Wikipedia:GLAM/Wellcome/9th Month Report

Strategic Goal 1
Increase the quality and quantity of coverage of subjects that are currently underrepresented on Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects, with a particular focus on cultural content.


 * The Liverpool Medical Institution Editathon focussed on adding information on Liverpool medics and history of medicine to Wikipedia. Many of the resources used were books that are hard to find outside of the LMI, so this was a great opportunity to improve content using specialist and rare sources.
 * At the Royal College of Nursing Editathon, nurses were introduced to materials from the The Royal College of Nursing London Library and then received training in how to edit Wikipedia using some of these sources. Pages have already been published for Cecilia Anim, and the RCN’s first ever Secretary, Mary Snell Rundle, and pages for Annie Warren Gill, Florence Udell, Sarah Swift and long-serving General Secretary Catherine M. Hall were also improved. The newly trained editors have sandbox pages-in-the-making for Miss Frances G. Goodall (O.B.E.) (a former Secretary), and for Presidents Rachael Cox-Davies, Mary Spearshott, and Dorothy Coode. The editathon's focus on key women from the RCN's history helped work towards improving the gender gap on Wikipedia and also the coverage of nurses. The Royal College of Nursing page now has a tidy list of past Presidents and Secretaries with links and redlinks, which should make information easier to find in the future and facilitate the creation of more pages on these women in the future too.

Strategic Goal 2
Support the development of open knowledge in the UK, by increasing the understanding and recognition of the value of open knowledge and advocating for change at an organisational, sectoral and public policy level.


 * The Liverpool Medical Institution Editathon and Royal College of Nursing Editathon were opportunities to advocate for open knowledge to large organisations with excellent quality collections that could be used to improve Wiki-content. The LMI is now considering hosting regular editing sessions to make contributions based on their materials, and the RCN are interested in follow-up training for Library staff to help them to facilitate editing.
 * I met with Solomon Szekir-Papasavva who is involved with the Wellcome's Art and Health collections to discuss making this content more widely available via Wiki-projects. We discussed various ways that this could possibly be achieved, including image uploads, behind-the-scenes visits for Wiki-editors, Wellcome staff editing and public or specialist editathons. Work with these collections is at an early stage at the moment, so it will be some time before any plans are put in place and this meeting was a good opportunity to advocate for Wiki as a route to open knowledge at a point where ideas can be built into forward planning.
 * On 15 February I reported on the progress of the Residency to the Wellcome Library staff at a staff meeting, highlighting what we have achieved so far both in quantitative and qualitative terms. The questions following this presentation were warmly supportive of the Residency, and I have been asked to speak to the whole of the Wellcome Trust staff at a meeting in April.

Strategic Goal 3
To support the use of the Wikimedia projects as important tools for education and learning in the UK.


 * I was invited to deliver CREST Editor Training to a group of researchers and postgraduate students as part of a day-long workshop on communication. The training highlighted how Wikipedia can be used as a form of literature review early in a research project, and then improved gradually based on reading and publications, or improved as part of an outreach and engagement strategy in a public way via editathons. The time allocated meant that the session was a very brief introduction, so CREST have said that they would like to run a longer, dedicated Wiki-session in the future.

Projects/events in development

 * I had Wikidata training with Navino Evans on 22 March, and once I have had the opportunity to practice a little I will be working with the Wellcome Trust to add important data from the Wellcome to Wiki (for instance Wellcome Trust Principle Researchers and Senior Fellows).
 * We'll be speaking to the international meeting of the OCLC to be hosted at the British Library on 8 March to highlight how the Wellcome has been involved in Wiki and suggest examples of how other libraries might benefit.
 * On 14 March, I'll be presenting on the Wellcome Residency to the Health Archives and Records Group (HARG) at the Bethlem Museum of the Mind. We'll discuss the Bedlam editahtons as well as other work which might inspire archivists and librarians.
 * I'll be attending the London Wiki Meetup to catch up with local editors and to talk about some of the upcoming events, editathons, and plans.
 * Plans are in development for editor training for The Hub group of interdisciplinary researchers based at Wellcome, a staff development session for RCN Library staff, more Wellcome Library staff training, and training for researchers based at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.
 * The British Society for the History of Medicine Editathon is scheduled for 11 April - planning continues.
 * On 27 April I will be speaking at an all staff meeting of the Wellcome Trust to tell people about what we've achieved in the Residency so far.

Press about the residency

 * The Editathon at the Royal College of Nursing was featured in the RCN Bulletin article 'Women in High Places', which also discussed the gender gap and work by Wikimedia to address the issue.