GLAM/Discussion/2011

Types of event

Do we want to create subpages of GLAM/Projects & Events, explaining what each of the types of event listed at the bottom of that page are? Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 17:04, 7 January 2011 (UTC)

Obvious link to WP:GLAM, etc.

This looks great, Liam! I'm excited to dig in more and help with the discussion and planning of the organization of things. I think you've done great so far. It's no easy task prioritizing things from the ground up.

My main question involves linkage to the main w:WP:GLAM hub. I'm one of the subprojects there and have been depending on it as my home base for some time, so was just curious how the two will link to each other, overlap in content, or have different roles altogether? I'm sorry if I've missed this discussion already. I feel like I'm asking an obvious question that's probably already been decided upon.

You mention in another section that you were wondering how to differentiate between Wikimedians and GLAM's coming here for info - ie: who's the audience and how should we organize it around that audience? Would it make sense to have a tab that's main focus was a link back to the main w:WP:GLAM hub, ie "Advice for the Cultural Sector," which is very obviously for GLAM's. Below this link the page would list the break out of current projects (which are now listed as BM, SI, TCMI, and two recent additions). As it is now, I don't see an obvious, centralized place that lists out the subpage hubs for each of these projects. Instead things are linking to the individual programs, events, or tools being used by them (which are accurately placed within the tabs that they're in). Let me know if any of this doesn't make sense! HstryQT 20:36, 13 January 2011 (UTC)

GLAM Ambassadors criteria

Should we decide all together wich is the criteria for applying to become a Wikipedia GLAM Ambassador?

I know there is already a Wikipedia: Campus Ambassador policy, and another one to the online Ambassadors but, actually, we do not (currently) have any policy about who can call themselves a "Wikimedia GLAM ambassador". Should we just write one together specifically for the GLAM sector?

I would suggest some minimum criteria for being an ambassador at this stage, which we should list on the Wiki:

1. have publically declared their real-world personality and be a legal-adult in their country.
2. be willing and comfortable to make business-quality presentations at meetings with professionals.
3. Not necessarily be an admin on a wiki, but and experienced Wikimedian and be "in good standing" on Wikimedia projects.
4. Have some real-world experience working with a GLAM or education in a relevant field.
5. Other things we can add to this list later - especially if we create a training program.

What do you think about it? Kippelboy 16:39, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

I see no particular reason for the real-world personality criteria or the legal-adult criteria (especially considering non-adults are already contributing here). I'm happy to declare my name for legal reasons but see no reason why my nom-de-wiki is not sufficient for events, collaborations or presentations. Of course there is no issue with people revealing their real-world identity if they wish to, and there may be situations where this is felt to be a benefit (such as arranging a presentation in a school, when personally I would be happy to confirm my legal identity to those that need it), but this starts to present anonymity as an exclusion criteria which is fairly controversial for Wikipedia editors.

I also struggle with the "real-world experience" bit. I have co-incidentally worked with archives and educational bodies in a professional capacity but the reason for my GLAM involvement in the "real-world" is as a volunteer and I would see no issue with someone becoming a GLAM ambassador who has no professional employment background in this field but has relevant experience and interest for other reasons, possibly due to their track record of contributing to Wikimedia GLAM events or being part of a GLAM volunteer network.

I recommend something like a "trust certificate" where legal identity and possibly age could be confirmed by some Wikimedia confidential process behind a Chinese wall. That way people could check the trust certificates and not be that concerned about talking to someone with a funny nick-name. Fæ 18:27, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

First, if you prepare a project with a GLAM (an official one, with a big building and a lot of visitors), you will have to reveal your real identity. You can keep a pseudonym but you may have to reveal the link between it and your real name if needed.

For this, I think the GLAM ambassador should be a member of his local chapter, if it exists. This will be a very strong proof of reliability. We are not on the same way as the Wikipedia Campus Ambassador; not just giving advice to students or professors on "how to contribute". In France, GLAMs want to have some results on sharing their documents, sources, pictures, etc. They need an expertise on how-to proceed. The chapters have this global effectiveness : an official constitution, people ready to respond, maybe an experience on this domain. If a GLAM ambassador works without the chapter, the credibility will decrease in this country.

And as you Kippelboy, I apply ! Trizek ^{here or} 21:12, 23 January 2011 (UTC)

I think the idea of being part of the local chapter is a good one, and probably could be considered part of the concept of "trust". It is the aspect of "publicly declared their real-world personality" I feel is unnecessary as a constraint, not the accountability that might exist if a person's legal identity can be confirmed through the local chapter. In practice I have been heavily involved in the GLAM/British Museum and GLAM/British Library events and there has been no issue with curators and managers knowing me as User:Fæ and naturally getting on with collaborating. The only time I have had to use my legal name was signing in to controlled rooms, registering with building security and getting my British Library reader card, this never needed a "public" declaration of any sort.

