New subject: [Wikimedia-DC] Come to the second NARA backstage pass with David Ferriero

5 Oct 2011

(CCing NY Wikimedians: College Park is doable by BoltBus or car if you would
like to come.)

This Saturday, we have the special treat of being hosted by David Ferriero,
Archivist of the Unites States, at the National Archives for a backstage
pass tour into the stacks, free lunch, and scanning party. This is an
all-day event, but you can come for as much as you like. We have lots of
space, and we could accommodate 40 or more people. If you can possibly come,
please do! There are two buses that run infrequently by the Archives, but
we'll also try to match anyone who wants ride with someone coming from their
area, just ask. Everyone is welcome, no matter your skill level at
Wikipedia. As the AOTUS will be there, the event should be of particular
interest to many of us, but also to people within NARA and other
institutions who will be interested to hear his impressions. If you can
remember, please sign up on the meetup page before coming so we have an
accurate idea of the attendance.[1]

So, what is this about?

This event will closely mirror the NARA event in August.[2] We will be given
a tour of the facility, including an opportunity to go in the closed stacks
and see some documents. Last time, people really enjoyed this; we'll try to
make it interesting for last time's attendees by focusing on a different
collection (but you could also spend this time in the research room, if you
prefer). We are also getting a free, catered lunch this time, courtesy of
the Wikimedia Foundation. Afterward, we will head to the research rooms and
scan documents (or whatever else you'd like to, including editing and
transcribing). Please get in any final requests for documents to scan by
Friday at noon.[3] Scanned documents will not only get to be uploaded to
Commons, but your scans will become part of the National Archives' digital
collection and go in the online catalog. You might want to read my follow-up
blog post from last time: <
http://blogs.archives.gov/online-public-access/?p=5819>gt;. Feel free to
respond here with questions.

Dominic
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/NARA_2
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/NARA_1
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/NARA_2#Items_for_scanning