Wikipedian in Residence

http://enwp.org/WP:GLAM/BL

Andrew Gray // andrew.gray@bl.uk // @generalising

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What does a WiR do?

A Wikipedian in Residence “serves as a liaison between the organization and the Wikimedia community to promote a mutually beneficial cooperation.”

Liaison between two communities Aware of the interests and demands of both sides

Responsive to institutional focus Traditionally content-oriented Overlaps with a number of existing projects

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Varied projects in the past

British Museum …extensive increase in coverage of artefacts

100,000 images from the Tropenmuseum and the Bundesarchiv …and metadata flowing back again

QRpedia – multilingual “item tags” for museums on-demand content in the reader’s desired language

V&A focused on one artefact… …and got it back in ten languages

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Institutional benefits

Improved coverage of material

Content available to more readers

Engages new communities

Innovative reuse of content

Lasting partnerships

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…and academic benefits

Research dissemination Extending reach of projects Capturing secondary research

Improving public awareness Giving context to better understand research

Student programs On-going projects to “teach by writing”

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Objectives

Improving content

Identify gaps & problems in“relevant” Wikipedia content

Support volunteers in improving articles

Integrate existing collections and projects

Plan for ongoing development

Building skills

Guidance on engaging with Wikipedia volunteers

Training and support for interested contributors

Workshops for staff, for academics, and for the public

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Content: what’s happened so far

Review of “BL related” content Continuing growth of articles – up 125% in eighteen months Handling specific content issues Support for individual contributors

Content uploads Collections identified and suggested by curators Working to ensure copyright clearance & metadata links BL material illustrates thousands of articles Canadian Copyright Collection

VIAF links – authority control within Wikipedia

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Canadian Copyright Collection … cats?

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Skills: what’s happened so far

Around 350 people have attended 40+ practical workshops British Library staff; AHRC researchers; wider public Librarians, academics, researchers, students, support staff.

Emphasis on “Wikipedia as information literacy” General tool – gaining understanding for future

Building confidence and skills to engage Encouraging people to consider initiating projects

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Workshop responses

Feedback was (as always) somewhat limited, but…

From a sample of respondents: All would recommend a similar workshop Half planned to edit articles or engage with contributors; Only one did not intend to engage at all Average “useful” rating 4.7 out of 5

Some very encouraging interest – many sessions oversubscribed

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Events

Multiple events for varied audiences: Regular practical workshops – at least fortnightly “Community” events for Wikipedia contributors Talks aimed at researchers – using & studying Wikipedia

GLAM-Wiki conference (12-14 April 2013)

… The National Archives, Institute of Education, Royal Opera House, School of Advanced Study, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Institute of Historical Research, Museum of London, Shakespeare Institute, Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Senate House Library, Institute of Classical Studies, CWGC, EDINA, British Museum, Birkbeck, Birmingham, California Irvine, Cambridge, Edinburgh, Exeter, Goldsmiths, ICL, KCL, Keele, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Manchester, Northumbria, Notre Dame, Nottingham, Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, Royal Veterinary College, Sheffield, SOAS, Southampton, UCL, UEL …

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Project-oriented work

Supporting engagement, dissemination and reuse

Individualised advice for interested projects - advising on planning for volunteer engagement - supporting practical reuse in both directions - building a portfolio of case studies

… best practice & cautionary tales … informal guidance documents

Occasional internal resistance to overcome!

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Royal Society : Ada Lovelace Day

Not an AHRC project – a proposed one!

Event to tie in with Ada Lovelace Day (16th October)

Theme of “Women in the History of Science”

20 contributors in London: ...many of whom subject experts ...and events elsewhere – Oxford, Harvard, Stockholm, India Exceptional press coverage - Independent, BBC, Guardian, Telegraph,

Discover, Scientific American, Nature

A textbook case of what can go well

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International Dunhuang Project

Focused collaboration around a specific project

Aimed to increase public engagement with a specific collection

Several approaches: Outreach to Wikipedia contributors Content created by project staff Contributions from ~30 students

…unexpectedly successful!

Lessons: coordination is hard!

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Royal Manuscripts