This post was written by Vinesh Patel, a junior doctor and an alumnus of Imperial College, London
A new adventure for Wikimedia UK began this summer with a project in collaboration with Imperial College School of Medicine.
In a recent BBC article, Wikimedia UK highlighted the need for everyone looking for medical information to remember Wikipedia is simply an online encyclopedia, and nothing more.
A ganglion is a type of benign fluid collection that can form from fluid around tendons on your hand and some people used to claim it could be cured with a well judged thump with a Bible. However, evidence doesn’t support this practice. An encyclopedia with a similarly hard book covering would be judged by most laypeople today to be about as useful in solving such medical problems, and they would probably just see their doctor about a lump on their hand.Yet there seems to be a great tangle when the same information is put in an online encyclopaedia.
It is this tangle that is being explored by 3 groups of medical students, as they seek to edit selected Wikipedia articles within the field of medicine. 10 of them from different year groups are collaborating with senior academics to edit academic field they find interesting.
The format is they select a B or C class article from Wikiproject medicine and look to develop it over several months. They collaborate over several months to edit an article offline and then transcribe their work on to a WP page, having given notice they are going to conduct the edit on Wikipedia. One individual puts their work online after they . They receive help and guidance from senior academics. After putting their edits on WP they work with editors around the world to improve the article through normal routes of discussion on the talk page. The project is running from
The primary aim is to allow the students to develop their academic skills, but it is also hoped that the question of how free information on the internet is used in medicine will be given some practical answers. In future the program may be expanded to allow students to collaborate with students in developing countries. In fact, many students said the most inspiring aspect of the project is the potential to spread free medical information to their less privileged colleagues around the world, harnessing the possibilities of the internet.
This guest blog post was written by David Carroll, Open Access Button Project Lead
Earlier this month, as I sat at the Wikimania Open Data Hack in the Barbican, silently whirring in the back of my mind was an impending anniversary. It had been one year since the first line of code of what would later become the Open Access Button was written. The surroundings themselves were not dissimilar, a year earlier we were a little way across the city of London at The BMJ’s hack weekend and it was there we found an incredible team of developers to make the Open Access Button Beta a reality.
The motivation for building the Open Access Button came just a few months earlier, when in March 2013, Joe McArthur and I learnt that people are systematically denied access to research every day. hen we learnt this, we wanted to do something about it. Over the following months, we worked every second of our spare time with an amazing team of volunteer developers and in November 2013 we launched the Open Access Button.
The Button is a browser bookmarklet that allows users to report when they hit a paywall and are denied access to research. Being denied access to research is often an invisible problem and through the Button we aim to make the problem visible, collect the individual experiences, and showcase the global magnitude of the problem. Continue reading “Building the Open Access Button”
During Wikimania 2014 last week, we were lucky enough to be able to screen our documentary about the GLAM-Wiki programme in the UK. The film brings together interviews with some of the Wikimedians in Residence from institutions across the country – and with Wikimedia UK staff. We want it to function as an outreach tool – as a way of teaching people about the GLAM programme, but also as a celebration of the work of so many volunteers and paid Wikimedians in Residence.
Over the coming weeks we will be sharing additional content from this project, written interviews and shorter videos which will also be published through Wikimedia UK’s channels. We will also be releasing some of the source footage on Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons license.
We are pleased to be able to share this video online, both on YouTube and Wikimedia Commons. We hope you enjoy it.
Wikimania 2014 happened, and it was brilliant. More than 200 sessions, and more than 4,000 attendees according to the figures from The Barbican. We had guests from more than 70 countries. And now we are tired. We’ll share more reflections on the conference, including facts and figures, once the dust has settled and everything is back to normal. Here’s a group photo, taken on Sunday afternoon. Thanks to everyone who took part, everyone who contributed, and most importantly, thank you to all of the volunteers who made it happen!
