User:Geraldshields11/sandbox/Wikipedia Summer Of Monuments 2014

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Application for Summer of Monuments

Personal information of Gerald J. Shields

Gerald Shields, inspired by Minerva, seeks gainful employment with the Summer of Monuments to improve Wikimedia; one photograph at a time.

Currently, I am the volunteer Wikimedia DC event promotion coordinator and have taken an active part in numerous Wiki events.

I am a member of several Wiki Projects, such as The Wikipedia Library, Women's History, Taxation, and Open Knowledge Foundation. I am involved with other open cultural projects, such as being a Distributed Proofreader in support of Project Gutenberg. I created the article the Smithsonian Gardens on w:EN:Wikipedia and received an autographed book signed by the executives at the Smithsonian Gardens for my efforts. For the Wikimania 2014 event, I volunteered to be the official still photographer and a member of the Programme Committee, with James Forrester, Deror Lin, and Orsolya Virág Gyenes. For the 2014 Wiki Conference USA, I volunteered to be the official still photographer.

I am a full time employee of the US Department of the Treasury. I am not afraid of using my real name to give credence to my edits and I stand behind my edits. I was interviewed by the New York Times for my work with Wikipedia on feminism and on North Korea.

I understand that the Wikimedia DC 2014 Summer of Monuments position is a significant time commitment but most of the work can be done with email or researching websites to contact historical societies. Also, I am willing to take annual leave from my regular job to travel and focus on this position.

Photography[edit]

I edited a photography textbook, The Art and Craft of Digital Photography by Professor Kristi Eisenberg. The photography book focused on several types of subjects, such as landscape, portrait, and design. Professor Eisenberg autographed her book with a special dedication to me.

I am Geraldshields11, volunteer Wikimedia DC event promotion coordinator, an EN Wikipedia editor since 2004, who has contributed photographs of notable monuments and notable people in Washington, DC, USA; Shenyang, China; and Dandong, China. Also, I have taken photographs of the waterfront of Sinuiju, North Korea on a quest to get a photograph of Ri Sol-ju.

I am a prolific but efficient user of Wikimedia Commons and my photographs are used across Wikis in different languages. One of my photographs is used across the same topic in 48 different languages. When I add a photograph to Wiki Commons, I added it with the realization that each photograph may only be seen by a small subset of people. But, if I can inspire at least one person into STEM or becoming a contributor, then "it is a far far better thing I do than ever before".

Some of my Wiki-inspired photographs have been used in the Business Insider magazine, US National Archives promotion material, London events, Wikimedia DC promotions on Twitter, Smithsonian Institute promotion material Secretary Presents E-book on Future of Museums near the end of the video, and events where “the Board wears nice clothing.” I worked at numerous GLAM projects as the photographer, as part of my volunteer duties at Wikimedia DC. See the small sample photographic works, below, and various links for explanation.

Gallery[edit]

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