May 10 - Wednesday 1:00 - 4:30 PM
May 24 - Wednesday 1:00 - 4:30 PM
Facilitators
Ellen Caldwell, Professor of Art History
ellen.caldwell@mtsac.edu
Eva Rios-Alvarado, Librarian
eriosalvarado@mtsac.edu
Esteban Aguilar, Librarian
eaguilar100@mtsac.edu
Michael Emery, Librarian
memery2@mtsac.edu
Wikipedia Links
Wikipedia's Create an Account Page
Art+Feminism Links
Mt. SAC Library's Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thons
The Mt SAC Library has hosted four Wikipedia-edit-a-thons (2019, 2020, 2021, and 2023) as part of class activities, most notably from Art History Professor Ellen Caldwell's Art History classes. Librarians Eva Rios-Alvarado, Esteban Aguilar, and Michael Emery have helped facilitate the edit-a-thons. The Mt. SAC Wikipedia-edit-a-thons have been part of the Art+Feminism's Campaign.
The four edit-a-thons were successes that resulted in:
Students have consistently responded positively to the edit-a-thon each year. A recurring theme from students is about feeling empowered, given a voice, and feeling like they are doing something that is meaningful.
“I feel empowered”
“I have a voice...”
“It is very meaningful and I feel proud of myself...”
“It really meant a lot to me... it made me feel like I was doing something important”
“Being a contributor to Wikipedia makes me feel empowered”
“It felt very powerful”
"It feels powerful..."
"I think it gives me a voice..."
In the Spring 2019 semester, the Mt SAC Library hosted it's first Wikipedia-edit-a-thon as part of Art History Professor Ellen Caldwell's Art History classes. Librarians Eva Rios-Alvarado, Esteban Aguilar, and Michael Emery hosted a Wikipedia Basics Workshop on Tuesday, May 14, 2019 and the Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was held on Thursday, June 6, 2019. The Mt. SAC Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was one of the 300 programs for Art+Feminism as part of their Art+Feminism: 2019 Campaign.
The Mt. SAC 2019 Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was a success that resulted in:
Additionally, students responded positively to the experience when asked what being part of the edit-a-thon meant to them with many students making comments that emphasized feeling empowered and given a voice:
“I feel empowered”
“Good. Like I did something to support women artists”
“It means I can use my voice and actually contribute to history”
“It feels really good to be a contributor to Wikipedia. I never thought that I’d be able to do something like this”
“We can add to pages of women artists and have future people use them for their research”
“It is very important to me because I improved an article about an artist of color”
“It means I can give voice to the silenced artist”
“It’s very empowering and means my work will hopefully help out some young queers learn about their history”
“I feel empowered and more knowledgeable than I was before. Wiki was a foreign and abstract concept to me, but you guys gave me the power to be part of it”
“I’m excited! Something is getting done with my research”
“I have a voice in the wikipedia/published community”
“I feel very accomplished now that I am able to contribute knowledge to the world”
“It means I contributed to expand the knowledge of others”
“To have my voice be heard in a way that is informational and beneficial to others”
2020 Wikipedia-edit-a-thon
During the Spring 2020 semester, the Mt SAC Library hosted it's second Wikipedia-edit-a-thon as part of Art History Professor Ellen Caldwell's Art History classes. Librarians Eva Rios-Alvarado, Esteban Aguilar, and Michael Emery hosted their second Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thon on Thursday, June 4, 2020 from 1 PM to 4:30 PM. Because of lockdown restrictions due to COVID-19 the entire edit-a-thon was held online. The Mt. SAC Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was one of over 200 programs for Art+Feminism as part of their Art+Feminism: 2020 Campaign.
Note: due to existing shelter in place orders, the 2020 Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was held entirely online.
The Mt. SAC 2020 Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was a success that resulted in:
Additionally, as with the previous edit-a-thon, when asked what it meant to them to contribute to Wikipedia, students responded positively with comments about how meaningful it was to them:
“I am happy to know that I have contributed to an important cause”
“It is very meaningful and I feel proud of myself because I was able to contribute something to my chosen artist”
“As someone who was not as aware of Chicanx artists, it was really important to me to expand and add information to an artist's page”
“It really meant a lot to me being able to do that, it made me feel like I was doing something important”
“This is important work. I hope it continues”
“I can finally say that I am a Wikipedia editor!”
2021 Wikipedia-edit-a-thon
During the Spring 2021 semester, the Mt SAC Library hosted it's third Wikipedia-edit-a-thon. The first was held on April 9, 2021, and the second was held on June 4, 2021. The Mt. SAC Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was part of Art+Feminism's 2021 Campaign. Librarians Eva Rios-Alvarado, Esteban Aguilar, and Michael Emery helped facilitate the event as well as providing instruction and instructional support.
Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions, both events were held online.
The combined April and June Mt. SAC 2021 Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thons was a success that resulted in:
As with previous edit-a-thons, when asked what it meant to them to contribute to Wikipedia, students responded positively to the experience with student comments with many comments about feeling empowered:
“This was a great experience. I never knew that I could even do this!”
“Being a contributor to Wikipedia makes me feel empowered”
“It feels cool to be part of a community that is contributing information”
“I feel very empowered that I am officially a Wikipedia editor”
“I really enjoyed the experience and I thought it was pretty fun to do”
“It felt very powerful”
“I loved this. It's empowered me”
2023 Wikipedia-edit-a-thon
During the Spring 2023 semester, the Mt SAC Library hosted it's fourth Wikipedia-edit-a-thon as part of Art History Professor Ellen Caldwell's Art History classes. Librarians Eva Rios-Alvarado, Esteban Aguilar, and Michael Emery helped facilitate the event as well as providing instruction and instructional support. The Mt. SAC Wikipedia-edit-a-thon was part of Art+Feminism's 2023 Campaign and was held on May 24, 2023 in the Mt. SAC Language Learning Center with assistance of tutors from the Mt. SAC Writing Center.
The fourth in an ongoing series of edit-a-thons, the Mt. SAC 2023 Art+Feminism Wikipedia-edit-a-thons was a success that resulted in:
As with previous edit-a-thons, when asked what it meant to them to contribute to Wikipedia, students responded positively with many students making comments that emphasized feeling empowered and feeling good about being able to contribute:
"I feel empowered in a way knowing that I am capable of helping spread awareness about female artists who aren’t well known."
"Sharing my writing and research publicly made me feel like a part of a community."
"It feels powerful, I feel like it has opened new opportunities and passions for myself..."
"I think it gives me a voice. This opportunity was very powerful for me because it allowed me to give a voice for someone who wasn't able to tell their story."
"Feels good, I love feminism I love the liberation of all people and I love resistance!"
"As a women, it means a lot to contribute to an artist's wiki page because majority of editors are men, which I did not know."
"It makes me feel good"
"Awesome cool new experience"
"I feel like I have done something great and my hard work of research is somewhere there posted..."
"It feels like I actually have a voice, feels good."