Wikipedia:GLAM/MGS/Events and Workshops/Intro to Wiki Stornoway

About the event
Sara Thomas is the Wikimedian in Residence for Museums Galleries Scotland, the national development agency for Scotland's museum sector. Over the course of her residency she's worked with a number of museums and cultural institutions to show them how Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects (like Wikimedia Commons) can benefit them. Recently she's helped Groam House Museum upload pictures of the George Bain Collection to Wikimedia Commons, so that they are now accessible to a national and international audience. She's also worked with the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (all artists whose work is displayed in the Modern Scottish Women exhibition now have a Wikipedia article), Glasgow Museums, Glasgow School of Art and Braemar Castle.

Wikipedia is one of the world's most popular websites, aiming to provide free access for all to the sum of all human knowledge. For small museums and cultural institutions, Wikipedia and its associated projects (such as Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and Wikisource) provide valuable outreach opportunities.

This session will discuss how Open knowledge can benefit small organisations, introduce some of the lesser-known Wikimedia projects, look at Wikipedia in other languages, and give a hands-on introduction to editing Wikipedia, using the new visual editor. If you can use Microsoft word, you can edit Wikipedia! Participants will also gain an understanding of the policies & guidelines which govern Wikipedia, and will have the chance to edit articles.


 * How do I prepare?
 * Sign up for the event
 * Create a Wikipedia account
 * Bring a laptop (wi-fi will be provided). Some computers may be available. It is possible, but not easy, to edit using a tablet - a keyboard is hugely beneficial!  The best browsers to use are Google Chrome, Firefox, or Safari - please make sure that you have the most up to date version.  Please note that Internet Explorer 8 is not supported by Visual Editor and will not work.
 * Learn about editing if you like: see Visual Editor user guide for more information
 * Think about what you would like to edit about - you can even prepare some materials to bring with you on the day
 * Notability guidelines - what topics can be written about on Wikipedia?
 * Verifiability - Wikipedia is a tertiary source, based on reliable secondary sources
 * Conflict of Interest - please help to preserve the integrity and reliability of the encyclopedia by not editing about your friends, family or place of work.

Programme
The session will open with a presentation from Sara about how museums and cultural organisations can get the most out of wiki projects. Sara will then show participants how to edit Wikipedia, and the group will have the opportunity to edit pages on Wikipedia in line with Wiki guidelines.

Article hit list
The below are articles which could be improved on the day. If you have suggestions, please contact sarat@museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk


 * HMY Iolaire
 * Flannan Isles Lighthouse
 * Flannan Isles
 * Whisky Galore (novel) - needs additional sources

Articles could also be improved or created for local poets, artists or other figures - why not have a look and see what's missing from Wikipedia?