About me edit
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I am a librarian who works with resource description (metadata) and is eager to get more involved with Wikipedia and GLAM-Wiki initiatives. Leave a message on my talk page, or find me on Twitter @timathom.
My interests as an aspiring Wikipedian are intertwined with my professional identity as a librarian. Cultural heritage institutions like galleries, libraries, archives, and museums have produced a wealth of data over the years. A significant portion of that data has been devoted to describing the people and organizations responsible for creating information resources. In library parlance, this work is known as "authority control"—essentially the process of establishing and maintaining an official ("authorized") record for an entity in order to uniquely identify it. In large part, I see my contributions to Wikipedia as an extension of the authority work that librarians have traditionally performed. When I work on a biographical Wikipedia page, for instance, I think of it as constituting a kind of enhanced authority record.
In general, I believe that contributing to Wikipedia can help librarians, archivists, and curators reframe their professional relevance in new ways. In today's information landscape, archives and special collections are the unique resources that set cultural heritage institutions apart. And yet the individuals who care for these unique resources are also stewards of information about the unique people associated with them. As a global, ubiquitous platform, Wikipedia can serve as a tool for curating the information that is out there publicly about the people and organizations represented in archival and special collections. Conversely, Wikipedia itself stands to benefit from the high-quality data and curatorial attention to detail that librarians, archivists, and others have worked to develop over time.
Conflict of interest statement edit
I am an employee of the Yale University Library, where I work as a Metadata Librarian, helping to manage and describe the Library's print and digital resources.
Wikipedia editing is not a part of my formal job description, and my Wikipedia edits do not represent the views of my employer in any official capacity. However, my contributions to Wikipedia will often reference people, organizations, resources, or holdings associated with the Yale University Library. When making edits, I pledge to abide by Wikipedia policies and guidelines, including those on WP:COI, WP:RS, WP:V, and WP:NPOV; to further the goals and mission of Wikipedia first and foremost; and to contribute relevant, reliable information. If at any time my contributions appear to be in violation of Wikipedia community norms, I ask that other editors not hesitate to contact me via my user talk page.
Articles I've worked on using the RAMP editor edit