2019:Health/MEDRS - bulwark or barrier?
 | This is an Accepted submission for the Health space at Wikimania 2019. |
Description[edit | edit source]
The English Wikipedia has additional sourcing guidelines that apply to biomedical information. These guide editors to use higher quality sourcing than is required for other kinds of information on Wikipedia. This session will discuss the rationale and background behind the en:WP:MEDRS guidance, and will examine the advantages and disadvantages of raised sourcing requirements for medical topics on Wikipedia.
Relationship to the theme[edit | edit source]
This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner: Sustainable development goal #3 is to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Wikipedia is arguably the single most used source of medical information available globally, with the English Wikipedia having the largest base among the languages, consisting of over 35,000 articles on health-related topics. It is of paramount importance that the information delivered represents the highest quality information as is accepted by the mainstream medical authorities. The additional sourcing requirements imposed on the English Wikipedia for biomedical information are intended to drive up the quality of content, and this session will examine how they attempt to do that and some of the consequent results.
Session outcomes[edit | edit source]
At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved: The audience will have a greater knowledge of the nature of the English Wikipedia's MEDRS guidelines, their purpose, and some of the issues surrounding their implementation.
Session leader(s)[edit | edit source]
Session type[edit | edit source]
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:
- Presentation and analysis, followed by audience question and answer
Requirements[edit | edit source]
The session will work best with these conditions:
- Room:
The setting can be a room of any size, seating either lecture hall or table-style. A projector with screen linked to a computer with online access is essential. A hand-held microphone would be a help in a large room for audience Q&A.
- Audience:
The audience can be any size. A prior familiarity with editing Wikipedia is desirable, but not essential.
- Recording:
The presentation could be filmed by a single fixed-location camera. Any questions taken live from the audience (some may be solicited for submission by email earlier) may require a second camera.