At some point we would probably need to pay some attention to getting the right sort of waiver in place for events, even if a chapter knows an Ambassador's legal identity, we would still need to make sure that public liability is covered by the institution for any events (not us) and that nothing an Ambassador would offer as advice should in any way be interpreted as professional advice (which comes with its own issues of liability). Fæ 00:45, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

Rather than having a strict list of official criteria, some of which may not apply in all cases (eg there are surely some existing 17-year old Campus Ambassadors who would be excellent for this role), approval by a small, lightweight GLAM Ambassadors committee would seem to make more sense for now.--Pharos 20:28, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

So, who ? Trizek ^{here or} 12:47, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Well, practically speaking, going with Liam leading and and a couple of other people he may nominate alongside would seem like a good start.--Pharos 17:22, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

i strongly oppose the idea of revealing one's personality to the wmf / any sort of board. acting (almost) anonymously is one of the great benefits of the wikimedia and its projects. i passed my name, phone number and address to my local glam, so they can contact me if there's anything important. but i don't see a point in providing this data to anyone but the glam. neither do i need so sign any contract, nor other kinds of business agreement. providing the real life name, adress and what have you should remain a personal decision. given the small number of people providing to glam and interested in becoming an ambassador, we should keep the hurdle low until the community increases significantly in size. establishing a cooperation with an actual glam is the only requirement that makes much sense. basically i see three groups of people at the moment. newcomers - interested in cooperation work in general, perhaps from a certain point of view (image editing, technical aspects, etc.). have not done much yet, but are eager to contribute.
midways - they contribute to the glam project or have established a cooperation or do any work related, but did not yet finish their projects to rely upon.
big fish - those who succesfully established a cooperation, resulting in any sort of material uploaded to commons or else. they've got experience and know the tricks of the trade, a worthy source for new cooperations. the big fish should be ambassadors due to their work already done. the other two groups could qualify once they've established a cooperation. just a rough draught.
what do you think?

i don't see much of a correlation between not being part of the local chapter (or comparable) and decreasing credibility. given the glam is not into wiki related work, they won't care whether one is part of a chapter or not. what's important to establish a cooperation is the glam accepting you as a person - not the chapter community. one of the main aspects for the glams will be pr work - it's critical for them to spread the word about the cooperation. being part of the chapter can be useful, still contacts can be created otherwise. seeing things from the glam perspective is very important, it helps to understand their reason for contributing and their special needs. i'm saying this from my short german glam related experience, would be great to hear about other experiences in other countries. regards, Peter Weis 14:53, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

That's not especially I think the UK experience, where the chapter has had considerable involvement with GLAM initiatives. It doesn't seem unreasonable that people are members, & I wonder if the local chapter should approve appointments in some way? Especially in smaller countries, if an ambassador screws up the relationship with the National Museum, it might be hard to pick up the pieces later. Johnbod 18:34, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

Trying to summarize all that has been said, it seems that there are differences regarding the disclosure of real identity, but it is quite clear that if we want to become GLAM Ambassadors we need a certain confidence and reliability to the rest of the group, both of the local chapter and the GLAM sector itself. Maybe a list like the one of the Campus Ambassadors will help (with and optional photo).

As Pharos said, a possibility could be the creation of a lite GLAM Ambassadors committee, maybe like at Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Steering Committee.

Personally I also think than PeterWeiss proposal of creating groups of people (newcomers / midways / big fish ) should be interesting and usefull.

What do you think? Should we start the list of volunteers? --Kippelboy 15:29, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

If people think that the creation of a steering committe for the GLAM ambassadors is a good idea, then I'm happy too :-) Presumably they could draft some guidelines for being accredited, training, policies... and the wider community would ratify that concept. Also, I see on the "contact" tab of this portal that Annie Lin from the WMF has requested to join the mailinglist - she has been responsible for the Public Policy ambassador system and could be very useful to helping us get the idea moving. Witty lama 05:36, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

┌─────────────────────────────────┘
Can I just clarify something? You don't have to be an ambassador to be involved in a GLAM project, right? All that GLAM ambassadors should be are people who can act as a contact point for GLAMs who want to be involved with Wikimedia. If this was the case then the criteria wouldn't have to be so open, allowing under-16s in etc. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 16:29, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Steering Committee mission

I am all for a steering group but would like to see part of its mission to find ways to support and encourage self-starters who go and make things happen without asking for permission and might not be interesting in going through a qualification process as well as establishing an ambassador structure for those that would be more comfortable with well-defined process. The widely influential experience of having a Wikimedian-in-residence has shaped our thinking but may be very hard to repeat (there are so very few Liams about) and so might actually hamper other innovative ways of making things happen.

In the example of Derby Museum we have Victuallers taking the initiative. He has a wealth of pragmatic real-life experience to rely on and through his enthusiasm for one of his favourite Museums has championed a live leading-edge public exhibition/demonstration of QR codes making Derby's collection instantly web-interactive using Wikipedia articles to help inform (yet at almost no cost to the Museum or Wikimedia). Victuallers did not need permission but was supported by an ad-hoc collaborative GLAM team as well as various chats in WMUK chapter related events and the virtual environment to help bounce ideas back and forth. Saying that, I'm sure life would be easier with pre-defined ways of asking for specific help (such as logistics and some technical support).

As part of the decision making of a (small) steering group about mission, policy and process I would recommend:

• Identifying a handful of key stakeholders (curators, non-Wiki GLAM volunteers, self-starters) to act as a quick peer-review panel for policies and provide early feedback
• Sticking to case-study examples of where some things have worked well and only crystallizing process when there is a sufficient body of lessons learned
• Agreeing a light-weight communications and commitment strategy in a way that does not inhibit ad-hoc collaboration
• Keeping a focus on easy to understand DIY methods available for GLAM-related folks to encourage self-starters who may be new Wikipedians and support people who want to help but can only contribute a small amount of time/effort
• Finding some agile processes for specifying what they would like to see done so that tasks can be openly crowd-sourced

—Fæ (talk) 11:15, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

I think I agree with that (and admire the professional vocabulary!) but/and think we need to ensure that anyone using the self-start route & calling themselves a GLAM-ambassador has at the very least informed the community, as of course Victuallers has done very fully. I think we are now ready to open a recruiting list, even if the nature of the role remains unclear round the edges. When we see who signs up, that may help define how it will work. Johnbod (talk) 15:01, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, agreed Fae. I would hate for any formalised system of ambassadors to stifle others from being able to undertake projects.

