Howard University Students to Edit Wikipedia’s Black History Content

Last week, we reported that the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York hosted an event called “Black Life Matters Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon” to add more information on the site about people of color. Now, the same initiative has spread to the nation’s capital with students from Howard University working to edit content on the site related to African Diasporic history and culture.

Taking place on Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC), Howard University faculty, graduate students and other individuals will be introduced to the skills needed to upgrade Wikipedia entries that pertain to African Americans or those of the African diaspora. The day-long event will include editorial training, independent and group research, and writing time. Attendees will use MSRC’s unique collection of Africana documents, artifacts, archives and online resources to update the site’s information.

“Howard University is the ideal place to hold edit-a-thon on this broad and underserved subject area,” said MSRC director Howard Dodson. “Howard has pioneered in the development of scholarship on the global black experience, with hundreds of scholars and graduate students focusing on Africana-related themes.”

Participants of the event are asked to bring any relevant papers or articles they have written as it may help to develop new entries or verify the accuracy of current Wikipedia content.

Click here to see the list of articles that will be reviewed at the event.

SOURCE: Howard.edu