The south side of the National Library of Scotland
This post was written by Ally Crockford, Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland
In early June a slightly different kind of GLAM:Wiki workshop was held in Edinburgh. No new content was uploaded, no new user accounts were created, and no articles were edited throughout the entirety of a four hour event. Part symposium, part open forum, this event was focused instead on introducing GLAMs to the ins and outs of collaborating with Wikimedia in a more direct and dialogic approach. It is a type of event that I would encourage other Wikimedians in Residence, or Ambassadors, or Wikimedians in any capacity, to replicate. This is especially true if you happen to be located in an ‘outpost’ community within your local chapter, where awareness is not nearly as high. This was certainly the case in Scotland until relatively recently.
Having now been in position as Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland for a year, I have come to expect that a significant part of the job involves reaching out to other GLAM organisations, particularly in Scotland where outreach has been much less expansive, and introducing them to the prospect of a collaboration with Wikimedia, and what that might look like. It’s a conversation that I’ve had so frequently, I have been able to identify certain trends that emerge: general enthusiasm, certain anxiety, and ultimately, the almost unpredictable result of action or inaction on the part of the GLAM. Encouraging collaboration is one thing; making it happen is another, and unfortunately enthusiasm only translates into tangible collaboration a fraction of the time.
This workshop, then, aimed to capitalise on the enthusiasm to build towards more GLAM:Wiki collaborations in Scotland. The workshop was announced through mailing lists, social media, and established GLAM contacts, and generated a good deal of interest. Though most ScotWiki events tend to be on the smaller side, for this workshop the 11 participants (representing 9 different organisations, mostly from around Glasgow and Edinburgh) demonstrated a solid interest, and many more contacts expressed regret that they could not attend.
After the usual introduction to GLAM:Wiki collaborations – what it is, what it has achieved, what the various benefits have been and can be – the workshop spent some time outlining the existing GLAM:Wiki event arsenal. Attendees were introduced to what exactly an Edit-a-thon was, how it differed from a Backstage Pass or a Photographic Expedition, and what was involved in putting together each type of event. What was most important about this workshop, though, is that this was not at all the focus of the day.
Far more important were the open discussions and breakout groups that were held throughout the rest of the afternoon. Fuelled by tea, coffee, and (of course) ample biscuits, participants were challenged to answer questions as well: what was motivating them, not only with regards to their interest in Wikimedia but in their jobs, more generally? What were they trying to achieve, and where might Wikimedia fit within that goal? Knowing more about the type of events typically run in collaboration with Wikimedia, what potential concerns or barriers did they see arising from an attempt to run such an event? The discussion provoked by these questions centred largely on workload and concerns about support, both from Wikimedia UK and from within the organisation, but the dominant point of view seemed overwhelmingly to be that it was an avenue worth pursuing, and that getting the information to the right people was a shared central goal on both parts. But definitely the most valuable aspect of the workshop, from my perspective as the organiser, were the breakout groups and the discussion that followed them.
In smaller groups, the participants were asked to brainstorm ways that their organisation could collaborate with Wikimedia – not only through the usual methods, but in any way they could think of – to sketch out best- and worst-case scenarios, and to outline a plan to make sure that collaboration happened. In addition to incorporating Wikimedia events into existing exhibition plans or scheduled events, one participant proposed collaborating with Wikidata as part of an initiative to improve collections metadata internally. Another wondered whether it would be possible to use Wikimedia Commons as a place to record multimedia responses to exhibitions or events, capturing the cultural moment in a much more vivid and intimate medium than is usually offered by programmes, reviews, or exhibition catalogues.
This discussion only further underlined the importance of conceptualising GLAM:Wiki collaborations as a mutual partnership. In a job that often focuses on numbers and metrics – how many images uploaded, how many new users, how many articles improved, what was the measurable benefit for the organisation and what was the measurable benefit for Wikimedia – it can be easy to overlook the importance of developing relationships with GLAM organisations that go beyond an exchange of content for increased web traffic. Wikimedia opens up a whole new prospect for GLAMs not only in terms of dissemination of their content, but in its generation and its conservation. It can provide a whole new cultural context not previously available. Likewise, GLAMs can offer Wikimedia new insight into the types of information that it can (and should?) make available, part of a continuous re-imagining of what we mean when we talk about ‘the sum of all human knowledge’.
