Thanks for sharing this great news, Dominic! It's really thrilling to see
the substantial progress that's been made in establishing such expansive
strategy relating to Wikimedia. Our long-term projects at influential
institutions like the National Archives are invaluable in illustrating how
relevant our work still is. I'm personally quite proud that the GLAM-Wiki
US Consortium was named, and that the Archives continues to support the
efforts there.
Cheers to an even *more* fantastic National Archives Open Government Plan!
Lori
On Fri, Jun 6, 2014 at 1:46 PM, Dominic McDevitt-Parks <
dominic.mcdevitt-parks(a)nara.gov> wrote:
> Hi all, I have more NARA news to share. The U.S. National Archives'
> updated Open Government Plan
> <http://www.archives.gov/open/open-government-plan-3.0.pdf>[1] was just
> published on Wednesday with this announcement
> <http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=9253>. It places a lot
> of emphasis on how the National Archives plans to work with the Wikimedia
> community in order to help fulfill its mission, especially the flagship
> "Make Access Happen" goal. This is a follow up to the 2012 version
> <http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=8115> of the Open
> Government Plan, which also mentioned Wikipedia in a less developed way.
>
> From the executive summary, the document notes: "*Over the next two years
> we will work to increase the number of National Archives records available
> on Wikimedia Commons, continue our work to engage local communities of
> volunteer Wikipedians with on-site events, and collaborate on the
> development of the GLAM-Wiki U.S. Consortium
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/US/Consortium>.*" On pages
> 19-20, there is a fleshed out section about the agency's strategic approach
> to Wikipedia, which I am copying below:
>
> *Expand Wikipedia Efforts*
>
> NARA has been engaging the Wikipedia community since 2011, when we
> welcomed a Wikipedian in Residence and began holding events to build
> awareness of the records of the National Archives. In 2013, we welcomed a
> full-time employee devoted to engaging the Wikipedia community along with
> NARA staff members to promote greater access, reuse, and context for our
> records on Wikipedia.
>
> Our work strengthening digitization and description fuels our ability to
> make records available on external platforms like Wikipedia. In 2012, we
> shared 100,000 digital images from our holdings to Wikimedia Commons. This
> work enabled digital copies of our records to be incorporated into
> Wikimedia projects and Wikipedia articles. The 4,000 Wikipedia articles
> featuring our records received more than one billion page views in Fiscal
> Year 2013. Over the next two years we will work to increase the number of
> National Archives records available on Wikimedia Commons, which furthers
> our strategic goal to “Make Access Happen” and expands re-use of our
> records by the public.
>
> We are continuing our work to engage local communities of volunteer
> Wikipedians with on-site events, including skills-building workshops and
> “edit-a-thons” for improving Wikipedia content related to our holdings. In
> addition, we are establishing a model for “scan-a-thons” to enable citizen
> archivist stakeholder groups to digitize our records for access.
>
> We have worked to develop policies and best practices for NARA staff and
> other professionals to contribute to Wikipedia articles and NARA staff
> members regularly engage in sharing our experiences and insights about
> Wikipedia with other cultural institutions. We are also collaborating on
> the development of the GLAM-Wiki U.S. Consortium, which brings together
> archivists, librarians, museum professionals, and Wikipedians to work on
> building skills and shared understandings.
>
>
> The rest of the document touches on other open government, crowdsourcing,
> and "citizen archivist" initiatives that may also be of general interest to
> you all. It even cites Simple English Wikipedia's definition for "API". As
> far as I know, this is likely the most prominent policy document from a
> cultural or government agency to enshrine collaboration with Wikipedia in
> institutional strategy (though the previous NARA Open Government Plan from
> 2012 comes close), and I think we succeed in talking about Wikipedia
> engagement in a way that Wikipedians will find ethical.
>
> Dominic
>
> [1] For those interested, in the United States each executive federal
> agency is required
> <http://www.whitehouse.gov/open/documents/open-government-directive> by
> law to publish an "Open Government Plan", described as a public roadmap
> that details how the agency will incorporate the principles of transparency
> and open government into the core mission objectives of the agency. The
> link has more information. There is no Wikipedia article on this. :(
>
> _______________________________________________
> GLAM-US mailing list
> GLAM-US(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/glam-us
>
>
--
Lori Byrd Phillips
Digital Marketing Content Coordinator
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
703.489.6036 | http://loribyrdphillips.com/
This looks very clear, nicely done. These are certainly examples I
will link to for other GLAMs with concerns about how to make
declarations.
