2019:Health/Editing Wikipedia as a health expert - are the challenges simply academic
 | This is an Accepted submission for the Health space at Wikimania 2019. |
Description
Editing Wikipedia as a health expert - are the challenges simply academic?
Relationship to the theme
This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:
Wikipedia is among the most heavily-trafficked sites for health information (some estimates place Wikipedia second to Pubmed at NLM). Greater engagement of medical experts has been discussed but not achieved, and this session will discuss challenges that might be addressed through education, but also raises some challenges that may be difficult to overcome due to the nature of Wikipedia versus academic writing (using academics as one group that includes medical expertise).
Good Health and Well-being (SDG3) are fostered by accurate & accessible health/medical information. Availability of such information also fosters Quality Education (SDG4), and there is good evidence that education fosters Gender Equity (SDG5). Partnerships for the Goals (SDG17) includes in its description, "Developing multi-stakeholder partnerships to share knowledge, expertise, technology, and financial support is seen as critical to overall success of the SDGs. Public-private partnerships that involve civil societies are specifically mentioned."
Session outcomes
At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:
Audience members will have a greater awareness of fundamental and/or cultural differences between Wikipedia editing and academic biomedical writing. Perhaps this will help with communication with, and engagement of, academic editors.
The speaker will learn from the audience (through feedback during Q&A) about how well this topic resonates. Strategies for earlier (relative to career) engagement of biomedical experts will be explored.
Session leader(s)
Stuart Ray, M.D. - user soupvector on en.wp
Session type
Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:
- Lecture
Requirements
The session will work best with these conditions:
- Room:
Projector + Screen
- Audience:
People who are interested in what (somewhat specific) challenges may reduce or discourage academic experts in biomedicine from engaging as Wikipedia editors.
- Recording:
Single fixed location will suffice. Recording can be CC (any preferred flavor).
Questions
- Sounds good. Doc James (talk) 19:07, 11 June 2019 (UTC)
Interest
If you would like to attend this session, please express your interest by signing ~~~~ below
- … (you?)