Wikipedia:GLAM/US/Get started

Welcome to GLAM-Wiki US!

The GLAM-Wiki initiative (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums with Wikipedia) helps cultural institutions share their resources with the world through collaboration with experienced Wikipedia editors. It is an unparalled opportunity for the custodians of our cultural heritage to present collections to new audiences.

Every GLAM has different needs and goals for its Wikipedia projects. Below are general guidelines to help you begin the process of adding or creating new content.

What can we contribute to Wikipedia?
Contributions to Wikipedia can include article creation or expansion, reference correction and expansion, and institutional research or text donations. Contributions can also include images, video, and other media as well as descriptions and metadata for already-existing files in the repository. Choose appropriate images and have them vetted by staff before their upload. Objects that have been published in an exhibition catalogue, a scholarly book, or a journal article would normally be considered appropriate subjects for articles on Wikipedia. You may contribute external links to your institution's content, but they should link directly to the relevant information and it should be unique information. Depending on the scale of the project, it can be managed by a staff member, an online volunteer, or a Wikipedian in Residence.

Wikipedians in Residence
Wikipedians in Residence are volunteers who dedicate time to working in-house at a cultural institution. They can be students, local Wikipedians, or community leaders in a relevant field. Residencies are often formally coordinated by the institution, allowing the resident to work closely with staff for various projects. Residencies will be different for every cultural institution, as each will have very different resources at their disposal and ideas for how they best want to work with the Wikipedia community.

The Wikipedian in Residence coordinates volunteers, working together with museum staff, both on location and online, to complete  tasks related to the resources that  the museum has to share. Activities organized by Wikipedians in Residence could include direct content improvement in partnership with curators, coordination of image or multimedia donations, organizing visits/events (e.g. behind the scenes tours for Wikipedians), and organizing challenges and competitions that promote article improvement.

For more information about past projects carried out by residencies, see Wikipedian in Residence page. To locate a potential Wikipedian in Residence for your institution, see the connect page.

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