For NARA employees that are active on Wikimedia projects (by some
reasonable measure of "active") it would be handy if you were able to
publish a survey of their on-wiki experiences after making a statement
this way on their user pages.
Fae
--
faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
Calling all Wikimedians in and around Edinburgh on 8 June: the 6th ScotWiki meetup will be held at 13.30 in Brew Lab, and we hope to see many faces both new and old! It's an exciting summer for Wikimedia in the UK and we're looking forward to seeing how Scotland can be an active part of that. Please do spread the word and check out the details and (very informal) agenda here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Edinburgh_6
Hope to see you there!
Ally
Ally Crockford
Wikimedian-In-Residence
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EW
Scotland, UK
e: a.crockford(a)nls.uk<mailto:a.crockford@nls.uk>
t: (0) 131 623 3797
w: http://www.nls.uk<http://www.nls.uk/>
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
National Library of Scotland, Scottish Charity, No: SCO11086
This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Library of Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
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Hello all,
Just a reminder that the National Library of Scotland's Wikimedian in Residence will be running an afternoon workshop on 6 June in Edinburgh from 13:00-17:00 at the University of Edinburgh's Main Library. Learn how your organisation can work with Wikimedia projects (not just Wikipedia!) to share your material and your knowledge with a regular audience of millions. Help contribute to a growing a nation-wide Scottish open knowledge movement by bringing together interested local participants, experts, and material to show Wikipedia users from across Scotland and around the world what your organisation has to offer.
There are still some places available in this workshop, so if you are interested please contact a.crockford(a)nls.uk<mailto:a.crockford@nls.uk> to reserve a place. More details about the event are available here: https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Working_with_Wikimedia_workshop,_Edinburgh
Please feel free to share this information with colleagues working in galleries, libraries, archives and museums near Edinburgh who might find the event of interest.
Hope to see you there!
Ally
Ally Crockford
Wikimedian-In-Residence
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EW
Scotland, UK
e: a.crockford(a)nls.uk<mailto:a.crockford@nls.uk>
t: (0) 131 623 3797
w: http://www.nls.uk<http://www.nls.uk/>
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
National Library of Scotland, Scottish Charity, No: SCO11086
This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Library of Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
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I'm CCing the public GLAM lists as well, since you've already made this
announcement publicly.
This is awesome. Providing reference services is one of the areas where
libraries can provide unique value to Wikipedia and the people its content
serves. We've in the past been more often concerned with the unique
collections of institutions, especially museums and archives, so this kind
of service is really exciting. I hope is becomes a model.
(I can't help but wonder if your departure from the NLA will affect the
longevity of the project; curious if the reference team is carrying the
relationship without your continued involvement.)
Dominic
On 6 May 2014 22:29, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Australian Wikimedians, cultural partners list,
> (also cc'ing Ed, in case the Signpost might like to mention this).
>
> *TL;DR - The National Library is actively requesting Wikipedians ask
> reference questions and links to the service are now on all Wikiproject
> Australia templates on WP article talkpages. Blogpost:
> http://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/behind-the-scenes/2014/05/07/ask-a-librarian-no…
> <http://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/behind-the-scenes/2014/05/07/ask-a-librarian-no…>
> Direct link to the free service: http://www.nla.gov.au/askalibrarian
> <http://www.nla.gov.au/askalibrarian> *
>
> Over the last year working here at the National Library of Australia, I've
> been trying and find ways to bring the National Library's reference team
> closer to the Wikimedia community - for mutual benefit. They provide a free
> service to help the public (not necessarily only Australians or people with
> [free] library cards) to find and learn how to access reference materials.
> It is particularly useful when they can point people to the unique
> resources of the NLA collection but that's not a limiting factor!
>
> So, having got the team to talk to Jake Ocassi (from 'the wikipedia
> library') a while ago, and the debating how to do this in a
> mutually-acceptable way (both WP and NLA have strict privacy policies for
> example) we came up with this:
>
> To link directly to the Ask a Librarian service from the Wikiproject
> Australia template on talkpages and, when applicable to the article, to the
> equivalent service in the relevant State Library. Managing the actual
> coding and design was spearheaded by user:99of9.
>
> We investigated having even greater integration (e.g. having the
> librarians be able to receive and respond to questions on-wiki or for the
> 'email this user' function to be used to create a ticket in the Ask a
> Librarian system [called ref-tracker, similar to OTRS]), but this would
> have required too great a change to workflows - at least for
> never-before-tried concept.
>
> So, having sought and received consensus both among the Library staff, as
> well as on the Australian Wikipedians Noticeboard, the system was enabled!
