Wikipedia:Wikipedia Loves Libraries

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Lenox copy of the Gutenberg Bible in the New York Public Library

Wikipedia Editathon at the British Library, January 2011.

Wikipedia Loves Libraries is a wiki-coordinated program of distributed micro-conferences (editathons) to be held at libraries and archives in cities across North America around October 2011.

It is modeled on this past summer's Great American Wiknic (multiple wiki-meetups on a single day), the broader WikiProject GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) collaboration effort, and the June 2011 Editathon at the British Library, where Wikipedians gathered at the library, and were given access to library resources in order to expand Wikipedia articles about miscellaneous topics.

The advantages of the Wikipedia Loves Libraries model:

• Easy to organize, even at small public libraries
• Welcoming to everyone, Wikipedians, Librarians, and all library patrons
• It's "the living reference section"
• Also, it's fun!

Potential participants

Libraries

• Public libraries
• School libraries
• Research libraries
• (Etc.)

Groups + organizations

• Library associations
• Friends of libraries
• Local historical societies
• Civic groups
• (Etc.)

Individuals

Individual participants might include, for instance, Wikipedians and/or non-Wikipedians, working offline and/or online.

Types of events

Events can be organized by Wikipedians, or by librarians or any interested members of the public. Possible program activities for the day:

• Wikipedia:Meetup of local Wikipedians and friends;

• Wikipedia:Academy-like editing workshop, with experienced editors helping newbies (library professionals and patrons), teaching them 1) what Wikipedia is; 2) the basics of editing and 3) teaching them how their community can collaborate with the Wikimedia Foundation projects (primarily Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons);

• Editathon of Wikipedia articles on local history and community using library resources (possible help provided by local historical societies, and by Wikiprojects such as WikiProject United States and WikiProject Canada);

• Librarian-Wikipedian panel discussions and Q&A, with a discussion on issues such as copyright, Wikipedia's reliability, and how Wikipedia can help publicizing library collections and make them more visible to online communities;

• Train-the-trainers: Library staff expand their skills as front-line trainers of new Wikipedians. Strengthen the participatory media skills of library staff, who are then better equipped to respond to patrons' Wikipedia-related queries.

• (Etc.)

In short, Wikipedia Loves Libraries can be a great easy-in to building the relationship between Wikipedia and this part of the cultural world it shares so much with, and lead to greater Wikilove/Librarylove in your region!

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Loves_Libraries&action=edit&section=5

How to get involved

Advice for everyone

Check the list below to see if there is already an event in your area. If not, go ahead and add one! Another good place to check is at WP:MEETUP to see if there have been other wiki-meetups in your area in the past. If so, you could post there and ask if anyone is interested in a Library meetup in October.

Advice for librarians

The best advice here is, "Plan it, and they will come." If you schedule a wiki event at your library and list it here, chances are excellent that experienced Wikipedians will notice it and signup, and then you can coordinate with them about panels and Q&A sessions. Libraries should ideally have some computers available for accessing Wikipedia, or wi-fi access so that participants can bring their own computers. Libraries may also wish to compile a short list of special resources that they have available which could assist researchers. For example: Are there National Historic landmarks in your area, that could use more information in their Wikipedia articles? Your library might have a wealth of books or other research materials which Wikipedians could use to expand those articles. There are many topics where research at a bona fide library would probably be more useful than just doing online web searches for sources. For example: Local history of towns, biographies of notable individuals in your area, histories of schools, local geographical features, or any other topic you can think of!

Questions? Let's talk about it!

If you have questions, please click on the "Discussion" tab at the top of this page, and ask whatever you want. You should get an answer back within hours, or even minutes!

Date

2011

• Around October 2011, in sympathy with Wikipedians' moral support of Open Access Week.

(One possible option is the weekend of Oct 29/30 to exactly match Open Access Week, but any date is good.)

2012

WLL may recur in 2012. Date TBD.

Canadian cities and libraries

With grassroots organizing help from local Wikipedia:Meetup groups and Wikimedia Canada...

• Grande Bibliothèque-Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec, Montreal

Proposer: User:Zalgo

U.S. cities and libraries

With grassroots organizing help from local Wikipedia:Meetup groups and the Wikimedians Active in Local Regions of the United States (WALRUS) committee...

