McGill Librarian Drives Wikipedia Growth, Enhances Representation

Michael David Miller, a Liaison Librarian at McGill Libraries, is making significant contributions to Wikipedia as part of his role with Wikimedia Canada. This non-profit organization focuses on expanding free knowledge, particularly through the popular online encyclopedia, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last month. Miller’s involvement includes hosting workshops, conducting edit-a-thons, and adding source citations, especially to the French-language version of Wikipedia.

Miller points out that librarians possess a unique skill set that aligns closely with the goals of Wikipedia. “We have access to primary and secondary sources,” he explained, adding that librarians teach workshops on various subjects. “Librarians and Wikipedia have similar goals: democratizing access to information.”

Despite its status as one of the most visited websites globally—with over 66 million articles in multiple languages—Wikipedia has gaps in representation. Historically, women, people of color, and LGBTQIA+ community members are underrepresented, particularly in the French version, where Quebec’s contributions lag behind.

Miller emphasized the implications of these gaps. “People assume if you’re not on the internet, you’re not important,” he said. He also highlighted that Wikipedia serves as a significant source of training data for artificial intelligence. “If we don’t create it, AI inaccuracies will fill the gaps,” he added.

Miller joined Wikimedia Canada in 2017 and began actively contributing to Wikipedia soon after, focusing primarily on French-language articles. One of his early contributions was to the page of Mado Lamotte, a well-known Montreal drag queen. “She’s been on Radio-Canada numerous times, yet there were American drag queens who were much better represented on French Wikipedia,” Miller noted, questioning the disparity.

Through his research, Miller found that approximately 80 percent of French Wikipedia contributors are based in France, leaving a mere 20 percent for all other francophones. This realization motivated him to focus on improving representation for Quebec’s women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ community members.

Miller has organized workshops and edit-a-thons at the Centre communautaire LGBTQ+ de Montréal, resulting in new or enhanced articles dedicated to figures such as author Kev Lambert and drag performer Rita Baga. His efforts often intersect with his responsibilities at McGill, where he has facilitated a Wikipedia workshop for communications professionals and collaborated with a French literature class to create 17 new articles on female Quebec poets.

In addition to Miller, other McGill librarians are also contributing to this initiative. He estimates that “at least 10 of us are really well-versed in Wiki projects.” For instance, his colleague Anna Dysert has linked the McGill Libraries Archival Collections Catalogue to relevant Wikipedia pages and Wikidata items, sometimes accounting for nearly half of the digital catalogue’s traffic.

“These platforms help us get our unique items and special collections out into the world,” Miller explained. “Things need to be discoverable for people to even know they exist.”

Miller encourages individuals who have not yet engaged with Wikipedia to consider becoming editors. He offers his assistance for anyone interested in contributing, whether to answer questions or to support educators in developing Wikipedia course assignments. “We’re the McGill Libraries, and that’s our job—to keep up to date with information,” he stated. “You, too, can make a concrete contribution to the free knowledge movement.”