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WMF GLAM report

Digitization, Travel, Structured Data on Commons, and WMF updates

By Astinson

Note: this episode of the WMF report in this Month in GLAM Covers September and October'

Digitization and Case Studies

During Wikimania, and my early assessment of the Wikimedia Community's needs at Wikimedia Conference and through conversation with a number of volunteer communities, I realized that many of our communities are either exploring or working on digitization; this kind of collaboration it offers a number of opportunities to support potential GLAM partners in getting them thinking about open content and knowledge. Because funding and the broader heritage sector is placing emphasis on digital sharing, many institutions, even those without robust digitization programs, are looking for help. Wikimedia Communities can help supporting at different stages in the process, and I have begun collecting those experiences at this outreach portal.

Also, their are folks already working on this in the Wikimedia Community: a couple years ago the Wikimedia user group was formed, to support the best practices for DIY digitization in partnership with other organizations. I am working with members of that group, to both easier to reach, and make sure that materials that they are creating get shared as part of the Digitization portal on outreach.

Also, in attending the Internet Archive Library Leaders Forum, I talked with a number, and will be continue to talk with members of their staff, to see if their is a way for the project that seeks to create access to "all knowledge" with the world, can work with the non-profit project seeking to create access to the "sum of all knowledge" (of course we can! But I bet their are more opportunities). If you have any ideas about digitization, can help writing a case study or best practice, or want to talk about the opportunities with digitization reach out at astinson@wikimedia.org.

Structured data on Commons

One of the main reasons for delay in writing a September this Month in GLAM WMF report, was the unexpected opportunity to support development of a possible funding source for expediting Structured Commons alongside the number Events that I attended (see below). For a preview of what the extended funding on the project could look like, see: The Overview on Commons of the new application. Please weigh in.

Events!

September and October included a number of events:

  • At WikiConference USA, a number of other Wikipedia + Library leaders offered a whole range of presentations on the role of Wikipedia and Libraries. It had a GLAM heavy focus with Alex, providing workshops on Wikidata and Global GLAM. For highlights from the event, see the blog post on Wikimedia blog
  • Jake Orlowitz and Alex Stinson, attended the Internet Archive Library Leaders Forum: the conference featured conversation about the future of libraries, with a number of libraries both within in the United States and Canada. The focus overall, was less on the broader library community, and more on Internet Archive's role in that change, and how to better develop partnerships with their organization. The Wikipedia Library team, attended to both: represent the recent Internet Archive bot, work on WP:OABOT, and the relevance of Wikidata in the library space; and to explore closer collaboration with IA and their partner organizations, like Biodiversity Heritage Library and Family Search.

Also, living in New England, Alex accepted invitations for talks at both the New England Library Association and Cornell University Libraries. These talks at local gatherings allow Alex to listen to the challenges facing our local, and smaller GLAM partners - where even in the United States, the funding and pressure on these professional groups is pretty extensive. The talks went well :)

  • The Community Wishlist Survey has opened for its first phase: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2016_Community_Wishlist_Survey . This year, asks and that support Wikimedia Programs and other smaller and typically unsupported volunteer communities (i.e. WikiSource and Wikitionary), will be given a second grouping of priorities which the Community Tech team will work on. Make sure that you include your program-related requests.
  • The Next round of Project grants opens in December: make sure to start planning for projects in that window of time: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project
  • #1lib1ref launch: 1lib1ref is beginning planning, please join the conversation by following the instructions at: https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/glam/2016-October/001094.html . #1lib1ref allows for an excellent opportunity to start talking with library communities and partners who have not yet participated in Wikimedia Collaborations.

Blog Highlights

Other Consultations

In September and October, I supported a number of community and staff members in consultation, including but not limited to:

  • Meetings with WMF Legal and Communications about long term strategies for supporting GLAM
  • Reviewing Annual Plan Grant requests with GLAM components with Community Resources at WMF
  • Supporting initial design of the Canadian Music Data Project
  • Getting Citation Hunt and other #1lib1ref materials prepared for a number of communities
  • the Digitization User Group
  • WMUG Ghana
  • A number of contacts gathered at conferences and movement events


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