Iranian Wikimedians User Group/Introduction to Wikipedia and the Principles of Article Writing Dec 2025 - Jan 2026
In December 2025 and January 2026, the workshop and training course titled “Introduction to Wikipedia and the Principles of Article Writing” was held by the Scientific Association of History at the University of Birjand, in cooperation with the History Scientific Associations of Arak University, Yazd University, and University of Mohaghegh Ardabili, as well as the Archaeology Scientific Associations of Shiraz University and Shahrekord University. The course was conducted online in four sessions and was attended by more than 40 students from various universities and departments.
The main objective of the course was to familiarize students with the structure, functions, and core policies of Wikipedia, and to empower them to contribute to the encyclopedia in a scholarly and standardized manner. Initially, the course was planned to be held in three sessions; however, due to the strong interest of participants and their request for more in-depth practical training on standard Wikipedia writing, an additional session was added and held on January 1, 2026. The instructor of the course, ImanFakhri, introduced Wikipedia in the first session (December 19), focusing on its nature, goals, structure, and history, as well as presenting an overview of other Wikimedia sister projects. In the second session (December 24), the reasons for participating in Wikipedia, its importance in promoting free knowledge, and the crucial role of universities and academics in improving the quality of its scholarly content were discussed. The third session (December 30) was dedicated to more practical aspects of participation. Participants were introduced to the Wikipedia interface, including account creation and management, relevant policies and guidelines, namespaces, sandbox pages, watchlists, user preferences, and various aspects of community interaction on Wikipedia. In the final session, key topics related to article writing on Wikipedia were addressed, including the policies of neutrality and verifiability, the use of reliable sources, and the principles of writing a standard article in accordance with Wikipedia’s style guidelines.
By the end of the course, participants had gained a solid understanding of responsible participation in Wikipedia and acquired the necessary skills to write and edit encyclopedic articles in line with the standards of this project.
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An image from the workshop and training course -
An image from the workshop and training course