The RGS-IBG hosted the workshop to help break down the common misconceptions held by researchers and tutors about Wikipedia and to share ideas for using it as a teaching and research tool. Used as a springboard for further investigation, students (and researchers!) can be encouraged to explore new and interesting avenues of research while developing their digital literacy, online research and critical thinking skills, especially their ability to distinguish reliable sources of information. We all use Wikipedia in some way – this was an opportunity to think more about how and why.
On the flipside, academics are often accused of being out of touch and not practising enough public engagement. By engaging with Wikipedia, geographers can help to improve the quality of geographical knowledge on the web, and build awareness of geography’s contributions to the world.
The workshop helped to alleviate some of the common barriers – “I don’t know how”, “I’m overwhelmed by the size of it” and “I’m not enough of an expert” – by walking the group through the steps for becoming an editor and encouraging them to contribute to something they were interested in.
That’s the beautiful simplicity of Wikipedia – there’s something for everyone, somewhere.
Use watchlists and project pages to keep up to date with your interests
You can watch pages (via your watchlist) to keep track of and react to what’s happening with pages you have created or are interested in. You can join WikiProjects to work with a team of contributors working on a specific topic area of task, and help to highlight areas where contributor input is needed – geographers can get started with the geographical or geosciences projects.
Find articles that could benefit from your expertise, but don’t practice self-promotion
Researchers are uniquely placed to help add citations and information around their thematic research areas — just remember the etiquette and rules around neutrality and verifiability (reliable, published sources – no citing of original research).
Engage with Wikimedia UK – there’s training, advice and support available Wikimania 2014 is a great starting point for finding out what’s new in the world of all things wiki, and includes a dedicated pre-event for educators and those interested in working with Wikipedia on their campus. There’s also a great booklet with case studies on how universities are using Wikipedia in their teaching.
Don’t get overwhelmed and don’t get isolated
Wikipedia is a collective effort – share the workload. You aren’t personally responsible for the world’s knowledge, and you need to work alongside other editors for Wikipedia to achieve its goals. Try not to be anonymous – if people know who you are and what you’re interested in, you’ll fit into the community more quickly.
Recently the Speaker of the House of Commons established a commission to investigate the opportunities digital technology can bring for parliamentary democracy in the UK. This consultation is a public exercise which attempts to explore various themes relating to digital democracy.
Wikimedia UK and Demos, working with Wikimedians, have been exploring whether the norms and values of the Wikimedia community can be applied to this kind of consultation, especially the consensus-based approach to writing and enacting Wikipedia policy.
The experiment has been going well and led to a community-sourced submission to the first theme which was looking at how technology can facilitate better scrutiny of the work of Parliament. You can view this submission here. The talk page is also worth a look as the discussion offered some really useful insights into how the content was reached.
However, we need your help. The second theme of the consultation has now been published and it is about digital representation. We would love for as many people to take part in this exercise as possible. The Commission was really appreciative of the efforts of the community first time around and it would be great to come up with another excellent community-driven submission. You can view the questions that are being asked, and participate in creating the submission, here. You don’t need to be in the UK, or a Wikimedian, to contribute.
A third theme will follow in the next couple of months and a similar approach will be taken then. Finally, once the Commission closes for submissions, Demos and Wikimedia UK will write up a comprehensive report on the process and what we have learned which we will, of course, make available to the community.
Carl Miller from the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos will be speaking on this topic at Wikimania at The Barbican, London, next week. If you haven’t booked your tickets yet, you can do so here.
Thank you for any and all help, it is very much appreciated.
