Panel: Wikipedia as a site of archival activism: potentials and limits from the experience of equity-seeking community advocates

The growth in community archives especially in the digital sphere has been in part because of grassroots efforts and a desire to decolonize archival spaces that remain to be unavailable to many. What underlies these efforts are also because of the growing recognition of how the opening up of public spaces and record keeping, archives included, have a relationship to social justice. Duff, Flinn, Suurtamm, and Wallace has a role of “providing public space, welcoming all members of society, and providing information resources that aid in their development” (Duff et al. 2013, p. 332).

Wikipedia, in a sense, because of its community editorial potential, acts like a community archive and thus becomes a site for these decolonizing efforts.

This talk will share our different experiences with community archiving - via YouTube, our efforts to submit to the Public Library Archives, and efforts at doing Wikipedia editathons.