Entry format:

* Library and city, link to meetup or discussion page
** Proposer:
** Date of local event:

Northeast

• New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, NYC
  • Proposer: Pharos (talk)
  • Date of local event: October 22
  • Project page: Wikipedia:The Musical (focus on musical theatre content)

• Albert Wisner Public Library in Warwick, New York
  • Proposer: BusterD (talk)
  • Date of local event:

• -Pittsburgh: see Wikipedia talk:Meetup/Pittsburgh#WP:Wikipedia Loves Libraries
  • -_{Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me} 02:44, 9 September 2011 (UTC)
  • Date of local event: still in early planning

• Monroeville Library in Monroeville, Pennsylvania (Greater Pittsburgh area)
  • Proposer: Jeepday (talk))
  • Discussion Wikipedia:Meetup/Monroeville
  • Date of local event: Likely October 18 or 19

Midwest

• Under discussion on the Wikipedia:Meetup/Minnesota local meetup page.
  • Proposer: Jonathunder (talk)
  • Organizer: McGhiever (talk)
  • Date of local event: Saturday, 22 October (time TBD), Central Library of the St. Paul Public Library
• Chicago will likely have WLL event at the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library.
  • Proposer: TonyTheTiger (T/C/BIO/WP:CHICAGO/WP:FOUR)
  • Date of local event:

• St. Louis, Missouri
  • Proposer: Elonka
  • Date of local event: October 15th, 10:30 a.m., Kathryn Linnemann Library.[1]
  • To help the library with an accurate count, please pre-register at the library's website, here
  • More details at Wikipedia:Meetup/St. Louis

South

• Athens Regional Library System, Athens, Georgia - details TBD
  • Proposer: LadyofShalott
  • Date of local event:

• National Archives at College Park, Maryland: Wikipedia:Meetup/NARA 2
  • Organizer: Dominic
  • Date: October 8, 2011, beginning 11 AM

• Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library (DCPL), Washington, D.C. - Wikipedia:Meetup/DC 25
  • Proposer: Kumioko (talk) and User:Aude
  • Date of local event: November 5, 2011

• Charlotte, North Carolina:Public Library of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Main Branch (probably in the Carolina Room on the third floor)
  • Proposer: Eric Cable  |  Talk  15:04, 5 October 2011 (UTC)
  • Date of local event:October 15, 2011 11:00am

• Northview High School
• -

West

• Berkeley Public Library, Berkeley, CA - Wikipedia:Meetup/Berkeley
  • Proposer: Ijon (talk)
  • Date of local event: September 17

• Wikipedia Loves Libraries! at Norlin, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO
  • Proposer: User:Gaurav
  • Date of local event: October 27

• Cedar-Clinton Branch part of Fresno County Public Library, Fresno, CA
  • Proposer: Kingduran (talk)
  • Date of local event:

• Denver Public Library, Denver, CO
  • Proposer: Ensa (talk)
  • Date of local event:

• Inglewood Public Library, Inglewood, California
  • Proposer: Jsmog (talk)
  • Date of local event: tentative Oct 24, see Wikipedia:Meetup/LA/5

• Wikipedia:Meetup/seattleWLL, Seattle, WA
  • Proposer: Blue Rasberry (talk)
  • Date of local event: TBD - see meetup page

• Embudo Valley Library, Dixon, New Mexico
  • Einar (hint: "Ei" is a long A, as in "eight") Being a librarian and a wikipedian might come in handy. First task could well be writing an article about the library.
  • I have scheduled an "Introduction to editing wikipedia" event, date: Monday, Oct. 17, Event page at Embudo Valley Library website

• Olympia Timberland Library, Olympia, Washington
  • epersonae and Oakwright
  • Still in the discussion phase with library staff, best way to get involved is Twitter, where we are @epersonae and @oakwright respectively.

See also

• Wikimedia outreach. FAQ For Librarians

Examples of past events

• British Library Edit-a-thons, January 14-15, 2011 and June 4, 2011
• Children's Museum of Indianapolis Edit-a-Thon, August 20, 2011

Further reading

• Keller, Jared (June 16, 2011). "How Wikipedians-in-Residence Are Opening Up Cultural Institutions – Members of the Digital Encyclopedia's Cult of Knowledge Are Finding Their Way into Some of America's Most Celebrated Institutions". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
• Pousson, Eli (July 13, 2011)."Baltimore's Young Preservationist Happy Hour Meets Wikipedia". Baltimore Heritage. Retrieved October 5, 2011.