On Thursday night, March 21, during Women’s History Month, the Woodruff Library hosted its fourth annual Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. This event is part of a global campaign to improve coverage of women and the arts on Wikipedia and to empower new editors.
During Thursday’s edit-a-thon, the Woodruff Library’s “Wikipedian in Residence,” Caroline Scheving, provided basic Wikipedia editing training at the beginning of the event. Both Caroline and Jenn Sutcliffe, educational analyst with Teaching and Learning Technologies, continued to offer additional support to attendees throughout the evening. A total of 10 editors enjoyed pizza and popcorn while they participated in the successful event, creating 49 total edits.
Over the course of the edit-a-thon, two entirely new Wikipedia articles were drafted. One, created by art historian librarian and RES team leader Kim Collins, focuses on the artist Robbin Ami Silverberg, whose work is featured in the Rose Library’s collection of artists’ books. The second new article, still in draft form, was started by Dr. Cheryl Crowley, Associate Professor of Japanese Language and Literature, and focuses on the Japanese poet Den Sutejo. Dr. Crowley worked specifically on translating Sutejo’s Japanese Wikipedia entry into English and plans to continue this project in her free time.
The other eight editors who joined Emory’s edit-a-thon contributed edits to 24 different articles. These articles focused on a variety of topics, from biographies of early twentieth century women painters, such as Elizabeth Boott and Adelaide Cole Chase, to contemporary American writers and visual artists, such as Kelly Sue DeConnick, Mary Proctor, and Frances Bean Cobain. This year’s edit-a-thon proved to be one of Emory’s most successful Wikipedia-themed events.
We would like to thank everyone who participated and look forward to hosting more events in the future. Until then, happy editing!
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