Thank you by Adrianne Wadewitz for Wikimedia Foundation
As a kid, I had an expensive habit: books. I would read any book my parents bought me — and then beg for another. So they decided to save their bank account. They bought me Jane Eyre.
That huge novel took me forever to finish, but I fell in love. In fifth grade, we were assigned to teach our classmates about any subject we chose. I lectured on nineteenth century literature.
Today, I’m an English professor. I also contribute to Wikipedia, editing articles about writers like Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, and Jane Austen, who wrote Pride and Prejudice.
When I think of my work on Wikipedia, I don't just think of myself as someone who adds information; I think of myself as a teacher. Through Wikipedia, my reach extends far beyond any classroom. In the past month alone, Wikipedia's article on Jane Austen has been viewed more than 144,000 times.
At my university, I have access to many quality resources. But most people can't access these sources; they’re hidden behind a paywall. By editing Wikipedia, I can help fix this injustice.
I love learning. I always have. Which is why I believe so strongly that it should be available to everyone.
Do you agree? Then please join me in supporting Wikipedia.
— Adrianne Wadewitz
Adrianne’s research is focused on 18th century British literature. As a postdoc for Digital Learning and Research, she also assists her colleagues in finding new ways to integrate Wikipedia into their classrooms.
Video Attribution: The Impact of Wikipedia - Adrianne Wadewitz by Victor Grigas, under CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported, from Wikimedia Commons.
Image Attribution: Adrianne Wadewitz by Karen Sayre, under CC-BY-SA 3.0 Unported, from Wikimedia Commons.
This work is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license, which allows free use, distribution, and creation of derivatives, so long as the license is unchanged and clearly noted, and the original author is attributed.
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