Wikipedia:GLAM/MGS/12 month summary and reflections

Museums Galleries Scotland Wikimedian in Residence 12 month Summary & Reflections report

Background

A Wikimedian in Residence is a Wikimedia editor based with an organisation or group of organisations, usually a GLAM (Gallery, Library, Archive or Museum) with the aim of increasing the quality and volume of content on the encyclopedia and associated Wikiprojects concerning the organisation(s) collection.

Wikimedia UK had been working with MGS for several years discussing a potential project, and finally in 2014 set the project up, after MGS had applied to Wikimedia UK to partner on this activity. The process was successful and Wikimedia UK was happy to partner with MGS to deliver a year long residency. The overarching idea for the project was to use the MGS network to reach many institutions and help them engage with open knowledge. It was felt that the project would be more successful it if started with a secondment in a particular institution, so that the resident could first engage with an organisation on the ground level, and apply that learning to other museums in the network. The result of this was the four month secondment to Glasgow Museums. The resident, Sara Thomas was embedded with the Kelvin Hall team at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum for 2.5 days per week during the period 26 January 2015 - 30 May 2015. The Summary & Reflections report for this element of the residency can be found here.

Following the secondment, the resident moved to work from the Edinburgh office of MGS, again for 2.5 days per week, making contact with those organisations who had shown interest in the residency during the secondment, and then using MGS' network to identify other organisations who would be interested in pursuing open knowledge work. Throughout the residency there was a great deal of advocacy work carried out, and attention paid to increasing the sphere of influence and connection.

An attempt to find funding for a 12 month, full-time extension was unsuccessful. The residency has however been extended until 2nd June, and will focus on work with the Recognised Collections of National Significance to Scotland.

Aims and objectives of residency

As a networked residency, working across the Scottish museums sector, this residency was quite different from most others. Primarily, there was a greater focus upon advocacy and attitudinal/culture change than content development. This is reflected in how the impact and success of the residency has been evaluated.

Outcomes

WMUK outcomes relevant to this Residency as set out in the WiR Agreement:

G1: Develop Open Knowledge
G2a: Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers
G3: Reduce barriers to accessing open knowledge
G5: Develop, support & engage with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities

These outcomes are mapped to more specific outcomes in the below table.

WMUK	Museums Galleries Scotland
G1: Develop Open Knowledge	G1.1 help Scottish museums increase the quality of the existing open knowledge surrounding their collections. G1.2 assist museums to make more open knowledge available through various channels and projects, G1.3 work specifically with the Recognised Collections to make more open knowledge and images available through Wikipedia and their own websites licence free.
G2a: Develop, involve & engage WMUK volunteers	G2a.1 encourage and assist museum curators to become competent WMUK volunteers. G2a.2 assist museum curators to help share their expert collections knowledge with other WMUK volunteers. G2a.3 Work with other Scottish voluntary organisations to involve them where relevant in open data projects taking place in Scottish museums and galleries.
G3: Reduce barriers to accessing open knowledge	G3.1 we will improve awareness of the benefits of open knowledge through education within the Scottish museum sector. G3.2 we will actively work with a range of partners including the Scottish Government to help inform, develop and deliver a strategic action plan for responsible use of open data in Scottish museums.
G5: Develop, support and engage with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge Communities	G5.1 participate and encourage membership to the Scottish DigitaI Transformation Network. G5.2 encourage partnership projects between Scottish museums to release their metadata licence free through API or other sources.

Positive influencing factors for success in the residency

Picture taken at a training session in Edinburgh in 2015

Glasgow Museums Photography Backstage Pass, Kelvin Hall

Access to established MGS network
Line management & other colleagues at MGS supportive of aims of the residency
Appetite for digital work within the sector

Negative influencing factors against success in the residency

Lack of/need for digital skills in the sector
Fear surrounding open licensing: loss of revenue and loss of control
Most organisations not open-ready

Outputs

A total of 12 editathons & 16 training sessions were held, and the resident spoke at 23 presentations/conferences, as well as making other informal contacts, reaching at least 79 cultural organisations, 20 universities & 5 other organisations, totalling 698 recorded contact points. These numbers do not include the four meetups of which the resident was part.

