Open Knowledge for a Sustainable Future: Research, Ethics, and Wikipedia
Overview
Monday 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 while
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.
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 | 10-28 | 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.