Hey gang,

I joined this list thinking that I'd follow others to see what they do. I suspect everyone else is thinking the same thing.

So it's time to spring into action in order to prepare for Wikipedia Loves Libraries 2012 (WLL). To start, I propose that we create an email message to be posted to various library-related email lists notifying people of the existence of and advantages of WLL. (When I say "library" I mean to be inclusive of the other GLAM participants, although - for now - focusing on library staff [who are not always "librarians"].)

I'm in my Wikipedia mindset which makes me aware that what you're doing is a collaboration - so apologies if my tone sounds excessively one-sided.

I feel we should create/edit a document so that we can send out this email. I was going to suggest using Google Docs to foster collaborative editing, but then realized that the appropriate place is the Outreach Wiki - although I still feel like a guest on that wiki and am less confident about its organization. (Wikipedia's page is *about* WLL.) I wasn't able to find a WLL section of outreach.wikimedia.org, but there is this page: http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/FAQ_For_Librarians

The GLAM project has nice pages, such as this one: http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Get_started -- but I think an WLL email blast needs a different kind of message. I'm thinking of some kind of concise, direct, and appealing message that lays out about 5 bullet points as to why library staff and libraries should be involved in WLL. From there they can go to the Get Started page above.

Some of the points I'm thinking of are:

Welcoming Wikipedians into your library can increase the number of users
Wikipedia activity in the library can foster a greater sense of community
As the 6th most frequently visited site on the Internet, Wikipedia as the ability to highlight your library
Wikipedia's underlying message of access to information can underscore your library's efforts to provide access to patrons
If your library has unique materials, Wikipedians can help reveal knowledge and information about those materials

So how about it? Maybe someone can set up a planning space on outreach.wikimedia.org so we can gather & organize our thoughts and share them with others?

Secondly...

I know I'll be seeing Merrilee prior to ALA - are there any other folks that would like to gather during ALA for an informal WLL meeting?

I'll probably wear my Wikipedia t-shirt to ALA.

--
Bob Kosovsky, Ph.D. -- Curator, Rare Books and Manuscripts,
Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
blog: http://www.nypl.org/blog/author/44 Twitter: @kos2
Listowner: OPERA-L ; SMT-TALK ; SMT-ANNOUNCE ; SoundForge-users
- My opinions do not necessarily represent those of my institutions -