On 24 June 2010 15:02, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt@gmail.com> wrote:

> At the suggestion of Mike Peel, I'm forwarding this mailout to the UK list
> too in the hope that you might find it interesting. I have only been sending
> these mailouts to people who have actively expressed interest in following
> the British Museum - Wikipedia project but I can send them here too if you'd
> like. You can read about the project itself here:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/BM

Fantastic stuff! Do let internal-l know as well ... this sort of thing
is, frankly, WMF blog material.

(And just wait until the NPG call asking if they can do something like
this with us ;-) )

Well, I am wary of spamming too many people with reports of things that I'm doing here at the British Museum on the basis that, although I might find it interesting I'm aware that everyone has their own projects that are of equal importance to the movement. I just happen to be volunteering with an organisation that has a big brand name (and awesome collection) but I don't want to pretend that my wikiwork should get more airtime than anyone else's.

And yes, I have been in contact with the NPG on an unofficial "lets have a beer" basis. What I think has come from that is that both communities, whilst recognising that there is a gap between our interpretations of the law, we have both learned a lot in the last year about each other. The whole event is a lose-lose for both communities and there is now an awareness (IMO) in both communities that we need to have pro-active and mutually-beneficial relationships. That's pretty much what I'm trying to demonstrate here at the BM - that a mutually-beneficial relationship that respects the policies of BOTH communities is achievable. And, as you can see from the variety of UK and international museums that are starting to make noises about having "their own in-house wikipedia volunteer" that message seems to be getting through :-)

-Liam