Submissions:2014/Coaching Undergraduates to Shrink Wikipedia’s Gender Gap


 * Title of the submission: Coaching Undergraduates to Shrink Wikipedia's Gender Gap


 * Themes (Proposal Themes - Community, Tech, Outreach, GLAM, Education): Education


 * Type of submission (Presentation Types - Panel, Workshop, Presentation, etc): Panel or Curated Talk


 * Author of the submission: Michael Rodriguez


 * E-mail address: topshelvr@gmail.com


 * Username: User:Topshelvr


 * US state or country of origin: Florida


 * Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.): Florida Gulf Coast University is my alma mater but not my employer.


 * Personal homepage or blog: http://shelverscove.wordpress.com/


 * Abstract (at least 300 words to describe your proposal): I am an MLIS student studying to become an academic librarian, but I was a comparative novice when it came to editing Wikipedia. That changed this spring.

Dr. Nicola Foote, Associate Professor of History at Florida Gulf Coast University, invited me to serve as technology consultant for a senior seminar entitled “Machos and Mothers in Latin America.” Dr. Foote and I collaborated to coach FGCU undergraduates from diverse areas of study to build Wikipedia pages on Latin American gender history. Students chose topics such as “Women in Mexico” and “Abortion in Puerto Rico,” with the goal of narrowing Wikipedia’s gender gap in content and contributors.

As consultant, I sought to motivate as well as inform the students. I presented to the class as a whole and worked one-on-one with students. I framed their opportunity to edit Wikipedia as a public service, intimately linked to librarians' mission to connect people with information. Editing Wikipedia is fertile ground for information literacy instruction and collaboration. I plan to share many compelling insights and stories from our "Machos and Mothers" classroom with my fellow Wikipedians come May 30!


 * Length of presentation/talk (see Presentation Types for lengths of different presentation types): 15-minute curated talk or part of a 75-minute panel discussion on intersections between Wikipedia, teaching, and higher education


 * Will you attend WikiConference USA if your submission is not accepted?: Yes


 * Slides or further information (optional):


 * Special request as to time of presentations: Friday preferred

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