Wikipedian In Residence
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A Wikipedian in residence or Wikimedian in residence (WiR) is a
Wikipedia Wikipedia is a free content, free Online content, online encyclopedia that is written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and the wiki software MediaWiki. Founded by Jimmy Wales and La ...
editor, a Wikipedian (or Wikimedian), who accepts a placement with an
institution An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shape and constrain social behavior. All definitions of institutions generally entail that there is a level of persistence and continuity. Laws, rules, social conventions and ...
, typically an art gallery,
library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...
,
archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials, in any medium, or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organ ...
,
museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...
,
cultural institution A cultural institution or cultural organization is an organization within a culture or subculture that works for the Preservation (library and archive), preservation or promotion of culture. The term is especially used of public and charitable org ...
,
learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...
, or
institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...
of
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
(such as a
university A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
) to facilitate Wikipedia entries related to that institution's mission, encourage and assist it to release material under open licenses, and to develop the relationship between the host institution and the Wikimedia community. A Wikipedian in residence generally helps to coordinate Wikipedia-related
outreach Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
events between the GLAM ("galleries, libraries, archives, and museums") and the general public such as editathons. Institutions that have hosted a Wikipedian in residence include large institutions like the
National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales (, ) in Aberystwyth is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million books and periodicals, and the l ...
, the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the
British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...
, the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
, the
Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...
,
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
,
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
,
City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
, the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...
, the National Library of Norway, and the Federal Archives of Switzerland and smaller venues like the Derby Museum and Art Gallery and The New Art Gallery Walsall in the UK; the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
in France; the Museu Picasso and the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya in Catalonia; and the Children's Museum of Indianapolis,
Consumer Reports Consumer Reports (CR), formerly Consumers Union (CU), is an American nonprofit consumer organization dedicated to independent product testing, investigative journalism, consumer-oriented research, public education, and consumer advocacy. Founded ...
, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, and the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
in the United States.


Role and duties

File:UNESCO Wikipedian in Residence Zeeuws Archief 23.jpeg, UNESCO Memory of the World WiR talking at the Zeeuws Archief File:Bibliotekspersonal på Stockholms stadsbiblioteket.jpg, WiR running a training course for librarians in
Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
File:WikiArabiaConf day01 egypt 2017 metwally (102).jpg, WiRs who are librarians in
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
File:Proyecto de digitalización de Wikimedia Argentina VII.jpg, WiR teaching digitization skills at the Archivo Histórico de la Provincia de Buenos Aires File:Jagseer S Sidhu teaching school students about Wikipedia.jpg, WiR teaching about various Wiki Projects to School students
The primary role of the Wikipedian in Residence (WiR) is often to serve as a liaison between the host institution and the Wikimedia community by assisting with events and training that support the missions of both organisations. Typical training duties include arranging and/or leading training events and editathons and providing explanations to other staff and members of the public about policies and practices, such as
policies Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an orga ...
about
conflict of interest A conflict of interest (COI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple wikt:interest#Noun, interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another. Typically, this relates t ...
. Editing activities may include making contributions to articles relevant to the institution's materials and mission, such as articles about significant cultural objects in an organization's collection, or articles in a specific field of knowledge. Another common form of collaboration involves digital collections. A WiR can provide training on digitization and help upload media (with any existing metadata) to
Wikimedia Commons Wikimedia Commons, or simply Commons, is a wiki-based Digital library, media repository of Open content, free-to-use images, sounds, videos and other media. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. Files from Wikimedia Commons can be used ...
. Wikimedia volunteers can then translate, extend, and reverify metadata, categorizing media and manually transcribing and structuring scanned documents on
Wikisource Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...
. The description and categorization functions on Wikimedia Commons are sometimes preferred to those of commercial websites and the institution's catalogue software. Media added to Commons are used in Wikipedia, both by the WiRs and by volunteer editors. A third form of collaboration involves datasets and APIs in their own right; for instance, the Wikimedia Foundation funded a Wikipedian in Residence at
OCLC OCLC, Inc. See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was founded in 1967 as the ...
to integrate the OCLC's WorldCat Search API into Wikipedia's citation autocompletion tools, making adding references faster for Wikipedia editors. WiRs have also helped integrate ORCID metadata and rights statement data. Some WiRs work for only a short period, as little as a few weeks, while others have permanent positions. In the case of short-term positions, it is important that the work to be done be well-planned in advance.


Compensation

While Wikipedia discourages direct paid compensation for article editing and prohibits undisclosed
advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...
, Wikipedians in residence are permitted to be compensated for work on-wiki – either by offering credit, stipend, or salary – through their sponsoring institutions they adhere to strict guidelines against engaging in
public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...
or
marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
for their institution.


