Page 51 – Wikimedia UK

Notes from the editathon at Conway Hall, London

This post was written by Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia UK’s GLAM Organiser

We’ve run a few editathons now and we know some of the things to expect, and some of the things that can go wrong.

Conway Hall on Thursday, 8 August was a bit of an experiment for us, our first evening editathon, and with at least half an eye on London commuters. It was also the first time I came to an editathon armed with a mobile WiFi hotspot or a universal laptop charger.

Our hosts supplied us with a lovely large room and had very good WiFi. Thus far how very like the Royal Opera House (minus the liveried footmen), though the decor was somewhat less sumptuous and here I was host, IT support and catering. I just had time to reorganise all the tables and chairs from boardroom to cafe style, with a table over each electricity point, before the rush started.

Conway Hall’s archivist had put out a collection of reference books, biographies and so forth, many looking venerable and probably long out of print. Of course that meant a no tea and coffee rule on any of the desks where the old books were being used. Luckily, the adjacent kitchen served as a break room.

As usual, we’d brought one more laptop than we had bookings for, but on this occasion we could have used more – I should perhaps have guessed that Conway Hall’s predominately elderly membership might include several people who’d popped in, curious to see what it was all about. I could have used four spare laptops.

This was far from the first time someone had forgotten their power cable, but it was the first time I could approach them with a handful of power adaptors saying “great, I’ve been hoping to try this out, lets see which head fits” and set them up with a universal power supply. We should have one as standard for this sort of event.

One awkward moment came when a newish editor who’d had some past experience with overhasty deletion taggers, started an article in a sandbox, and someone who couldn’t make it to the evening saw the redlink and helped out by adding a stub. A quick merge solved things, but I think we need to warn against sandboxes for similar events. But with six separate tables, each with two to five people, we managed far fewer edit conflicts by focusing on a different article per table, than in the days when the whole editathon focused on just one article.

About twenty people took part, ranging from newbies to very experienced editors, but this time included some in between.

Articles created included Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner and Harriet Law, so we made a bit of a contribution to addressing Wikipedia’s gendergap problem. One thing we realised is that a two hour session is more suitable for creating and improving stubs than for already complete articles.

Overall I think the event was a success, and I think we should run more such London evening events.

Particular thanks to our hosts including Sillypunk and Skeptic sid, and our trainers de jour including Philafrenzy, Edwardx and RHaworth.

Jonathan Cardy is Wikimedia UK’s GLAM organiser, organising Wiki events with Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. If you know of an archive that would contemplate a similar event then please drop him a line – jonathan.cardy@wikimedia.org.uk

A month as Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland

This post was written by Ally Crockford, Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland

My first introduction to Wikipedia was inspired by a job prospect. A contract as editor for an external wiki aimed at entrepreneurs called ‘Entrepedia.org’ was announced on the University of Edinburgh careers website. I was in the first year of an English Literature PhD programme at the University at that time, an international student (I’m originally from Canada) rather in need of rent money. I was also, at least as I considered myself, reasonably articulate and not a complete technological dunce, so I thought it was a good fit, and as I was offered the job it seems someone agreed. To learn more about the potential offered by a Wiki, I joined Wikipedia. I was not bold: I was most decidedly timid.

I only made a few minor edits, though I scrolled through article source code with great fascination. Once the contract ended and the demands of a full-time research and part-time teaching schedule took hold, my contributions stopped altogether, and my username was lost from both e-mail archives and memory. Five and a half years (and one PhD) later, I returned to Wikipedia, once again inspired by a job description, this time for the position of Wikimedian-in-Residence at the National Library of Scotland. I was alerted this time by an innocuous Facebook post, and as an Open Knowledge advocate and frequent presence in the NLS Reading Rooms I leapt at the opportunity, and I cannot believe how fortunate I was to be offered the job. I have been amazed to see some of the incredible changes and developments that have taken place in the Wikimedia world since last I looked behind the scenes. It is a more expansive and mature resource and community than I remember, though I feel that is more likely because of my own maturing interests and opinions. In any case I am so grateful to have been given that little push back into contributing.

Perhaps you were unaware the position of Wikimedian-in-Residence had been filled, let alone that the residency was already over a month old. You’re probably not alone, and for good reason; I’ve been keeping rather quiet for the first month, focusing on orientating myself within the Library, introducing myself to staff and attending induction meetings for as many of the different teams that would have me. It was, and is, important to me to clearly identify the ideas and concerns that each team had to offer. So, although I’ve been in the position for a month, I have waited to speak up officially until I knew which ideas were feasible, and how the curators and cataloguers whose knowledge I will be relying on felt about them.

