Cancer Research UK is to hire its very own ‘Wikipedian in Residence’ to help ensure the free online encyclopaedia Wikipedia has the most up to date and accurate information on cancer.
The new role will include teaching Cancer Research UK’s scientists to edit the website as well as researching how cancer patients use the site to access information and helping to make information on its pages as easy as possible to understand.
Funded by the Wellcome Trust and supported by Wikimedia UK, the new in-house Wikipedian role will be the first of its kind to be created by a medical research organisation. It is hoped that the project could act as an exemplar for other areas of medical research – ensuring that medical experts are working closely with Wikipedia so that cutting-edge scientific research is freely available to everyone.
Liz Woolf, head of CancerHelp UK at Cancer Research UK, said: “As leading providers of cancer information through our own CancerHelp pages, we’re now thrilled to announce that our Wikipedian in Residence will be finding new ways to build on the information that’s already available to the public through Wikipedia. As well as forging new partnerships to help make information on cancer a resource that is accessible to all.
“Wikipedia is often one of cancer patients’ first ports of call for information about their disease and the latest research taking place. Which means it’s more important than ever that they have access to the best and most up to date information that’s out there.”
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