Dear Friends, New York City Wikimedians,
I want to thank you all so much for your support of my role as
Wikipedian-in-Residence
at the Metropolitan New York Library Council
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/METRO>, and the many events
we’ve organized together since I first took the position in August, 2013.
With the support of Wikimedia NYC, other institutional collaborators, and
all of you, we’ve hosted around 15 public Edit-a-thons at places like the
New York Public Library branches, the Queens Library Central, the Center
for Jewish History, the Guggenheim Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the
MoMA Education Deparment, and have encouraged an ethic of sharing in many
New York institutions. I’ve also personally given around 20 staff trainings
on Wikipedia editing to institutional staff, and hosted several more
specialty events at the METRO office on 11th Street. Images of some of the
events METRO has co-organized are available
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Metropolitan_New_York_Library_Council_Events>
in Wikimedia Commons.
While I’ve had a wonderful go as Wikipedian-in-Residence, all good things
eventually come to a close. As you may know, I will be leaving my position
shortly to pursue other opportunities for growth and learning, starting on
April 2nd, 2015.
METRO and I have been discussing opportunities for METRO to continue
collaborating with Wikipedia and library-specific Open Knowledge and Open
Data projects to support our institutional members
<http://metro.org/corporatememberships/applications/search/>. I have made
sure to put my supervisor in touch with staff at the Wikipedia Library and
the Wiki Education Foundation, as well as members of WMF Grants and the
larger Wikipedia community, and I’m working to ensure that there is a
referral process in place so that if METRO members have questions about
Wikipedia, they know to contact WMNYC or other groups that will respond.
But METRO is also in a time of transition, after Jason Kuscma left his spot
as Executive Director, we are currently in an interm period, and things are
somewhat on hold until someone new is hired so it is yet to be determined
whether METRO will create an Open Data / WiR position or expand its open
initiatives in other ways. As you may have heard, METRO received a grant
from the Knight Foundation for its Culture in Transit project
<http://www.knightfoundation.org/grants/201550377/>, and is embarking on a
large-scale initiative to scan and digitize print materials for public
archiving. From being immersed in the culture here at METRO I can say with
confidence and pride that whatever comes next, openness will be a big part
of their considerations in their digital projects.
Going forward, if you need to get in contact with me, the best address in
the future will be my personal e-mail: <dorohoward(a)gmail.com>om>, and you can
always find me on Twitter @DorothyR_Howard
<https://twitter.com/DorothyR_Howard>. But proverbially speaking, I’m not
going anywhere- and will one way or another continue to take part in New
York Wikipedia and Open-GLAM initiatives.
Please let me know if you have any questions about this transition, and
thanks for your continual support.
All the best,
Dorothy Howard
--
Dorothy Howard, Wikipedian-in-Residence and Open Data Fellow
Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO)
212.228.2320 x127