While it’s still early days yet, some of the projects currently in the pipeline have me positively buzzing. Public outreach projects in the form of ‘The Wikimedian is IN’ drop-in info sessions for staff and Library readers are in development, as are monthly Wiki-and-Biccy meetups designed to provide a clearly defined time and space – liberally supported with tea and biscuits, of course – for newly trained contributors to connect, practice, and work on their contributions. An autumn edit-athon is in the works which would attempt to improve some rather impoverished articles on eminent Scots using NLS digital and print resources alike, while a very exciting flagship edit-a-thon (or edit-athons!?) focusing on Scottish Women in Science to be held in March 2014 – Women’s History Month – will mark the completion not only the Wikimedian-in-Residence programme here at the NLS, but also of a planned series of #WISWIKI events to be held across Edinburgh in 2013-2014. There are also tentative plans to organise a Backstage Pass event in late 2013 or early 2014.

This month I begin training different teams within the Library, turning ideas into exciting reality, and meeting concerns and questions with – hopefully – strong solutions. I encourage anyone, from anywhere, with any level of interest or experience, to get in touch with me if they have thoughts or ideas or questions themselves, or even if they just want to know more! You can reach me at either (wp:en:)User:ACrockford or a.crockford@nls.uk

Congratulations and thank you to the Wikimania 2013 team!

Wikimania 2013 took place last week in Hong Kong and by all accounts was a great success. Congratulations to everyone who played a part in bringing together a global community of Wikimedians for such a useful and important conference!

Ahead of the conference one of our volunteers, Rock drum, spent some time with a few of the staff of the chapter to make a short video to show at the conference. We think Rock drum did a marvellous job – take a look below and let us know what you think.

This time next year Wikimania will be hosted in London. Keep an eye on this blog, and our wiki, for more information.

Wiki Loves Monuments recruits distinguished judge

All good photography competitions need excellent judges to help select the winners. The volunteer team behind the UK’s participation in Wiki Loves Monuments is therefore delighted to announce that Steve Cole, Head of Photography at English Heritage, has agreed to join the national judging panel.

Who could be better suited to help select the winners of a photography competition related to historic listed buildings?

Steve has over forty years of experience of photographing historic buildings through working for the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) and English Heritage. He leads a team of photographers at English Heritage that record the buildings and archaeological landscapes of England for use in varied publications and for inclusion in the national archive.

Steve continues to maintain the classic standards of architectural photography as well as embracing new methods and new technologies for image capture. He teaches photography at the Departments of Continuing Education of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge.

Steve Cole said: “I am really looking forward to seeing the entries and I am sure it will be a difficult but greatly entertaining activity in judging them all.”

Michael Maggs, volunteer member of the Wiki Loves Monuments UK steering committee and a Wikimedia UK Trustee, said: “I’m thrilled that Steve has agreed to join the national jury. I doubt that there is anyone else in England with Steve’s understanding of architectural photography combined with a deep understanding of our national heritage.”

Wiki Loves Monuments takes place every year in September and is the world’s largest photography competition. This year, the UK is taking part for the first time. Photographers of all levels of experience are welcome to participate and you can find all of the details you need here.

Wikimedia Chapters to deliver Wikimedia Diversity Conference

The diversity of Wikipedia editors is a topic that is widely discussed, both within the global movement and in the wider world. It’s an important issue and there is a wide range of opinions about how to encourage under-represented groups to contribute to Wikimedia projects.

Each language Wikipedia has different approaches, as does each Wikimedia project but it’s essential we all learn from each other and make progress. To this end, it’s exciting to be able to let you know that there is a Wikimedia Diversity Conference taking place on 9th and 10th November 2013 in Berlin, Germany.

The conference is being led by Wikimedia Deutschland, supported by Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia Nederland, and will be attended by delegates from all over the world.

The conference will work to establish a sustainable dialogue with collaborators in Wikimedia Chapters, the Wikimedia Foundation and international Wikimedia communities to frame the issue of diversity in the context of Wikimedia. It will aim to build a shared understanding of what diversity means for Wikimedia projects and why it is of such importance. It’s not just about discussion – at its heart the conference is about turning ideas into action.

More details about the conference will be shared in due course, including opportunities for UK-based Wikimedians with a good understanding of diversity issues to apply for scholarships to attend. You can participate in community discussions related to the conference, including suggesting potential talks and presentations, here.

Revitalising Wikipedia coverage of women scientists

This post was written by Edward Hands, Wikimedia UK volunteer Wikipedia trainer.

Could “Reanimating Ice-cold Rats” and “Resuscitating Hamsters” inspire Wikipedia editors to revitalise our coverage of pioneering women scientists?

This was one of many questions asked at a recent editathon and Wikipedia training session that I attended. Organised jointly with the Medical Research Council and the Royal Society, the event at the National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR), Mill Hill, London had a full house (and a waiting list), 20 women and 3 men.

