WikiConference North America 2016

Putting the L inWikipedia and Libraries

Merrilee ProffittSenior Program Officer, OCLC Research@merrileeiam

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

SIERRA NATIONAL FOREST

https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/07/24/perspective-change-wikimedia-glam/

“When a GLAM institution opens their doors to us, we don’t hesitate, because content like paintings, archival material, and books are extremely important for Wikimedia projects. Images from GLAM collections, made available via Wikimedia Commons, help illustrate Wikipedia entries, giving readers a tangible visual grasp on what exactly they are learning above; data from museums’ cultural heritage in museums and archives flesh out Wikidata entries; and scans of books can be uploaded to and proofread on Wikisource.

Libraries / librarians are differentLibrarians are important for validating Wikipedia

What the L?

• Librarians are most interested in…– Information Literacy– Resource Discovery– Community Engagement

(Librarians are Wikipedians, they just don’t know it yet.)

#GLAMwiki? #WikiLib!

Wikipedia Literacy

Wikipedia Literacy

Citations should take you somewhere…

Community engagement

20 years ago I was in the libraries business. Today I am in the Columbus business. Pat Losinski, CEOColumbus Metro. Library

#WikiLib 500 strong

https://www.newschallenge.org/challenge/how-might-libraries-serve-21st-century-information-needs/winning/improve-access-to-knowledge-and-empower-citizens-amplify-libraries-and-communities-through-wikipedia

#WikiLib 500 strong

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/A_Wikipedian-in-Residence_to_Engage_500_Librarians_and_their_Communities

#WikiLib 500 strongAdvisors• Kosboot• Megs• Lange.lea• Kirill_Lokshin• Astinson_(WMF)• Ocaasi_(WMF)• Phoebe

• 500 librarians in the United States• Librarians who work in public libraries• Training specifically for librarians• Help equip them to become self-sufficient Wikipedians• Help equip them to lead outreach programs in their

communities

What is it?

• Start in 2017 (awareness building phase will start this year)• Online synchronous program, designed to support a cohort

that will learn together and support one another• Two or three waves• Hinges on us hiring a Wikipedian in Residence Superhero

(full time paid position)• Developing learning objectives with our advisors now• Delivered via WebJunction

How will it work?

How will it work?

• This is a big experiment• Curriculum and teaching materials that are designed

specifically for librarians• Test online synchronous training as a model for scaling

community engagement• Exposure of lots of librarians to how Wikipedia works

Be Bold and Believe

Outcomes

How can you help?

How can we help you?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bay_Area_WikiSalon,_June_2016

• L is an important letter on it’s own in the GLAM rainbow• Content donation is not always the best conversation

starter• Librarians are Wikipedians, they just don’t know it yet• We are inviting 500 librarians in and equipping them for

success• Be a Watcher

To sum up…

SM

Be Bold and Believe

Merrilee ProffittSenior Program Officer, OCLC Research@merrileiam

©2016 OCLC. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Suggested attribution: “This work uses content from ‘Wikipedia and Libraries: Putting the L in GLAM,’ used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.”