York Libraries collaborate to enhance Black representation on Wikipedia
To address disparities in Black content on Wikipedia and Wikidata, the York University Libraries partnered with the University of Toronto, Toronto Metropolitan University and the Toronto Public Library to host the Black Histories Wikipedia and Wikidata Edit-a-thon in February 2023.
The edit-a-thon ran throughout the month of February. Through weekly synchronous sessions, a diverse group of interdisciplinary scholars and students came together to improve Black content online coverage and quality. York hosted an in-person event on February 15.
Participants gained information and data literacy skills while they worked to diversify online content. The edit-a-thon aimed to foster open scholarship and provided programming to engage with Black and racialized students and provide experiential education for students on current technologies. The public was also invited to attend and received editing training.
The edit-a-thon built on the success of previous years’ events, including the Black History Edit-a-thons and International Women’s Day Edit-a-thon. These collaborative knowledge-sharing events contribute to a more diverse and accurate portrayal of Black histories, empowering communities and raising awareness of the biases in media platforms.