Johnbod, when you say "recruiting list" do you mean to recruit a committee or recruit ambassadors? Witty lama (talk) 00:13, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

I was thinking of opening a list for people who want to be ambassadors, for the putative committe to examine. But if we are having a committee we should get on with forming that too. Johnbod (talk) 01:05, 8 February 2011 (UTC)

┌─────────────────────────────────┘
Based on a discussion about basic ambassador criteria at the London meet-up put me in mind of a train-the-trainers matrix. I have a simple-minded structure at en:User:Fae/GLAM_Ambassadors for kick-about and further suggestions. Fæ (talk) 22:41, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Trial register

After a some feedback by email, I have created a trial page at GLAM/Ambassador register for further discussion. Feel free to add your name to the table and add suggestions for improvement on the associated talk page. Fæ (talk) 07:44, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

Other important partnerships

It just occurred to me that, although I could not help building it, this site might host a section about other important cultural partnerships in releasing/creating open content. I think Creative Commons news archives might be a good start to find them. Showing our partners that we are part of a wider and complex movement can only be positive for our cause, IMHO. Elitre 19:05, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

On that issue, have you heard of the m:Free Culture Alliance NYC? This is a Wikimedia-led cross institutional group that has the broad goal of "free culture" with many organisations represented. To your question: I think we could certainly have a list of other projects with similar aims but I think it might be hubris for us to attempt to do any more than list them - we can't pretend to be the central hub of all cultural outreach projects :-) Witty lama 13:49, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

On this note, I have been thinking that there is also a world of amateur/enthusiast societies for collectors & fans of various types of artefacts and subjects. Potentially these could be very productive, as they will I imagine have an older age profile, with many people in retirement with time on their hands, and lots of expertise (and specialist books). I think we are beginning to find that museum partnerships can be very productive in terms of image releases, and helping existing editors to develop articles, but they are not so far (with exceptions) so effective at recruiting new editors. Curators will I think mostly not become editors for the same reason as professors. At the British Library, Fae worked closely with their head curator of stamps, who is also (if I've got this right) President of the RoyaL Philatelic Society (UK). I think we should be trying to present to meetings and conferences of groups like this, which I imagine are a combination of amateurs and professionals. Johnbod 18:47, 25 January 2011 (UTC)

(David is a former President of RPS, I've yet to follow up with a friendly chat to pursue anything that might happen next; so keep it under your hat for the moment. Fæ 00:10, 26 January 2011 (UTC))

Sorry - but anyway he was interested enough to spend most of a day working with you. Johnbod 01:56, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

For those not involved, we were bowled over by the interest shown by British Library curators and staff in the editathon. During the day around 20 curators were involved and wanted to help (outnumbering the Wikipedians). Staff from philately, science and the audio library spent most of the day taking part. It was all very encouraging and shows plenty of potential for a long term future relationship and further events. I think it is no co-incidence that their by-line is "Explore the World's Knowledge" which at first glance seems identical to Wikipedia's purpose. See en:Wikipedia:GLAM/BL for the collaboration page. Fæ 10:48, 26 January 2011 (UTC)

@Liam, yes, I was thinking only about that, i.e.:

• Partnership between UNESCO and the Nature Publishing Group to create the World Library of Science, which will be the first open online learning resource covering the entire life and physical science curriculum at the secondary and post-secondary level.. User:Elitre (79.22.119.60 17:22, 26 January 2011 (UTC))

newsletter updates

It would be great to distribute "this month in GLAM" as an HTML newsletter to members of cultural institutions, in the same way that the Public Policy Initiative is distributing its newsletters (time to set up a central newsletter coordination page on OutreachWiki? ;-)--Eloquence 00:29, 27 January 2011 (UTC)

I wasn't aware that the PPI did that.. We already have https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/museum-l which is an otherwise dead mailinglist and could be a good place to send it. Rock Drum - is that something that you'd be interested in formatting? Witty lama 11:10, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Erm... I'm no good with HTML really, but I'm sure LiAnna Davis will give you the HTML code for the PPI newsletter (which as far as I'm concerned is suitable) if you ask here nicely. :P Rock drum (talk · contribs) 16:17, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

2c

Maybe it's a little off topic here, but I'd like to say that publishing the Google Art Project pics on Commons might (at best) harm other glam projects (we're not talking of mere pictures taken by short distance or scans that anybody could do, IMHO). Elitre 23:14, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

Whilst I personally agree with you that it might undermine some efforts at collaboration, and have weighed in on the discussion you've linked, it does remain the case that those images are PD and Wikimedians are allowed (by law and Commons policy) to copy and publish them. I'm going to try and form a relationship with GoogleArtImages in their own right which hopefully will be productive and mutually beneficial too :-) Witty lama (talk) 05:46, 7 February 2011 (UTC)

Ambassador

Oh! ... there are official lists of GLAM ambassadors? I'd seen the adverts saying do you want to train to be one.... but I decided to just do it. Do I need to add my name to a list? Victuallers 00:54, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

There's a discussion slightly further up this page about how we are going to decide what training an ambassador needs etc. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 09:25, 5 February 2011 (UTC)

Culture.si

The wiki Culture.si was launched in April 2010. Texts about the w:culture of Slovenia are available under the w:CC-BY-SA 3.0 license, the same license as used by Wikipedia. See Enhance Wikipedia! and Terms of Use. Published by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and w:Ljudmila (media laboratory). --Eleassar (talk) 13:57, 9 February 2011 (UTC)

