Wikipedia:University of Edinburgh/Wikisource

Wikisource

Wikisource logo

“It’s not what you do, it’s what it does to you.”

Libraries are under threat as never before with an estimated 450 closures in the last six years (Flood, 2016).

Safeguarding digital heritage and ‘the democracy of reading’ (Smith in Shaffi, 2015) therefore has never been more important.

What is Wikisource

Wikisource is Wikimedia’s free library of openly-licensed source texts.

Throughout the course of the Wikimedia residency at the University of Edinburgh we will explain:

• Why Wikisource is receiving increased attention & affection.
• How it adds value to the collections of libraries & archives.
• The crucial role Wikisource plays in raising the visibility, accessibility & appreciation of out-of-copyright texts & their authors.
• How Wikisource links to its sister projects: Wikipedia, Wikicommons and Wikidata.

“Quotations or images from centuries ago can still touch or inspire, and as readers share this reaction online, the interested audience grows. The Wikimedia projects make it easy for people to enjoy and share out-of-copyright text, creating and satisfying a modern curiosity about past authors.”(Martin Poulter, 2015)

“Libraries are about freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication. They are about education (which is not a process that finishes the day we leave school or university), about entertainment, about making safe spaces, and about access to information.” (Neil Gaiman, 2013)

Robert Louis Stevenson's 'Edinburgh'(1914)

By way of example, Robert Louis Stevenson's out-of-copyright book, Edinburgh (1914), has been uploaded to Wikisource. Its text has been proofread (to check for OCR errors) by two Wikisource users and now the book can be enjoyed in 100% searchable HTML. Moreover, a link from the Wikipedia page for Edinburgh to Robert Louis Stevenson's book on Edinburgh has now been added so that anyone perusing the Edinburgh Wikipedia page can discover this Stevenson book. It has now been viewed over 200 times in little over a week.

What training sessions include

• An introduction to what Wikisource is and how you can engage with it.
• A practical activity where you will learn how to navigate Wikisource and proofread a page of text.
• An introduction to how Wikisource links with Wikipedia (the free encyclopaedia), Wikicommons (the free media repository) & Wikidata (the free repository of structured data).
• Examples demonstrating how texts can be uploaded, transcribed and proofread.
• Examples demonstrating how everyone – libraries & archives in particular – can involve people around the world in having authentic contact with the past through Wikisource.

Upcoming Wikisource Events

Event Name	Date	Location	Organiser	Event Details
Introduction to Wikipedia's sister project: Wikisource - the free digital library	7 December 2017 2pm-4pm	Room 1.08, First floor, University of Edinburgh Main Library, 30 George Square, Edinburgh.	Ewan McAndrew (Wikimedian in Residence) and Gavin Willshaw (Digital Curator)	In this session, we will introduce you to Wikisource: Wikimedia’s free library of openly-licensed source texts. Co-presented with Gavin Willshaw, Digital Curator, the training session will run from 2-3pm but you are welcome to stay for the 3-4pm transcribe-a-thon taking place afterwards to gain extra practice transcribing texts.

Like every Wikimedia project, Wikisource is free to use by absolutely anyone so people of all disciplines and walks of life are encouraged to attend these sessions. Basic knowledge of using the internet will be needed to get involved in the practical activity, but there are no other pre-requisites.

Anyone interested in libraries, archives & open knowledge repositories of all kinds should come away excited about the possibilities Wikisource, and its sister projects, offer!

What should I bring?

Bring a laptop if possible as this will be needed when we learn to navigate our way around Wikisource and for the practical demonstration of proofreading a page of Wikisource text. In addition, please have a think if there are copyright-free source texts you would like to see transcribed to Wikisource.

Please also create an account on Wikisource before arriving. This takes only a minute or two and if you have ever edited Wikipedia before, you can use the same login details.

Want to learn more?

If you would like to find out more about Wikisource then feel free to email me at ewan.mcandrew@ed.ac.uk

References

1. Flood, Alison (2016). “Joanna Trollope: ‘UK cannot afford to close one single public library'”. the Guardian.
2. Shaffi, Sarah (2015).“Smith warns library closures threat to ‘democracy of reading’ | The Bookseller”. www.thebookseller.com.
3. Gaiman, Neil (2013). “Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming”. the Guardian.
4. Poulter, Martin (2015).“The Shiver: communion with the past in a digital age | Wikimedia UK Blog”. blog.wikimedia.org.uk.