I frequent museums regularly and have learnt what can and can’t make a museum work; they have done a good job at the tank museum. The museum was well organised and laid out. Most of the exhibits were well labelled and easy to find, this was made even easier by the small platoon of volunteer/guides (almost exclusively retired men with a tanky glint in their eye!), who helped me locate a few exhibits I couldn’t find. The size and scale of the place is not to be underestimated, those tanks are big beasts and there are a lot of them!
The main challenge with taking photos is indeed the spacing between the exhibits, which means one inevitably gets other exhibits and signage in the shot. I didn’t have too many problems with the lighting, but it was a nice sunny day, which was useful when it streamed through the warehouse skylights. I did have to keep switching between using natural and artificial light for the photos. I am only an amateur photographer, with no formal training, which may have actually helped. It is my opinion that you can only take a photo of what is in front of you, in the conditions available. I don’t see any of my pictures making it to ‘photo of the month‘, but I feel it is possible to document most of the tank museum exhibits with some degree of success if you aren’t too fussy about the odd wheel or turret either side of your subject.
Notable exceptions include some of their cornerstone exhibits, which the museum has rewarded with a diorama or special setting. These include Little Willie, which is on a revolving pedestal surrounded by perspex (I’m not making it up!); their Mark I tank, which is splattered with mud as part of a WWI trench diorama; and other key WWI exhibits. I will try to detail this on the Wikimedia page as I go through my photos.
Also worth mentioning is that the museum was very much a live museum, there are several large warehouses and workshops, one of which has a public viewing gallery. While these setting aren’t ideal for shooting exhibits, I saw several tanks being shunted around or driven about as they reorganised and I feel a more local Wiki-photographer might be able to take advantage of this. I didn’t make any effort to meet any curator or management. Maybe an initial chat with them, with the right tone might yield some good photos of exhibits that are being moved and maintained (the machine and mechanics that maintain them are as impressive as the exhibits themselves).
Thanks again to Wikimedia UK and the Tank Museum for the opportunity, I’m looking forward to finishing the processing and uploading of to my photos and improving the content of the Wikimedia projects.
Images from the National Library of Scotland’s (NLS) historic collections have been added to one of the world’s most popular websites where they can be seen and shared by people everywhere.
It is the first stage in a partnership between the Library and Wikimedia Commons (WikiCommons), the online repository of free-to-use images, sounds and other media files. It is part of the Library’s commitment to widen access to material in its collections and advance knowledge and understanding about Scotland around the world.
It follows agreement on a new digital content licencing policy at NLS, based on the principle of making information openly available where there are no legal, contractual, privacy or related restrictions.
Last year the Library appointed Scotland’s first Wikimedian-in-Residence, Ally Crockford, who has been working with NLS staff and the public to add content to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia and its sister projects.
She said WikiCommons offered NLS exciting opportunities to reach out to a new audience. ‘People will be able to find this material and will be encouraged to share it. Hopefully they will then come back to the Library’s website to see what more is there. This is the beginning of a process that will see much more of the Library’s collections made available worldwide.’
The residency and the uploading of NLS digital content are part of the on-going collaboration between the NLS and Wikimedia UK.
This post was written by Jon Davies, Wikimedia UK Chief Executive
Our office white board now says only nine working days to go to Wikimania. In reality it will be a few more as weekends seem to be as busy as Monday to Friday now.
I’d like to share a few thoughts with our community.
Firstly the next fortnight will disappear in a blur. The big jobs have been done, we have a venue, speakers, food and wifi so there will be a conference and it will be the best Wikimania ever.
Secondly the devil will be in the detail and I am surrounded by people tying down the last bits and pieces, chasing printers, correcting mistakes and making last minute decisions. So be patient if we are slow in replying to anything. We have to make judgements and sorting out someone’s visa application on a call to the British Embassy in Delhi can cause havoc with our otherwise smooth timetables.
Thirdly thanks to the volunteers who are making all this possible. Looking round I can see six people bringing Wikimania to life designing the programme booklet, editing videos, writing a ‘who’s who’ database for the conference, setting up the AV for the venue and a lot of other things I am not even aware of that will contribute to a smooth experience.
