Be an Advocate for Health Literacy on Wikipedia: Join our Fall Edit-a-thon focused on Maternal and Child Health!

Posted by Sharon Han on September 29th, 2020 Posted in: Blog, Citizen Science, Consumer Health, General, Outreach, Technology

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What are the benefits of flossing twice a day? When should I take this new prescription from my doctor? How does an HIV screening test work? Who do I ask for help about my anxiety?

Each day, people make decisions about their health. While many of us can rely on health professionals and systems dedicated to our care, our own health literacy is a powerful tool for everyday healthy living and advocacy. The Health Resources & Services Administration defines health literacy as, “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information needed to make appropriate health decisions.” With the influx of health information these days, health literacy, including equitable access to health literacy development, is more important than ever.

We invite you to celebrate Health Literacy Month with us by improving access to health information on Wikipedia, one of the world’s most popular resources for crowdsourced health information. Whether it’s double-checking sources or adding new content, there are lots of ways you can help make health information on Wikipedia better for all users. Here are a few ways to join in:

1. Join our #citeNLM Edit-a-thon Fall Campaign! Help us improve Maternal and Child Health content on Wikipedia throughout October. Follow the steps on our Edit-a-thon homepage to sign up and get started. We even include training materials, so folks of all Wiki editing skills can participate. This is a great way to sharpen your information literacy skills and even find good examples to share with your users.
2. Want to edit with some colleagues? Join our live editing event on October 29^th, 10a-12p PDT and learn on the spot how to edit with Wikipedians of all levels.
3. Not so sure about health information on Wikipedia to begin with? Sign up for our free webinar, “Evaluating Health and Medical Information on Wikipedia,” presented on October 14^th at 11a PDT. Learn from Dr. Monika S. Jones, digital culture studies expert, about how health information works on Wikipedia and strategies for evaluating its many health-related articles.

Is your organization celebrating Health Literacy Month in other ways? Interested in facilitating an Edit-a-thon at your own institution? We want to hear from you! Tag us on Facebook or Twitter, or email me at shan4@library.ucla.edu to share what you’ve been doing.

The events and resources mentioned in this blog post are coordinated by NNLM staff across our eight regions and NLM’s Office of Engagement and Training.

Want to join in on all our Wiki fun and not yet an NNLM PSR member? Join us today! Thank you for all that you do and happy editing!