edits, even if changes they make end up getting overwritten or rejected by later editors.
We worked together to find a way to experiment with an assignment that would feel meaningful to as well as manageable for students. We decided creating new Wikipedia articles from scratch would be unnecessary if the goal was to have students learn enough about editing to contribute to the edit-a-thon. Thus, we focused on creating a list of Wikipedia articles related to the course that needed improvement. We considered what contributions students could make to those articles, ranging from adding citations or external references, revising narrative text, or uploading public domain and/or CC-licensed content. We also discussed the logistics for preparing students for the edit-a-thon (e.g., including when specific WikiEdu training modules should be completed in relation to the edit-a-thon, technology needs, etc.) and whether this should be an individual or group assignment. We believe our dialogue exemplified Diaz and Mandernach’s (2017) intentional relationship-building as well as Ivey’s (2003) four essential behaviors for successful librarian-faculty collaboration: a shared, understood goal; mutual respect, tolerance, and trust; competence for the task at hand by each of the partners; and ongoing communication.
An Iterative Collaboration
This first iteration of the assignment in LGBTQ Media Representation had students complete WikiEdu training modules during the first weeks of the semester. Then they were assigned to groups, each of which was responsible for identifying edits they could make to one article related to the course. They had a few weeks to collaborate and collect their planned edits, which they would then make to Wikipedia during regular class time at the edit-a-thon. In addition to connecting students with a broader Wikipedia editing community, the edit-a-thon was beneficial for this first-time assignment as it meant there were librarians with Wikipedia experience available who could help students who may have forgotten elements of their training. Moreover, it gave the edits a sense of purpose as the students were part of an event larger than the class itself.