• The site is selfdescribed in the following way: Culture.si is designed to help professionals explore possibilities for collaboration with Slovene cultural organisations. Here you can find information on cultural producers, venues, festivals and support services in Slovenia, and download images, logos or contacts. Take a look and make a connection! As of Feb. 13, the wiki has 2,171 articles many of which do not exist on wikipedia. I think that this oppurtunity should be taken advantage of and built upon as quickly as possible.84.41.42.163 16:29, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Sign up

Can we sign up for the newsletter? Can it be delivered to en Wikipedia talk page? --Piotrus (talk) 17:56, 10 February 2011 (UTC)

Thanks to MZMcBride, there's a pretty straightforward and self-explanatory process for setting up on-wiki subscriptions at m:Global message delivery. I would suggest using that, and having at least 2-3 volunteer maintainers to ensure regular delivery.--Eloquence (talk) 05:58, 11 February 2011 (UTC)

FWIW, I am on the access list for Global Message Delivery (as is Aude). Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 18:58, 27 February 2011 (UTC)

Revamp (with GLAM section)

Hi all, I've just done a big revamp of the GLAM hub with a new section just for GLAMs. The main GLAM page is now a front page which links to the main pages for Wikimedians and GLAMs. I would appreciate any feedback you can give. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 20:06, 12 February 2011 (UTC)

I sort of have mixed feelings about drawing lines between the two communities too much. Maybe better if the main GLAM page were split into two major sections, rather than having two whole separate main pages?--Pharos (talk) 06:28, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

I did this because as it was, there were some links in the navbar which would have been unnecessary for GLAM reps. --Rock drum (talk · contribs) 08:28, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

I must say, Nice job :-) I sympathise with Pharos' question and don't think we've solved this problem (I also worry about maintaining two separate sections - perhaps fixed by sucking in the data from the wikimedian side to the glam side?) but it make good progress to solving a genuine problem. Witty lama (talk) 09:46, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Some of the GLAM section pages are automatically transcluded from the Wikimedian equivalents but some (such as contact and ambassadors) are seperate. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 13:03, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

Just a thought: Perhaps the division could be avoided by having the main GLAM page have essentially the contents of GLAM/Institutions, plus a tab "Collaboration" which would be an organized hub for community activity (with sub-sections or sub-tabs if necessary). As it is it feels a bit divisive, and creates a bit of an impression that GLAMs are passive recipients of support by Wikimedian, as opposed to being invited to become part of a very hands-on collaboration if they want to (and, in some cases, GLAM folks being Wikimedians).--Eloquence (talk) 20:05, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, this seems like a good way to ensure collaboration of the two (overlapping) GLAM and Wikimedian communities.--Pharos (talk) 21:09, 18 February 2011 (UTC)

I agree with this suggestion. I feel that the main landing page would seem less divisive if it went back to the original layout, with some minor tweaks as suggested above. This will reinforce the collaborative nature of GLAM and also bring back the handsome GLAM logo on the main page. (I'm a big fan of the fancy GLAM letters and think they go a long way in creating a good first impression : ). HstryQT (talk) 03:08, 28 February 2011 (UTC)

Inter-wiki collaboration spaces

Are there any strong views of where in-country collaboration should sit for GLAM activity tracking/sharing. For WM-UK we have been using http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM-WIKI/Events as a space to track post-conference goings-on, but I'm wondering if we ought to harmonize on using country specific sub-pages here (outreach)? I am slightly cautious as I want to keep strong chapter responsibility and, potentially, authority for aspects where they may be directly funding project work. Fæ (talk) 22:40, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

Yes, it's confusing and generally uncoordiated. The Indian community recently created this too: w:Wikipedia:GLAM/India which is on Wikipedia. I would generally agree that chapter's national wikis are good places to keep info about national activities - especially in the future if we have a global network of profesional Chapter outreach managers - but these do not always exist (e.g. Wikimedia NYC uses Meta) or have consistent policies (e.g. Wikimedia Australia has "members only" editing). Meta would be a logical place but that would duplicate the work from here... I have no perfect solution sorry :-( Witty lama (talk) 17:11, 16 February 2011 (UTC)

List to sign up as a potential middle-man

I think there should be a list where people (like me) could link to our user pages, so we could be contacted if locals were needed to help facilitate cooperation with GLAMs in our area. Thoughts? 84.41.42.163 23:37, 14 February 2011 (UTC)

We are just starting up the Steering Committee, see GLAM/Ambassadors & Interns and getting a register and light-weight verification process is top of the list. Thanks Fæ (talk) 06:19, 15 February 2011 (UTC)

Participants list?

