Our goal with this edit-a-thon series was to increase the number of new editors working within Wikipedia, as well as improve entries to the four neighborhoods in Lowell. This meant increasing citations, correcting information, expanding content and editing the readability of identified entries.
The library hosted a session once a month starting in December, and each six-hour session focused on a Lowell neighborhood. Experienced editors that came to the program taught new editors technical details, policies and how to edit. Our university library partnered with the Pollard Memorial Library (Lowell, Mass.), and half the sessions were held there, while the other half were at UMass Lowell’s O’Leary Library. Electronic and print sources were provided by the hosting library.Â
A Massachusetts academic library teamed up with a public library to host a four-session Wikipedia workshop.