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GLAM/Newsletter/April 2021/Contents/UK report

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UK report

University of Edinburgh Library Wikimedia Community of Interest; Khalili Collections; British Library

University of Edinburgh Library Wikimedia Community of Interest

A short update from the University of Edinburgh Library, where we have just set up a Wikimedia Community of Interest (COI) to share information and updates about Wikimedia projects and raise awareness among staff. The COI had its first meeting in April and was attended by over 20 members of staff. The session involved a top level overview of how the Library has worked with Wikipedia, Wiki Commons, Wikidata and Wikisource to date. Future sessions will involved going into more detail of each of these projects, with the next session (an overview of Wikipedia) timed to run during 1Lib1Ref so that Library staff can add citations. We are always interested in hearing from external speakers about their wiki work so please do get in touch!

Approximate dates for the next sessions:

  • Wikipedia / 1Lib1Ref: 3 June 2021
  • Wikidata: w/c 5 July 2021
  • Wiki commons and Wiki Loves Monuments: w/c 16 August 2021
  • Wikisource: w/c 27 September 2021

Future sessions TBC

Khalili Collections

Tent panel with Standing Female Figure, late 16th century, from the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art

In April I uploaded 12 new images, plus three cropped versions of existing files. In addition, a community member requested 13 images related to improvements they wanted to make on Wikipedia, and I secured permission from the Khalili Collections for those to remain on Commons. I'm happy to put requests for permission for specific images, but people should ask me to upload the images rather than doing it themselves. I have been adding images to various articles related to Islam and Japan. The bulk upload of images related to Islam is scheduled for June.

A new article on the Sitara (textile) went live and appeared on the Did You Know section of the English Wikipedia main page, the 15th article from this project to get a DYK and the 24th article created by the project (including translations). A draft article giving an overview of the Khalili Collection of Islamic Art has been submitted to Articles For Creation.

British Library

This was the second month of my residency as the Wikimedian-in-Residence at the British Library.

Some exciting things have happened, and a lot of progress is being made:

  • We have further developed our work with the India Office Records, preparing material for uploads to Wikimedia Commons
  • We have developed a revived Wiki Wednesdays programme of talks for Library staff, including collaborators from overseas.
  • Our collaborative training event with IFLA for Wikidata trainers was well-received.
  • We will be hosting an open hour for Wikidata contributors as part of IFLA’s #1lib1ref Wikidata throughout May, with a view to engaging with new editors from across European time zones. Details can be found here.
  • We are preparing to run the Urban Tree Festival Wikithon in May, running from an introductory event on 15th May to an end of festival round up on 23rd May.
  • A new blog post was uploaded to the Digital Scholarship blog: Wrangling Wikidata With #1lib1ref.


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