| Institution | Resident's Name | Period Covered | Date of Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Museums Galleries Scotland | Sara Thomas | 6 July - 2 August 2015 | 30 July 2015 |
Introduction edit
The second month of the Museums Galleries Scotland portion of the residency has been spent staff training, networking and developing deeper links with existing contacts.
Projects delivered in the past month edit
| Event Name | Date | Location | Attendees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Wikipedia | 9 July 2015 | Museums Galleries Scotland | 7 |
| Introduction to Wikipedia | 30 July 2015 (rescheduled from 1 July) | Museums Galleries Scotland | 5 |
Metrics edit
12 new user accounts were created as a result of the MGS staff training sessions on 9 and 30 July.
9 July 2015
30 July 2015
Objectives & outcomes edit
| WMUK | Museums Galleries Scotland |
|---|---|
| G1: Develop Open Knowledge | G1.1 help Scottish museums increase the quality of the existing open knowledge surrounding their collections. G1.2 assist museums to make more open knowledge available through various channels and projects, G1.3 work specifically with the Recognised Collections to make more open knowledge and images available through Wikipedia and their own websites licence-free. |
| G2a: Develop, involve & engage WMUK volunteers | G2a.1 encourage and assist museum curators to become competent WMUK volunteers. G2a.2 assist museum curators to help share their expert collections knowledge with other WMUK volunteers. G2a.3 Work with other Scottish voluntary organisations to involve them where relevant in open data projects taking place in Scottish museums and galleries. |
| G3: Reduce barriers to accessing open knowledge | G3.1 we will improve awareness of the benefits of open knowledge through education within the Scottish museum sector. G3.2 we will actively work with a range of partners including the Scottish Government to help inform, develop and deliver a strategic action plan for responsible use of open data in Scottish museums. |
| G5: Develop, support and engage with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge Communities | G5.1 participate and encourage membership to the Scottish DigitaI Transformation Network. G5.2 encourage partnership projects between Scottish museums to release their metadata licence free through API or other sources. |
Developing Open Knowledge
- The resident has given online support to the organisers of the upcoming editathon at Glasgow School of Art (who hold a Recognised Collection) in preparation for the event. It is hoped that the article quality for this event will be quite high.
- A meeting has been set with a representative of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, who will make introductions to RBGE Library & Herbarium staff.
- A meeting was held with the Head of Digital from National Museums of Scotland, with a view to exploring further Wiki work. A further meeting has been planned.
- The resident has advised that content uploaded to the new MGS-facilitated Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage website should be licensed under a CC-BY-SA or less restrictive license.
Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers
- 12 MGS staff attended Introduction to Editing Wikipedia training sessions, tailored to cultural institution staff, so that they gain a deeper understanding of the kind of training the resident can provide and thus promote the project more effectively through their own work.
- A training day for members of the Glasgow Archaeological Society has been arranged in the Riverside Museum for the afternoon of 4 August. Contact for this came through a member of Glasgow Museums staff who had taken part in the Wiki training during the secondment phase of the residency. One staff member from another organisation has also asked to attend.
Reducing barriers to accessing open knowledge
- A colleague at MGS has introduced me by email to all the Scottish Museum Forum chairs. Both Tayside and Fife forums so far have requested that I attend their next meeting and deliver a short presentation explaining more about the project and the ways in which museums around Scotland can get involved. These are busy forums and it is hoped that these meetings will generate positive leads.
- Planning for the Recognised Collections event on 4 Sept continues. Recognised Collections to be invited at the beginning of August.
- Work has begun on developing advice concerning the development of policies and guidelines for metadata and digital content licensing, and staff working with wiki during work time, as these are areas which have been identified as barriers to working more openly, and the MGS network affords a significant opportunity to reach many parts of the sector. The National Library of Scotland have kindly given permission to use their policies as the basis for more work. The resident has contacted new WMUK trustee Nick Poole for advice on these matters.
- The resident attended an example training session from the Heritage Lottery Funded Resourcing Scotland's Heritage programme. It is likely that this course could be recommended to organisations where lack of fundraising knowledge/resource is a barrier to finding funding to resource a digitisation or open knowledge project.
- Two Skills Development Wiki training sessions have been developed and will be added to the MGS training portfolio for the autumn. These will act as introductions to the project and to editing training for curators, with the aim of developing further links with participant organisations.
Developing, supporting & engaging with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities
- A meeting was held with a representative of the University of Edinburgh to support and advise them on their programme of Open Education activity, following their successful 5-day editathon earlier in the year. The resident or a WMUK volunteer will assist with planning and provide training for various events, including an editathon and conference presentation later in the year.
- A meeting was help with a representative of the University of the West of Scotland to explore working with Wiki, and a meeting has been set for 27 August to discuss the matter further with various departmental heads.
Projects in Development edit
| Event Name | Date | Location | Organiser | Event Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Women on the Roll of Honour | Postponed - new date TBC | Glasgow School of Art | Sara Thomas / GSA | Updating Wikipedia with details of women from Glasgow School of Art's Honour Roll. |
- Event for the Recognised Collections set for 4 September
- Various events with University of Edinburgh planned for later in the year
- Wikipedia for charities event with Be Good Be Social to be developed for November.
- Braemar Castle event date to be set now that Jacobite weekend has passed
- Photography event at Glasgow Museums now looking at a date in September.