The event included a lunchtime talk and panel Q&A led by Professor Dame Athene Donald FRS, highlighting the many subtle and unconscious biases that make it harder for women to get to senior positions in science. Importantly, the Q&A drew attention to what we can all do to address these biases, such as encouraging more women to edit Wikipedia, and increasing our coverage of notable women in science.

The occasion was 25 July, Rosalind Franklin (of DNA fame)’s birthday, with cake cutting at 5pm (DNA spirals around the sides and her famous “photograph 51” on top) and NIMR goodie bags to reward attendees for their contributions.

All taking place against the backdrop of surely the best view from any London library. Expert support and access to a wide range of paper and online resources was provided by NIMR librarians Frank Norman and Patti Biggs, and Phoebe Harkins from the Wellcome Library.

New articles were started on the day for seven NIMR women: Brigid Balfour, Florence Durham, Mary Lobban, Marjorie Mussett, Delphine Parrott, Elizabeth Press and Audrey Smith.

And our first Did You Know (three more DYKs are in the review process) appeared on the Wikipedia home page on 1 August, garnering 1,770 page views:

“Did You Know that cryobiologist Audrey Smith’s scientific papers include “A Simple Method for Reanimating Ice-cold Rats and Mice” and “Resuscitation of Hamsters after Supercooling or Partial Crystallization?”

We could have mentioned how her accidental discovery of the first practical cryoprotectant molecule, glycerol, enabled the freezing of human red blood cells, but bringing small animals back from the dead is the better hook for a wider audience.

NIMR women biographies expanded most on the day included: Hilda Bruce, Rosalind Pitt-Rivers, Brigitte Askonas, Bridget Ogilvie, Rosa Beddington, Rosalind Franklin and Anne McLaren.

We’ve had excellent press coverage in The Guardian, Times Higher Education, Cambridge News, Athene Donald’s blog, as well as MRC and The Royal Society. Twitter activity (hashtag: #WISWIKI) and retweeting on the day itself helped too.

Our new editors will get credit for these DYKs on their talk pages, and can watch their articles grow, hopefully encouraging them to become regular contributors. They all agreed that they would do at least one edit a month, so we will be sure to give them a gentle nudge in early September.

EduWiki Conference 2013 – Call for proposals

This post was written by Dr Toni Sant, Education Organiser

Wikimedia UK’s second annual EduWiki conference will take place in Cardiff on 1 and 2 November 2013.

A recent white paper from TurnItIn, the online plagiarism-prevention service used widely across higher education in the UK, demonstrates in a very clear way the need for, and importance of, the conference.

TurnItIn claims that “Wikipedia has an outsized presence as a content source for student writing”. [1] The study is based on an analysis of over 112 million content matches from 28 million student papers submitted to TurnItIn between July 2011 and June 2012. 11% of these content matches are from Wikipedia. Interestingly, the same report is quick to explain that Wikipedia has academic merit in terms of educational value. The paper states that there is a need to “educate students that the true value of Wikipedia is to provide a curated summary on a topic, and that they should follow the sources and citations at the bottom of Wikipedia entries to verify the accuracy of the information and to uncover primary source material” [2].

The charity is now inviting proposals for papers, presentation, provocations and/or posters, especially ones addressing the issues highlighted by the TurnItIn white paper. Proposals for panels and round table discussions from groups of three or four participants are also welcome. Indicative topics include, but are not limited to:

* Wikipedia belongs in education, including Higher Education

* Wikipedia’s academic merit and educational value

* Examples of using Wikipedia in the high school, college or university classroom

* Ways to deter university students from plagiarizing Wikipedia

* Going beyond Wikipedia by engaging with any of the other major Wikimedia projects: Wikibooks, Wikispecies, Wikiquote, Wikinews, Wikisource, Wikiversity, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons, among others.

Please email your proposal (including an abstract of up to 200 words) to education@wikimedia.org.uk by Monday 26 August 2013. All proposals should also include a brief biography of around 50 words.

Dr Toni Sant, Wikimedia UK’s Education Organiser, said: “This is an excellent opportunity for anyone involved in using or considering Wikipedia and/or other Wikimedia projects within an academic context, as well as others involved in open education in general, to meet colleagues across the UK and beyond working on related projects. We’re hoping to receive many exciting proposals and look forward to programming as many submission as possible at the conference itself.”

Queries about the conference or any other aspect of Wikimedia UK’s Education activities can be sent directly to Toni by emailing toni.sant@wikimedia.org.uk

Further details available on the Wikimedia UK website here

Notes:
——
[1] TurnItIn White Paper. ‘The Sources in Student Writing – Higher Education’, p.10
[2] ibid. p.11

Sphingonet and Wikipedia

This post was written by Richard Nevell.

On 10 July, four trainers from Wikimedia UK travelled to Oxford to meet a group of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers. The idea of helping the group learn to edit was first floated in February this year by Luc Henry. As with many of the charity’s events, a lot of planning and preparation went on behind the scenes, and Luc put in a lot of effort and helped with follow up. Myself, Toni Sant, Daria Cybulska, and Brian Kelly delivered the training.

