Dear Wikipedians and free culture lovers,
Wikimedia is looking for campus ambassadors who love WP and are
interested in public policy. The Kennedy School is one of ~20
institutes (huzzah!) taking part in a consortium to help improve
ffreely-licensed public policy info available online through / using
Wikipedia to amplify the work. I think it will be a fascinating
example of how universities can contribute to the overall process of
creating and curating free knowledge.
If you know some students - undergrads, grads, law students, gov
students - or other Wikipedians who might be interested in being a
campus ambassador, please put them in touch with me.
We could use ambassadors anywhere in the greater Boston area.
Currently Harvard is the only Boston-area school that is part of this
project, but other unis are likely to join. And the need is for
students who can help faculty and their classes get to know the
projects; being at the same uni as the profs (or one closeby) is handy
but not required.
Let me know if you have any questions;
SJ
(reporting from Wikimania in Gdansk)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Annie Lin <alin(a)wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: Have any recommendation for Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors
at Harvard?
Hi SJ,
Here's a short blurb about the Campus Ambassador role:
"The Wikipedia Campus Ambassadors are central components of the Public
Policy Initiative. Volunteers in this role will be in charge of
training and supporting the participating professors and students on
Wikipedia-related skills (e.g. how to edit articles, how to add
references); prior knowledge of these skills is not required for the
role, as the Wikimedia Foundation will provide training for all Campus
Ambassadors. The Campus Ambassadors will also give in-class
presentations about Wikipedia, help recruit new Wikipedia contributors
on campus, organize "Welcome to Wikipedia" social events, and in
general serve as mentors for new Wikipedia editors in the university
community. This role provides great opportunities for leadership
development and professional networking, and we're looking for
students who are interested in using technology for educational
purposes, who enjoy helping other people, and who support free
knowledge."
And this link provides more details about the role:
http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Campus_Ambassador.
Here is also a condensed blurb about the Public Policy Initiative, in
case you want to incorporate this somewhere:
"In the Wikimedia Public Policy Initiative, we're working with
professors at universities across the country to incorporate improving
public policy articles on Wikipedia into the curriculum. The aim is to
benefit all parties: improve Wikipedia's coverage of U.S. public
policy, expose students to feedback from a diverse and public
community of editors, and educate students and professors about the
inner workings of the web's fifth most-visited website. Professors at
Harvard University, Georgetown University, George Washington
University, Indiana University, and Syracuse University have already
joined the Initiative with courses planned for the fall semester, and
we're also looking for a few more professors to participate in both
the fall and spring semesters."