Is there anywhere I can sign up, without signing up for the Steering Group? The Land (talk) 13:30, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

GLAM/Ambassador register might be what you are looking for. Fæ (talk) 17:51, 2 March 2011 (UTC)

UK vs USA

As I read the requirements (at the help link) there is a possible requirement of meeting an experienced ambassador, who are all in the UK. This seems to leave out participation in the USA, and a lot of other places. Is there a way to simplify things, so that the participation of Wikipedians all over the world can get started? I really don't understand the first steps to be taken and would hope that somebody can communicate something concrete about this. Smallbones (talk) 03:02, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

It's a good point. I think there are probably quite a lot of people who are capable of setting up these kinds of partnerships, but need a bit of context and a bit of knowledge to inspire them to do it and give them confidence in what they're doing. Obviously one route to that inspiration and confidence is participating in existing projects, talking to people who are engaged with them, but I would be loath to say that was the only way of doing it - particularly as the existing collaborations are quite geographically concentrated. The Land (talk) 12:01, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

With regards to USA-specific activities in this field, there is the proposed m:GLAMcamp NYC (tentatively for late May) which is precisely for that kind of thing. Otherwise, local support is something that I would call on the Chapters to support - it is through events like GLAM-WIKI conferences (of smaller or larger scale) that can kickstart the conversation. Of course, specific help if required I am always willing to provide if I can. Witty lama (talk) 10:06, 6 March 2011 (UTC)

Please don't feel locked out. One of the most active wikipedians on the Derby Project lives in France. You are most welcome to join us remotely Victuallers (talk) 10:38, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

GLAM Ambassador role

Thanks for the kind comments above. I have two minor problems

• As you know I'm "just doing it" at Derby Museums. Liam tells me I'm a de facto wikipedian-in-residence - which is OK (but I still have a full time job). You guys say I'm a "pending" GLAM Ambassador. Could I encourage you to come to a "de facto" decision? Or even a decision? No one is going to argue with you. If this list hasn't got me, Fae, HistryQT and Liam on it then someone needs to stop us!
• The Derby event is nearly a month away. When it is advertised then I anticipate that we will have a list of names and a waiting list. This should be an ideal event as it is in the centre of Britain and there are trains from St Pancras (cheap if booked early). Can you guys push your names onto the list now (search for GLAM Derby in Google). Your names do carry weight and if we are going to learn things then we need the core team there.

Apologies if I'm not communicating much here myself. I'm not trying to be independant just trying to make sure "it is built, so you will come" Best wishes to all Victuallers (talk) 10:24, 7 March 2011 (UTC)

As for whether you're an ambassador or a resident, I would say that you should chose the name that you like best and go for it :-) I declared myself a "resident" by just doing it and you should be able to do so too. In my view, because I see "resident" being something that works specifically with 1 institution (whereas "ambassador" is like being a broader contact person) then "resident" is therefore more specific and you should go with that. It's no big deal either way really at this stage though. Does that help? I'm sure if you wanted it, we could ask WM-UK to write you a letter of formal support/recognition if you needed something to prove who you are. Witty lama (talk) 05:59, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

With regard to status, I have suppressed displaying "pending" on the register, this was not intended to give the impression that well established Ambassadors such as Victuallers were somehow awaiting permission or approval but was intended to show that our process for verification has these names in the queue. Once the GLAM steering group gets under way I would expect any backlog to vanish overnight. Thanks Fæ (talk) 10:51, 8 March 2011 (UTC)

FYI for those not subscribed to the "cultural partners" list (see the "contact" tab at the top of the page), we've begun the "steering committee" to work on these and other issues. Information can be found here GLAM/Ambassadors & Interns/Steering Committee. Most discussion will still take place on this discussion page. Witty lama (talk) 03:41, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

Commons:Batch uploading

The Commons:Batch uploading page has numerous old requests and in-progress requests, many that are GLAM-related. The status of many is unknown. I would like to work on getting this updated and improve the process for requests. Right now, as a new/aspiring batch uploader, it's difficult ot know where to begin. If anyone here wants to help, that would be awesome. Aude (talk) 20:17, 9 March 2011 (UTC)

We also have commons:Commons:Guide_to_batch_uploading but it is very sparse. Do you think it would be possible to create an improvement drive for that piece of documentation? Witty lama (talk) 09:14, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

The batch uploading guide is important. I don't know how many people we can get to help improve it, but should definitely make it a priority. Aude (talk) 19:27, 10 March 2011 (UTC)

Taxonomy of Ambassadors

I'd like to offer the following as a possible taxonomy of Wikipedia/Wikimedia ambassadors, covering the several levels of both the GLAM and university outreach fields:

GLAM	Universities
Online Ambassadors (shared, project-based, eg English Wikipedia)
Wikipedian-in-Residence (institution-based)	Campus Ambassador (institution-based)
Regional Ambassadors (shared, chapter-based, eg Wikimedia UK)

Let me know what folks think.--Pharos (talk) 20:22, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

to me, "Campus Ambassador" by analogy with "Wikipedians in residence" means an ambassador for the Wikipedia outreach efforts at an entire campus. Possibly some people do play such a role, but I think it's more normal for it to be with a particular course, making the actual role more like a "Course ambassador". If we were to able to establish a general university contact on the GLAM precedent, then the term would apply more exactly. And I've never liked the term "online ambassador"--I recognize the meaning of "online-only presence" , but given that Wikipedia is an online project in the first place, it's confusing. DGG (talk) 22:40, 11 March 2011 (UTC)

I don't think that OAs should take precidence over CAs and WiRs. I agree that there needs to be some 'over-bearing' thing that co-ordinates to two, but perhaps that could just be the WMF or local board. I've done my own version of the table, below. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 08:36, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

GLAM	Universities
Wikimedia Foundation/Local Chapter
GLAM Steering Committee	Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee
Wikipedian-in-Residence/Local Ambassadors (institution-based)	Campus Ambassador (institution-based)	Online Ambassadors (shared, project-based, eg English Wikipedia)
Regional Ambassadors (shared, chapter-based, eg Wikimedia UK)

I think the Wikipedia Ambassador Steering committee is treating the Regional Ambassadors as below both the Chapters and the Steering Committee which are both indirectly responsible to the community and the Foundation (more probably with dotted line relationships). We are actually currently trying to figure out how to define regions and what type of infrastructure will coordinate multiple regional ambassadors (such as a coordinator within for the chapter, which I think is where WMUK is probably going to go). Sadads (talk) 08:53, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