Training formed a huge part of the first 12 months, with 232 individuals trained, including 184 new users. 67 new articles were created, and 103 improved. 238 images were uploaded over 4 events.

The most significant delivery was in G3, Reduce barriers to accessing open knowledge, with a number of opportunities being taken to advocate for open knowledge in a museums and cultural context. Success in this area is indicated by the number of engagements and events which came about as follow-up events, following initial contact with the resident.

Developing links with other open knowledge communities has also been important, as well as the development of the Wiki Community in Scotland. It has been particularly gratifying to have been able to support the development of work being done at the University of Edinburgh, which has culminated in their hiring a resident of their own, starting January 2016.

Statistics

Events & training

12 Editathons

Event Name	Date	Location	Attendees	New Users	Gender breakdown
Modern Scottish Women Editathon	23 January 2016	Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art	9	7	78% female
Mary Barbour Editathon	9 January 2016	Rookie Oven @ Fairfield, Glasgow	11	5	55% female
UWS & Paisley Museum Editathon	3 December 2015	University of the West of Scotland, Paisley Campus	8	8	63% female
Ada Lovelace Day Editathon	Tuesday 13 October	University of Edinburgh	16	5	93.57% female
Glasgow Museums Photography Backstage Pass	Friday 25 September	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvin Hall, Riverside Museum	8	6	43 % female
Women on the Roll of Honour	Friday 18 September	Glasgow School of Art	10	9	80% female
Braemar Castle Editathon	Friday 11 September	Braemar	2	1	100% female
Women on the Platform Editathon	29 May 2015	Fountainbridge Library, Edinburgh	6	4	83% female
Scottish Fairground culture Editathon	7 May 2015	Riverside Museum	8	5	75% female
Dundee Art+Feminism 2015 edit-a-thon	6 March 2015	Hannah Maclure Centre, University of Abertay, 40 Bell Street, Dundee	12	8	85% female
Connect @ Edinburgh Napier University 'Writing Women Back into History' Editathon	4 March 2015	Napier University	20	16	100% female
Women, Science and Scottish History: University of Edinburgh Innovative Learning Week editathon series	16-20 Feb 2015 (Resident attended 16 & 17 Feb)	University of Edinburgh	46 for the week	See NLS report for detail	85-90% female

16 Training events

Event Name	Date	Location	Attendees	New Users	Gender breakdown
Digital Transformation Network - Introduction to Wikipedia	2 December 2015	Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow	9	6	66% female
NTS:Introduction to Wikipedia	23 November 2015	Citadel Leisure Centre, Ayr	8	8	75% female
Heritage Horizons Trainees day	11 November 2015	Museums Galleries Scotland	12	8	66.6% female
Universitas 21 conference training	29 October 2015	University of Edinburgh	18	14	38.8% female
Tayside Museums Forum: Wikipedia Training	20 October 2015	University of Dundee, Tower Building	8	7	87.5% female
Wiki in the classroom, training for students	Wednesday 30 September	University of Edinburgh	5	4	75% female
Introduction to Wikipedia	3 September 2015	Stirling Smith Museum and Art Gallery	4	4	50% female
Wiki training for staff	2 September 2015	University of Edinburgh	6	4	33% female
Introduction to Wikipedia editing - Glasgow Archaeological Society & JogScotland	Tuesday 4 August	Riverside Museum	2	2	100% female
Introduction to Wikipedia	30 July 2015 (rescheduled from 1 July)	Museums Galleries Scotland	5	5	100% female
Introduction to Wikipedia	9 July 2015	Museums Galleries Scotland	7	7	100% female
Wiki editing for curators	30 May	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	1	1	100% female
Wiki editing for curators	14 May	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	1	1	100% male
Wikipedia training for curators	5 May	Riverside Museum	7	7	not recorded
Wikipedia training for curators	23 April	Riverside Museum	3	3	not recorded
Glasgow Museums Wiki Working Group Curator Training	24 Feb 2015	Riverside Museum	9	9	not recorded

