Between April 13 and April 15, the Library and Information Studies Students’ Association, in collaboration with Wikimedia Canada, hosted a workshop series introducing Wikimedia and the basics of Wikipedia editing. The Wikimedia introduction was held virtually, and the Wikipedia editing workshop was held in-person at the University of Alberta.

Often left out of course curricula, knowledge and familiarity with Wikimedia and Wikipedia is invaluable. Navigating these resources builds reference and information skills that volunteer editors and information workers can share with patrons they are working with or communities they engage with or are a part of. The students and information workers who participated in these workshops gained valuable insight into the wide range of tools, databases, and knowledge systems maintained by Wikimedia and its dedicated community of volunteers. Critical discussions were had, including the impacts of generative AI and LLM harvesting on Wikipedia and the ethics of citations and sources. At the introduction to Wikipedia editing workshop, the group was able to make edits to a wide range of Edmonton-specific pages, fix citations and links, and do collaborative work to fill gaps in information pertaining to our local environments. We had a total of 6 editors participate, during which 38 edits were made on 24 articles, and 15 references were added in just under an hour.

Most importantly, contributing to Wikipedia builds a stronger community of advocates for open knowledge. Participants noted how much fun it was to work with these tools and how good it felt to tangibly contribute to one of the most visited websites on the Internet—one that many of us still turn to first when we are seeking to learn about a topic (despite ongoing efforts to make us reliant on AI overviews of search results).

As major information ecosystems are increasingly polluted by AI hallucinations and mis- and disinformation, or hidden behind corporate paywalls, open-access information resources like Wikimedia and Wikipedia remain powerful, community-driven alternatives to these restrictive and inequitable ecosystems. Especially for a generation that grew up with people telling us never to trust Wikipedia, it is refreshing to be able to offer rebuttals to these outdated arguments when we inevitably encounter them today. It is more important than ever to be able to advocate for open-access information and to propose transparency in the construction of our ideas and knowledge bases—both goals that Wikimedia and Wikipedia strive to uphold.

Many workshop participants were excited to learn that they could test their new skills and knowledge at the upcoming WikiConference North America 2026, which is happening this September in Edmonton. Workshops like these are undoubtedly helping prepare a new generation of contributors, editors, and advocates within information and knowledge fields.

Outreach dashboard: https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Wikimedia_Canada/LISSA_x_WMCA_Wikipedia_Editathon/home

Photo credit: LISSA