Presentation on the role of information architects in improving diversity and inclusion of underrepresented topics in Wikipedia, given at the 2017 Information Architecture Summit in Vancouver on March 25, 2017. Wikipedia is the world's largest encyclopedia; however, fair representation of notable, but underrepresented people and topics remains a major concern. In response, the Wikimedia Foundation has supported many grassroots efforts including Women in Red, Art+Feminism, Wiki Loves Pride, Black Lunch Table and AfroCROWD, among others, to improve discovery of these topics. This presentation offered an overview of current efforts to diversify the information available on Wikipedia. Learn how we can use our Information Architecture skills and Wikimedia tools to improve the findability and representation of valuable, but missing information, and start contributing to the topics you care about. Visit WikiProject:Information Architecture and join the movement: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Information_Architecture

1. Diversity and Inclusion in Information
A Working Wikipedia Session
Noreen Y. Whysel, COO, Decision Fish
nwhysel@gmail.com
Wikipedia User:nwhysel
#IAwikipedia #ias17

2. Session Overview
⬜ Inclusion in Information
⬜ Wikipedia Diversity Programs
⬜ Wikipedia Conduct Policies
⬜ Core Content Policies
⬜ Be Bold!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies#Conduct

3. Inclusion in Information
⬜ Newspaper ownership
⬜ Bias in academic research
⬜ Disparity in positions of authority
⬜ Number of editors within a given group
⬜ Translating articles from one Wikipedia language
site to another.

4. Projects, initiatives, user groups
⬜ AfroCROWD
⬜ Art+Community
⬜ Art+Feminism
⬜ Black WikiHistory Month
⬜ Black Lunch Table
⬜ Black Women Intelligentsia
⬜ Indigenous Film & Media
⬜ Indigenous Storytellers WikiThon
⬜ Smithsonian APA Asian Pacific American
⬜ Wiki Loves Pride
⬜ wikiD: Women. Wikipedia. Design.
⬜ Women in Red
⬜ Writing Middle Eastern Women into History Initiative (WMWH)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup#Projects.2C_initiatives.2C_user_groups

5. WikiProject Women in Red
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red
⬜ Redlinks are pages that have not been created.
⬜ If a woman’s name is linked and she does not
have a Wikipedia page yet, the link will be red.
⬜ The objective of WikiProject Women in Red is to
turn Redlinks into Blue Links.

6. Art + Feminism
⬜ Less than 10% of contributors to Wikipedia identify
as female.
⬜ Our main purpose is to contribute and amend
meaningful content to the Wikipedia.
⬜ All gender identities and expressions welcome.
http://www.artandfeminism.org

7. AfroCROWD
http://www.afrocrowd.org
⬜ Afro Free Culture Crowdsourcing Wikimedia
(AfroCROWD) seeks to increase the number of
people of African Descent who actively partake in
the Wikimedia and free knowledge, culture and
software movements.

8. Wiki Loves Pride
⬜ Supported by Wikimedia LGBT+, a
user group that promotes the
development of content on Wikimedia
projects which is of interest to LGBT+
communities.
⬜ Activities usually in June and
September.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Loves_Pride

9. Refugees 2016
⬜ In May 2016 the Wikimedia DC Chapter held an
editathon on issues affecting refugees worldwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/Refugees2016

10. Her Girl Friday / Lenny Letter
⬜ Women Journos Unconference and Editathon, a Her
Girl Friday Tackles the Gender Gap: The Wikipedia
Editing Brunch event co-sponsored by Her Girl Friday
and Lenny Letter, January 28, 2017, New York.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/NYC/2017-01_HGF_Lenny

11. Projects in Vancouver
⬜ Indigenous Storytellers WikiThon (April 4, 2017 @ UBC) : Theme:
Indigenous storytellers, specifically those working in film and theatre and
situated in the country known as Canada.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Indigenous_Storytellers
_WikiThon
⬜ Art + Feminism (March 18, 2017 @ Belkin Art Gallery, UBC & March 19,
2017 @ Western Front Society):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Vancouver/ArtAndFemi
nism_2017
⬜ Local Women in Science (September 21, 2016 @ UBC, SFU, BCIT):
Theme: Local Women in Science, specifically, female scientists at BCIT,
SFU, and UBC.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Vancouver/LocalWome
ninSciencey

12. Neutral point of view – All Wikipedia articles and other
encyclopedic content must be written from a neutral point
of view, representing significant views fairly, proportionately
and without bias.
Basic Rules: Core Content Policies
Be aware of the difference between a neutral point of view
and a common understanding, which may reflect structural
or institutional bias.