23 presentations & conferences

Event Name	Date	Location / Organiser	Attendees (approx)	Title	Slides
Presentation to Science & Collections Staff @ Science Club	17 December 2015	Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh	30	Working with Wiki	n/a
Presentation to the Digital Transformation Network	2 December 2015	Kelvingrove Museum / MGS Digital Transformation Network	5	Opening Scotland's Collections: Summary & Reflections	Presentation given to Museums Galleries Scotland's Digital Transformation Network on 2 December 2015, reflecting on the work so far of the Wikimedian in Residence.
Argyll & Bute Museums & Heritage Forum AGM	Wednesday 14 October 2015	Museums Galleries Scotland, Argyll & Bute Museums & Heritage Forum	30	Presentation to the AGM about the Wikimedian in Residence project	n/a
Fife Museums Forum Meeting	23 September 2015	Kirkcaldy Galleries, Museums Galleries Scotland	15	Introduction to the Wikimedian in Residence	n/a
Tayside Museums Forum Meeting	16 September 2015	Montrose Air Station, Museums Galleries Scotland	15	Introduction to the Wikimedian in Residence	n/a
SÉMINAIRE INTERNATIONAL PCI ET NUMÉRIQUE : TRANSMISSION, PARTICIPATION, ENJEUX	8 & 9 September 2015	Vitré, France / Centre Français du Patrimonie Culturel Immatériel	50	From First Footing to Faeries: An inventory of Scotland's living culture	n/a
Maximising our potential: engaging audiences through open knowledge	Friday 4 September	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum / Sara Thomas and Museums Galleries Scotland	13	n/a	n/a
Presentation to Museums Galleries Scotland staff	9 June 2015	Museums Galleries Scotland	20	Four Months at the Museums	as below
Presentation to the Museums Management team	8 June	Glasgow Life offices	10	Four months at the Museums	as below
#OpenDataGLA #5	2 June 2015	University of Glasgow	15	Four Months at the Museums	Four months at the museums
Be Good Be Social	28 May 2015	Institute of Fundraising Scotland, Be Good Be Social	45	Open Knowledge, Open Arms: why charities should embrace Wikipedia	no
Presentation to IT & Marketing staff	20 May	Glasgow Life offices	18	Introduction to Wikipedia
Co-presentation with Kelly Forbes at eCult Dialogue Day, part of EMYA 2015	13 May	Mitchell Library, European Museum of the Year Award	50	Fostering open knowledge in Scotland’s museums	No
Wiki Working Group #3	28 May	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	9
Presentation to the Insight Cafe	22 April	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, John Ferry	20	Wikimedia and Glasgow Museums	Wikimedia and Glasgow Museums
Presentation at "Archiving Community Storytelling: Challenges & Opportunities" conference	13 March	University of the West of Scotland, Chair in Event & Digital Cultures Professor David McGillivray, & Jennifer Jones	35	Reducing barriers to accessing (& producing) open knowledge	No
Presentation to the Insight Cafe	22 April	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	10
Wiki Working Group #2	8 April	Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	5
Friday briefing to St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art staff	3 April	St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art	8
Friday briefing to Scotland Street School Museum staff	20 March	Scotland Street School Museum	7
Presentation to Learning & Access Curators	19 March	Glasgow Museums Resource Centre	10
Friday briefing to Riverside Museum staff	6 March 2015	Riverside Museum	23
Presentation to the Curatorial Forum	3 Feb 2015	Kelvingrove Museum	17

Meetups & social events

Event Name	Date	Location	Attendees	Gender breakdown
Edinburgh Scot-Wiki meetup 9	Wednesday 30 September	Platform 5, Haymarket, Edinburgh	5	60% female
Glasgow Wikimeet #6	Thursday 18 June 2015	Drum & Monkey, St Vincent Street	3	33% female
Scotwiki Meetup #8	22 April 2015	Platform 5, Haymarket	7	43% female
Glasgow Wikimeet #5	1 Feb 2015	CCA Saramago Cafe, Glasgow	7	43% female

Organisations reached

Mary Barbour Editathon group

Editathon in progress

Museum staff learning to edit Wikipedia

Detail of Stained Glass window depicting William Herschel, Coats Observatory, Paisley

Eighteenth century graffiti in the Dining Room, Braemar Castle

Kelvingrove art gallery Organ

GLAMs & associated organisations - direct contact, training, events, content upload

