Submissions/Wikipedia in the Library: tools for researchers

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2013.

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Submission no.: 2028
Subject no.: B1

Title of the submission: Wikipedia in the Library: tools for researchers

Type of submission: presentation

Author of the submission: Andrew Gray

Country of origin: UK

Affiliation: British Library

E-mail address: wikigeneralist.org.uk

Username: Andrew Gray

Personal homepage or blog: http://www.generalist.org.uk/blog/

Abstract

The Wikipedian in Residence program at the British Library, in contrast to many other GLAM partnerships, has focused on studying the ways in which academics and specialists can engage with Wikipedia and similar projects; over 350 people have come to workshops to learn how to engage with the projects and the communities. Working with research funding bodies, we are producing case-studies and guidance for researchers interested in contributing to Wikipedia.

This presentation will outline the lessons learned from working with the academic community, and help launch the new guidance resources.

Detailed proposal

The Wikipedian in Residence program at the British Library was the first such post to be supported by a grant from a public funding organisation, the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). As a result, one of its goals was to support AHRC-funded researchers and projects in engaging with Wikipedia, and study the ways in which such partnerships can be made to work effectively. There is a growing interest among funding bodies in ensuring that research projects produce material which has a broad impact, and can be widely reused, distributed, and developed, and Wikipedia potentially offers a very good tool for this.

During the year-long program, several hundred people attended in-person training sessions around the UK, both at the British Library and at a number of other institutions. As well as providing practical training in engaging with and contributing to Wikipedia, these provided an opportunity to talk to a large group of interested researchers about their interest in the projects, their ideas for collaboration, and what support they might need to help realise these plans.

Building on the issues raised in these discussions, as well as from the experience of a number of collaborative projects, we are producing a series of guidance documents to help individual researchers and larger projects engage with Wikipedia. The documents touch on core issues such as licensing and authority, as well as differing approaches - simply making material available vs. active participation and contribution.

This talk will discuss some of the lessons learned from these case studies, as well as outlining the new guidance documents, and making a strong case for the use of Wikipedia as a tool to capture incidental research that might not otherwise be published.

Track: Cultural and Educational Outreach

Length of presentation/talk: 20 minutes

Language of presentation/talk: English

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?: Yes

Slides or further information (optional): Slides

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Slashme (talk) 19:23, 7 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Daniel Mietchen (talk) 22:42, 22 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
sats (talk) 08:22, 28 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Blue Rasberry (talk) 13:55, 30 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Ziko (talk) 17:40, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
Bender235 (talk) 18:24, 3 July 2013 (UTC)[reply]
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