**Apologies for cross posting**
With just under 3 weeks to go until Repository Fringe takes place in Edinburgh on 1st & 2nd August 2016, registrations are filling up fast and we have a packed programme which will hopefully pique your interest and send you flocking to join the Scottish capital at its most vibrant time of year!
Find out more about some of our programme items below – the full programme is available online.
Programme Hot Pick - Wikidata & Wikisource Showcase
Our Tuesday programme features a mammoth Wikidata & Wikisource Showcase hosted by Histropedia’s Navino Evans, the Bodleian Library’s Wikimedian in Residence, Martin Poulter, and the University of Edinburgh’s Wikimedian in Residence, Ewan McAndrew.
More
information about the Showcase and what the sessions will cover which is available online now and is summarised here:
Libraries are under threat as never before with an estimated 450 closures in the last six
years (Flood, 2016).
Safeguarding digital heritage and ‘the democracy of reading’ (Smith in Shaffi, 2015)
therefore has never been more important.
In this first session of our three showcase events for Repository Fringe 2016, we will
introduce you to Wikisource: Wikimedia’s free library of openly-licensed source texts.
“Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information.” (Neil Gaiman, 2013)
In this session we will explain:
·
Why Wikisource is receiving increased attention & affection.
·
How it adds value to the collections of libraries & archives.
·
The crucial role Wikisource plays in raising the visibility, accessibility & appreciation of out-of-copyright texts & their authors.
·
How Wikisource links to its sister projects: Wikipedia, Wikicommons and Wikidata.
“Quotations or images
from centuries ago can still touch or inspire, and as readers share this reaction online, the interested audience grows. The Wikimedia projects make it easy for people to enjoy and share out-of-copyright text, creating and satisfying a modern curiosity about
past authors.”(Poulter, 2015)
What will the session include?
·
An introduction to what Wikisource is and how you can engage with it.
·
A practical activity where you will learn how to navigate Wikisource and proofread a page of text.
·
An introduction to how Wikisource links with Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia), Wikicommons (the free media repository) & Wikidata (the free repository of structured data).
·
Examples demonstrating how texts can be uploaded, transcribed and proofread.
·
Examples demonstrating how everyone - libraries & archives in particular - can involve people around the world in having authentic contact with the past through Wikisource.
Like every Wikimedia project, Wikisource is free to use by absolutely anyone so people
of all disciplines and walks of life are encouraged to attend this session. Basic knowledge of using the internet will be needed to get involved in the practical activity, but there are no other pre-requisites.
Anyone interested in libraries, archives & open knowledge repositories of all kinds should
come away excited about the possibilities Wikisource, and its sister projects, offer!
What should I bring?
Bring a laptop if possible as this will be needed when we learn to navigate our way around
Wikisource and for the practical demonstration of proofreading a page of Wikisource text. In addition, please have a think if there are copyright-free source texts you would like to see transcribed to Wikisource.
It would also be a huge help if you could
create an account
on Wikisource before arriving (if you have ever edited Wikipedia before, you can use the same login details)
References
Flood, Alison (2016).
"Joanna Trollope: 'UK cannot afford to close one single public library'".
the Guardian.
Shaffi, Sarah (2015)."Smith
warns library closures threat to 'democracy of reading' | The Bookseller". www.thebookseller.com.
Gaiman, Neil (2013).
"Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming".
the Guardian.
Poulter, Martin (2015)."The
Shiver: communion with the past in a digital age | Wikimedia UK Blog". blog.wikimedia.org.uk.
Wikidata - “the source for
open structured data on the web and for facts within Wikipedia.” (Wallis, 2014)
Wikidata is a free and open data repository of the world’s knowledge. Wikidata differs
from its sister project Wikipedia in that it is completely language independent and its structured data can be read and edited by both humans and machines alike. Using Wikidata, information on Wikipedia can be queried & visualised as never before. This alone
has generated enormous excitement in its users but the sheer versatility of how this data can be used is only just beginning to be understood & explored.
Did You Know:
The answers provided by Google’s ‘Knowledge Graph’ panels were powered by its own structured data repository, Freebase, until Google decided to wind down
Freebase in 2015 in favour of migrating their data to Wikidata & supporting Wikidata instead.
In this session we will explain why Wikidata is so special, why its users are so excited
by the possibilities it offers, why it may overtake Wikipedia in years to come as
the project to watch and how it is quietly on course to change the world.
What will the session include?
·
A practical activity where you will learn the ‘nuts & bolts’ of how to use and edit Wikidata, and help shape the future of open
knowledge!
·
An introduction to methods for accessing the data in Wikidata. Wikidata is completely free to use in every imaginable way; from educational projects to full-scale commercial software applications – what will you do with it?
·
A showcase selection of the most exciting applications and visualisations that have already been built on Wikidata.
Who should attend?
Absolutely anyone can use Wikidata for something, so people of all disciplines and walks
of life are encouraged to attend this session. Basic knowledge of using the internet will be needed to get involved in the practical activity, but there are no other pre-requisites.
Anyone interested in open knowledge, academic research, application development or data
visualisation should come away buzzing with exciting new ideas!
What should I bring?
Bring a laptop if possible as this will be needed when we learn to use and edit Wikidata.
It would also be a huge help if you could
create an account
on Wikidata before the arriving (if you have ever edited Wikipedia before, you can use the same login details)
References
Wallis, Richard (2014).
"Google Sunsets Freebase – Good News For Wikidata? – Data Liberate".
This session will be a practical introduction to using some of the most powerful tools built around Wikidata.
You will learn how to:
· Query Wikidata using their SPARQL endpoint
· Create visualisations from live data, such as interactive maps, timelines, and bubble charts.
· Use editing tools that allow you to make automated Wikidata edits based on SPARQL queries, Wikipedia categories, or tables in a spreadsheet.
Who should attend?
Absolutely anyone can use Wikidata for something, so people of all disciplines and walks of life are encouraged to attend this session. Basic knowledge of using the internet will be needed to get involved in the practical activity, but there are no other pre-requisites.
Anyone interested in open knowledge, academic research, application development or data visualisation should come away buzzing with exciting new ideas!
***
Use EPrints?
Les Carr will be doing a bumper user group session which also looks at brainstorming ‘flavours’ for bespoke repositories, followed up by a second session looking ahead to the future of EPrints in Version 4.0 and the new ideas from the COAR Future Repositories. More information to come shortly…
***
Submit a Poster
We are still looking for poster submissions from people who have something to tell the world about. Posters can relate either to one of this year’s conference themes or to repository management in general.
If you would like to submit a poster, please email your proposed title and an abstract of up to 200 words to explain the aim of your poster to repofringe@gmail.com. The submission deadline is 15th July 2016.
Kind regards,
Ewan McAndrew
Wikimedian in Residence
Tel: 07719 330076
Email: ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk
Working hours are 2.5 days per week, usually Monday, Tuesday & Thursday.
Wikipedia Project Page for the residency:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, Learning, Teaching & Web Services, Hugh Robson Building, 15 George Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9XD.
www.ed.ac.uk