┌─────────────────────────────────┘
Actually, I think regional ambassadors should be higher up:

GLAM	Universities
Wikimedia Foundation/Local Chapter
GLAM Steering Committee	Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committee
Regional Ambassadors (chapter-based, e.g. Wikimedia UK)
Wikipedian-in-Residence/Local Ambassadors (institution-based)	Campus Ambassador (institution-based)	Online Ambassadors (shared, project-based, eg English Wikipedia)

Thoughts on this version? Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 20:22, 12 March 2011 (UTC)

Looks ok broadly speaking. Obviously the exact relationships and responsibilities are evolving quite a bit and I imagine there will be some national variation in exactly who does what. The Land (talk) 21:20, 13 March 2011 (UTC)

Two smaller corrections / enhancements: (1) the Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committees are country-based, e.g. once we start an Ambassador Program in India, we will need a local Wikipedia Ambassador Steering committee (same in Germany, etc.) I therefore recommend to add an "s" to Steering Committee, and (2) the Regional Ambassadors don't need to be chapter-based. Some countries might not have a chapter -- that doesn't mean that they can't have an Ambassador Program. In general, I would recommend to take the Foundation / Chapters out of the above table. I see the University Ambassador Program as highly community-driven and independent. The above table might suggest that it is somewhat controlled by the Foundation and its chapters, which is not the case. E.g. in the U.S., the Public Policy Initiative team will dissolve in September 2011. At that point we will hopefully have reached a point where the University Ambassador Program is sustainable on its own (without further support from the Foundation or just with some sort of financial support). That might be different for the GLAM Ambassadors (correct me if I'm wrong). --Frank Schulenburg (talk) 07:51, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

GLAM	Universities		Others (e.g. Highschools)
GLAM Steering Committee	Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committees (country- or language-based)		t.b.d.
Regional Ambassadors (chapter-based, e.g. Wikimedia UK)	Regional Ambassadors		t.b.d.
Wikipedian-in-Residence/Local Ambassadors (institution-based)	Campus Ambassador (institution-based)	Online Ambassadors (optional) (shared, project-based, e.g. English Wikipedia)	t.b.d.

I think the orientation of my original table was misinterpreted a bit above. It was meant more as an evolutionary tree than as a pyramid, with OAs as the "beginner species", and I've corrected that below while also taking some of the other observations into account. I do feel strongly that the same Online Ambassadors and Regional Ambassadors can serve a shared role for both GLAM and university outreach, and that building a common infrastructure for these efforts should be our goal.--Pharos (talk) 10:47, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

GLAM	Universities	Others (eg High schools)
Steering Committees for topical projects (various, eg GLAM Steering Committee,Wikipedia Ambassador Steering Committees)
Regional Ambassadors (shared, chapter or region-based, eg Wikimedia UK)
Wikipedian-in-Residence (institution-based)	Campus Ambassador (institution-based)	TBD
Online Ambassadors (shared, project-based, eg English Wikipedia)

The Regional Campus Ambassadors have a specific set of responsibilities. Their recruitment and training enables them to perform their tasks, e.g. coordinating professor-Ambassador pairings at universities in their region or conducting periodic phone/Skype check-in's with professors and Campus Ambassadors in their region during the semester. In my opinion, there are two main downsides of having shared Regional Ambassadors: (1) The Campus Ambassadors are not recruited and trained for the specific skills GLAM Ambassadors need. The Campus Ambassadors thrive best in the university environment because that's what they're recruited for (with a specific skillset in mind) and that's where their interest lies (some Campus Ambassadors might not know/care much about museums and they might not have the right personality and background to deal with museum staff.) (2) The Regional Campus Ambassadors already have a lot on their plate. The list of responsibilities is long and I'd rather reduce their responsibilities than making them carry another load. --Frank Schulenburg (talk) 17:47, 14 March 2011 (UTC)

I see the opportunity to have both Regional Campus Ambassadors and Regional GLAM Ambassadors. I see myself as one of the latter, knowing little about campus stuff but having done quite a lot of outreach within the DC region and GLAM community. Enough on my plate :) but don't see why we can't have both. Sure, there might be plenty of cases where we don't have enough ambassadors to go around, but there will be people interested in one or the other role. Aude (talk) 21:56, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

I would also like to emphasize why Online Ambassadors should in particular serve a shared role for both GLAM and university outreach, as my recent experience with GLAM outreach in the New York City area has shown a great need for more "helping hands" to assist with online mentoring of the fast-growing numbers of editors from various GLAMs. I've also been in discussion with several members of the Online Ambassadors community in the last few days, and I think it might be best if we just wholesale "adopt" those Online Ambassadors who are willing to also help out with GLAM work.--Pharos (talk) 20:07, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

US National Archives Wikipedian-in-Residence opportunity

Just officially announced... "This summer, we hope to strengthen our institutional relationship with the Wikipedian community by hosting a Wikipedian in Residence. We are currently seeking applications for this student position for the 2011 summer. The Wikipedian will gain an insider’s look into the National Archives and develop an appreciation for the records and resources we have available." — US Archivist David Ferriero

This is a summer intern position, with stipend, for a student to work at NARA 2 in College Park, Maryland.

