Hi Isla, hello everyone,
I agree with you and Grant on the importance of connecting with Libraries.
Particularly within a South African space. Ironically enough I was in a
meeting with the Cape Town Central Library today to discuss doing
activities such as edit-a-thons with them in the future. We have agreed to
do very simple one day edit-a-thon that is open to the public and based in
that library to test the waters there and with an eye to hosting similar
future events there. I would like to expand on this in the future to
include specialised edit-a-thons that focus on single issues (smilar to the
Feminism edit-a-thon that was done last year or the Black History
edit-a-thon Milos did this year) organised in partnership with both the
library and another organisation that can help us full up the venue with
interested motivated people. That is my current thinking and MO for
engaging with at least one library in the near future.
We do however need a longer term vision/strategy for libraries.
Additionally I am also open to other ideas and possible projects with which
we can engage with libraries on, especially if they lend them selves to
scalability. One such possible project is the roll-out of Kiwix (offline
Wikipedia) local wifi devices in smaller/rural libraries that dont have
internet access in South Africa. Theresa is bringing two such devices to
South Africa with her from the Berlin Chapters conference. The idea there
is for us to use these 2 demonstration models to show local governments and
departments of education the power of this technology so that it could be
rolled out across South Africa (or beyond). With smart phones and other
wifi enabled devices becoming ever cheaper (for as little as R450 these
days) the barrier to access to Wikipedia is increasingly becoming the high
cost of data. Kiwix would not have this cost whilst providing a free
offline version of Wikipedia in a local area. Great for a small
library/classroom/field/town centre that does not have any form of free
internet access.
Further more we do have some experience with working with libraries in the
Western Cape at lest through CHEC and the edit-a-thons we did with them
last year. CHEC has been eager for us to do a similar set of edit-a-thons
for other libraries in the rest of country but we need volunteers in these
locations who can run them. So we do have some contacts within libraries
in the Western Cape but there is still much more we can, indeed should, do
in my opinion.
Cheers,
Douglas.
On 19 May 2015 at 11:15, Isla Haddow-Flood <islahf(a)africacentre.net> wrote:
Dear Intrepid Wikipedians …
Hello. For me, 2015 seems to be dominated by Libraries … I have been part
of the mLiteracy Think Tank recently, and then there was GLAM WIKI where
Libraries featured prominently.
The importance of Libraries to us - as community activators across Africa
- has been niggling away at me. And, the outcome of the niggling is that we
should all seriously think about partnering our usergroups / chapters /
fledgling communities with a local library or library service.
Hear me out.
Why?
1. Many - especially the flagship ones - have a digitisation programme of
some sort.
2. They are the guardians of the very citable knowledge that we want to
see about Africa and our countries on Wikipedia
3. They are busy, but are mandated to share that knowledge
4. They attract natural wikipedias - people who are hungry for knowledge -
in large numbers
5. They are often looking for programmes to run with after school
activities, and might have ICT support.
They should be included in our outreach strategies, and not just in our
GLAM dreams.
How do we find out about them … ?
Mylee Josephs - who was at GLAM WIKI in the Netherlands in April sent me
this information.
AFRICA-L
Africa Section <http://www.ifla.org/africa> mailing list. The aim of the
list is to facilitate communication with library community within the
African continent. The objective of the Section amongst other things, seeks
to promote and strengthen Library Associations, the Profession and Library/
Information Services in Africa; The Section seeks to create and maintain
links with other Sections of International Federation of Library
Associations (IFLA) as well as related bodies/ organizations for the
benefit of the profession and services in Africa.
- Submissions: africa-l(a)infoserv.inist.fr
- Web interface <http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/africa-l>
- Administrator: Joyce Myeza <joycemyeza(a)gmail.com> and Nthabiseng
Kotsokoane <nthabiseng.kotsokoane(a)monash.edu>
*Note: *AFRICA-L is a closed list (restricted to subscribers). Anyone
interested in the goals and activities of Africa Section may apply to join.
What do you think?
warmest
Isla
------------------------------
*Isla Haddow-Flood*Project Manager
WikiAfrica <http://www.wikiafrica.net> at the Africa Centre
<http://www.africacentre.net>
tel: +27 21 418 3336
skype: islahaddow
twitter: @wikiafrica
get started:
wikiafrica.net/toolkits
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Islahaddow
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--
Douglas Ian Scott
司道格
Skype: douglas0scott
South African mobile number: +27 (0)79 515 8727
