Saskatoon librarian takes on male-dominated Wikipedia

During a week when women's rights is at the forefront, a librarian in Saskatoon is trying to make sure women have an equal voice in the digital space.

Ashley Booth has organized a Wikipedia edit-a-thon, because of all the entries on the Internet-based encyclopedia, just 15 per cent are edited by women.

"Diversity matters and with the amount of Wikipedia editors identifying as women being so small, and the amount of articles on female artists also being neglected and so small, it only makes sense to merge those two and empower women," said Booth.

"It relies on the collective 'want' to make a change."

Focus on Sask. female artists 

Booth and the women who will join her Thursday evening at the Frances Morrison Central Library will initiate that change by entering new articles on women artists from Saskatchewan or by adding content to entries that are lacking.

"There is a lot of debate about why these things aren't being contributed and why they don't exist already. And there is, I'm sure, a lot of systemic issues at play," she said.

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Booth said participants need not be too computer savvy. The edit-a-thon includes instruction on exactly how to format and edit for Wikipedia.

The only prerequisite Booth said is to "bring a 'can do' attitude," and maybe a laptop computer.

The Wikipedia edit-a-thon takes place 5-9 p.m. CST.