| Museums Galleries Scotland Wikimedian in Residence Final Summary & Reflections report |
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Background edit
A Wikimedian in Residence is a Wikimedia editor based with an organisation or group of organisations, usually a GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive or Museum) with the aim of increasing the quality and volume of content on the encyclopedia and associated Wikiprojects concerning the organisation(s) collection. Museums Galleries Scotland is a charity and development body for the museum sector; it works with more than 400 institutions based in Scotland.
Wikimedia UK had been working with MGS for several years discussing a potential project, and finally in 2014 set the project up, after MGS had applied to Wikimedia UK to partner on this activity. The process was successful and Wikimedia UK was happy to partner with MGS to deliver a year long residency. The overarching idea for the project was to use the MGS network to reach many institutions and help them engage with open knowledge. It was felt that the project would be more successful it if started with a secondment in a particular institution, so that the resident could first engage with an organisation on the ground level, and apply that learning to other museums in the network. The result of this was the four-month secondment to Glasgow Museums. The resident, Sara Thomas was embedded with the Kelvin Hall team at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for 2.5 days per week during the period 26 January 2015–30 May 2015. The Summary & Reflections report for this element of the residency can be found here.
Following the secondment, the resident moved to work from the Edinburgh office of MGS, again for 2.5 days per week, making contact with those organisations who had shown interest in the residency during the secondment, and then using MGS' network to identify other organisations who would be interested in pursuing open knowledge work. Throughout the residency there was a great deal of advocacy work carried out, and attention paid to increasing the sphere of influence and connection. The Summary & Reflections report for this second phase of the residency, which ran from 1 June 2015 - 31 January 2016 can be found here.
The third phase of the residency ran from 1 February 2016 - 2 July 2016, with the resident working 3 days a week. The final months were short due to funding and annual leave requirements, however the focus was on the completion of particular projects.
This report will focus on the third phase of the residency, and update final statistics. This report should be read in association with the Secondment Summary & Reflections Report and the 12 month report.
Aims and objectives of residency edit
As a networked residency, working across the Scottish museums sector, this residency was quite different from most others. Primarily, throughout the residency, there was a greater focus upon advocacy and attitudinal/culture change than content development.
Outcomes edit
WMUK outcomes relevant to this Residency as set out in the WiR Agreement:
- G1: Develop Open Knowledge
- G2a: Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers
- G3: Reduce barriers to accessing open knowledge
- G5: Develop, support & engage with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities
These outcomes are mapped to more specific outcomes in the below table.
| 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. |
Positive influencing factors for success in the residency edit
- Momentum built up over the course of the residency meant that there was a good deal of interest in further projects, however many could not be pursued due to time & funding constraints.
- Being able to offer training for free significantly increased take up, especially for those organisations with limited budget, or who were particularly remote and for whom travel costs would have been prohibitive.
- Continued appetite for digital learning within the sector.
Negative influencing factors against success in the residency edit
- Fear & uncertainty surrounding open licensing and copyright; ownership of images and decisions surrounding commercialisation of collections.
- Limited time frame of project limited follow up work with organisations who had shown interest earlier in the residency.
