Between August and the end of December 2017, the resident is in place for 2 days per week. This will increase to three days per week as of January 2018. During September the resident was working on another major project in another role and worked 1 day per week, with additional days made up in October / November.
These first three months were characterised primarily by introducing myself to the sector, agreeing partners for phase one of the project / getting training days in place, and general advocacy through speaking opportunities. Experience gained at my last residency at Museums Galleries Scotland indicated that a "quick win" event at the beginning of the residency would serve the residency well in being able to evidence the usefulness of working with Wiki to immediate stakeholders, as well as providing a case study for short to medium term advocacy work whilst phase one progressed. My other current role is as Project Officer for Dig It! 2017, working on Scotland in Six, a signature event for Visit Scotland's Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology, and its partner piece Scotland in Six: Hidden Gems. The latter sought to identify and celebrate Scotland's six favourite lesser known History, Heritage and Archaeology sites. Using this campaign as a springboard, and as the strategic aims of both projects were aligned, I organised a co-produced editathon, which served as a finishing point for SiS:HG, and a starting point for SLIC's residency.
The Steering Group was formed and met for the first time, and provides an excellent basis for progress for the residency.
The co-produced Scotland's Hidden Gems Editathon was held on Heritage Awareness Day (Friday 6 October) to celebrate the end of Scotland in Six: Hidden Gems (Dig It! 2017) and the beginning of the SLIC residency. Partners from four public library services were engaged, as well as one remote participant, and representatives from the SLIC Residency Steering Group, and a the University of Edinburgh. A small number of new articles were created and improved, with one article to date sadly still being held in AfC, nearly 60 days since submission. Although small, the event was very useful in terms of raising the profile and awareness of underrepresented Scottish content on the encyclopedia, and in starting conversations with key library partners.
An induction day with Inverclyde Library Service (our project partner for the residency) was held on Friday 25 August, on site at Inverclyde Library Service. This was invaluable in terms of understanding more about the structure of the Library service, as well as opportunities and restrictions in place, which has helped to inform the design of training materials.
I took part in #WikiLovesMonuments, encouraged sharing of social media content on my own and SLIC's accounts.
I undertook initial discussions with partner libraries about obtaining openly licensed images of libraries themselves, however ran into difficulty concerning ownership of images & OTRS permissions. This has been put on hold for the moment due to time restrictions.
Support the development of open knowledge in the UK, by increasing the understanding and recognition of the value of open knowledge and advocating for the change at an organisational, sectoral and public policy level
SLIC facilitates a sector-wide "Digital Champions" group, which meets on a regular basis throughout the year. (I spoke at a previous meeting of this group during my residency at Museums Galleries Scotland, and which led to this residency being set up.) This group brings together representatives from all local authority library services across Scotland and provided a good opportunity to introduce the residency, as well as appeal for phase 1 partners.
The CILIPS Autumn Gathering took place on Thursday 26 October, at which I was given an opportunity to speak to introduce the residency, and more generally advocate for open knowledge in a library context.
The Steering group for the residency was formed and met for the first time on Friday 13 October.
Since the beginning of my residency at Museums Galleries Scotland I have maintained good relationships with various staff members at the Universities of Glasgow and Edinburgh, assisting at editathons and speaking at conferences as and when requested. I believe this to have been beneficial to both the progress of my own residencies and also to the open knowledge movement in Scotland more generally. I have also in the past had contact with groups at the Universities of St Andrews and Dundee. In line with this I offered to assist with the planning & delivery of the LitLong editathon at the University of Edinburgh, and attended the (re)launch of the Information Studies Subject area at the University of Glasgow.
Slides used at the Scottish Library and Information Council's Digital Champions meeting on 6 September 2017. Presented by Sara Thomas
Librarians editing Wikipedia at the Hidden Gems Editathon, Edinburgh, October 6 2017
