Increase the quality and quantity of coverage of subjects that are currently underrepresented on Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects, with a particular focus on cultural content.
At the two Beyond the Asylum editathons, participants learned to edit and improved pages linked with the history of psychiatry. Content created and improved as a result of these editathons included pages on women in psychiatry (such as Robina Addis, Esther Bick and Ella Freeman Sharpe), notable service users (such as Urban Metcalf), and on psychiatric instituions (such as Gartloch Hospital, and the concept of Transinstitutionalisation).
Many of the participants were practitioners or scholars in the field of psychiatry or history of psychiatry, so they were able to make improvements and pages based on this substantial existing knowledge of the field.
Experienced Wikipedians LoopZilla, ClemRutter, Joseph2302 (who regularly attend the London Meetups) and Sam Walton got involved and provided invaluable help to the new editors, as well as finding the time to make several contributions themselves.
In addition to the pages created and improved on the day, we compiled a list of suggestions based on the recommendations of participants, so there is now a focus for further possible improvements to the history of mental health on Wikipedia.
Support the development of open knowledge in the UK, by increasing the understanding and recognition of the value of open knowledge and advocating for change at an organisational, sectoral and public policy level.
Participants made large amounts of their work available online, adding information (and references) to pages based on their knowledge of the most recent and notable literature in the field. The page on the History of the National Health Service was completely overhauled and significantly improved, and improvements were also made to other related pages. Such pages have grown almost too unwieldy for new editors to usually attempt to tackle, but in the space of the editathon we were able to work collaboratively to make changes.
This case-study will be useful going forward as an example of how to link the work of a Wellcome-funded research project team to Wikipedia.
As an extension to the annual gathering of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' History of Psychiatry Special Interest Group (see website), we held a Wikipedia training/editing session at the university of Manchester. Participants learned to edit, which contributed to their professional development, and also made improvements to pages such as that of psychiatrist Ella Freeman Sharpe.
MA Students from King's College London received training on how to edit as part of their Public History of Science class. They learned about how Wikipedia brings history to the public, and how that history is written and developed by volunteer editors.
A meeting is scheduled next month with Alasdair Brooks of the British Red Cross about linking up some of their information/historical collections with wiki.
Meetings are also planned with Navino Evans, Sean McBirnie, and the web redevelopment team here at Wellcome Trust to think about how we can integrate Wikidata into the new website to the mutual advantage of Wiki and the Wellcome.
I will be attending the BBC's 100 Women Editathon, helping new editors learn how to edit and add many notable women to Wikipedia.
