Wikipedia Visiting Scholars are experienced Wikipedians who connect with academic institutions to improve Wikipedia. Scholars receive free remote access to library resources and agree to use them to improve articles in topic areas related to the library’s areas of specialization.

Requirements

Successful applicants are:

• Experienced, active Wikipedians with a minimum of 1 year of active editing and 1,000 edits.
• Content writers enthusiastic about creating and improving Wikipedia articles (FA and GA experience preferred, but not required).
• Interested to work in one or more topic areas related to the library’s research specialization.
• Passionate about Wikipedia and its mission.
• Good collaborators and communicators in good standing with the Wikipedia community.

The role of a Visiting Scholar

Wikipedia Visiting Scholars tap into your university’s digital resources (such as special collections, research databases, rare volumes, or paywalled journals) to write high-quality Wikipedia articles. Visiting Scholars use their experience to determine which articles to edit or create based upon the resources you provide.

• Scholars are remote.
• Scholars are unpaid.
• Scholars work on a fixed timeline determined by the sponsoring institution, typically lasting 6-12 months.
• Scholars and sponsors work out a schedule for checking in (for example, via phone calls, Skype, or Google Hangouts).
• Scholars may offer a remote presentation to report on their work, for example, at the end of a term or their sponsorship.