Organisation	Type of contact	County
Braemar Castle	Training & content upload	Aberdeenshire
Burrell Collection	Contact during Glasgow Museums secondment	Glasgow
Culzean Castle	Training to staff representatives	South Ayrshire
Dundee Heritage Trust (RRS Discovery, Discovery Point, Verdant Works)	Training to staff representative	Dundee
Glasgow Museums Resource Centre	Presentation to curators	Glasgow
Glasgow School of Art	Editathon	Glasgow
Historic Environment Scotland	Training to staff representative	Edinburgh
HM Frigate Unicorn	Training to staff representatives	Dundee
Kelvin Hall	Embedded with staff; training; editathon; photography backstage pass	Glasgow
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum	Training to staff; photography backstage pass	Glasgow
Museum of Abernethy	Training to staff representative	Perthshire and Kinross
National Galleries of Scotland	Training to staff representatives	Edinburgh
National Museums Scotland	Training to staff representatives	Edinburgh
National Trust for Scotland	Training to staff representatives	Edinburgh
Paisley Museum and Art Gallery	Editathon, content upload	Renfrewshire
Perth Museum and Art Gallery	Training to staff representatives	Perthshire and Kinross
Riverside Museum	Training to staff representatives, photography backstage pass, editathon	Glasgow
Robert Burns Birthplace Museum	Training to staff representatives	South Ayrshire
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh	Presentation to science club	Edinburgh
Scotland Street School Museum	Presentation to staff members	Glasgow
Scottish Fisheries Museum	Training to staff representative	Fife
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art	Editathon	Edinburgh
St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art	Presentation to staff members	Glasgow
Stirling Smith Museum and Art Gallery	Training to staff members	Stirling
The McManus	Training to staff representative	Dundee
University of Dundee Museum Services	Training to staff representatives	Dundee

GLAMs reached but where level of contact is below training - e.g presentation, follow up discussions, but no further action taken.

Organisation	Notes
Orkney Museum	Not able to take work further due to lack of time left in resident's contract
Talbot Rice Gallery	Attended Working with Wiki
Campbeltown Museum	Emails exchanged, attended Argyll & Bute forum presentation
Fife Folk Museum	Emails exchanged following Fife forum presentation
West Kilbride Museum	Copyright advice given
Hunterian Museum	Contract is through conference presentations only
Surgeon's Hall	Emails exchanged & discussions held
Museum of the University of St Andrews	Discussions held - turned into training session for Museums Studies students
Glasgow Women's Library	resources borrowed for Mary Barbour event, another event in planning stages

Universities - conferences & training

Institution	Type of contact
Birmingham University	Universitas21 conference workshop
Lunds universitet	Training to staff representative
Napier University	Editathon
National University of Singapore	Universitas21 conference workshop
Nottingham university	Universitas21 conference workshop
St Andrews University	Training to Museum Studies students & postgraduate group
Universitas 21	Universitas21 conference workshop
Universiteit van Amsterdam	Universitas21 conference workshop
University College Dublin	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of Auckland	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of British Columbia	Universitas21 conference
University of Dundee (Through Museum Services)	Training to staff representatives
University of Edinburgh	Editathons, general contact & assistance
University of Glasgow	Universitas21 conference workshop, other conference
University of Malta	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of Maryland	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of Melbourne	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of the Arts London	Universitas21 conference workshop
University of the West of Scotland	Conference presentation, editathon
UNSW Australia	Universitas21 conference workshop

Museum Forums

The resident presented at meetings of the following museums forums:

Tayside Museums Forum - 10 organisations: Aberfeldy Museum Group, Angus Council Museums, Dunkeld Community Archive, Glenesk Folk Museum, HM Frigate Unicorn, Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre, Museum of Abernethy, Perth and Kinross Council , SSE Corporate Archive - Pitlochry, University of Dundee Museum Services.
Fife Museums Forum - 11 organisations: British Golf Museum, Carnegie Birthplace Museum, Crail Museum, Cupar Heritage Trust, Fife Contemporary Art and Craft, Fife Cultural Trust, Fife Folk Museum, Museum Collections Unit - University of St Andrews, Museum of Communication, Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Andrews Preservation Trust Museum.
Argyll & Bute Museums & Heritage Forum - 21 organisations: Ardchattan Parish Archive, Argyll Archives, Campbeltown Museum, Castle House Museum - Dunoon, Clan MacAlister Charitable Trust, Dunollie, Helensburgh Heritage Trust, Historic Kilmun, Inveraray Archives, Killean & Kilchenzie Churchyard Preservation Association, Kilmartin Museum / Campbeltown Museum, LAHS, Lismore Heritage Centre, Lochgilphead Phoenix Project, Luing History Group, Mull Museum, Oban War & Peace Museum, Ross of Mull Heritage Centre, Slate Islands Heritage Trust, Strachur Smiddy, Oban War & Peace Museum.