Outputs edit
In the third phase of the residency:
- 7 Editathons
- 5 training sessions / workshops
- 4 speaking engagements
- 11 new cultural institutions or groups (presentations to conferences counted as 1 group)
- 285 recorded contact points
This gives a total for the entire residency of:
- 19 editathons
- 21 training sessions
- 27 speaking engagements
- 90 cultural institutions (roughly)
- 983 recorded contact points
Users and content
In the third phase of the residency:
- 115 individuals trained
- 97 new users
- 43 new articles created
- 233 articles improved
- 39 images uploaded
This gives a total for the entire residency of:
- 347 individuals trained
- 281 new users
- 110 new articles created
- 336 articles improved
- 277 images uploaded
Statistics edit
Events & Presentations edit
Editathons & Training events
Presentations & conferences
| Event Name | Date | Location / Organiser | Attendees (approx) | Title | Slides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Playing with method, planning for impact | 22 March 2016 | National Museum of Scotland / Digital Cultural Heritage Research Network | 30 | A year in Wikimedia: Open Knowledge & Scotland's Museums |  |
| SLIC Digital Champions Meeting | 29 March 2016 | Mitchell Library, Glasgow / Scottish Library and Information Council | 40 | The Library & Wikimedia |  |
| #OER16: Open Culture | 19 & 20 April 2016 | University of Edinburgh | 25 | Opening Scotland: Museums Galleries Scotland’s Wikimedian in Residence & the diversification of engagement. |  |
| Edinburgh Digital Meetup | 14 April 2016 | Edinburgh Digital Meetup | 40 | Opening Scotland: Open on a Shoestring | |
| University of Glasgow: Learning & Teaching Conference | 12 April 2016 | University of Glasgow | 14 | Beyond the Encyclopedia: Wikipedia as learning & teaching tool |  |
Organisations reached edit
GLAMs & associated organisations - direct contact, training, events, content upload
| Organisation | Type of contact | County |
|---|---|---|
| Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals | Training | Scotland-wide |
| Scottish Libraries & Information Council | Advice given on running editathons | Scotland-wide |
| Scottish National Portrait Gallery | follow up editathon | Edinburgh |
| Glasgow Women's Library | 2 editathons | Glasgow |
| Groam House Museum | Meeting with board, training, policy development | Highland |
| Glasgow School of Art | Editathon | Glasgow |
| Museum nan Eilean | Training | Eilean Siar |
| Highlanders Museum | Meeting & discussion re: digital access to collections | Highland |
| Digital Cultural Heritage Research Network | Presentation given | Edinburgh |
| Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Museum | Advice given to student | Stirling |
| Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art | Editathon held with Glasgow School of Art | US |
| Greenwood Conference Centre Library | Advice given concerning editathons | North Ayrshire |
GLAMs reached but where level of contact is below training - e.g presentation, follow up discussions, but no further action taken.
| Organisation | Notes |
|---|---|
| University of Dundee, Dentistry Department | Student put in contact with previously-trained individual in the museum service |
| Fruitmarket Gallery | Discussions held around digital in museums & galleries context |
| Greenwood Conference Centre Library, North Ayrshire | Advice given concerning editathons |
Universities - conferences & training
| Institution | Type of contact |
|---|---|
| University of Glasgow | Presentation given at conference, following on from earlier contact |
| University of St Andrews | Training given to Museums Studies students, & Physics Postgrads & Researchers |
| University of Edinburgh | Assistance given with ILW Editathon, supporting new WiR |
| University of the Highlands & Islands | Discussion concerning a presentation; not pursued due to time commitments |
Other
- Govan's Hidden Histories - partner for Strong Women of the Clydeside editathon
- Edinburgh Digital Meetup - presentation given
- DigIt!
Content creation edit
Major achievements edit
- The number of new users trained in the third phase of the residency, and indeed overall, is a significant achievement.
- The engagement with Groam House Museum was the culmination of a great deal of work and provided a near textbook example of small-GLAM partnership working with Wiki. The period of work resulted in vertical buy-in throughout the organisation, content upload, and a draft open licensing policy was created and submitted to the board of directors for approval. More information on the Groam House work, including details of the outputs and outcomes, can be found here.
- Also as part of the Groam House work, a set of questionnaires was created which provided a template for benchmarking the efficacy and impact of Wiki work with GLAMs. This template has been made available on Commons.
Responses and recommendations edit
Reflections & Recommendations for WMUK edit
- As previously discussed, more formal, stewarded connections between residents would be appreciated.
- Support from WMUK in general greatly appreciated.
Reflections & Recommendations for MGS edit
- It was a pleasure to work with MGS and I'm very sorry to have left them! Being able to access their network gave an incredible opportunity to work at a sector-wide level.
- The state of the sector does seem to indicate that this project could be repeated in future, with perhaps more success around content release and adopting of open licensing policies.
