爆料王

For the second year in a row, 爆料王 staff will be joined by students, locals and an eager online community to address Wikipedia鈥檚 gender skew and ensure more women are represented among its entries 鈥� one edit at a time.

Hosted by and the , the will be held on Tuesday 20 March at the Fisher Library on campus, joining similar events around the world held during Women in History Month.

Sydney University Press Editorial Officer Denise O鈥橠ea has outlined six reasons why the University鈥檚 community and the broader public might like to take part.

1. Wikipedia has a woman problem

鈥淲omen are seriously underrepresented in Wikipedia鈥檚 content,鈥� Denise said.

鈥淓xact figures vary depending on which research you鈥檙e reading, but only around 15 percent of individuals profiled on Wikipedia are women.鈥�

2. Wikipedia has another woman problem

鈥淲omen are also underrepresented among Wikipedia editors,鈥� Denise explains.

鈥淪omewhere between 10 and 15 percent of Wikipedia contributors identify as women, and the numbers are lower again when it comes to women of colour and women from non-Western countries.

鈥淲hile an edit-a-thon can鈥檛 solve all the reasons why, we hope our event gives people the skills they need to get started as Wikipedia editors, and the enthusiasm to keep going.鈥�

3. You don鈥檛 have to be in the Library, or even Sydney, to join in

鈥淓veryone is welcome to come along to Fisher Library on 20 March (RSVP via ),鈥� Denise said.

鈥淲e鈥檒l have plenty of reference works and staff who are expert at helping people to track down, assess and synthesise information.

鈥淲e鈥檇 also love people to join in remotely 鈥� we鈥檒l be live-tweeting the event from聽@sydneyunipress and can provide advice and support to people if needed.鈥�

4. The women themselves

鈥淟ast year we added entries and information on a wide range of women, include Indigenous elder, historian and activist , journalist , artist , poet , colonial artist Mary Morton Allport, academic and feminist activist , medical historian and public health academic and plant pathologist just to name a few,鈥� Denise said.

鈥淭his year we鈥檙e focusing on Australian women writers, scientists and scholars 鈥� and are also keen to include more movements, organisations and events that aren鈥檛 currently covered on Wikipedia. We鈥檙e happy to receive suggestions, too!鈥�

5. It鈥檚 easy to get involved

鈥淥n the day there鈥檒l be a short training session for new Wikipedia editors, and a chance to get stuck into some editing,鈥� Denise said.

鈥淲e鈥檙e keen to show participants that there are many ways to contribute to Wikipedia, whether you have a little time or a lot: you can fix problems with grammar and spelling, add stronger citations, flesh out a short article, or write a whole new article.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be providing examples of existing pages that need work, a list of subjects that don鈥檛 yet have Wikipedia pages, and help tracking down references.鈥�

6. It鈥檚 fun

鈥淟ast year鈥檚 event was fun, lively and collaborative, and we hope this year鈥檚 will be too,鈥� Denise said.