Developing interest

In 2010, Australian Liam Wyatt became the first Wikipedian in residence when he volunteered at the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
for a period of five weeks. He noted the need for Wikipedia to strengthen partnerships with museums to create the most up-to-date and accurate information, saying "we are doing the same thing for the same reason, for the same people, in the same medium. Let's do it together." The Children's Museum of Indianapolis became involved with the program after Wikipedian Lori Phillips volunteered for a GLAM event in 2010, becoming the second Wikipedian in residence. The third, Benoît Evellin, spent six months at the
Palace of Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; ) is a former royal residence commissioned by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, Yvelines, Versailles, about west of Paris, in the Yvelines, Yvelines Department of Île-de-France, Île-de-France region in Franc ...
in Versailles, France. The Museu Picasso in
Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a pop ...
and the Derby Museum and Art Gallery in Derby, England were also early adopters of the idea. In 2010, the
Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums, Education center, education and Research institute, research centers, created by the Federal government of the United States, U.S. government "for the increase a ...
expressed interest in the idea, which led to the hiring of Sarah Stierch in July as Wikipedian in residence. The following year, the
National Archives and Records Administration The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also task ...
followed suit and hired Dominic McDevitt-Parks, a student from Simmons College, who was pursuing a
master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
in
history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...
and archives management, to work at its Archives II location in College Park, Maryland. McDevitt-Parks had been editing Wikipedia since 2004 and was hired for this position by David Ferriero. In July 2011 Wikimedia UK engaged Andy Mabbett, an editor since 2003, as an "outreach ambassador" in residence at the Bristol-based wildlife charity Wildscreen, working on the ARKive project. Since then Mabbett has been a Wikipedian in residence at other organisations such as the New Art Gallery Walsall and the
Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society and professional association in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemistry, chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the ...
. In January 2013, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library became the first presidential library to hire a Wikipedian in residence, when they hired Michael Barera, a master's student at the
University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...
. In September 2013, the National Archives and Records Administration became the first organisation to employ a permanent full-time Wikipedian in residence when it hired Dominic McDevitt-Parks to join its Office of Innovation in that capacity. In March 2014,
Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
posted a job listing seeking applicants to be their Wikipedian in residence at the Houghton Library. In October 2014, the
University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay, British Columbia, Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 1903 as Victoria College, British Columbia, Victoria Col ...
Libraries announced that in collaboration with the Electronic Textual Cultures Lab (ETCL) and the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences that Christian Vandendorpe had been named honorary resident Wikipedian in residence for the 2014/2015 academic year. Constance Crompton took on the role from 2014 to 2016, followed by Erin Glass from 2019 to 2020 and Silvia Gutiérrez De la Torre from 2020 to 2021. By 2016, more than 100 Wikipedians had taken part in the role, most of whom were paid by either the institution where they work or a Wikimedia-related organization, and others as volunteers. From July 2018 to June 2019 Mike Dickison was the first "Wikipedian at large", undertaking many short residencies at various institutions throughout the New Zealand, such as Wellington City Archives, the University of Canterbury, and Auckland Museum.


Reception

One such advertised post has been reported positively by others as being a "unique opportunity to help enrich Wikipedia and its sister projects and share with the world ... resources and knowledge." Conversely, journalist Andrew Orlowski criticized another advertised post as a waste of government funds. In 2013, a part-time temporary position was advertised by the
National Library of Scotland The National Library of Scotland (NLS; ; ) is one of Scotland's National Collections. It is one of the largest libraries in the United Kingdom. As well as a public programme of exhibitions, events, workshops, and tours, the National Library of ...
and was noted as being "the first large-scale partnership" between a Scottish institution and Wikimedia UK. This initiative was followed by the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, where a Wikimedian in residence was appointed in December 2015.


See also

* List of Wikipedia people


References


Selected bibliography

* * Gutiérrez De la Torre, S. E. (2021). Beyond the Wikipedian-in-Residence, or how to keep the flame burning. In L. M. Bridges, R. Pun, & R. A. Arteaga (Eds.), ''Wikipedia and Academic Libraries: A Global Project''. Michigan Publishing. https://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.11778416.ch12.en * Leva, F., & Chemello, M. (2018). The effectiveness of a Wikimedian in permanent residence: The BEIC case study. ''JLIS.It'', 9(3), 141–147
https://doi.org/10.4403/jlis.it-12481
* Stinson, A., & Evans, J. (2018). Bringing Wiki (p/m) edians into the Conversation at Libraries. In M. Proffitt (Ed.), ''Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge'' (pp. 31–54). ALA Editions.


External links


Wikipedian-in-residence information
from th
GLAM project
* * *
The British Museum and me
{{Wikipedia Archivists Museum occupations Library occupations Wikipedia