Sphingonet is a programme for early career researchers investigating sphingolipids, bringing together people from five different countries. The group’s funding is provided by the European Union’s Marie Curie Actions research fellowship programme. Part of Sphingonet’s work includes outreach activities, and few methods have potentially as much impact as editing Wikipedia. The new Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland was also there. It was an opportunity for her to see a training session in progress, see what worked and what didn’t, in preparation for her own activities. Hopefully we left a good impression! Brian had attended a recent editathon about Queen Victoria’s journals, and wanted to get more involved with introducing people to editing.

As this was a group of researchers, the main role of the trainers was to explain the technicalities of editing and helping people get to grips with the user, rather than how to identify a reliable source. There were challenges, such as teaching two streams, one with the visual editor and one using wikicode, but on that sunny day in Oxford with a friendly and eager group it was easy to overcome. Soon enough they were editing with ease, though question about the copyright on diagrams of chemical formulas tested the trainers’ knowledge to the limits!

Chatting with attendees on a one-to-one basis there was real enthusiasm for Wikipedia and its potential. It is second nature for people to turn to the website when quickly looking something up, and they felt it was important that such a high profile website should be high quality. Importantly, feedback suggests that people really wanted to keep editing. And with the researchers being multilingual, there’s always the chance they may edit Wikipedia in other languages. Only time will tell if they stick around, but hopefully that day in Oxford helped more people understand how Wikipedia is made, what goes into it, and what people can do to improve it.

Mike Peel resigns as a Trustee of Wikimedia UK

It is with regret that Wikimedia UK announces that Mike Peel has resigned as a trustee of the charity.

Mike’s contributions both to the charity and to the wider Wikimedia movement are widely admired and respected. He became a Wikimedian in 2005 and was instrumental in the formation of Wikimedia UK. He has served on the charity’s Board continuously since its inception in 2008 performing in the roles of Chair and Secretary at various times. His contributions are far too numerous to list here – in fact it would be easier to list those projects he hasn’t been involved in.

Mike Peel, former trustee of Wikimedia UK, said: “Wikimedia UK has come a long way over the past five years and I am very proud to have played my part in its development. Wikimedia UK has faced some serious challenges over the past year and I wish the Board the best in dealing with the challenges of the future.”

Chris Keating, Chair of Wikimedia UK, said: “Mike is one of the people without whom Wikimedia UK wouldn’t exist. His good sense, dedication and hard work have been immensely important to the Board, as has his profound belief in the Wikimedia movement’s vision and values. He has played a particularly pivotal role in the last few years as Secretary and he will be greatly missed.”

Jon Davies, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, said: “Mike’s belief in the mission of Wikimedia UK is breathtaking – he has done every job there is to do and completely deserves his break from the board – we look forward to continuing to work closely with him.”

Mike is looking forward to being able to put more of his energy into the Wikimedia Foundation’s Funds Dissemination Committee, and also returning to contributing to the Wikimedia projects. He will also remain active as a volunteer with Wikimedia UK on projects such as our Llwybrau Byw / Living Pathways project.

Twentieth century culture and Wikimedia UK

This post was written by Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia UK GLAM Organiser

A cafe covered in turkeys and a ballet that the critics hailed a turkey; two very different stories from near opposite ends of the twentieth century.

As one might expect of an Internet-based encyclopaedia that has only been around since 2001, Wikipedia has some large gaps when it comes to the culture of the pre-Internet age. We are working hard to address this, and one way is via collaborations with cultural institutions, using their archives and other resources. Another is to partner with like-minded organisations who are releasing content under open licenses.

The Royal Opera House very kindly hosted an editathon for us, providing all the classic ingredients for a great editathon: WiFi, plenty of tables, an archivist with collections of press clippings and other material, and the most opulent setting and poshest sandwiches we’ve yet had for such a do. A dozen assorted ballet buffs and Wikipedians set to and created several articles on ballets from the second half of the twentieth century. Including one we’ve started on a ballet where the dancers wore masks that restricted their vision as much as their “bloated costumes” did their movement, in a performance that the critics acknowledged was loved by the audience as much as it nauseated their more refined tastes. We can only commend the fairmindedness of the Royal Opera House in archiving such scathing reviews.

The Turkey Cafe is an Art Nouveau building in Leicester, somehow only listed as Grade II by English Heritage. We have just received a number of images of it and many other architectural gems from the Partage Plus project of Europeana and the Collections Trust. Discussions are ongoing and there could be thousands more images to come from that source.

Two very contrasting projects, both involving outreach to the cultural sector, and both reminding us that the twentieth century wasn’t just about minimalism and form following function. Especially when you want art that the public will love.