B.C. doctor part of team editing popular Wikipedia page on Ebola
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Dr. James Heilman has been editing Wikipedia since 2008.
VANCOUVER A doctor from Cranbrook, B.C., is part of a team of health care professionals editing Wikipedia pages on health issues and diseases, making sure they are accurate and up-to-date.
Emergency Room doctor, James Heilman, started editing Wikipedia in 2008 while working a night shift.
I realized I could fix the Internet and I sort of got hooked at that point, he said.
Now he is part ofWikiproject Medicine,aiming to make Wikipedia a trusted source of information.
Theres a core group of us within Wikipedia, within Wikipedias medical project, that keep an eye on Wikipedias most-read articles, he said.
As Ebola started to make headlines around the world, Wikipedias entry on the subject soared in popularity with millions of page views. A web search of Ebola shows that Wikipedias page ranks higher than information from World Health Organization and the Centre for Disease Control.
When Heilmanis not in the emergency room, he can often be found in front of his computer, managing Wikipedias medical content.
I concentrate my efforts, both on Wikipedias most-read content, as well as this group of most important human diseases, said Heilman. So for example, Ive spent time on an article on HIV / AIDS, Ive spent time on an article about malaria, Ive spent time on an article about the common cold.
Originally posted here:
B.C. doctor part of team editing popular Wikipedia page on Ebola