C-class, Start-class, and Stub-class articles typically have lots of room for improvement, while B-class and above articles are already fairly complete (“Wikipedia Assessment,” 2020). Lower-ranked articles were selected for recommendation to participants as editing targets.
The WWG planned wider promotional activities and more robust training. Three training sessions, each hosted by two NNLM staff, included an overview of Wikipedia, editing basics, and NLM resources for improving articles. Lasting around thirty minutes, these were intentionally brief to ensure ease of repeatability and minimize the time commitment needed from participants, were offered well in advance of the one-day edit-a-thon, and were recorded for asynchronous viewing. The virtual editing event utilized the same all-day drop-in structure as the spring 2018 event.
The second campaign, as expected, went more smoothly than the first. Dashboard numbers were more robust, owing partly to greater participation and partly to an increased proportion of participants registering so that their contributions could be tracked: at least fifty editors edited at least 204 articles. Following the now-repeated success of #CiteNLM, WWG members began to give presentations and poster sessions about the campaigns at a variety of conferences around the country. Presentations remain an important component of #CiteNLM outreach and have led to new professional connections and more detailed self-reflection. The WWG also remained committed to continual improvement and internally evaluated each aspect of the fall 2018 campaign by assessing content and processes from multiple perspectives to identify potential modifications for the next campaign.
2019 Campaigns
As an example of the WWG’s willingness to try new approaches, the WWG chose to hold its spring 2019 event at the 2019 Medical Library Association (MLA) annual meeting. This in-person session, sponsored by the MLA Health Disparities Special Interest Group, focused on the topic of health equity. Because the event occurred at the MLA conference, promotion was primarily aimed at health sciences librarians through channels like NNLM regional blogs and social media, MLA
