Page:NLS Wikimedian in Residence 12 month report.pdf/14

Wikimedian in Residence for the National Library of Scotland

I. Working with Wikimedia Workshop

The Working with Wikimedia workshop initially emerged from a proposed symposium on Open Access in UK GLAM organisations. This symposium was envisaged as an event in which would be invited to contribute their own policies or approaches to releasing digital content. Representatives from Wikimedia UK and other open agenda communities would also be invited, with the hopes of establishing a forum in which to discuss the desires, concerns, and plans that each organisation has with respect to open access content online.

The format of an invitational workshop discussion was then adapted to focus on the number of Scottish GLAM organisations that had approached me regarding the prospect of collaborating on an event or hosting their own Wikimedian at some point in the future. A programme was designed which would prove both informational for GLAMs in Scotland interested in collaborating with Wikimedia, but also which would ideally prove of use to Wikimedia UK in terms of developing new initiatives for GLAM-Wiki collaborations.

Programme 14:00-14:15 – Welcome and introductions 14:15-14:45 – Wikimedia GLAM events: What are they, how do they work? 14:45-15:30 – Open discussion: Supporting Wikimedia events 15:30-15:45 – Refreshment break 15:45-16:30 – Breakout groups: What would help, potential barriers 16:30-17:00 – Conclusion : Open discussion and feedback

Event details

The workshop was held at the University of Edinburgh Library on 6 June 2014. The workshop ran from 1:30 to 5pm, with tea, coffee, and biscuits provided for attendants. 11 representatives attended from 9 different organisations.

Reflections

The open discussion and breakout group elements of the workshop appeared to be useful in generating conversation about some of the general questions GLAMs have when working with Wikimedia. Part of the breakout groups session asked participants to discuss potential future events and sketch out a plan to realise the collaboration, which lead to interesting responses regarding the types of events that the representatives were interested in holding. One representative from a Glasgow Museum was interested in the prospect of folding the addition of content onto Commons into an interactive media response to an exhibition, recording visitors’ reactions to the exhibition which could then be released, creating a new kind of record of Glasgow’s cultural history. Other representatives discussed working Wikimedia events into exhibition schedules, or working with Wikidata to crowdsource desired projects. Overall, participants responded well to the event, citing it as informative and thought-provoking. Since the event, three participants have made contact regarding the prospect of following up on the collaborations outlined during the breakout groups. Participants were also given contact details for Wikimedia UK staff, and useful links for collaborating and running Wiki events. 13