> See, for example the last line of the wikiproject Australia template for
> [[Darwin, Northern Territory]]
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Darwin,_Northern_Territory As you can
> see this is directed at Wikipedia *editors *not readers. Ultimately we're
> just talking about a series of external links, but the significance in my
> opinion is that Wikipedia has accepted the usefulness (and philosophical
> compatibility) of this service enough to allow thousands of external links
> to be auto-created - something that would normally be forbidden. Equally,
> it is a great precedent for the library community here (and
> internationally?) to see Wikipedians as a potential usergroup of their
> services that they *really *want to engage with. After all - answering a
> reference enquiry from one person helps that person, but answering a
> wikipedian helps thousands!
>
> The service has been in place for a few weeks now and has been used
> several times successfully by Wikipedians. We can't say who, or what
> article they improved because the Library privacy policy forbids publishing
> identifiable information about customers. However, today I pressed publish
> on the Library's blogpost on the topic, written by the biggest champion of
> the idea within the reference team - Renee Wilson (also cc'd):
>
>
> http://www.nla.gov.au/blogs/behind-the-scenes/2014/05/07/ask-a-librarian-no…
>
> It talks about other forms of getting in contact via social media but the
> real meat from WP's perspective is near the end:
>
> Wikipedia editors know the importance of using reliable sources to improve
>> articles, and that the most authoritative sources aren't always available
>> online. Our Ask a Librarian team can help you uncover verifiable
>> information, so you can have confidence in the references that underpin
>> your article. Trying to track down some particularly elusive source
>> material? We can help you add dimension and detail to your article by
>> shining a light on Australia's cultural record in our unique collection
>> items.
>>
>> By making the Ask a Librarian service more accessible to Wikipedia
>> editors, we are helping to make authoritative information about Australia
>> available to the world. You can read more information about the project on
>> the WikiProject Australia/Ask a Librarian documentation page<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:WikiProject_Australia/AAL/What>.
>> We've already received some great questions from Wikipedians - the kind
>> that really let us apply our trademark librarian rigor. We look forward to
>> receiving many more, and seeing your articles flourish!
>>
>
> So, I'd really appreciate if, the next time you're looking for a reference
> or stuck trying to improve an article - go here and submit an enquiry
> http://www.nla.gov.au/askalibrarian Tell them you're a wikipedian and
> which article you're trying to improve. (equally, feel free to tell others
> e.g. retweet this https://twitter.com/nlagovau/status/463845761176711169 )
>
> -Liam
>
> wittylama.com
> Peace, love & metadata
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cultural-Partners mailing list
> Cultural-Partners(a)wikimedia.ch
> https://intern.wikimedia.ch/lists/listinfo/cultural-partners
> Please treat emails sent to this list as confidential.Ask senders for
> permission before forwarding emails off-list.
>
Hello all!
Just an announcement that the National Library of Scotland will be hosting a half-day workshop on 6 June, 2014 at the University of Edinburgh's Main Library. The event aims to make connections with staff members from organisations interested in working with Wikimedia but who do not currently have an ambassador, Wikimedian in Residence, or committed volunteer from the Wikimedia community to help them put together events like those organised at the National Library of Scotland and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
The workshop will focus on how you can work with Wikimedia in ways that don't necessarily include editing (which can be a time consuming process). In particular, we will look at the different types of events that Wikimedia typically organise or support and discuss their benefits and how you might be able to incorporate them into your existing events schedule.
There will also be a brainstorming/feedback session designed to make working with Wikimedia more convenient for staff in cultural organisations. Spaces are limited so please contact a.crockford(a)nls.uk<mailto:a.crockford@nls.uk> to reserve a space. There will be tea and coffee provided. For more details see our events page here: https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Working_with_Wikimedia_workshop,_Edinburgh
Hope to see you there! If you can't make it, please feel free to share the event with colleagues in the area who might be interested.
Thanks,
Ally
Ally Crockford
Wikimedian-In-Residence
National Library of Scotland
George IV Bridge
Edinburgh EH1 1EW
Scotland, UK
e: a.crockford(a)nls.uk<mailto:a.crockford@nls.uk>
t: (0) 131 623 3797
w: http://www.nls.uk<http://www.nls.uk/>
Follow us on Twitter and Facebook
National Library of Scotland, Scottish Charity, No: SCO11086
This communication is intended for the addressee(s) only. If you are not the addressee please inform the sender and delete the email from your system. The statements and opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of National Library of Scotland. This message is subject to the Data Protection Act 1998 and Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. No liability is accepted for any harm that may be caused to your systems or data by this message.
www.nls.uk