Wikipedia:Meetup/Ocean City, MD/Wiki Loves Small Museums

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Wiki Loves Small Museums Workshop Description[edit]

Contributing to a Digital Presence on Wikipedia:
Wiki Loves Small Museums Edit-a-thon
Session: 12.00-4.00 p.m. Sunday, February 15, 2015

Speaker: Abram Fox, Laurel Historical Society, Laurel, MD

Workshop Coordinator: Mary Mark Ockerbloom, Wikipedian in Residence, Chemical Heritage Foundation, Philadelphia, PA

Learn how your institution can engage with the public through Wikipedia, and contribute images to Wikipedia directly during an on-site edit-a-thon. Hosting a Wikipedia edit-a-thon or encouraging the contributions of content experts in your community are valuable ways to build partnerships and enhance your online presence. Abram Fox will provide an overview of how to organize a Wikipedia editing event at your institution. Mary Mark Ockerbloom will lead a "Wiki Loves Small Museums" workshop where you can see first-hand how to contribute to public knowledge. 1) Take a photograph (or several) of your institution 2) Bring it to our SMA workshop 3) Expert Wikipedians will help you to release images you bring to the event, and edit Wikipedia articles.

About the Small Museum Association[edit]

The annual Small Museum Association (SMA) Conference attracts more than 250 museum professionals, board members, and volunteers from a wide variety of small museums. This year's theme is Museums in Harmony: exploring the ways in which museum staff, boards, volunteers, and communities can work together to meet the challenges of economic, educational, and social conditions.

Conference : February 15 - 17, 2015
Where: Clarion Resort Fontainebleau Hotel,
10100 Coastal Highway
Ocean City, MD
Conference Information:
https://sma25.wildapricot.org/

Information handouts[edit]

Example uploads[edit]

Here is the Upload Wizard.

Be sure to use the category "Wiki Loves Small Museums 2015" for all image uploads!

Previous conference attendees[edit]

Previous attendees have been associated with the institutions mentioned below. Feel free to improve or add to their Wikipedia pages.

Workshop Planning[edit]

Wikipedia events often focus on uploading photos. I have approached the SMA about organizing a Wikipedia event at the conference, to encourage people from the Small Museums Association to provide pictures of their institutions and artifacts, under a free license which will allow them to be re-used not only in Wikipedia but everywhere by everyone. By going to where the institutions are, at this conference, we can make contact with many more organizations than we could approach individually.

My intention in working with the Small Museum Association is to overcome barriers to involvement in Wikipedia by bringing together a group of Wikipedians with scanners, computers, and knowledge to help people from small museums upload photos of their institutions and artifacts, and correct out-of-date information in existing articles.

I envision :

  • An attendee at the SMA conference will walk up to a table and present a print photograph or a digital image.
  • Wikipedia volunteers will review the copyright status of the image with the attendee.
  • The attendee will sign a permission form identifying the source and copyright status of the image and authorizing its use.
  • Wikipedia volunteers will scan the photo (if not already digital) and the permission form.
  • Wikipedia volunteers will upload the digital image to Wikimedia Commons, and email the scanned permissions form to OTRS.
  • Wikipedia editors could then display the image on existing pages.
  • Wikipedia editors could also do other work on relevant pages as interest and time permit, and explain what they are doing to attendees.

We will need:

  • Experienced Wikipedians to bring scanners, computers and memory sticks to SMA
  • Space at the conference, with plug-ins, tables, and minimal security
  • Network connectivity at the conference
  • Advance access to the SMA mailing list to inform SMA in advance about the proposed activity and the copyright issues involved
  • SMA members who are enthusiastic about submitting materials
  • If you can commit to coming to Ocean City, MD, let me know.

I have created a list of previous attendees so that we can see who does and doesn't have Wikipedia pages. (With luck this may inspire people to create them.) I have prepared permissions forms that will be acceptable to Wikimedia Commons, in advance, and discussed procedures for submitting permissions with the OTRS.

Information for Volunteers[edit]

Volunteers do not need to have all of the skills mentioned above. You do need to have some of the skills mentioned above. By working together, we can make this event happen.

Workshop Registration[edit]

Please indicate whether you can attend to help staff this event, and list the skills and equipment that you can provide.

  • Knowledge of copyright law YES; scanner YES; computer YES; flash stick YES; experience in uploading to Wikimedia Commons YES; experience with OTRS YES; experience in editing Wikipedia YES.
  • Knowledge of copyright law - basic; scanner (Epson Expression 10000XL) YES; computer YES, flash stick YES; experience in editing Wikipedia YES.
  • Knowledge of copyright law YES; scanner NO; computer YES; flash stick YES; experience in uploading to Wikimedia Commons YES; experience with OTRS a small bit; experience in editing Wikipedia YES. (Attended remotely due to weather.)
  • Tracy Jentzsch (University of Delaware) from UDel, attendees at SMA, will bring 2 scanners and 2 laptops (unable to attend; sent equipment with Stephanie Lampkin)
  • Stephanie Lampkin, University of Delaware
  • Abram Fox, speaker at SMA
  • John Mark Ockerbloom
  • Blaire Gagnon, speaker at SMA
  • Dorothy Howard, Wikipedian in Residence, New York OR drohowa (talk) 04:27, 17 January 2015 (UTC)[reply]
  • Slowking4
  • Knowledge of copyright law YES; scanner NO; computer YES; flash stick YES; experience in uploading to Wikimedia Commons YES; experience with OTRS NO; experience in editing Wikipedia YES.
  • jweaver28
  • laptop, flash stick, experience editing wikipedia and uploading to wikimedia

Conference Registration[edit]

Volunteers who are coming to SMA to help with this workshop are NOT required to register for the conference. You are, of course, welcome to do so if you wish to enjoy other sessions and events: the conference registration page is here.

Volunteer Support[edit]

Ocean City, MD is pretty far away from everything else, so some volunteers may need to stay in the area before or after the event. If you are attending the conference on behalf of your institution, as I am, you may be able to get funding from your institution to cover costs of travel, food, and lodging. For editors who do not have other sources of funding for this event, I have submitted a grant proposal to Wikimedia Foundation (D.C.) to apply for funding to help with such expenses, which has been approved. RECEIPTS WILL BE REQUIRED.

Edit-a-thon Outcomes[edit]

Attendance[edit]

  • People registered for the conference (228 registrants)
  • People registered for the session (30)
  • People who attended the talk (22)
  • People who remained for the workshop (6-8 attendees, not counting volunteers)
  • Volunteers at the workshop (9)
  • Volunteers working remotely (2)

Images released[edit]

See Commmons Category: 72 images, 5 event photos, 4 documents related to the event

Event Photos[edit]

See also: Sixty Four Wordpress Blog: Wiki Loves Small Museums

New or novice user accounts[edit]

New articles[edit]

Drafts given feedback[edit]

  • American Treasure Tour

Articles expanded or improved[edit]

Photographs added to articles[edit]