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;A month as Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland
;Notes from the editathon at Conway Hall, London


[[File:National_Library_of_Scotland_-_geograph.org.uk_-_612101.jpg|220px|thumb|right]]
[[File:Hypatia_Bradlaugh_Bonner_1.jpg|220px|thumb|right|A photograph of Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner which was found in the Conway Hall archives and scanned and uploaded during the editathon]]


''This post was written by Ally Crockford, Wikimedian in Residence at the National Library of Scotland''
''This post was written by Jonathan Cardy, Wikimedia UK's GLAM Organiser''


My first introduction to Wikipedia was inspired by a job prospect. A contract as editor for an external wiki aimed at entrepreneurs called ‘Entrepedia.org’ was announced on the University of Edinburgh careers website. I was in the first year of an English Literature PhD programme at the University at that time, an international student (I’m originally from Canada) rather in need of rent money. I was also, at least as I considered myself, reasonably articulate and not a complete technological dunce, so I thought it was a good fit, and as I was offered the job it seems someone agreed. To learn more about the potential offered by a Wiki, I joined Wikipedia. I was not bold: I was most decidedly timid.
We’ve run a few editathons now and we know some of the things to expect, and some of the things that can go wrong.


I only made a few minor edits, though I scrolled through article source code with great fascination. Once the contract ended and the demands of a full-time research and part-time teaching schedule took hold, my contributions stopped altogether, and my username was lost from both e-mail archives and memory. Five and a half years (and one PhD) later, I returned to Wikipedia, once again inspired by a job description, this time for the position of Wikimedian-in-Residence at the [http://www.nls.uk/ National Library of Scotland]. I was alerted this time by an innocuous Facebook post, and as an Open Knowledge advocate and frequent presence in the NLS Reading Rooms I leapt at the opportunity, and I cannot believe how fortunate I was to be offered the job. I have been amazed to see some of the incredible changes and developments that have taken place in the Wikimedia world since last I looked behind the scenes. It is a more expansive and mature resource and community than I remember, though I feel that is more likely because of my own maturing interests and opinions. In any case I am so grateful to have been given that little push back into contributing.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Atheism/Conway_Hall_editathon Conway Hall on Thursday, 8 August] was a bit of an experiment for us, our first evening editathon, and with at least half an eye on London commuters. It was also the first time I came to an editathon armed with a mobile WiFi hotspot or a universal laptop charger.


<span class="plainlinks">[http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/08/a-month-as-wikimedian-in-residence-at-the-national-library-of-scotland/ <nowiki></nowiki>Continues<nowiki></nowiki>]</span>
Our hosts supplied us with a lovely large room and had very good WiFi. Thus far how very like the [http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/06/royal-opera-house-to-host-an-editathon/ Royal Opera House] (minus the liveried footmen), though the decor was somewhat less sumptuous and here I was host, IT support and catering. I just had time to reorganise all the tables and chairs from boardroom to cafe style, with a table over each electricity point, before the rush started.
 
Conway Hall’s archivist had put out a collection of reference books, biographies and so forth, many looking venerable and probably long out of print. Of course that meant a no tea and coffee rule on any of the desks where the old books were being used. Luckily, the adjacent kitchen served as a break room.
 
As usual, we’d brought one more laptop than we had bookings for, but on this occasion we could have used more – I should perhaps have guessed that Conway Hall’s predominately elderly membership might include several people who’d popped in, curious to see what it was all about. I could have used four spare laptops.
 
This was far from the first time someone had forgotten their power cable, but it was the first time I could approach them with a handful of power adaptors saying “great, I’ve been hoping to try this out, lets see which head fits” and set them up with a universal power supply. We should have one as standard for this sort of event.
 
<span class="plainlinks">[http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2013/08/notes-from-the-editathon-at-conway-hall-london/ <nowiki></nowiki>Continues<nowiki></nowiki>]</span>


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Revision as of 12:33, 21 August 2013

Cymraeg | English

Cymraeg | English

Wikimedia UK

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If you'd like to see what Wikimedia UK is working on, our website is the best place for our community of volunteers, donors and members to stay up to date.

About Wikimedia UK

The Wikimedia projects are special: they are written and curated by thousands of volunteers. They are also supported by voluntary donations, through Wikimedia UK, the Wikimedia Foundation and other international chapters.

Wikimedia UK is a charity registered in England and Wales that supports and promotes Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects such as Wikimedia Commons. Our mission is to help people and organisations create and preserve open knowledge, and to help provide easy access for all. We do this by supporting volunteer editors and contributors ('Wikimedians'), by working in partnership with cultural and educational institutions, by hosting training sessions and editing events, and by acting to advocate the benefits of open knowledge generally.

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