CUNYpedia
2026 Library Publishing Showcase Week: Responding to the Community
Wikipedia as open educational platform
Sample Course Page. Other examples via CUNYpedia
Librarians and instructors at LaGuardia Community College, CUNY have partnered with Wikipedia as an open educational platform to host student work. This work is an example of an increasingly necessary educational approach to counter the challenges posed by an information ecosystem that is being radically transformed. Direct participation with the commons by librarians, scholars, and students, is key to combatting the cynicism that now shadows the creation of knowledge.
This collaborative work has been happening at CUNY with the support of our librarians, archivists, administration, and numerous classroom faculty. The Wikimedia Foundation, Wiki Education Foundation, and other grant funders have also supported.
Publishing opportunities supported by libraries
Starting 15 years ago, instructional technology librarian Ann Matsuuchi and composition professor Dr. Ximena Gallardo, an English composition professor, developed a library publishing collaboration at LaGuardia Community College focused on open publishing on Wikipedia. When classroom work is limited to paywalled, commercial venues, the opportunity for showcasing student accomplishments with the wider world is lost. When Ann learned about the possibility of teaching with Wikipedia from Wikimedia NYC organizers who held workshops at New York City libraries, she saw the chance to get students involved in editing public information.
Working in the library, Ann was able to support classroom faculty using Wikipedia. With a library focus on information, she could provide important help editing an open information source whose impact is unmatched. Publishing edits to Wikipedia, students, scholars, and archivists can effectively share their research and writing with the world. CUNY. Over the years, students and others in our CUNY community have published numerous Wikipedia entries and WikiBooks chapters whose pageviews alone merely hints at the larger impact of the work produced.
Advice for colleagues considering working with libraries on publishing
Libraries can serve as the enablers for this kind of project, and serve as partners in these innovative pedagogical ventures. A few of the Wikipedia entries created by our students are highlighted here. Students appreciated how they might share their work in such a visible, accessible location, and learned how they are connected with the global Wikipedia community.