Hello everyone,
I hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. In the last few weeks, we’ve had a few enquiries of various sorts. If you are interested in any of the stuff below, reply to me directly and we can discuss the next steps.
Speaking opportunity
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Organisation: SCI London Group https://www.soci.org/interest-groups/london and University College London Chemical & Physical Society https://cpsucl.com/about/ -
Venue: Christopher Ingold Building, UCL (close to Euston station in London) -
Date: TBC, expecting a Tuesday evening in late 2026
The SCI London Group and UCL Chemical & Physical Society run a joint lecture series and as part of their programme would like to arrange for someone to talk about Wikidata and its application to science and scientists and its use by scientists. Talks are usually about 50 minutes long, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A. Dates have not yet been fixed, but the talks usually fall on a Tuesday evening.
The audience is a mixture of SCI members and their guests, UCL students and staff, and members of the public.
The organiser will cover travel expenses.
Looking for a trainer for an event in March
- Organisation: Cambridgeshire Libraries https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/libraries-leisure-culture/libraries - Venue: TBC, in Cambridge - Date: 14 March 2026
Cambridgeshire Libraries want to have an editathon for Women's History Month. The aim would be to get people using library resources to create new articles or edit existing articles about women with a connection to Cambridge. There is some flexibility with the date, but Saturday 14 March works best for Cambridgeshire Collection. I haven't confirmed the location yet, but Cambridge Central Library https://info.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/kb5/cambridgeshire/directory/service.page?id=tAmhYRSUS10&camcommunitychannel=6-1 seems likely.
Challenging editing
We have had a couple of queries from subjects of Biographies of Living People, and one from a company looking for a Wikipedia page. There is no expectation that this will be picked up, but these are people who are trying to abide by Wikipedia’s policies and are looking for some assistance. I expect it would involve some Wikipedia editing. As some of these are BLPs, I’m keeping names private out of caution. Of course if someone wants to pick up one of these I’ll be able to share a bit more detail.
Checking a biography for tone
A researcher has got in touch as their Wikipedia biography has a COI banner on it. They came to us after someone speculatively emailed them offering to ‘fix’ the page for a fee.
What’s needed is a read through to check for tone. It’s perhaps half an hour’s work. As it stands, the page doesn’t strike me as too egregious. There are a couple of instances where the text could be reworded to be more neutral.
When handling the query I made it clear that Wikipedia content needs to be neutral and is decided by its editors, but I did offer to put it out to the volunteer community in case someone is able to step in. As they identified the predatory practice, it would be nice if the community was able to resolve it and make things harder for such ‘businesses’.
Helping a BLP subject
An author with a Wikipedia page has got in touch asking for help preparing a draft. I advised them to work in a sandbox and to use the edit request wizard. They are happy to do so, but would appreciate an experienced Wikipedian to check their work and provide pointers. They’re not asking for edits to be made on their behalf, but to help them get their own edits right.
Preparing an article on a sculpture foundry
Someone from a sculpture foundry has been in touch to ask for guidance on creating a Wikipedia page. They said “I am not looking for a commercial “Wikipedia writing service”; instead, I’d like to speak with an experienced volunteer or trainer who could advise on how best to approach creating a neutral, well-sourced article, in line with Wikipedia’s policies.”
From a quick check of Google News, the company name crops up in a few news stories though I haven’t checked to see if it’s more than a passing mention. The first task is probably working out if they are notable.
Things on the horizon
We have a few ongoing conversations with various universities. Lecturers at the University of Sussex, Warwick University, and Liverpool John Moores University are interested in getting students to edit Wikipedia. The conversations are at various stages (LJMU is unlikely to take place before 2027 as university approval would be needed to change assessments) but there should be some opportunities for trainers coming up.
The University of Sussex one is likely to be the soonest, possibly in the spring.
And finally If anyone is interested in music, there’s a notice on WikiProject Scotland from a new editor who is trying to create a couple of biographies on historical figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Scotland#Missing_Bi...