Other

The DRB Scottish Women's History Group
Glasgow Archaeological Society
Jog Scotland
Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Edinburgh
Edinburgh Codebase

Presentation summarising Glasgow Museums portion of the residency

Example of training session held early in the residency

Summary report presented to Glasgow Museums' Insight Cafe

Example of general presentation given at Glasgow Museums

Presentation designed to be given at academic institutions, relating to Wikipedia & OER.

Presentation designed to be given at academic or cultural institutions, relating to Wikipedia/open culture and GLAMs

Opening Scotland's Collections

Content Creation

Event	Date	Articles Created	Articles Improved	Images Uploaded
University of Edinburgh Innovative Learning Week Editathons	16 February 2015	16	18
Napier Connect Editathon “Writing Women Back Into History” editathon	4 March 2015	3	9
Dundee Art and Feminism editathon	6 March 2015	12	3
Scottish Fairground Culture Editathon	7 May 2015	1	2
Women on the Platform Editathon	29 May 2015	3	1
Braemar Castle Editathon	11 September 2015			36 commons:category:Images from Braemar Castle
Women on the Roll of Honour	18 September 2015	13	12
Glasgow Museums Photography Backstage Pass	25 September 2015			175 commons:category:Glasgow Museums GLAMWiki
Ada Lovelace Day Editathon	13 October 2015	6	5
Tayside Museums Forum: Wikipedia Training	20 October		7
Universitas 21 Conference Workshop	29 October 2015		22
Heritage Horizons Training day	11 November 2015		5
NTS:Introduction to Wikipedia	23 November 2015	1	10
UWS & Paisley Museum Editathon	3 December 2015	5	5	22 commons:Category:Images from Paisley Museum
Mary Barbour Editathon	9 January 2016	1	2	5 Commons:Category:Mary Barbour
Modern Scottish Women Editathon	23 January 2016	6	2

Major achievements

184 new users were trained. 67 new articles were created, 103 improved, & 238 images uploaded.

The residency managed to reach a high number of museums, with a good geographical spread, as well as some good advocacy work through conferences & presentations. Although content creation was not a major aim for the project, we still managed to get an impressive number of articles in particular added to the encyclopedia.

Setting up the Wiki Working Group at Glasgow Museums - GM are in a key stage of development with the impending opening of Kelvin Hall in 2016, where they will be partnering with other organisations, some of whom (National Library of Scotland) are far more experienced with open knowledge. Although the WWG is unlikely to last long-term, it was a key factor in advocating internally for the benefits of open knowledge in a museums context.

Some of the most rewarding parts of the residency have come from working with small museums. Wiki projects offer a way for small museums to punch above their weight in a manner which is otherwise simply unavailable to them - images taken at Braemar Castle are now seen by more people per month on Wikipedia pages than visit the castle during opening months.

There is a particular satisfaction in seeing the development of partnership work between cultural organisations and educational institutions. The UWS & Paisley Museum editathon is a good example of this, and it's a model which can be replicated and scaled.

Biographies of women missing from Wikipedia, and attacking the gender gap, have been a particular focus of the project. I am delighted that so many new female editors have been introduced to Wikipedia, and that so many women's biographies have been added.

Supporting the University of Edinburgh in their work over the past year, which has led to the appointment of a Wikimedian in Residence of their own.

Perhaps the most significant achievement of the residency is difficult to quantify: I've been able to change attitudes toward open knowledge and open culture, and have been able to do that whilst working across an entire sector. With any luck, the impact of this will be a gift that keeps on giving...

Engagement

With MGS projects

The resident provided Wiki training for individuals taking part in the Heritage Horizons traineeship programme, a scheme run by Museums Galleries Scotland to allow non-graduates to attain a qualification in Museums & Galleries Practice.

