Join the MIT Libraries during IAP for a Public Domain-themed Wikipedia edit-a-thon! January 1^st is Public Domain Day – the day when works published in 1923 go out of copyright in the United States and enter the public domain, making them available for anyone to reuse and remix. This is the first time in twenty years that new published works have entered the public domain! To celebrate, the MIT Libraries are digitizing 100 works from 1923 selected from our collections. Because they are now out of copyright, we can freely use images and text from these works on Wikipedia and other open licensed projects.

Join us to explore these digitized works and learn how to contribute to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. What did engineering education look like in the 1920s at MIT? (Did you know there was once a food science program here?) Want to explore state of the art scientific instruments from 100 years ago? What about novels and poems from classic authors?

We’ll introduce the works and give you an introduction to editing Wikipedia and ideas for topics to work on, or bring our own topics. No prior Wikipedia experience is required. We will have support from experienced Wikipedia editors and librarians, as well as snacks and pizza. Join us for an afternoon devoted to exploring engineering in the Jazz Age and contributing to the world’s largest reference work.

We will combine this with an event to celebrate Wikipedia's 18th Birthday! Wikipedia was founded on January 15, 2001. We'll have pizza and cake into the evening to celebrate. Wikipedians old and new are invited to attend.

Please join us for any portion of the event, but do register here or list yourself below so we have an accurate count for lunch.

What: Public Domain Day Edit-a-thon

When: January 15, 2019, 3-6pm

Where: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA, 14N-132 (building 14, Room 132 - the library computer classroom).

Hope to see you! 

Phoebe