Good morning. It’s Friday. Today we’ll look at an unusual conference taking place in Manhattan this weekend.
This weekend, a group of more than 350 Wikipedia enthusiasts will descend on Civic Hall, a building in New York City’s Union Square, for three days of mingling, editing and learning. But is Civic Hall actually in Union Square? That question was the subject of spirited debate among members of Wikimedia New York City, a group of more than 400 local Wikipedia enthusiasts, this month. “The disputes are always over such small and funny things,” said Pacita Rudder, 37, who became the organization’s first executive director last year. More questions like this will be hashed out at the 12th annual WikiConference North America, which runs through Sunday and attracts editors from the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. This year’s theme is “Wiki World’s Fair,” to celebrate the 400th anniversary of New York City, which is hosting for the first time in more than a decade. The New York City chapter of Wikimedia is one of two official chapters of the organization in the United States (the other is in Washington, D.C.). It was founded in 2009 and was designed to make the city’s knowledge more representative and accessible, Rudder said. Members, who range in age from approximately 16 to 88 and work as academics, lawyers, photographers, recycling technicians and more, meet about once a month to socialize and share projects they’re working on. Around twice a month, they also participate in events geared toward training new editors. Most people become involved because of their passion for a specific subject, Rudder said. She edited her first page — for Frantz Fanon, the revolutionary writer and psychiatrist — in 2007, when she was working on degrees in comparative cultures and politics and African studies at Michigan State University. “It’s often like, ‘I was down the rabbit hole on Wikipedia around this topic that I really love, and I noticed that all of this information was missing,’” she said. The group hosts edit-a-thons, or events where people work together to improve content on a specific topic, about twice a month. “The stereotype is that Wikipedia editors edit on their own at home in their living rooms or bedrooms,” Rudder said. “But actually, there are multiple occasions and times throughout the year where people get together.” There will be edit-a-thons at the conference this weekend, along with sessions on topics like expanding Latino representation on Wikipedia and the challenges and opportunities of using generative A.I. to assist Wikipedia editing. (Rudder said she was particularly looking forward to a session on Friday, in which a teacher from El Salvador will talk about his efforts to preserve information on Wikipedia about the endangered Náhuat language.) Questions of wording on Wikipedia — like whether the contact between a ship and the Brooklyn Bridge earlier this year should be classified as a collision (when two moving objects strike each other) or an allision (when a moving object hits something stationary) — may seem like small potatoes, Rudder said. But factual accuracy on Wikipedia pages is crucial, even or especially as more people turn to A.I. for facts. “A lot of the A.I. companies are scraping information off Wikipedia for their own platforms because it’s free to use,” she said. “So we want to make sure it’s the right information.” But the most important quality for a Wikipedia editor, she noted, is a commitment to neutrality. “We all come to the table with our own personal biases and political views and religious beliefs,” she said. “But when you’re editing an article, you have to try to leave all that behind and just focus on the facts.” And as for whether Civic Hall is indeed in Union Square? The main conference venue “will be Civic Hall at Union Square on 14th Street in Manhattan,” the conference website reads. WEATHER Today will be sunny with a high near 62. The evening is expected to be clear with a low of 46. ALTERNATE-SIDE PARKING In effect until Monday (Diwali). The latest New York news
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