Rotterdam.
The event features a short talk by Prof. Hanneke Takkenberg, ECWO’s Executive Director, on why it’s vital to increase the visibility of women on Wikipedia, as well as an introduction to contributing and editing Wikipedia entries by Dr Laura Braden. Important insights from the Wikimedia Nederland team will also be shared.
Providing a powerful context for the edit-a-thon is Still Shifting, Mother Field, an exhibition by artist Jennifer Tee that includes newly commissioned ceramic sculptures, textile installations, performances, and collages.
The edit-a-thon takes place against a background of data from Humaniki which shows that just over 19% of English Wikipedia's biographies are about women. The edit-a-thon is an opportunity to add to women's biographies, women's works, and women's issues on the platform and reduce systemic bias on Wikipedia as a whole (you can read more about the challenges facing Wikipedia biography entries here).
Wikimedia Nederland is the Dutch branch of the organisation behind Wikipedia which is committed to a world in which everyone can share free knowledge with others. Wikimedia Nederland will be present and will show participants how Wikipedia works and how to write a good encyclopedia article.
On the day itself there will be a list of topics and sources which you can use to write an article or add to one. You can also help by translating articles to or from your native language. Your own input or ideas on inclusiveness are also welcome. It is important to note that no prior knowledge is required to be part of this important event. All you need to bring along is your laptopo.
This annual Edit-a-thon is made possible by Studium Generale, ECWO (Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations), Dr Laura Braden (Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication), Wikimedia Netherlands and Kunstinsituut Melly.
You can register your attendance here.
Je-Anne Dirksz created the visual for the 2023 International Women's Day Edit-a-Thon. For this, she researched the term non-binary as well as self-reflection - and you can see the results in the striking poster for our event.
“This whole event will be a moment to bring people together to learn about things we can do
online to make the information we obtain more inclusive,” shares Je-Anne. “I think this will also be an evening of collective reflecting. I see it will become a night of different stories being shared between the people who are present on that day. The people who are going to participate in the training/workshop will learn how to gain the skill of editing, writing and creating Wikipedia pages. This also gives a sense of ‘ability to control how the future thinking could evolve’.”
You can read more about Je-Anne here.
The Erasmus Centre for Women and Organisations (ECWO) at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is committed to creating organisations where all women are fully and equitably engaged at all levels. ECWO provides education, research and advocacy that benefits individual women, organisations and society as a whole and helps create communities of women who support and empower each other in creating change. ECWO’s open programmes, in-company programmes, coaching, events, advisory alliances, research and advocacy drive its vision of a world where all women have an equal share of organisational power and influence.
