Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network/minutes 2019 08 18

The Wikimania 2019 Wikimedians in Residence in-person meetup happened at the conference hotel on Sunday 18 August 2019.

Details

Wikimedians in Residence User Group! We want to exchange ideas, techniques, tools. Join the WiR Exchange Network on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1625703517453016/

Original notes taken in Etherpad

• https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/wir-wikimania-2019

Thanks Kevin / User:SuperHamster

Attendees

1. Richard (Pharos) @ the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
2. Kevin from Ohio, working on WikiProject Cleveland Museum of Art.
3. Kelly, based in London. Making African Connections in the University of Sussex. Return and restoration of objects taken from the African continent.
4. Lane (Bluerasberry) @ University of Virginia. Moving citations into Wikidata to support scientific research.
5. ?GLAM coordinator in Finland. Running a depict-a-thon in North Finland.
6. @ University of ?
7. Hilary Thorsen Stanford with the Linked Data 4 Production project. Grant-based project integrating library and metadata.
8. Simon Cobb @ National Library of Wales
9. Ian Borim with Morocco/Arabia, Interested in getting more involved with GLAM.
10. Linda Fletcher with AfroCROWD in New York. Currently training folks with references and books. Recent project: 100th anniversary of the Red Summer of 1919; have ordered lots of books and having reference sessions to develop citations.
11. Sherry, Program Director for AfroCROWD in New York. Also organizing for Caribbean Wikimedians. Would like to do more with GLAM.
12. Maria RImmel from the Ohio Wikimedians User Group. Also working on WikiProject Cleveland Museum of Art.
13. Sannita Library in Italy; was also part time with music. Interested in WikiCite (has attended 3 times).
14. William from Connecticut. Interested in museums and libraries.
15. Jeffrey Keefer from Wikimedia New York City. WiR with the Health Funder; one of the largest funders of healthcare research.
16. Jason, WiR @ National Library of Wales
17. ?WiR @ the National Library of Wales
18. ?, European Library of Cultural Heritage

Scope Discussion

Richard: What is our scope? What are our responsibilities? We should come up with a real definition.

Ian: How do people get involved? How to relationships get started?

Richard: Has been working with various NYC institutions (e.g. photo contests with museums, edit-a-thons, etc.).

Part-time work is more likely than full time.

Kelly asks about making cultural changes within institutions.

It can be difficult to report on changes since it's intenal processes.

Richard mentinons how Wikimedia brings various "departments" together; can try to do that within institutions as well.

Is it necessary to have database skills?

Nope!

Soft skills are important. Need to be persuasive to implement change.

Can seek technical help and support from others (e.g. your affiliate) when needed.

Can bring on more technical WiRs once the "soft skills" part of the relationship (establishing new policies, programs, etc.) is done.

Kelly mentions the difference between public and private institutions; powerful vs. less powerful institutions. Different nuances to consider.

Oral history can be significant; intangible heritage. It's an opportunity not all WiRs are considering.

Not all institutions need to implement their own digital collections (cost!); you can teach institutions about using things like the Internet Archive, free licenses, help upload to Commons, etc.

Important consideration for smaller institutions. Saving money and effort is appealing.

Kelly: There's a scale. Theres's different access to power and resources.

Have visiting scholars worked in countries other than the US?

Kelly: Visiting scholars is a project from Wiki Edu, which only supports projects in US, sometimes Canada. Is there an opportunity for us to support visiting scholars outside of the US/Canada?

Once a year, UK pitches to various institutions the benefits of getting a WiR, uploading to bulk to Wikimedia, doing a 2-3 day training, et.c

Let's stream to get people involved around the world, especially from smaller institutions.

Kelly: "Wikimedians at Large" are responsible for more than just an institution; they are responsive to an entire country or region.

Concept of "digital champions" which have strong knowledge and Wikimedia skills. Facebook Live sessions to record and serve as a resource in the future.

Some instituions might not be receptive.

"This is how we do things; you [Wikimedians] should adapt"

You may need to connect with the right people.

Consider cultural barriers; the people who can make changes might not be receptive to "outsiders".

Richard: What about a new experimental space to create new wikis? Wikispore! https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikispore

Oral history

Cultural information that might not be able to fit in Wikipedia's content guidelines (sources)

Might be viable for some GLAMs

Possibilities to build into Wikidata (e.g. Wikidata items could link back to WikiSpore items, as they do for Wikipedia entries, etc.

Kelly: WikiOral! Covers oral tradition and unwritten languages. There seems to be a significant apetite for this.

Discussion being led by the Diversity Working Group.

A number of suggestions have been made to incorporate some of these issues that touch on notability, types of knowledge not transmitted in text, etc.

Take a look at the strategy recommendations and give feedback! Especially for the Diversity Working Group recommedations: :https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-:20/Recommendations