I definitely feel that this contextualization of
NARA's Open Government Plan
deserves to be shared on the public lists, not just on the private list! : )
So I was bold and forwarded.
It's really, truly amazing to see NARA's deep and ongoing engagement with
Wikimedia to be so tangibly represented in this important document. Thank
you for sharing, and especially for sharing your thoughts on NARA's journey
with Wikimedia. It's a truly model partnership that every cultural
institution should work hard to emulate in whatever capacity they can.
Great work as always Dominic!
Lori
On Mon, Jun 11, 2012 at 5:22 PM, Dominic McDevitt-Parks <mcdevitd(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
Hi all,
I wanted to draw your attention to the US National Archives' new Open
Government Plan for 2012-2014[1], which they just recently released. I am
really proud of this publication, and I think it shows how far we've come.
On page 1, David Ferriero writes:
Knowing we do not have all the answers, we are
creating opportunities for
citizens to provide substantive contributions, including tags, transcripts,
and images. [...] We welcomed a Wikipedian-in-Residence and continue to
collaborate on projects, scan-a-thons, and to contribute high resolution
digital images to the Wikimedia Commons. Our work with Wikipedia is
changing the way we think about our work.
Wikipedia is mentioned 9 times throughout the document, including under
the "Tangible Results" section, and Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource each
get two mentions as well. We're also mentioned in the timeline of the
2010-2012 plan's implementation on NARA's website.[2] This means that
Wikipedia isn't just a cool experiment to NARA; they are drawing the
connections between engagement with Wikipedia and fulfillment of their
institutional mission. The US president gave the directive to the National
Archives to implement a strategy for open government, and their work on
Wikipedia is important enough to feature front and center in the document
representing their official response. It also means that they think the
project has been successful so far; it's worth talking about.
This spotlighting of our work actually isn't new. In December, Carl
Malamud started a
whitehouse.gov petition drive called "Yes We Scan,"
calling on the government to create a national effort to digitize all
federal public records. David Ferriero was chosen to give the response, and
he mentioned Wikipedia in the first paragraph.[3] His own blog post on the
matter used the photos from our most recent scanathon,[4] and he also
mentioned us, and quoted me(!), in his remarks in the public teleconference
he held.[5]
The Open Government Plan is important, I think, not just because it
mentions Wikipedia favorably, but because of how it does so, by weaving it
in throughout the plan as a part of a larger discussion of open government.
It shows that a prestigious GLAM believes that Wikipedia is an integral part
of its efforts in public engagement and increasing access, and it is not
afraid to say so. Its principles—transparency, participation, and
collaboration—and strategies—a "citizen archivist" initiative, which we are
a part of—are important for any institution to recognize, and especially
public ones. And it is just one short step to extrapolate from "open
government" to a broader "open culture", for non-government institutions.
I
am hoping others around the world will find ways of putting this document to
use in helping to carry our message to other institutions.
Dominic
[1]
http://www.archives.gov/open/open-government-plan-2.0.pdf
[2]
http://www.archives.gov/open/milestones.html#more
[3]
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/response/digitizing-federal-public-…
[4]
http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/?p=3903
[5]
http://blogs.archives.gov/aotus/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Opening-Remarks-…
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Lori Phillips
Digital Marketing Content Coordinator
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
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