Women, and particularly women in sport, are under-represented on Wikipedia, both in terms of content and in editorial roles. Wikipedia is hugely influential and has given the public more access to free knowledge than ever before. However, Wikipedia is heavily weighted towards men, with just 19% of biographies on the UK site dedicated to women, and only 9% of contributors identifying as female.
Play Like A Lassie was a collaborative community editing project run by the West Boathouse project and Prof Fiona Skillen of Glasgow Caledonian University. It aimed to tackle the systemic gender bias in Wikipedia entries relating to women's sports in Scotland and celebrate their contributions. We have trained 15 new editors (10 women and 5 men) who worked to research and create new articles to amplify women's stories on Wikipedia.
Funding and Support
The project secured funding from Santander for two student placements (Levi White and Jen McKeeman) to help support research and volunteers. The project has also received funding from Sporting Heritage. We are indebted to Wikimedia UK, particularly Dr Sara Thomas, Wikimedian in Residence for Scotland, for her support, enthusiasm, and patience in training our newly minted editors.
WikiWalks
The project also offered the opportunity to contribute to the wider Wikimedia Commons archive through photography, audio and video content creation, and recording sporting places. This content was uploaded and released under Creative Commons licence. This creates a wider range of opportunities for people less confident or interested in Wikipedia editing, e.g. local walking groups, photographers and youth groups.
If you would like to create your own WikiWalk, download our how-to guide.
Although the project is now complete, you can still get involved. There are many resources to help you get started, including our training video below. Many groups and projects run regular editathons and have live training sessions, such as Protests and Suffragettes. Check their website for more details.
