Cultural Data/Data for Culture

With the exception of the open web, Wikipedia and its sister Wikimedia projects represent the largest source of structured cultural and humanities data in the world, not just for humans to read, but for computers to “read” too. Its data drives tourism, culture, communication, and artificial intelligence applications.

The Wikimedia suite of projects needs non-specialist editors, but it also needs specialists from the academic sector: undergraduate and graduate students, faculty members, and librarians with specialized knowledge and access to scholarly resources. Are you and expert on Roman coins, life in 12th-century Spain, Victorian urban planning, or colonialism in Canada? Wikipedia needs you to help democratize that knowledge, and to contribute to what the data-driven uses of Wikimedia data know about human culture.

Would you like to work with us on Wikipedia related research or class projects? Are you looking to learn how to use Wikimedia data? Get in touch through the lab’s about page.

Events

Lecture and Editathon “Present in All: Introducing the Humanities to Machines.” University of Victoria, April 2019

Workshop “Wikidata 101: Why Wikidata matters and What it can do for you” University of Ottawa, November 2018. [Slides PDF]

Editathon “Women’s History” University of Ottawa, October 2018

Lecture and Editathon “Donating and Developing: Contributing to Wikimedia to Make a Better Web” University of Victoria, October 2018

Talk “Calling All Specialists: Contributing to Wikipedia, Contributing to the Web” Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, Regina, June 2017

Editathon “LGBTQ+ & Women’s Month” March 2017 (in partnership with The QCampus Project)

Lecture and Editathon “From Curation to Creation: Wikipedia’s Contribution to Open Knowledge” University of Victoria, April 2017

Roles

Constance Crompton. Honorary Wikipedian in Residence, University of Victoria Libraries and Electronic Textual Cultures Lab.