Between September 15 and 20, I, Osama Eid (Osps7), had the opportunity to deliver a five-day Wikimedia education program that brought together 10 university academics from three universities to explore how academic expertise and research can contribute to Wikimedia and the wider ecosystem of free knowledge.
The program focused on introducing participants to Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikiversity, while creating a foundation for continued academic engagement with Wikimedia projects.
Helping academics become contributors
One of the main objectives of the program was to encourage academics to look at Wikipedia from a different perspective, not only as a source of information, but also as a collaborative platform where their published research and expertise can contribute to improving free knowledge.
During the five days of training, participants learned practical approaches to documenting information in Wikipedia, using reliable academic references, and understanding the importance of verification and proper citation.
We discussed how academic publications, research papers, books, and other reliable sources can be used to strengthen existing Wikipedia articles and improve content in areas where academics have specialized knowledge.
The training also introduced participants to Wikidata, helping them understand structured data and how information about academics, universities, publications, and other entities can be connected across Wikimedia projects.
Bringing academics into Wikiversity
A key part of the program was introducing Wikiversity and exploring how academics can become actively involved in the project.
Rather than limiting their participation to editing Wikipedia articles, participants discussed how their academic experience could be used to develop educational materials, learning resources, and academic activities through Wikiversity.
This opened the possibility of creating a longer-term relationship in which academics can contribute educational content related to their fields, collaborate with other Wikimedia contributors, and help develop new learning opportunities within the Wikimedia ecosystem.
Building a longer-term collaboration
The five-day training was designed as a starting point for continued engagement rather than a one-time activity.
The next phase will focus on maintaining communication with the participating academics, supporting their continued contributions to Wikipedia and Wikidata, and encouraging their involvement in Wikiversity.
Future plans also include developing academic activities on Wikiversity, identifying topics where participants can contribute their expertise, and exploring opportunities to connect university teaching and research with Wikimedia projects.
For me, the program was an opportunity to begin building a stronger connection between universities and Wikimedia, a connection in which academics are not only users of online knowledge, but also active contributors to an open and collaborative knowledge ecosystem.
The experience showed that bringing academic expertise into Wikimedia can begin with a small group, but develop into a longer-term collaboration that connects research, education and free knowledge.
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