Full blog post and

• Full blog post - by David Ferriero
• Application + details (pdf)

Please spread the word and we encourage all good candidates to apply. Cheers. Aude (talk) 21:52, 15 March 2011 (UTC)

Person specification for GLAM Ambassador

Draft for discussion, copied from email. The Land (talk) 19:16, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

Role of a GLAM Ambassador

• to inspire engagement between the Wikimedia community and cultural institutions, establishing relationships and identifying opportunities to work together
• to work constructively with any local Wikimedia chapter, helping them to develop GLAM engagement as appropriate.
• to act as a contact point for cultural institutions in the relevant geographic / subject area and if necessary to pass them on

What qualities, skills & knowledge do we want them to have:

• strong communication skills, both electronically and in person;
• confidence & experience to convey a professional image of Wikimedia to the cultural sector - including making presentations
• ability to work as part of a volunteer team
• a high level of independence, self-motivation and initiative
• understanding of Wikimedia projects gained through being an active participant in at least one project, with an understanding of the others (while many potential ambassadors will principally be active on their native-language Wikipedia, we also need them to be able to identify opportunities for Commons, Source, etc etc)
• understanding of GLAM institutions (some idea of their typical internal structures, their traditions and worldview, some examples of effective engagement so far)

Other requirements

• Aged over 18 (or age of majority in relevant jurisdiction, whichever is higher). In exceptional circumstances this threshold could be lowered to 16 (say, we had a 16-year-old who had completed an internship at a cultural institution & was keen to do more)
• Willing to disclose their legal name and a physical contact address to a) one or more members of the Steering Committee b) the Wikimedia Foundation c) the relevant Chapter d) any cultural institutions as may be necessary. This need not result in publication of the Ambassador's real name on-wiki.

• I suggest a small caveat somewhere that the steering committee is free to ignore this specification if there are seen to be good reasons. For example if Stephen Fry wanted to join a public presentation and call himself a GLAM Ambassador it would probably take 60 seconds for us all to agree that he is one. Fæ (talk) 08:06, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Absolutely. These are meant to be something we can advertise to interested people and guide decision-making, not a binding commitment. The Land (talk) 12:26, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Application questionnaire

I've modified this from [1] as a starting point only. It seems that we need to get a procedure for applying, and a procedure for reviewing the applications. This is an obvious first step.

• Why do you want to be a GLAM Ambassador?
• In three sentences or less, summarize your involvement with Wikimedia projects.
• How often do you edit Wikipedia and check in on ongoing discussions? Will you be available regularly for at least three hours per week, in your role as a GLAM Ambassador?
• Have you had major conflicts with other editors? Blocks or bans? Involvement in arbitration? Feel free to offer context, if necessary.
• Please indicate a few articles to which you have made significant content contributions related to GLAMS. (e.g. DYK, GA, FA, major revisions/expansions/copyedits).
• How have you been involved with GLAMS in other ways, on- or off-line?
• What types of contributions do you see yourself making as a GLAM Ambassador regarding individual institutions and to the GLAM project in general?
• What do you see as the most important ways we can encourage contributions by GLAMS to Wikimedia projects?
• What else should we know about you that is relevant to being a GLAM Ambassador?

Suggestions, cross-outs, alternatives welcome. Smallbones (talk) 21:18, 4 April 2011 (UTC)

Is the "GLAM Ambassador" application process going to be done entirely online? Given that much interaction with institutions occurs offline, I think we need to check that applicants can present themselves well offline as well. This could be done by a meeting or phonecall with a Steering Committee member or perhaps with the relevant Chapter. Also - what is the time commitment we expect from a GLAM Ambassador - 3 hours a week is actually quite a lot of time if someone's role is to manage relationships with a few institutions near them...? The Land (talk) 12:11, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

I put in the time requirement because the Online Ambassador program had it (but raised it an hour). I think we should be upfront about there being a time requirement, and what we think it should be. Perhaps the "per week" aspect should be minimized because there might be periods of intense activity, followed by long periods of downtime. However folks see this working is ok with me, but something should probably be included.

There's no reason to think that the application process should be entirely on-line. One of the other Ambassador projects uses a Skype interview, and it's likely that we need something more personal than a typed application as well. I do think that the bulk of the process should be handled on-line so that we can easily get Ambassadors in multiple continents and countries fairly quickly. I'm hoping others join in the discussion - I've got no fixed views on how the procedure should work, only that we need to get a procedure up and running fairly quickly after full discussion. Smallbones (talk) 17:31, 8 April 2011 (UTC)

help

Hi. This may be slightly off-topic but I'm hoping that someone here has the required experience to handle the problem posed by en:Category:Images from Pitts Theology Library Digital Image Archive (also discussed at en:Wikipedia:Media_copyright_questions#Category:Images_from_Pitts_Theology_Library_Digital_Image_Archive). It probably requires contacting the Pitts Theology Library and explaining the copyright status of these images and GLAM has experience with that kind of diplomatic adventure. Thanks, Pichpich 15:28, 25 March 2011 (UTC)

I'm trying to find someone relatively local to be able to call them and discuss the issue [sounds like a job that a GLAM ambassador system would be good for! :-D ]. If anyone in the US wants to take responsibility for this that would be ace. Witty lama (talk) 09:34, 1 April 2011 (UTC)

Username on en-wikipedia

Can someone from the GLAM team please take a look here. cheers Guerillero (talk) 19:27, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

See my reply there. --Rock drum (talk · contribs) 19:31, 2 April 2011 (UTC)

You might want to fix this

commons:Commons talk:Partnerships. Also, I hope I am wrong, but I can not find a single page with a short summary of the main outcomes of the GLAM projects till now (except for images). For example, if I want to know how many articles were created, I have to check every single project and still sometimes I'm not sure I'll find the info I need. 87.20.117.46 22:51, 2 April 2011 (UTC) (Elitre)

