Wikipedia:GLAM/British Library

The British Library Wikimedia Residency

From March 2021 to February 2023, the British Library hosted a Wikimedian in Residence EriedgenArc (talk · contribs), also known as Dr Lucy Hinnie.

Originally a one-year role supported by The Eccles Centre for American Studies, this residency was extended to 2023 thanks to funding from The American Trust for the British Library.

This Residency followed on from the appointment of the BL's original Wikipedian in Residence, Andrew_Gray (talk · contribs) in 2012-13, and other collaborative projects (1, 2, 3).

Lucy worked across departments and collections to promote and support the use of Wiki-based platforms and open knowledge.

This project page can be used as a landing page to find out more about what we do at the Library; to discuss projects both upcoming and past and to learn more about the work of a Resident in GLAM.

Non-WIR projects at the British Library

You can find out more about other British Library projects across the Wikimedia world at Wikidata:BritishLibrary.

The Library WiR

Lucy Hinnie became the Wikimedian in Residence at the British Library in March 2021. She was based at the British Library in Boston Spa.

Role and Responsibilities

To undertake activities to help the British Library use their collections and knowledge to broaden content, data and digital collections across Wikimedia projects, particularly with respect to under-represented communities
To coordinate, encourage and increase participation of Library staff in Wikimedia projects through creation of a new internal British Library Wikimedia Community of Practice
To liaise with staff across the Library and volunteers from Wikimedia to identify, develop and deliver an innovative programme of engagement, paying particular attention to developing unique opportunities for redressing underrepresentation of communities and languages
To identify & document past, present and planned British Library engagements across all Wikimedia projects, ensuring these activities are easily discoverable and mechanisms for evaluating impact are in place
To liaise with staff across the Library and volunteers from Wikimedia to identify, develop and deliver an innovative programme of engagement and potential joint projects focussed on redressing the balance of under-represented communities through the British Library’s European & Americas collections and other relevant collection areas
To be an advocate for open knowledge within the Library, organising and hosting workshops for Library staff, informing them of the breadth and impact/opportunity of contributing to Wikimedia Projects and the GLAM-Wiki community
To be an advocate for and communicate the needs of the Library and GLAM sector to the Wikimedia community (e.g. promoting interoperability with common technologies such as International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF))
To encourage and support staff to edit and create/contribute new content to existing Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia
To organise and host Wikimedia related events, such as workshops and edit-a-thons, that bring together members of the public, Wikimedians, researchers and librarians

Press and Blogs about the Residency

What is a Wikimedian in Residence?

Dr Alice White, Digital Editor at the Wellcome Collection constructed the text below as a useful introduction to what exactly a Resident is.

A Wikimedian in Residence (WiR) is someone who works with an organisation to promote open knowledge generally and specifically to enable more people to engage with Wikimedia (and Wikipedia, and Wikidata, etc., etc.). For general information about how Wikimedian-in-Residence programmes work, take a look at these articles: