Wikipedia:GLAM/MGS/8th Month Report

Wiki events

Conferences & presentations delivered in the past month

Stats & content

Community Issues

Unfortunately, in both the training on 2 September, and 18 September, new users had their userpages marked for speedy deletion on WP:NOTWEBHOST grounds. One particular instance ended up in some less-than-friendly remarks on a new user's talk page. These incidences were sorted out with the help of speedy intervention by various admins, however it was not a positive introduction for those users. The training that I provide is on a model used by other residents, creating the user's user page and using basic information to train them in Wiki markup.

I have created the {{New user being trained}} template, which I will now ask participants to add to their pages whilst being trained. Hopefully this will mean that this issue won't occur again. I will also try to ensure that new users make at least one small edit to a non-userspace page during training.

Special thanks to @Mike Peel: for his assistance with resolving the marked-for-deletion issues.

Objectives & outcomes

Developing Open Knowledge

• Braemar Castle, Glasgow School of Art archives, Glasgow Museums and the University of Edinburgh all participated in events which resulted in uploads to Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.
• The event held at Kelvingrove Museum on 4 September was attended by representatives of the University of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Kings Museum, the National Trust, the National Galleries, Talbot Rice Gallery, Stirling Smith Museum, the National Museums of Scotland, the University of Glasgow and the Hunterian Museum. A follow up meeting was held with the National Galleries later in the month, and follow up emails were sent to all participants later in the month. This activity is now resulting in further leads for training and development.
• Paisley Museum have expressed interest in being involved as a partner in an Open Knowledge & Education editathon event to be held at the University of the West of Scotland in December. The resident will follow up on this to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties.
• Discussion was had with members of the Glasgow Museums Wiki Working Group as to the next steps toward holding another Photography Backstage Pass. These discussions will continue. The enthusiasm of our contacts there does not diminish, although an official image release remains unlikely.

Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers

• A total of 21 users were trained to use Wikipedia, and 8 users were trained to use Wikimedia Commons. This is a monthly record for the residency so far and brings the total number of trainees to nearly 100.
• Following the presentation made to the Tayside Museum Forums, a session on Editing Wikipedia for Museum Staff session will be held at the University of Dundee on 20 October.
• The Backstage Pass event at Glasgow Museums served as a good way to engage new and existing members of the Scottish Wiki community, and could be used as a template for other events, especially for organisations where an official image release is unlikely.

Reducing barriers to accessing open knowledge

• The resident presented at Seminaire International PCI et Numberique: Transmission, Participation, Enjeux at the French Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage. The subject of the presentation was the open knowledge aspect of the MGS Intangible Cultural Heritage wiki. Representatives of Wikimedia France were also in attendance.
• The Wiki in the Classroom work with the University of Edinburgh will provide a good template for working with other educational bodies, and feeds into ideas about how they could be matched with GLAMs for mutual benefit. The University of Edinburgh plan to continue working with Wiki in this way, and also potentially as part of Your Digital Edge, a scheme to help students improve their digital skills.
• Presentations were made to both the Tayside and Fife Museum Forums.

Developing, supporting & engaging with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities

• Work continued with the University of Edinburgh, their work with Wiki in the Classroom, and preparations for Ada Lovelace Day on 13 October.
• A potential date for a Hunterian Museum / Digital Transformation Network event has been set for December.
• The Working with Wiki event held at Kelvingrove Museum on 4 Sept included a presentation from Kelly Forbes and Gill Hamilton on the benefits of open knowledge for museums including discussion of metadata.