GLAM/Newsletter/October 2018/Contents/UK report
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Wikidata in Oxford
Oxford
No new data have been shared this month, but there have been ongoing software improvements to Astrolabe Explorer, Collection Explorer and The Sibthorp-Bauer expedition. The Astrolabe Explorer has been discussed extensively on Rete, a community for scholars of scientific instruments, with eleven participants offering comments. The feedback included a lot of general positivity but also many specific suggestions for improvement. In response, we have already made some changes and are looking to encourage more astrolabe data, both manually and in bulk to build toward a more complete collection. A second version of the application will be created at the end of the calendar year. There is interest for the community in contributing to Wikidata about scientific instruments and their makers, but some trepidation because Wikidata is a new platform for them, so some of Martin's time in the rest of the calendar year will be spent on making training materials.
Martin Poulter has been working on a script and PowerPoint animations for a short video on how Wikidata can help with the discovery of museum collections. In November he will be presenting at the University of Oxford's GLAM Digital Showcase. "Wikidata and GLAM catalogues: another round-up" is a new blog post to maintain awareness in Oxford of the enthusiasm for Wikidata across the cultural sector.
