Library Wiki Club Builds MLIS Student Skills and Community Around Open Knowledge
Article written by Erin Bourgard. This event received a Wikimedia Canada micro grant.
Over two academic terms, the FIMS Graduate Library (FGL) hosted a monthly Wiki Club Lunch and Learn. FGL serves graduate students, faculty, and staff at the University of Western Ontario Faculty of Information and Media Studies. Our students are future information professionals studying in programs such as Library & Information Science, Journalism & Communication, Health Information Science, and Media Studies. At FGL’s Wiki Club students explored the relationship between being an information worker and contributing to Wikipedia as an open information system. Through demonstrations and with hands-on support, they learned the mechanics of editing, Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. Food and refreshments were provided through Wikimedia Canada grant funding.
Each month, Wiki Club focused on a different theme or project, allowing students to build a broad set of skills and to connect their contributions to their program of study and areas of interest. Fall meetups introduced students to Wikipedia editing basics, including how to evaluate sources and add citations to existing articles. November’s meetup of Wiki Club focused on Wikidata, and students learned how to create structured data entries for articles in Emerging Library & Information Perspectives, a student-run, peer-reviewed journal. In this, they were exposed to Linked Data in practice. Linked data is relevant to students in Library and Information Science interested in the organization of information. Alongside this, we explored the Scholia, a toolforge tool that uses Wikidata to visualize academic contributions, affiliations, and impact. In January, the club promoted the #1Lib1Ref campaign encouraging MLIS students to add references to Wikipedia. This was paired with a window display of books about Wikipedia in our collection.
Wiki Club wrapped up in March with a focus on adding biographies of women to Wikipedia, aligning our work with the mission of Women in Red. As a community space that encourages Wikipedia editing, Wiki Club attracted an evolving community of learners mixed with repeat attendees and new participants each month. According to the Wikimedia Dashboard, together we edited 50 articles, created 18 new articles, and added 39 references.
Since wrapping up Wiki Club at the close of the 2025–26 academic year, the FIMS Graduate Library continues to support engagement with the Wikimedia movement. This support has included in-class guest lectures for candidates of the Master of Library and Information Science program that rightfully positions Wikipedia as the most-read reference source in history. The lecture invites students to think critically about the encyclopedia’s role in shaping public knowledge and how they can make meaningful contributions to open information systems as Wikipedia editors. It is hoped that the FGL can continue to support faculty seeking to integrate Wikipedia editing as a participation component in LIS coursework.
Most recently, the FGL collaborated with a candidate in the MLIS program who is experienced in Wikipedia editing. Together we launched a Wikimedia Photo Challenge and Upload-a-thon to encourage exploration of the local community in London, Ontario and contributions of their original, openly licensed images to the Commons platform. This initiative resulted in 68 photos being uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, 12 of which now illustrate Wikipedia articles. The upload-a-thon included short talks on U.S. vs. Canadian copyright law and the EXIF metadata associated with digital images as well as live demonstrations and hands on help uploading images to Wikimedia Commons.
All these opportunities explore Wikipedia, Wikidata, or Wikimedia Commons with the intention to inspire graduate students and faculty members at the Faculty of Information & Media Studies, as information professionals, to nurture a habit in contributing to the open information systems of Wikimedia.