Incredibly engaging, really understood her audience. I’ve both taken the training and found it so enjoyable that I then asked Sara to give the training to those taking part in a traineeship programme. Her can-do attitude made it really easy to negotiate with different speakers and plan a day that suited everyone.
— Ailsa Macfarlane - Heritage Horizons Traineeship – Programme Manager

The resident provided Wiki training for MGS staff, in order that they could better advocate for training with their own contacts. She was also involved in the work of the Digital Transformation Network.

Sara's contribution to my work has been tremendous in terms of my own learning and in my areas of work and responsibility. As a colleague, Sara contributed and supported me in my area of work. She gave a presentation on the work she has been doing with the museums at the Digital Transformation Network event that I organised jointly with the Scottish Network on Digital Cultural Resources Evaluation Conference in 2015 in Glasgow. Feedback from participants has been positive. Personally, the whole learning experience around Wikimedian has been wonderful. I attended the Wikimedian training session that Sara organised at MGS and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It was interactive, creative and very inspiring. I learnt how to create my own Wikimedia site, writing and editing content, sourcing and adding images. I am not very quick with technology tools but Sara made it so easy and it was fun. It is great working with Sara. She is pleasant and knows her stuff!
— Loretta Mordi - Collections and Engagement Manager

The resident presented to a number of museum forums: groups of museums who meet on a regular basis for peer support & learning.

Sara’s visits have inspired a number of museums forums to engage with Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects, both to embrace open knowledge as a means of promoting their collections, and among many voluntary-run organisations, to more generally give digital another chance. Sara has run approachable, fun, and informative workshops that have helped museums staff and volunteers to build their confidence and to develop skills that they are using to help visitors worldwide to explore Scotland’s amazing collections.
— Devon McHugh - Relationships & Partnerships Development Manager

With open knowledge community

The resident engaged with the open knowledge community in Scotland through attendance (& presentation at) various events, including #OpenDataEDB, #OpenDataGLA, & #OEPSforum.

As an open educational advocate and practitioner with a strong interest in the cultural heritage sector I was very encouraged to learn that Museums Galleries Scotland intended to appoint a Wikimedian in Residence, particularly as one of my current areas of interest is exploring how we can support the innovative use of digital cultural heritage collections in open education.
Throughout the project I have been hugely impressed by Sara’s willingness to engage with colleagues from across the education sector and I believe that the project has had a significant impact on raising awareness of the benefits of using both Wikimedia and MGS collections within education. In my role as EDINA Digital Education Manager and OER Liaison at the University of Edinburgh I have personally benefitted from numerous meetings with Sara at both formal and informal events, including the hugely successful Ada Lovelace Day Editathon which she facilitated, the Open Educational Practices in Scotland Forum, and the Crowd-sourcing, Co-creation and Co-curation in the Cultural Sector Workshop.
Sara has been supportive of the international OER16 Conference, which I am co-chairing at the University of Edinburgh in April, and I am delighted that she will be presenting a paper on her reflections and experiences as MGS Wikimedian in Residence. The theme of OER16 is Open Culture and one strand of the conference focuses on innovative approaches to opening up cultural heritage collections for education, so Sara’s paper will be of considerable interest and relevance to our delegates. To conclude, I believe the MGS Wikimedian in Residence project has had a significant impact on the sector and has done much to bring open advocates together from both education and cultural heritage institutions.
— Lorna M. Campbell, EDINA Digital Education Manager, University of Edinburgh.

With museum sector in Scotland

Report detailing the findings of the impact questionnaire for organisations involved in the Jan 2015 - Jan 2016 Museums Galleries Scotland Wikimedian in Residence project

A questionnaire to assess the impact of contact with the resident was sent to 26 individuals, representing 14 organisations with whom the resident had had significant contact. 7 responses were received, including 3 Recognised Collections of National Significance to Scotland and 1 university.

Key findings include:

That contact with the residency improved confidence and understanding around open knowledge.
Contact provided inspiration to continue work in open knowledge.
Barriers to continuing work centre around funding and resources, as well as organisational buy in. This correlates with the resident's reflections on the sector as a whole that making museums open-ready requires skills, infrastructure, and positive attitudes.