The page you link to is one on Wikimedia Commons, as such it is focused on collaboration projects that involve multimedia donations. The (main) purpose of these projects is not the creation of new Wikipedia articles but the use of those pictures within existing Wikipedia articles. There are collaboration projects on Wikipedia (and sister projects to a lesser degree) that have article-creation as a primary goal (see: w:wp:GLAM/BM for example) but such lists of "articles created as part of a collaboration" are manually made rather than by bot so it would be difficult to transclude such information into one place. Does this answer your question? Witty lama (talk) 12:09, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Background image

Hi all, I'm currently working on a GLAMcamp NYC mashup. It's basically putting the twitter stream, IRC channel and all that blahdiwhodihah on the one page. I've taken my inspiration (and most of the code) from the Wikimania 2010 one. However, I haven't got a background (or a place to upload it too, but we'll work on that later) and was wondering if anybody here with graphic creation skills could create a GLAMcamp NYC/New York Public Library version of File:Baner Wikimania2010 - Gdansk.png I could put in the background? It'd be nice to know ASAP if anybody can do it, as time is kinda of-the-essence as GLAMcamp is fast-approaching. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 13:27, 14 May 2011 (UTC)

Try asking at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Graphic_Lab/Illustration_workshop. Cheers. 85.225.12.118 18:14, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

It's already been done, don't worry. Regards, Rock drum (talk · contribs) 18:19, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Multi-language translations

As part of GLAMcamp NY, creating /translations to help coordinate versions and locations in Hindi, Spanish, German etc. - Fae

Additional information from old "Advice for the cultural sector"

There was a long set of links that could not be integrated into the new GLAM/Case_studies page. I've moved most of list list here just in case that they should be integrated into another section of the GLAM page.

• Having images digitally restored [2]
• UK National Portrait Gallery copyright conflicts is an example of a conflict. See- on Wikinews and in the Signpost, our internal newspaper.
• Wikipedia:Culture - a Wikipedia Cultural Embassy for cultural institutions, in pilot phase\
• Outreach wiki
• Category:Content partnerships
• chapters-cultural-partners private list: for wikimedians (typically chapters members) working on content partnerships (introduce yourself if you're interested in joining)
• Commons:Partnerships
• Best practices in building a content partnership with a cultural institution
• Wikimania 2009: Liam Wyatt, Wikimedia & Museums - why we need each other and what we can do about it; Mathias Schindler, The anatomy of the Bundesarchiv cooperation: 100.000 freely licensed images for Wikimedia Commons.
• Positioning messages for documents intended for museums, libraries and archives (result of a brainstorming at the Wikimedia meeting in Paris, November 6–8, 2009)
• Cultural partnerships on the Wikimedia UK website

-User:Eli.pousson

Case Studies

I cleaned up & added to the the information about IUPUI. Seems like the case studies should be in alpha order. Curious why not? RM

Alpha order makes sense to me. We just hadn't gotten there yet. Thanks for fixing up the IUPUI info! HstryQT (talk) 11:55, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

Combining Sign-Ups

I apologize for not realizing there was already a GLAM/Ambassador register. I attempted to combine the two on the GLAM/Volunteers page but ended up messing up the code. I'm happy for the entire Register to replace the chart I made (I'm no chart genius!) Thanks. HstryQT (talk) 12:08, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

The ivory tower opens its treasure chest

I thought this article might be of interest to GLAM folks:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/babbage/2011/05/public_domain?fsrc=rss

-- LtPowers (talk) 10:52, 2 June 2011 (UTC)

GLAM Baltimore 2011

Join us for GLAM Baltimore 2011! Sponsored by the Walters Art Museum and Baltimore Heritage, this event will bring together Wikimedians and GLAM professionals to examine further opportunities for partnership throughout the Baltimore region! Hope to see you there!

• GLAM Baltimore 2011

Missvain (talk) 14:29, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

List of institutions we have reached to

Do we have a list of institutions we've reached to, with status updates? In particular, I am concerned about the institutions which are not (yet) success stories. Every few months, I'll send an email asking some GLAM place or person to consider donating materials, occasionally I get some response. It would be great if I (and others) could coordinate those efforts, to see which institutions are more open to conversation and could be pressured, which have never been contacted, and so on. Is there such a place? Can we create it if it doesn't exist? --Piotrus (talk)

GLAMcamp:Amsterdam

For those who are interested, please see the information on the forthcoming event in Amsterdam in early December at m:GLAMcamp Amsterdam. Wittylama (talk) 16:08, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Lobbying institution to drop non-commercial clause in their CC-BY-NC-SA licensing

So I found this wonderful image database released under CC-BY-NC-SA: [3]. Unfortunately the non-commercial clause is not acceptable by Wikipedia: [4]. I was thinking about approaching the project and suggesting CC-BY-SA instead. I'd appreciate if you could share your thoughts on similar experiences. Thanks! Fgnievinski (talk) 03:45, 25 October 2011 (UTC)

Thats clear. GLAM wants to earn something on their collections or they dont understand a freedome.

Now it seems to me very difficult to push them to remove NC, if you will find out something let us know.--Juandev (talk) 00:08, 10 December 2011 (UTC)

We've had success with the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia project because the Australian Paralympic Committee donated images that they did not see as having much commercial value. That might be one approach to take to get the first pile of image donations. --LauraHale (talk) 01:29, 10 December 2011 (UTC)