NIOSH Launches Wikipedia Editing Campaign for the International Year of Sound 2020
January 28, 2020
NIOSH Update:
MEDIA CONTACT: Nura Sadeghpour, uvg2@cdc.gov, 202.245.0673
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is launching a yearlong Wikipedia campaign to better provide free public information on the harmful effects of noise as a major contribution to the International Year of Sound 2020.
Wikipedia has long been an important source of information for the general public. In honor of a global initiative, International Year of Sound 2020 (IYS2020), a team of NIOSH researchers are launching a yearlong Wikipedia campaign, Wiki4YearOfSound2020, to write, update, and maintain articles pertaining to sound. This campaign is supported by multiple partners and builds on the success of last year’s Wiki4WorldHearingDay2019, which created over one thousand edits to articles that attracted more than 2.3 million views during the 2-month tracking period.
Anyone with Internet access can participate in the campaign by going to the Wiki4YearOfSound2020 page. This page allows users to sign up to join the Wikipedia campaign and describes the different ways to participate, including suggesting or writing new articles, improving existing articles, and translating articles. For all users that sign up, their edits will be continuously tracked through December 31, 2020 and recorded on the campaign dashboard.
For those who want more hands-on Wikipedia instruction, NIOSH currently has several events planned, including workshops at February’s National Hearing Conservation Association annual conference and at the May meeting of the Acoustical Society of America.
The Wikipedia campaign is just one part of IYS2020, which hopes to highlight the impact all aspects of sound have on the planet. This initiative has a range of outreach and educational events across the globe led by various affiliate organizations from India to France.
NIOSH is the federal institute that conducts research and makes recommendations for preventing work-related injuries, illnesses and deaths. For more information about NIOSH visit www.cdc.gov/niosh.