| Institution | Resident's Name | Period Covered | Date of Report |
|---|---|---|---|
| Museums Galleries Scotland | Sara Thomas | 1 May - 31 May | 31 May 2016 |
Much of this month was taken up with annual leave and TOIL due to the resident being at the end of the contract.
Projects delivered in the past month edit
Wiki events edit
| Event Name | Date | Location | Attendees | New Users | Gender breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Wikipedia and Groam House Editathon #1 | 11 May 2016 | Groam House Museum, Rosemarkie | 4 | 3 | 50% female |
| Art+Feminism Still Invisible Editathon Session 1 | 25 May 2016 | CCA, Glasgow / Glasgow School of Art | 9 | 7 | 89% female |
| Art+Feminism Still Invisible Editathon Session 2 | 25 May 2016 | CCA, Glasgow / Glasgow School of Art | 10 | 8 | 100% female |
Statistics edit
| Event | Date | New accounts created | Articles created | Articles improved | Images added |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduction to Wikipedia and Groam House Editathon #1 | 11 May 2016 | n/a | 25 images added in the commons:category:Images from Groam House Museum | ||
| Art+Feminism Still Invisible Editathon | 25 May 2016 |
|
n/a |
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
- In the culmination of the project extension, and following the first visit in April to make a presentation to the Board of Management, two days were spent with Groam House Museum staff, board and volunteers, training them how to edit Wikipedia and to upload to Commons using the new batch uploader for small GLAM projects, Pattypan. A test batch of images were uploaded to Commons under the category commons:category:Images from Groam House Museum, with the intention that this will be added to in due course. Feedback from the museum was very positive, and all project targets were met, see table below. The plan was developed following the use of a questionnaire devised in consultation with MGS' in house statistician and both this and the post-project questionnaire used in the 12 month evaluation will be made available as part of the final evaluation report of this residency.
| Item identified from initial questionnaire | Actions taken | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Concerns re: loss of control, image attribution, technical aspects of Wikicommons | Information & training to staff & board regarding open culture / open knowledge in a cultural context | Training session, written materials provided, Board presentation |
| Content upload (images & text) to Wikipedia | Training for staff & volunteers; content audit; digitisation of cultural assets; gathering of metadata; explore different ways of getting content onto Wiki | Digitised content; content uploaded; content audit completed |
| Updating George Bain (artist) article. | Training staff & volunteers so that this can be actioned | Page updated during editathon |
| Develop/implement a policy on image sharing | Identify template policies, provide information & support to GH in developing and implementing a policy, using content upload as an example. | Draft policy developed with museum staff, to be passed to BoM for consideration |
| Project development past the duration of contact with the Resident | Development of licensing/sharing policies; Board to be behind open culture; support GH to develop longer term plan; production/collation of training materials | Action plan produced for after resident's contact period |
| Vertical support within organisation for project development | ST to present to the Board on the subject of open culture | Action plan produced, presentation made to board |
| Volunteers to be able to share content - ambassadors for the collection | Training for staff & volunteers | Training session |
| Increased staff skills & confidence around open licensing | Training & information to staff & volunteers | Training session |
| Increased staff skills & confidence around Wikipedia & related projects | Training & information to staff & volunteers | Training session |
| Building online & physical audience long term | Make collection available openly; ensure that open culture situated appropriately within outreach programme; appropriate monitoring in place | Content upload, discussion with staff, training session & follow up report sent |
| Partnering with local schools on ICT basis | Provide suggestions to how this might be done. | Discussion with staff during visit |
- Further advice has been given to Iphigenia Wang, working with the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders Regimental Museum.
- The Still Invisible editathon was held with the Glasgow School of Art at the CCA in Glasgow. Results can be seen in the Stats section above.
Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers
- One of the major positives to come out of the work with Groam House museum was advice given around the development of a digital licensing policy for the organisation. A draft policy was drawn up with the George Bain curator, and will be submitted to the board of management for approval at their next meeting.
- Discussions are being held with the Museum nan Eilean in the Western Isles about carrying out training for them, and representatives of associated historical societies. Although the project is due to finish on 2 June, there is a small amount of money left in the budget which will allow this work to be carried out in June.
Reducing barriers to accessing open knowledge
- Work has begun on leaflet text for distribution to smaller GLAMs about the benefits of open knowledge and open licensing. This is being done at the request of WMUK, and is being shared with MGS for use with small GLAMs in Scotland.
Developing, supporting & engaging with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities
- The resident attended a meeting with the University of Edinburgh's Museum service to support Stinglehammer in his work with the service as part of his residency.
- The resident is in discussion with the other current UK WiRs to produce a Wikibook to pool our knowledge, in order to assist future residents. This follows our discussions at OER16 and observations by the resident when Stinglehammer started that there are a number of issues and information for the beginning of residencies which could be usefully brought together in a kind of handbook.
- Advice and further meetings have been arranged with other groups who have shown interest in getting more information about open knowledge, and it is hoped that work might continue with them. The resident will support Stinglehammer where possible with his planned outreach meeting with the CCA in Glasgow, and the Eurostemcell Editathon details have been passed to him so that he can take on this event.
Projects in Development edit
- Event planned with Glasgow Women's Library on 2 July.
- Training planned with Museum nan Eilean.
- A full handover has been done with MGS, with debrief notes being passed on. All projects apart from those listed above have now been tied up.