GLAM/Newsletter/April 2013/Contents/UK report
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GLAM-Wiki; new and departing Wikipedians in Residence
GLAM-Wiki 2013
The dust has settled on the GLAM-Wiki 2013 Conference that Wikimedia UK organised and ran jointly with the British Library, Europeana, Wikimedia Sweden and THATCamp, and we can now look back and reflect on the event.
GLAM-Wiki 2013 took place on the 12-14 April 2013 at the Conference Centre of the British Library. From the start of the planning phase its aim was to bring Wikimedians and GLAMs together to share their experiences, and to inspire any representatives of cultural institutions interested in a partnership with Wikimedia UK. With this in mind, the workgroup (consisting of many volunteers and supported by staff) created three strands to the event:
On the Friday, we looked at the work Wikimedia and other organisations have done in partnership with cultural institutions, presenting case studies and discussing the benefits to both parties. The day included two highly evaluated keynote speeches, which you can watch here: [1], [2].
On the Saturday, we focused on the more practical and technical side, looking at ways to work together and running workshops to share best practice. Valuable ideas have been generated throughout the day.
Sunday was organised by THATCamp as a free unconference and hackathon, exploring the humanities and technology. We have seen some exciting creations and thoughts around free-licensing, open access and the interface between humanities and technology.
Wikipedians and GLAMs are both looking for ways of spreading their information in the widest possible way. It sounds like a perfect match, and indeed over the three days of the conference, with over 150 people attending, Wikimedia UK has facilitated an impressive ideas exchange. It was clear from the start that the conference centre at the British Library was buzzing with possible projects, case studies shared, new approaches. Such a creative atmosphere would not be possible without bringing so many dedicated people together in a physical space.
We will be following up on many of the ideas generated, picking up new cultural projects. I am very proud of being able to contribute to such a successful event, and looking forward to organising many more in the future.
New Wikipedians in Residence
In February it was announced that the Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums and Wikimedia UK were jointly recruiting a Wikimedian in Residence. Robert Forsythe was appointed and was in post in April. A summary of his work so far can be found here, including delivering several training sessions to TWAM staff and more planned for the future.
On 18 April it was announced that the National Library of Scotland are seeking a Wikimedian in Residence. News spread quickly and the story was picked up by the BBC. Applications closed on 6 May, and the residency will last four months.
Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing) commenced work as Wikipedian-in-Residence at The New Art Gallery Walsall; see Wikipedia:GLAM/NAGW (Andy also continued as Wikipedian-in-Residence at Queen Street Mill; see Wikipedia:GLAM/QSMM). The New Art Gallery immediately donated a number of high-resolution images of its artworks, including pieces by Burne-Jones, Modigliani, Constable and Cézanne, with more to follow. Articles started in April included Garman Ryan Collection, Sally Ryan, Leo Fitzmaurice, and Jochem Hendricks. The collaboration continues, and a series of backstage pass tours and editathons will be held at the gallery throughout May and early June. All welcome, but booking essential!
End of the British Library residency
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The Wikipedian in Residence program at the British Library came to an end on 2 May, after a busy year for Andrew Gray. The program focused on helping disseminate knowledge and understanding of Wikipedia and how it works through the academic and library communities, with over 400 people attending 50 practical workshops across the country. April saw the last public workshops, including the first session aiming to aiming to introduce Wikidata to the cultural sector, and the GLAM-Wiki conference hosted by the Library.
As well as a series of public events, including a four-day editing session in October, over 2,000 files have been released to Commons, including the British Library's first featured picture (right). More images are expected to be released over the coming months.
A report will be available later in the year, but a longer summary is currently available on the British Library blog.
Science Museum and Natural History Museum Wikimedian Residence
During the first two months of residency John Cummings has mainly focused on researching the possible areas of collaboration, prototyping, and meeting with staff members relevant to the project. Also carrying out presentations, training sessions and informal meetings on Wikimedia projects and how to contribute to them and setting up small test projects to show effectiveness of contributing to and using Wikimedia and other open knowledge projects.
"I'm really excited about working out how to use the QRpedia multilingual links web pages, I've started to create what I believe is the first truly multilingual museum guide."
Images are used to guide people through the gallery and then a link to a Wikipedia article that autodetects the users language, the prototype for this is here.
I'm working with volunteers from Imperial College to create the guide, I think this allows anyone to curate a museum using Wikimedia resources in hundreds of languages."
John has also been working on leaflets for donating images to commons, flickr and picasa here and for content holders at the museums here.
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