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@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."