Will Paying Students To Edit result in More Wikipedians?

Abstract

At Indiana University Indianapolis the University Library hires students as “Wikipedia and Digital Content Specialists” to edit Wikipedia. The students write or contribute to entries related to the central Indiana community where the university is located. The student Wikimedians use the WikiEdu modules to learn to edit and also receive troubleshooting support from peers and academic librarians. After developing a baseline of skills, the students choose from a list of topics and tasks that align with their personal interests. Altogether, the library student employees have created 44 entries and contributed 8,520 edits in less than three years. They have also enjoyed “going down the rabbit hole” and exploring the many quirks of Wikipedia. But what will happen when they graduate or leave the job? This presentation reports on an evaluation of the outcomes of student engagement as it relates to Wikipedia participation during and after being a paid editor. If students are paid to edit, will they choose to continue to engage with Wikipedia? If so, how? What would motivate the students to continue after graduation? This evaluation uses a semi-structured interview format to solicit the opinions of current and former Wikipedia and Digital Content Specialists at IU Indianapolis.