The findings of the questionnaire show that generally the project was received well, having a positive effect on the organisation, and increasing both confidence and understanding of open knowledge and its context, as well as the benefits for both the organisation and the wider sector.

Almost all organisations were keen to recommend the project, and would be interested in doing similar work in the future.

Encouragingly, the project has inspired one organisation to think about a Residency of their own, and assisted in the establishment of another, as well as influencing most organisations to continue with this work. Barriers to pursuing further work focus on time constraints, funding and income generation, and organisational buy in.

The full report is available on WikiCommons.

Training feedback

Feedback gathered by the resident at training sessions showed that they were well received and improved both understanding of Wikipedia and confidence to edit in the future. A small number of concerns were raised with regard to conflict of interest policies (where museums would like to edit their own institution's page), and occasionally of the training sessions not being long enough. This feedback was taken on board and later sessions amended to address these concerns.

Responses and recommendations

The last twelve months have proven to be a challenging and unique residency for Sara, in that she has not been based in a single museum or gallery like most other Wikimedians in Residence partnerships. Despite the broad remit of the project Sara has accomplished all the objectives with the exception of objectives that have included a dependency on an external partner.
Sara has achieved a significant amount in her time with Glasgow Museums and Museums Galleries Scotland. She has helped influence attitudes and policies towards open knowledge in the many different museums she has worked with and has provided advice to organisations seeking guidance on licensing. Licensing issues has been a frequent area of difficulty to the project as museums have needed a great deal of education about the Creative Commons licenses and intellectual property relating to digital reproductions of public domain art. Whilst Sara hasn’t had the ability to change an entire organisation’s attitude towards licensing she has often changed the attitude of her contact, creating an advocate for open knowledge who can continue to push for change.
The edit-a-thons and behind the scenes photography events have proven particularly successful in helping to add to and improve Scottish museum content on Wikipedia.
— Kelly Forbes, Digital Engagement and Communications Manager

Reflections & Recommendations for WMUK

Unlike a single-organisation residency, many of the organisations with which I worked over the last 12 months were far from open-ready. Much of the work I've done has centred on advocacy and changing attitudes; however culture change is a long process. Where content creation is seen as a key KPI of this change, it is unsuitable for this kind of residency and I would urge that any plans for further residencies of this kind take this into account. It is my hope that the evaluation questionnaire designed by myself and MGS staff, with particular mention of the in-house statistician, will provide a model for future projects. It has been used in the evaluation of the last 12 months, and is also being used for the project extension.

Whilst most residencies are for short periods, I would suggest that any future residency of this kind be planned at the start to be much longer, two or three years would be ideal in order to push this kind of culture change forward.

As a non-Wikimedian before this project, the learning curve was steep and I would have benefited from additional technical training early in the residency. The current induction process would benefit from a more formal buddying or mentor system.

Reflections & Recommendations for MGS

There is clearly a huge appetite for the development of digital skills in the sector, and open knowledge offers a clear way for organisations to achieve outreach goals, especially in a contemporary context of reduced and threatened funding. Analysis of the work done over the past year and of the state of the sector clearly indicates that there are three key factors which influence an organisation's ability to embrace a culture of open: attitudes, infrastructure and skills. Of these, attitude is key. If attitudes can be changed to be open to open, the other two will follow.

We did experience throughout the course of the last 12 months repeated resistance to the idea of image donation in particular, which revealed a general lack of development in the sector in the realm of digital licensing policy. Since the introduction of the amendments to the PSI Directive in 2015 we are starting to see these attitudes change, but there is still a generalised concern over both loss of control and loss of revenue, even when items have passed into the public domain. Further work will need to be done in the sector for museums to embrace diversification of income generation - and to take advantage of income generation enabled by digital culture - if the fears surrounding loss of income are to be assuaged.

The support I have received from MGS has been outstanding, and I am greatly saddened that our application for external funding to continue the residency past 2 June 2016 was unsuccessful. I am delighted that we are able to continue the project for a few months, not least because it allows me to work with just some of the organisations who have shown interest as momentum around the residency has gathered. The plans we have for the project extension, however, represent only a very small portion of what could be achieved with further funding.

It is my hope that the work that I have done will have a long tail of impact, and that some of those whom I have trained will go on to be open ambassadors in their current and future roles.