Note that I've copied cultural partners and GLAM-US, but I think this can
be discussed on the public GLAM list.
I wanted to start a thread on the GLAM Bootcamp concept, which was one of
the main outcomes from GLAMcamp London, since I know even those of you that
were there weren't all in our breakout session. The observation was made
that one of our main issues is expanding the numbers of GLAM Wikipedians,
but GLAMcamps are aimed at sharing best practices among experienced GLAM
Wikipedians, not training new ones. Thus, the GLAM Bootcamp concept is that
we'll bring a dozen or so experienced (but non-GLAM) Wikipedians together
and train them in a number of GLAM-Wiki skills, like GLAM principles,
copyright, metrics, communications, conflict of interest, event planning,
Commons, and so on. You can read more at Lodewijk's summary, based on the
etherpad notes, here:
http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM_Bootcamp
I think training a few people at a time, if they are well-selected and
follow through on the skills they hava gained, is actually a scalable model
since there are so few of us anyway. We'll likely be able to secure a venue
for free from a GLAM partner, since we'll only require a conference room.
We'd be relying on chapter and/or WMF funding for travel and per diem for a
relatively small group. I think the main obstacle is likely having a good
organizing group with enough experience and dedication to developing the
necessary documentation and presentations for the training sessions.
At GLAMcamp, we agreed to plan for (or at least inquire about within our
local communities) bootcamps in the US and Germany within 6 months. I have
informally taken the lead for the US GLAM Bootcamp so far. I spoke to NARA
folks last week, who gave his blessing to NARA hosting such an event in DC.
We've been pretty DC-centric with GLAM events in the US, but personally
think there is value going first to a well-known GLAM with a lot of
internal support to establish the model for these types of events. If there
is disagreement, though, it's obviously not just my decision. I'll be going
to the next Wikimedia DC board meeting on October 6 to present the idea,
since they will be important if this is held in DC (and probably even if it
isn't). In preparation, I have begun putting together a more detailed, but
still hypothetical, program for the US GLAM Bootcamp here:
http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM_Bootcamp/US.
I have some more specific questions about logistics and audience, but for
now I just wanted to loop everyone in on what's going on and ask for your
thoughts and reactions to the GLAM bootcamp concept. And please feel free
also to edit the pages on outreach.
Dominic