Wikimedian in Residence for the National Library of Scotland | 7/31/2014
RECOMMENDATIONS
Recommendations for Wikimedia UK
In terms of an on-going ScotWiki community, I would highly recommend increasing an official presence in Scotland, either through the establishment of more Wikimedians in Residence, or by appointing ambassadors who can continue outreach and act as a point of contact for organisations, groups, or individuals interested in contributing or running events. One of the less tangible but, I feel, most significant outcomes of the residency has been the increased profile of GLAMWiki collaborations and Wikimedia's mission as a whole in Scotland, and I would put this down to a consistent presence and a local contact for interested parties. It would be a shame to lose this momentum once the WiR is no longer in post, and previous experiences with a ScotWiki community suggest that without a larger and more official presence, the initiative struggles.
In terms of the Wikimedian in Residence programme and GLAMWiki collaborations, my recommendations would include:
- Clearer documentation and instructions for the process of releasing content to Commons, ideally drawn from existing residencies and their experiences (i.e. clarification regarding batch upload processes available and their risks & benefits, materials for the creation of templates for uploaded materials, etc)
- That the organising Wikimedia chapter make an effort to visit outpost residencies or ambassadors during their tenure, as well as arranging for visits to headquarters; events like the December WMUK Board meeting and social and individual visits from WMUK staff I think were an excellent way of ensuring that the residency was given greater legitimacy in the eyes of the Wikimedia community, as well as fostering a greater connection between chapter and WiRs and offering a better opportunity for reflection and feedback on the project on both sides
- The establishment of a flexible programme of goals and objectives during the planning stage of any residency, or else a willingness to re-evaluate the expectations of a WiRship (from both the host's perspective and the chapter's) both before and during the term of residence. This flexibility was instrumental in the course of this residency, as it was demonstrated early on that some of the initial aims - particularly the training of staff and staff's eventual involvement - were not feasible projects to focus on. Similarly, the nature of the programme itself necessitates the ability to respond to the situation in which the resident finds themselves, in terms of their host organisation, their own personal experience, the local community and the Wikimedia community.
Other recommendations follow those outlined by previous Wikimedians in Residence, specifically pertaining to the tracking of metrics once content has been uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. However, measuring the success of the programme itself has often been noted as difficult due to the subjective nature of the work involved and the lack of hard metrics in most cases. Most crucially, for working with GLAM organisations, I would recommend increasing the visibility of tools available for the measurement of Wikimedia/Wikipedia content, and would certainly strongly recommend the development of tools with more extensive functionality and with a wider remit than Wikimedia projects alone. To be able to track the impact of content that has been used outside of Wikipedia articles but has come from Wikimedia Commons would be incredibly valuable for providing encouraging statistics to GLAMs who have collaborated or are working to make a case for collaboration.
