Grants:Project/Rapid/Fuzheado/Museum Computer Network 2018 Wikidata seminar/Report
Goals
editDid you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
The Museum Computer Network conference met expectations for training and exceeded it in other areas of interacting with GLAM partners and professionals. I was very happy with the outcomes and have already started working on collaborations with institutions who went to the conference. At least two prominent institutions I met are planning on Spring 2019 open content announcements that will have contributions to Wikidata as an important part of their efforts. We have already started working with them and both institutions want to wait until February-March 2019 for a formal rollout and public relations campaign.
Outcome
editPlease report on your original project targets.
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| Provide understanding and awareness of Wikidata by providing training to museum professionals. | More than 50 attendees were at the presentation at the conference. A bit lower than estimated, but average for the parallel tracks. Video of the session was recorded and is available for online viewing at Youtube. | A number of linked open data sessions were happening at the same time, which might have contributed to the numbers being what they were. I also video recorded many of the sessions related to wikis and linked open data, which became very popular at the conference as no other video recordings were made. A full playlist can be found on Youtube. |
| Expand network of cultural partners in the US and internationally and recruit new Wikidata participants from mission-aligned institutions. Target of 10-15 institutions. | Exceeded this goal with institutions such as Cleveland Museum of Art, Minneapolis Museum of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco MOMA, American Museum of Natural History, National Gallery of Art, Getty Trust, IIIF and more. | We have already started working with several of these institutions on Wikdiata linked open data projects in the month following MCN. Two of these institutions will have spring open data announcements and I will be working with them in having their collections linked to Wikidata. Shortly after MCN, I made a visit to SFMOMA to talk with their team that uses wiki software. In Washington, D.C. we have started working with new institutions on Wikidata training. In addition, the American Alliance of Museums has asked me to do a similar session at their national conference in 2019, which will have many times the number of attendees. |
Learning
editProjects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:
- What worked well?
- Having printed Wikidata in One Page sheets was useful for folks to follow along. I had audience members edit Wikidata on their mobile phones anonymously, which also worked quite well with the mobile Wikidata interface.
- What did not work so well?
- The Wikidata talk was scheduled in parallel with other sessions on linked open data, and conference organizers noticed this too late to make a change. Also, for those who were interested in following up with Wikidata work, we don't have a central point (a GLAM user group, for example) to field interest or requests.
- What would you do differently next time?
- In the future, I would work more closely with conference organizers to see if we can schedule programming into a block that doesn’t compete against similar programming. I’d also like to develop a more full-featured call to action for interested parties, as right now we do not have a great one-stop portal for those interested in Wikidata and GLAM projects. We have a spectrum of recommendations, but they aren’t necessarily very friendly to those outside the Wikimedia movement - Wikidata:Project chat, mailing lists, Facebook groups, GLAM Wiki outreach pages. I created a custom sheet for this, but even this could be simplified for better followup and call to action. [1]
Finances
editGrant funds spent
editPlease describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.
- Nov 13-16 - Plane flight - - United UA1779 and UA2135 - $371.40
- Nov 13 - Museum Computer Network - conference registration - $872
- Nov 13-16 - Marriott Courtyard Denver Downtown - $516
- Nov 13 - home to BWI - Uber - $60.62
- Nov 13 - DEN to Denver downtown - Metrotaxi Denver - $65.00
- Nov 16 - Denver downtown to DEN - Lyft - $36.24
- Nov 17 - IAD to home - Lyft - $44.95
- TOTAL - $1966.21 ([Grants:Project/Rapid/Fuzheado/Museum Computer Network 2018 Wikidata seminar|original estimate] $1978)
Remaining funds
editDo you have any remaining grant funds?
Yes, but the $11.79 can be returned to the Foundation.
Anything else
editAnything else you want to share about your project?
We need more of these types of these engagements. Both the conference chair and other museum administrators approached me and expressed how glad they were to see the Wikimedia community "back" at MCN after a few years of absence. As a community, we think we have been engaged the whole time, but it's important to have a presence at these professional events to keep relationships and projects fresh. The invitation from the American Alliance of Museums for their national conference in 2019 is good evidence of the enthusiasm these professional groups have for Wikimedians to work with them regularly and more closely.