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