Engaging student employee expertise to improve Wikipedia edit-a-thons

Abstract

Although academic skepticism of Wikipedia’s value as an information resource is widespread, the collaboratively created online encyclopedia is in fact one of the most frequently used health information resources in the world, including among students and professionals. As a result, the U.S.-based Network of the National Library of Medicine (NNLM) has, since 2018, organized biannual “#CiteNLM” edit-a-thons aimed at strengthening Wikipedia’s health pages by adding content and citations to trusted sources of information. The first #CiteNLM edit-a-thon was a one-day virtual event in April 2018; since then NNLM’s edit-a-thons have evolved into month-long campaigns engaging primarily academic libraries with in-person edit-a-thons as well as virtual events. Hundreds of students, faculty, and library staff across the country (many of whom were new to Wikipedia editing) have collaborated in NNLM’s efforts to support universal access to high-quality health information. To date, over 600 health articles have been edited by over 400 editors. The current #CiteNLM campaign structure makes it easy for either individuals or groups to contribute or host affiliated events, which can include classroom exercises, citizen science projects, or library engagement efforts.