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Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco/Black History Month Wiki-a-thon at Prelinger Library

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BAWS Wiki-a-thon @ Prelinger Library No.3: Black History
When and Where
Date + TimeSunday February 9, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
AddressPrelinger Library 301 8th Street
City, StateSan Francisco, CA 94103
DirectionsGoogle Map view
Entry infoAt the street entrance to 301 8th street use the intercom to reach “Prelinger” by scrolling left/right through the arrow keys, then press the CALL button to be buzzed up
OrganizerBay Area Wiki Salon
Hashtag#prelingerwiki -- Please include this hashtag in your edit summary so we can track outcomes with the Wikimedia hashtag tool!

In honor of Black History Month, this edit-a-thon is focused on creating and improving Wikipedia articles and enriching other Wikimedia projects relating to persons of African descent, and places, events, movements, organizations, or cultural items associated with the the African Diaspora, using the unique, largely image-rich and public domain, holdings of the Prelinger Library, a collection 19th and 20th century historical ephemera, periodicals, maps, and books not commonly found in other public libraries.[1].

Event information

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Copy of Blackworld newspaper at Prelinger Library
  • Date: Sunday, February 9, 2020
  • Time: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  • Location: Prelinger Library, 301 8th Street, San Francisco
  • Registration: This event is open to all! But please do register below so that we know how much food to order
  • Host: This event is hosted by the Prelinger Library and organized by the Bay Area Wiki Salon.
    • There will be delicious food + refreshments to share and enjoy!
  • Please bring a laptop and power cord with you!

What to expect

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Section of The Black Scholar journal collection at Prelinger Library

Expect an afternoon of exploring, discussing, researching, writing, and working together to help improve Wikipedia articles. Attendees are welcome to work on whatever they like and are inspired to from the Library's holdings. For those interested, we will have a concerted focus on working toward closing the diversity gap of coverage on Wikipedia of notable persons of African descent and their achievements and related history, movements, organizations, events, ideas, projects, and more. Prelinger Library founders Megan and Rick will be present to help attendees find resources from the Library's collections, and there will be experienced Wikipedians present to help Wiki newcomers to get started and answer questions. We will also have printed editing reference materials (in addition to the editing reference materials listed below, and those found in the minds of fellow attendees).

We will also have a tasty Mediterranean lunch, so please come with both hungry minds and stomachs.

Bring your laptop, power cord, curiosity, and ideas for entries that need updating or creation. Stop by for a short while or stay for the whole afternoon. No Wikipedia editing experience necessary!

If you are unfamiliar with Wikipedia, check out this training module which helps explain many dimensions of the Wikipedia universe.

Accessibility

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The Library room is wheelchair accessible at the floor level (thanks to the ADA elevator in the front of the building). However the shelves are 13’ so the upper shelves are not wheelchair accessible. For wheelchair access of the upper shelves, wheelchair users may visually browse the upper shelves through the Stacks Explorer, a tool with which anyone can view any shelf in the library from a laptop. The Library hosts will be on duty throughout the event to pull materials from the upper shelves requested by differently abled researchers.

The Prelinger Library's holdings

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The library holds approximately 30,000 bound objects, 60,000 loose sheets and 10,000 zines.[2] Read more about the "library’s unique geospatial taxonomy" here, explore the lists and virtual shelves below, or visit in advance of the event (see the Library's website for their open hours). Of special note for this editathon are the library's long runs of several 20th-century magazines and periodicals focused on African-American culture including Ebony Magazine, The Black Scholar, and Negro Digest/Black World.

Want to visit the library before the event?

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If you want to peruse the collection and start contemplating what you will work on beforehand, please come visit during the library's open hours between now and the event. Check Prelinger Library's website here for the current calendar of open days.

RSVP

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If you are planning to come, please register below! If you do not have a Wikipedia account, please write your name or alias; if you have a Wikipedia account, you can sign your user name by typing four tildes (~~~~). We look forward to seeing/working with you!

Lists of articles/projects to work on

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Section of African American history shelves at Prelinger Library

Below is space to list articles or other Wikimedia projects, categories, and lists relating to Black History that would benefit from edits and expansion during the event. Please feel free to add to this list in advqnce of the event.

Bay Area-affiliated artists + art professionals of African descent

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Improve, expand:

Task lists from other Wiki Projects

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Stubs (short articles) in need of expansion

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Outcomes

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Here we will list the outcomes of the event. See also the list edits tagged with the #prelingerwiki hashtag

Editors gathered at the Prelinger Library for the 2020 Black History Month edit-a-thon.

Support / Thank you

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Funding for the food at this event is provided through a Rapid Grant from the Wikimedia Foundation for the Bay Area Wiki Salon. The organizers thank WMF for the support.

Resources for editing

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Citations and style guidelines

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Formatting shortcuts

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Images and photos

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  • Uploading images – tutorial, general overview
  • Image use policy – rights, licenses, is it okay to use the image
  • Picture Tutorial – technical details of getting image uploaded and displayed in a way that looks good
  • Free image resources – where to find free images for use in Wikipedia (in addition to holdings of the library that you could photograph and upload to Wikimedia Commons)

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ "Prelinger Library: Collection". Prelinger Library. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. ^ Kost, Ryan. "An idiosyncratic library squirreled away in SoMa". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
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