Friends' Newsletter/2016/Issue 03

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2016/Issue 03

The last newsletter of the year!

We've been busy in the past few months developing new programmes and partnerships, and we'd love to tell you about the latest developments in our work and what we have in the pipeline!

We have renewed our Bodleian Wikimedian in Residence as Dr Martin Poulter has been rehired to continue his valuable work in Oxford, and we have partnered with the Hypatia Trust in Cornwall to support their Wikimedian working to improve content on Cornish women.

Dr Martin Poulter reappointed Bodleian Library Wikimedian-in-Residence

The University of Oxford has decided to renew its Wikimedian In Residence (WIR) programme. Martin Poulter is working part-time on a one-year project to embed Wikipedia, Wikidata and related sites in the university’s teaching, research and public engagement.

Dr Poulter served as the WIR at the Bodleian Libraries for one year ending in March 2016. He led wiki training at nine public events, and gave sixteen other workshops and presentations. The images bulk-uploaded during this placement now get more than 3 million views per month from being used to illustrate Wikipedia articles in 49 languages.

Thanks to funding from the IT Innovation Challenge, administered by the university’s Academic IT Services, he is returning to the Bodleian with a cross-university remit. The new project is about embedding innovative use of Wikimedia sites across the university. This will involve:

·         training staff in the university to run Wikimedia-related events such as editathons;

·         helping research projects to enhance their impact by sharing outputs on Wikidata and Wikipedia;

·         creating customised training workshops for academics, librarians and other staff in the university; and

·         sharing training materials.

The aim is to collaborate with a different large research or educational project each month. The first two partners are the Hillforts Atlas Project and the Voltaire Foundation. The former is a collaboration between the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, producing a definitive database of hillforts in the British Isles. The latter publishes definitive critical volumes of the works and correspondence of Voltaire. Both projects can reach a larger audience by helping to improve Wikidata and Wikipedia. Other research projects and cultural institutions will be supported on a first-come, first-served basis.

Wikimedians In Residence are already employed by the National Library of Wales, the Wellcome Library, and the University of Edinburgh, as well as cultural and scholarly organisations around the globe. Martin Poulter can be contacted at martin.poulter@bodleian.ox.ac.uk .

Wiki Loves Monuments 2016 UK Winners Announced

More than 250 people took part in the UK competition, uploading 6,200 photos of cultural heritage which anyone can reuse. Thank you to everyone who took part. The winners of the overall competition will be announced in December.

Wiki Loves Monuments is a global photographic competition run by the Wikimedia Foundation and its local chapters like Wikimedia UK. We encourage photographers to upload photos of places that have Wikipedia articles so that those photos can be used to illustrate Wikipedia.

1. "Winchester Cathedral, south aisle of retro-choir" by Michael Coppins
2. "Perch Rock Lighthouse" by Richard J Smith
3. "Royal William Yard, Plymouth, Devon" by Michael Chapman
4. "Eilean Donan at Dusk" by Syxaxis Photography (George Johnson)
5. "Hazell Brook Bridge" by Hamburg103a
6. "Queens' College - Mathematical Bridge" by Rafa Esteve
7. "RibbleheadViaduct" by Sterim64
8. "Royal Albert Hall - Central View 169" by Colin
9. "Tone Mills Dyehouse" by Msemmett
10. "Transporter Bridge Winter Sunrise" by WelshDave