My husband recently acquired permission to submit articles to Wikipedia. To be able to do this, you have to work your way through Wikipedia’s vetting process (click here to get started), which includes learning to make edits to existing articles. One straightforward and useful way to make edits is to add footnotes to articles where there is a citation-needed tag. Wikipedia keeps a list, so it’s an easy matter to click on an article and see what claim needs a bit of documentation.
I bring this up because I have been a critiquer or beta reader for historical fiction, and it breaks my heart to see the author tremble when I have to admit I didn’t want all the detail so lavishly presented for my enjoyment. After the author went to the trouble of finding out how royal tablecloths were really embroidered in fourteenth-century century Vienna, it seems ungrateful of me to skim over that information just because it has nothing to do with the plot.
Despair no more. Get yourself a Wikipedia account and add references to articles that lack them. Yes, there’s some work to this. Wikipedia takes great care to ensure the quality of contributors. It is not dead simple wading through their guides and learning your way around. Still, you’ve got the sources down to the paragraph, so why not use them? No, your name isn’t attached to any of the edits, but you will know you have served the cause of spreading knowledge. Furthermore, you can point your friends and family to the citations, and any subsequent articles you might submit. There are plenty of people who will find your work important—even if you don’t receive Wikipedia recognition.