13. No original research – Wikipedia does not publish original
thought: all material in Wikipedia must be attributable to a
reliable, published source. Articles may not contain any
new analysis or synthesis of published material that serves
to advance a position not clearly advanced by the sources.
BASIC RULES: CORE CONTENT
POLICIES
Basic Rules: Core Content Policies
If a topic is little known or studied in academic institutions, it
may be difficult to find sources to point to. For example, if you
want to create an article about an endangered indigenous
language, where would you find secondary sources?

14. Verifiability – Material challenged or likely to be challenged,
and all quotations, must be attributed to a reliable,
published source. In Wikipedia, verifiability means that
people reading and editing the encyclopedia can check
that information comes from a reliable source.
Basic Rules: Core Content Policies
How would you find a reliable source? Journal articles on the
subject with DOI link. Texts written by researchers at
academic programs. “Mainstream media.” Avoid primary
sources. What do you do if the source you use is challenged?

15. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
What if notability guidelines reproduce structural sexism and
racism? How can we address and amend this?
Basic Rules: Core Content Policy
Notability is a test used by editors to decide if a given topic
warrants its own article. If a topic has received significant
coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the
subject, it is presumed to be suitable for a stand-alone
article or list. If no reliable, third-party sources can be found
on a topic, it will not be given a separate article.

16. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Basic Rules: Core Content Policy
H.W. Janson’s History of Art
● Seminal reference work
● Published in 1962
● Hundreds of artists profiled
● Only 27 female artists
● Zero female artists were
included before the 1980s

17. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Basic Rules: Core Content Policies
Biographies of Living Persons: Articles about living
persons, which require a degree of sensitivity, must
adhere strictly to Wikipedia's content policies. Be very
firm about high-quality references, particularly about
details of personal lives.
“Unsourced or poorly sourced contentious material—
whether negative, positive, or just questionable—about
living (or sometimes recently deceased) persons should
be removed immediately and without discussion from
Wikipedia articles, talk pages, user pages, and project
space."

18. If you think you have a Conflict Of Interest (COI), don’t create the article,
post that someone else should create it on a related talk page.
Basic Rules: Conflict of Interest

19. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Content Guidelines
...or how to avoid rejection or reversion
⬜ Cite sources
⬜ Do not create hoaxes
⬜ No full text of primary sources
⬜ Identify reliable sources
⬜ No plagiarism
⬜ No patent nonsense

20. Wikipedia Conduct Policies
⬜ Civility
⬜ Clean start
⬜ Consensus
⬜ Dispute resolution
⬜ Edit warring
⬜ Editing policy
⬜ Harassment
⬜ No personal attacks
⬜ Ownership of articles
⬜ Sock puppetry
⬜ Username policy
⬜ Vandalism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_policies#Conduct

21. Wikipedia Conduct Policies
⬜ Code of Conduct
⬜ Safer Spaces
⬜ Child Care
⬜ Focus on collaborative editing
⬜ Access for the disabled

22. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Creating a Gender Perspective
The Women You Have Never Met project offers
guidelines for sensitivity to gendered point of view.
⬜ Titles: Avoid using a married name in a title, if the
person is known by their maiden name.
⬜ Relationships: Avoid describing a female subject in
relation to her spouse or father (“wife of”, “daughter
of”) in the lead paragraph.
⬜ Description: Avoid referencing a subject’s gender,
race or sexuality if it is irrelevant to their
importances as a subject (“woman scientist” or
“female author”)
https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Women_You_Have_Never_Met
#How_to_edit_including_the_gender_perspective_in_Wikipedia.3F

23. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Creating a Gender Perspective
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

24. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Creating a Gender Perspective
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hélène_Langevin-Joliot

25. BASIC RULES:
NOTABILITY
Creating a Gender Perspective
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irène_Joliot-Curie

