Open Knowledge for a Sustainable Future: Research, Ethics, and Wikipedia
Overview
Tuesday 16:45-18:15 (16:45-19:45), Room 2.404 tř. Svobody 26, 779 00 Olomouc
This course is an introduction to writing viewed as creating and sharing knowledge --- through both Wikipedia and academic writing. We will teach you how to do so effectively, with the goal of creating a more sustainable future.
This course is being developed in cooperation with Wikimedia Czech Republic. And will be taught in a combination of English and Czech.
We will cooperate with the Asian Month on Czech Wikipedia (2024 page).
Learning Objectives
By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- Evaluate and ethically assess knowledge sources, distinguishing between reliable and unreliable information, and critically engaging with multilingual content.
- Write clearly and effectively for diverse purposes and audiences, including academic contexts and general readerships.
- Understand and apply Wikipedia's standards and practices, contributing ethically, accurately, and collaboratively to public knowledge.
- Clearly and responsibly present multilingual information, acknowledging linguistic and cultural differences and demonstrating sensitivity and accuracy.
- Communicate persuasively and ethically, developing well-supported arguments that advance sustainability, social responsibility, and care for people and the planet.
The course will be taught with a longer class every two weeks, so weeks 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 will be two lectures worth of material.
We will focus on environmental issues in the writing paractice, developing the ESCO skill: report on environmental issues.
Course Table of Contents
| Week | Date | Topic | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 09-23 | Overview (Pavel and Francis) | |
| 2 | 09-30 | Introduction to Wikipedia - Rules and Recommendations | Pavel (3h), in Czech |
| 3 | 10-14 | Academic Writing vs Encyclopedic Writing - Evaluating Sources | Francis (3h), in English |
| 4 | 10-21 | Writing a Good Wikipedia Article - Clear, Engaging and Neutral | Pavel (3h), in Czech |
| 5 | 11-11 | FAIR Principals - Multilingual and Ethical considerations | Francis (3h), in English |
| 6 | 11-25 | Feedback on Wikipedia Articles - Editing as Communal Knowledge Building | Pavel (3h), in Czech |
| 7 | 12-09 | Feedback on Academic Articles - Peer review and revision for publication | Francis (3h), in English |
| 8 | 12-16 | Conclusion: long term strategies for sustainable knowledge creation; reflection | Pavel and Francis |
| 2025-12-31 | Assignment Due | Submit in moodle/edit in wikipedia | |
Readings and Resources
FAIR Principles & Open Knowledge
Wilkinson, M. D., Dumontier, M., Aalbersberg, I. J., Appleton, G., Axton, M., Baak, A., ... & Mons, B. (2016). The FAIR guiding principles for scientific data management and stewardship. Scientific Data, 3, 160018. https://www.nature.com/articles/sdata201618
Wikipedia & Collaborative Knowledge
Wikimedia Foundation. (n.d.). Wikipedia: Five pillars. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Five_pillars
Matei, S. A., & Dobrescu, C. (2011). Wikipedia's "neutral point of view": Settling conflict through ambiguity. Information, Communication & Society, 14(6), 850–871. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220175584ResearchGate
Misinformation & Critical Literacy
Silverman, C. (2015). Lies, damn lies, and viral content: How news websites spread (and debunk) online rumors, unverified claims and misinformation. Tow Center for Digital Journalism. https://academiccommons.columbia.edu/doi/10.7916/D8Q81RHHSAGE
Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policy making. Council of Europe. https://shorensteincenter.org/information-disorder-framework-for-research-and-policymaking/
Principles and practice
VESELÝ, Vojtěch (ed.).: Jak psát Wikipedii. Wikimedia Česká republika, Praha 2020. Dostupné online
BLAHUŠ, Marek: Jak se zrodila česká Wikipedie. Brno 2023.
Assessment
The prerequisites for successful completion are the following:
- Regular attendance and active participation in class
- A Wikipedia article on a topic to be oked by the lecturer
- Feedback on other student's articles (15%)
- Your own article (35%)
- A research paper on a topic to be oked by the lecturer --- does not have to be the same as the wikipedia article (range 4-8 pages)
- Feedback on other student's articles (15%)
- Your own article (35%)
Acknowledgements
The Wikmedia Logo is a registered trademark of Wikimedia.
Source code for this course available here https://github.com/bond-lab/Open-Knowledge under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence — CC BY 4.0.