Greetings, fellow GLAM project members,
This message marks my first on the GLAM mailing list, which I joined following Wikimania 2012 (where I attended nearly all of the GLAM-related sessions with great interest). My thanks to Lori for her continued encouragement and support; she has provided a friendly face to the GLAM project and has answered any questions I have thrown her way since first hearing about Wikipedians collaborating with cultural institutions. Additional thanks to GLAM folks for providing so much quality information at Wikimania; I had the pleasure of meeting Wikimedia Foundation staff and GLAM professionals throughout the conference and at the GLAM Night Out event. (I was also interviewed by Victor G. and had a brief opportunity to discuss GLAM; we will see what the final product looks like and what is used for the fundraising campaign!)...
My names is Jason and I have contributed to English Wikipedia under the username Another Believer for nearly five years now. I currently reside in Portland, Oregon and work for a non-profit arts organization. I have a great appreciation for cultural institutions and the role they play in our community. Stated simply, the marriage between GLAMs and Wikipedia is brilliant and the concept of Wikipedians in Residence is very exciting.
I thought I might offer an update about an approaching project in collaboration with the Multnomah County Library. On October 27, the Central Library (the main branch of the Multnomah County Library) will be hosting an edit-athon in conjunction with Wiki Loves Libraries. I, and I believe at least one additional Wikipedian and member of WikiProject Oregon, will be attending the edit-athon. The primary focus will be to improve MCL-related articles, share the resources available to Wikipedians at MCL facilities and train new/interested Wikipedians. We have scheduled a meeting with MCL staff on October 3rd to organize the event. In addition, I have been invited to visit the library at a time closed to the public to meet staff, get a "behind-the-scenes" perspective and photograph the interior of the building uninterrupted. (The Central Library is located on the National Register of Historic Places, so all of my photographs will be uploaded to Commons as part of the Wiki Loves Monuments competition, an added bonus to this collaboration which is also known by MCL.)
I bring this update to the GLAM mailing list with the hope that this collaboration might be the start of a greater bond between the Multnomah County Library system and Wikipedia. If anyone has literature to recommend (perhaps I should look closer at the Bookshelf available at the GLAM portal on Wikipedia), or advice about how to encourage a strengthened relationship between both parties, I am all ears! I will continue attempting to collaborate with MCL in the future, regardless of whether or not they are open to furthering the relationship beyond hosting occasional events.
On a personal note, I remain very dedicated to Wikipedia and its sister projects, outreach initiatives and the concept of Wikipedians in Residence. My interests are primarily in research and content creation, and I appreciate the platform Wikipedia serves in our society (non-biased, free, educational, reliable, etc.); other interests include WikiProject construction and maintenance, categorization, grantwriting, collaborations, etc. Subjects of interest include architecture, current events, local history, monuments, music, National
Register of Historic Places, parks, performing arts, politics, public
art, science, etc. I am certain Wikipedians in Residence roles range from super-part-time unpaid positions to full-time paid positions; regardless, I am pleased to see relationships forming and industry standards being created. Not to sound self-serving, but my hope is that one day I might be able to make a living supporting Wikipedia-related projects, simply because I am that interested and dedicated to the mission. If anyone has any connections in the Portland area or hears of any opportunities that arise in the future, feel free to contact me directly. Similarly, I am always looking to improve my "Wiki CV" (as I like to call my Wikipedia-related activity), so I'd be interested in joining GLAM/Wikipedia-related workshops and events (especially if scholarships might be available!).
Pardon the extended introduction, and keep up the amazing work!
Thank you,
Jason / Another Believer
(P.S. - Sorry if this mailing list is not the ideal platform for this message. Between the various GLAM-related platforms, I thought I would start here!)