26. • Post a question on the talk page of another Wikipedia
User's talk page.
• Ask a question to the Wikipedia Teahouse question
board.
• Resolving disputes; Wikipedia:Dispute
resolution, Wikipedia:Etiquette, Wikipedia:Staying cool
when the editing gets hot.
• Email info@art.plusfeminism.org with specific Wikipedia
editing questions if you can't find what you need on
Wikipedia
Asking for Help and Resolving Disputes

27. • Wikipedia is highly democratic. Anyone can edit any
page. This can create challenges in developing an
authentic and neutral point of view.
• Even information from reliable sources can be
contentious (Fake News, intersectionality)
• Who speaks for the subject? Whose “neutral point of
view” is most authentic? Must an authentic article equal
an “authentic point of view”?
Challenge: Establishing Authenticity

28. • Wikimedia Projects
Wikidata
Wikimedia
Commons
Wikisource
Wikiquotes
Wikipedia features and tools for organizing information
include:
• Categories
• Infoboxes
• Portals
• WikiProjects
• WikiTools
Reasonator
ListeriaBot
PetScan
How IAs Can Help

29. Categories
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

30. Infoboxes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

31. Portals
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Mexico

32. WikiProjects
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Frida_Kahlo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Disability

33. Wikimedia Projects
https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_projects

34. WikiTools: Reasonator
https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_projects

35. WikiData: Q5588
https://m.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5588

36. Wikisource and Wikiquotes
https://en.m.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Frida_Kahlo
https://en.m.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frida_Kahlo

37. Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Frida_Kahlo

38. DBpedia: Linked Open Data
http://wiki.dbpedia.org

39. • Creating an Account
• Anatomy of a Wikipedia Page: "Talk", "Read", "Edit", and "View History“
• Making Simple Edits
• Userpages
• Working in the Sandbox
• Putting in Citations
• Additional Ways to Contribute
• Copyright and Wikipedia
• Basic Rules
• Asking for Help and Resolving Disputes
http://bit.ly/IA-WikipediaTraining
Videos: http://www.artandfeminism.org/editing-kit/
Training Guides

40. TRAINING OUTLINE: LINKS TO KEEP OPENTraining: Helpful Links
Guide to Contributing to Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contributing_to_Wikipedia
Wiki Markup Cheat Sheet:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_markup_cheatsheet_EN.pdf
WikiProject: Information Architecture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Information_Architecture
IA Ongoing Tasks:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Information_Architecture#O
ngoing_Tasks

41. March is Women’s History Month
⬜ Join 41 Art + Feminism
events worldwide in
March and April.
⬜ Calendar:
http://www.artandfeminis
m.org/find-an-event/

42. Upcoming Meetups - April
⬜ Apr 1: Black Lunch Table @ UNC Chapel Hill
⬜ Apr 8: WikiSalon @ Chemical Heritage Fdn, Philadelphia
⬜ Apr 9: London 117
⬜ Apr 21: Black Lunch Table @ Boston U, Day 1
⬜ Apr 22: Black Lunch Table @ Boston U, Day 2
⬜ Apr 23: Oxford 49
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup

43. Upcoming Meetups - Tomorrow
⬜ Mini IA Editathon: Sunday at Lunch in Balmoral.
⬜ Signup for the IAS17 editathon via the signup dashboard
at http://bit.ly/ias17wikidash
⬜ Continue editing remotely.
⬜ Join WikiProject: Information Architecture

44. THANK YOU! // What Now?
⬜ Join WikiProject Information Architecture
⬜ Find an article in need of improvement and add it to WikiProject
Information Architecture or pick one from the project list.
⬜ Tag the Talk page of an article with the WikiProject Information
Architecture category.
[[Category:WikiProject_Information_Architecture]]
⬜ Research citations on a person or topic that interests you.
⬜ Suggest citations or content on the Talk page of an article.
⬜ Fix typos and grammatical errors on existing articles.
⬜ Ask for help if you need it!
⬜ Are You Hooked? Find a Wikipedia Meetup near you at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup
Noreen Whysel
Decision Fish LLC
nwhysel@gmail.com
@nwhysel
Links available at the
WikiProject IA Facebook
page: