Science, Technology, Society and Wikipedia
Wikipedia is now the primary source of scientific and technical information for the general public. The School aims to introduce the participants to its rules and, above all, to involve them in the production of new material for it.
13-17 July
Keywords: Wikipedia, technical writing, open knowledge.
Where
Due to the world-wide restrictions concerning Covid-19 and in order to protect our participants and lecturers, IDEA League is offering the Summer Schools in an online format this year.
Expenses
Normally, there are no registration, tuition, and accommodation fees. Typically, students from IDEA League member universities selected to participate in this summer school only have to pay for their own travel costs.
Requirements
Curriculum vitae & publication list
Letter of motivation
Letter of recommendation (optional)
Since its birth in 2001, Wikipedia has grown enormously in size and importance, so that today it is probably the first and foremost source of information on scientific and technological issues (but also on literature, arts, history, etc.) for the general public.
This interdisciplinary course will introduce the students to the history, the workings and general rules of Wikipedia and, most of all, involve them in the production of new material for it. The students will choose what to contribute, depending both on their own background and on Wikipedia’s needs.
Take part in this summer school, because:
- It is truly interdisciplinary, as it may be attended by students from any course and undergraduate background
- It will teach you in a very practical way about technical writing, social responsibility, copyright issues, etc.
- It will allow you to experience on-line collaboration with other Wikipedia users, possibly exposing you also to criticism
- By focusing on Wikipedia’s content in your own field of expertise, you will be stimulated to adopt a critical attitude towards what is written in it
Online Summer School
This course will be supervised by professors of Politecnico di Milano and taught in collaboration with experienced Wikipedia editors
Programme
| Day | Description |
|---|---|
| 13 July | Wikipedia: history, aims and structure. Sister projects. Structure of a Wikipedia article. Links and references. Page history and talk pages. Templates and infoboxes. User pages. |
| 14 July | Hands-on introduction to Wikipedia writing. Initial selection of topics. Copyright issues. Wikimedia commons. Wikidata. |
| 15 July | Final selection of topics. Supervised Wikipedia writing session. |
| 16 July | Supervised Wikipedia writing session. |
| 17 July | Supervised Wikipedia writing session. Final editing, cross-checking/reading, discussion and evaluation. |
Teaching material for the course will be taken from Wikipedia itself. See, in particular: