Introducing the Public Policy Initiative
- User:Sross (Public Policy) is Sage Ross, the Online Facilitator for the Wikimedia Foundation's Public Policy Initiative. As a volunteer, he edits as User:Ragesoss.
The Public Policy Initiative is gearing up now, and I want to explain, in about as much detail as we have pinned down so far, what the project is about. I especially encourage any Wikipedians who care about Wikipedia classroom assignments, reaching out to experts, helping new users, and/or Wikipedia's coverage of American public policy to get involved.
This initiative is an ambitious project: the goal is to take a (frighteningly large) subject area where Wikipedia ought to do better—United States public policy, broadly construed—and find systematic ways to enlist experts to work with the Wikipedia community to improve the coverage.
The on-wiki hub of the Public Policy Initiative will be the new Wikipedia:WikiProject United States Public Policy, and we're recruiting now. This will be in part a traditional WikiProject, focused generally on collaboration on and assessment of articles within its scope. But it will also be the site for coordinating work by a number of public policy students whose professors have signed on to work with us to develop and implement major Wikipedia assignments in their courses.
We've seen many very successful Wikipedia classroom assignments in recent years, but the common denominator seems to be that the instructor must be an experienced Wikipedian to make it work. Through a combination of in-person instruction, systematic online assistance and mentoring during courses, and high-quality instructional materials, we hope to change that; even a teacher unfamiliar with Wikipedia's culture and practices ought to be able to run a successful assignment. To fill the gap between the desire many experts have to contribute to Wikipedia and the knowledge required to contribute effectively, we're recruiting Wikipedia Ambassadors—including Campus Ambassadors and Online Ambassadors. These volunteers will help professors and students learn the ropes on Wikipedia. The details of the Wikipedia Ambassadors program are still being worked out, but if you are interested in either role or would like to help plan these programs, please let us know. Contact Annie Lin (the Campus Team Coordinator for the Initiative) if you are interested in being a Campus Ambassador—especially if you live near George Washington University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Indiana University, or Syracuse University. Contact me, or drop by the IRC channel #wikimedia-outreach, if you are interested in being an Online Ambassador.
