Georgetown University Library, in partnership with the Massive Data Institute at the McCourt School of Public Policy, Georgetown University Women’s Center, and Wikimedia District of Columbia, hosted a Summer Virtual Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on July 24, 2025. This was Georgetown University’s third edit-a-thon focused on closing the gender gap on Wikipedia by increasing the representation of underrepresented groups in both Wikipedia content and contributors, on topics such as women in politics, women in STEM, and women in the arts. Wikipedia estimates that only 12-15% of their editors identify as female, and in March of 2024, less than 20% of biographies in English-language Wikipedia were about women.
This summer's editing event was the first held completely online, with 40 participants logging into Zoom to learn how to create and edit articles on the world’s largest encyclopedia. Participants were able to create 11 articles and edit 13 articles to help close the Wikipedia gender gap. Visit the Dashboard for July 2025 Edit-a-thon for more information on the impact of the program.
“How welcoming and supportive the edit-a-thons are, and how fulfilling it feels to contribute to the dissemination of accessible knowledge.”
Hannah Fedder Williams, Ph.D. student, Linguistics '26
As part of the ongoing Wikipedia editing efforts at Georgetown, each event has solicited requests from participants about which pages they think should be created or edited. A sampling of articles created or improved during the July 24 event explored women in topics such as the arts, medicine, and technology.
Professor Astrid Weigert, Ph.D., in the Department of German, worked on the entry for Lotte Rotholz, a member of the Jewish anti-Nazi resistance Baum Group who was murdered in Auschwitz. “The focus of this workshop on increasing the visibility of notable women in a variety of disciplines spoke to me as my research concerns women authors in the German-speaking world, especially before the 20th century, many of whom have no Wikipedia entries or only very brief “stub" entries.”
Professor Weigert also commented that, “It was very interesting and reassuring to learn details about the editorial process for assessing new Wikipedia entries. The technical aspects of creating an entry, including adding references, was surprisingly easy. The workshop was extremely well structured and the Google Doc with helpful hints and links is an excellent resource. I do indeed plan to contribute as an editor to Wikipedia in the future, from minor editing jobs to entries about notable women in and from the German-speaking world.”
Student and community participants also had positive comments to share about the event. Hannah Fedder Williams, a Ph.D. student in Linguistics '26, was always curious about Wikipedia editing and this chance to participate in the edit-a-thon gave her the push to get started. “I have prior experience in editing/publishing and working with particular style guidelines, so I was eager to apply those skills for a greater purpose. I wasn't sure where to even get started, and then I was recommended the edit-a-thon, which felt like a 1:1 application of those skills in a lot of ways. I would highly recommend becoming a Wikipedia editor to others who have worked in publishing/copywriting and editing, your skills are needed!” Hannah also commented, “How welcoming and supportive the edit-a-thons are, and how fulfilling it feels to contribute to the dissemination of accessible knowledge.”
The partnership between the Library, MDI the Women’s Center and WikiDC will continue.
Are you interested in becoming a Wikipedia editor or organizing a session for your class or organization?
While Georgetown University will plan to host another edit-a-thon in March 2026 for Women’s History Month, you don’t need to wait until then to become involved!
Wikimedia DC has created this comprehensive training session, “Editing Wikipedia,” that you can watch anytime to get started and to refer back to when you’re editing.
The wonderful thing about being a Wikipedia editor is that you can contribute anytime from anywhere, and no previous experience is necessary. WikiDC has also offered to provide instruction sessions for faculty who would like to incorporate Wikipedia assignments into their classes or organizations who would like to host their own edit-a-thon.
Reach out to the Library’s Head of Outreach and Engagement, Beth Marhanka, to learn more.