Wikipedia:GLAM/MGS/8th Month Report

Wiki Training for Staff, University of Edinburgh
4 new user accounts were created at Wiki training for staff on 2 September:
 * mylesblaney
 * Mjennings1983
 * snicol2
 * ChrisH2015

One of these users, ChrisH2015, is a member of teaching staff at the University of Edinburgh and is using Wikipedia in the classroom. Both the resident and ACrockford are assisting the Student Engagement officer in a range of activities surrounding Wikipedia and open knowledge usage in the classroom.

Staff training, Stirling Smith Museum & Art Gallery
4 new user accounts were created on 3 September during staff training at Stirling Smith Museum and Art Gallery:
 * SunnyTrekker
 * HairyScotsman1954
 * StirlingBoudrons
 * Johnvgre

One of these users is the museum manager and is very keen to do more work with Wiki. She also attended the Working With Wiki event on 4 September.

Braemar Castle
1 new user account was created on 11 September at Braemar Castle. This event was planned to be an editathon, however due to unfortunate and unforseen circumstances it could not go ahead as planned. Instead, I assisted the castle manager in photographing a section of their collection, and uploading to WikiCommons.


 * Mcmeekinbraemar

The Commons category Images from Braemar Castle was created, and currently contains 36 images of various items, including shield bosses, a bronze age sword, a selection of Delft tiles and some eighteenth century graffiti.

Glasgow School of Art Archives
9 new user accounts were created at the rescheduled editathon at Glasgow School of Art archives on Friday 18 September:


 * JocelynGrant
 * Karen fh
 * Inverleith8
 * CBowles
 * Lesleyyoung
 * Lanarkshirelad
 * Bec1793
 * Aquamarine102
 * Frankfrink33

13 new articles were created, and 12 existing articles were improved:

Articles created
 * Saul Yaffie
 * Alexander Proudfoot
 * Eugene Bourdon (architect)
 * Oscar Paterson
 * Charles Hepburn Scott
 * Thomas Canfield Pomphrey
 * A. E. Haswell Miller
 * Tom Gentleman
 * Eleanor Allen Moore
 * Tina Gray
 * Allan D. Mainds
 * Alex J. Musgrove
 * Robert Rattray Tatlock

Articles improved
 * Jean-Louis Pascal
 * Christine Borland
 * West Calder
 * David Shrigley
 * Cleghorn, South Lanarkshire
 * Ciara Phillips
 * Cathy Wilkes
 * Musée de l'Orangerie
 * W. S. Graham
 * Jackie Leven
 * Eric Taylor (musician)
 * Tom Leonard (poet)

Unfortunately, due to a misunderstanding regarding source material, two articles created at the event were marked for speedy deletion. I am working with Glasgow School of Art to get these articles back, ensuring that the source material from the archives is not copied directly from their archives.

Glasgow Museums
6 new Wikimedia Commons accounts were created as part of the Glasgow Museums Photography Backstage Pass on Friday 25 September.


 * Book pluscoffee
 * TonyLyonhimself
 * frayedattheedges
 * RichDysonPhoto
 * barry_neeson
 * Eoinho

The day consisted of tours of unseen parts of three museums: Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum, Kelvin Hall and Riverside Museum. As of 1 October 2015 175 new photographs have been added to the Glasgow Museums GLAMWiki category, with more expected to be uploaded over the coming week.

University of Edinburgh, Wiki in the Classroom
4 new Wikipedia user accounts were created as part of this event on Wednesday 30 September. This event was part of the work being done with the University of Edinburgh's Student Engagement department, and culminated in the publishing of a new article, Neuroangiogenesis.


 * Hazelmurray
 * siobhanrice
 * fr1304935
 * ErinGreaves

Community Issues
Unfortunately, in both the training on 2 September, and 18 September, new users had their userpages marked for speedy deletion on WP:NOTWEBHOST grounds. One particular instance ended up in some less-than-friendly remarks on a new user's talk page. These incidences were sorted out with the help of speedy intervention by various admins, however it was not a positive introduction for those users. The training that I provide is on a model used by other residents, creating the user's user page and using basic information to train them in Wiki markup.

I have created the template, which I will now ask participants to add to their pages whilst being trained. Hopefully this will mean that this issue won't occur again. I will also try to ensure that new users make at least one small edit to a non-userspace page during training.

Special thanks to for his assistance with resolving the marked-for-deletion issues.

Objectives & outcomes
Developing Open Knowledge


 * Braemar Castle, Glasgow School of Art archives, Glasgow Museums and the University of Edinburgh all participated in events which resulted in uploads to Wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons.
 * The event held at Kelvingrove Museum on 4 September was attended by representatives of the University of Edinburgh, Aberdeen Kings Museum, the National Trust, the National Galleries, Talbot Rice Gallery, Stirling Smith Museum, the National Museums of Scotland, the University of Glasgow and the Hunterian Museum. A follow up meeting was held with the National Galleries later in the month, and follow up emails were sent to all participants later in the month. This activity is now resulting in further leads for training and development.
 * Paisley Museum have expressed interest in being involved as a partner in an Open Knowledge & Education editathon event to be held at the University of the West of Scotland in December. The resident will follow up on this to ensure the best possible outcome for all parties.
 * Discussion was had with members of the Glasgow Museums Wiki Working Group as to the next steps toward holding another Photography Backstage Pass. These discussions will continue. The enthusiasm of our contacts there does not diminish, although an official image release remains unlikely.

Develop, involve and engage WMUK volunteers


 * A total of 21 users were trained to use Wikipedia, and 8 users were trained to use Wikimedia Commons. This is a monthly record for the residency so far and brings the total number of trainees to nearly 100.
 * Following the presentation made to the Tayside Museum Forums, a session on Editing Wikipedia for Museum Staff session will be held at the University of Dundee on 20 October.
 * The Backstage Pass event at Glasgow Museums served as a good way to engage new and existing members of the Scottish Wiki community, and could be used as a template for other events, especially for organisations where an official image release is unlikely.

Reducing barriers to accessing open knowledge


 * The resident presented at Seminaire International PCI et Numberique: Transmission, Participation, Enjeux at the French Centre for Intangible Cultural Heritage. The subject of the presentation was the open knowledge aspect of the MGS Intangible Cultural Heritage wiki.  Representatives of Wikimedia France were also in attendance.
 * The Wiki in the Classroom work with the University of Edinburgh will provide a good template for working with other educational bodies, and feeds into ideas about how they could be matched with GLAMs for mutual benefit. The University of Edinburgh plan to continue working with Wiki in this way, and also potentially as part of Your Digital Edge, a scheme to help students improve their digital skills.
 * Presentations were made to both the Tayside and Fife Museum Forums.

Developing, supporting & engaging with other Wikimedia & Open Knowledge communities


 * Work continued with the University of Edinburgh, their work with Wiki in the Classroom, and preparations for Ada Lovelace Day on 13 October.
 * A potential date for a Hunterian Museum / Digital Transformation Network event has been set for December.
 * The Working with Wiki event held at Kelvingrove Museum on 4 Sept included a presentation from Kelly Forbes and Gill Hamilton on the benefits of open knowledge for museums including discussion of metadata.

Projects in Development

 * Searching for funding for a new phase of the project in 2016-17
 * Editing training for Tayside museum forum members
 * Presentation to Argyll & Bute AGM on 14 October
 * Women of the University Editathon as part of Ada Lovelace Day at the University of Edinburgh on 13 October