Education projects/University Wikimedian in Residence

This is a draft profile for a generic proposal for a Wikimedian in Residence at a UK university. Please add more ideas, case examples, and the like

Role Profile

• Support teaching staff making use of Wikipedia in the classroom, by providing training to both staff and students, coordinating with the global Wikimedia community, sharing and developing best practice from the Wikipedia Education Programme
• Promote understanding of the Wikipedia community among staff and students through workshops and events - whether internal events focused on training staff, or "editathons" that bring academics / graduate students together with Wikipedia volunteers to improve Wikipedia articles
• Work with library and archive staff to digitize, compile and organize resources that can be shared with the Wikimedia community

Benefits to a university

• Builds students' critical capabilities and online skills. In the Wikipedia Education Programme, undergraduates are asked to contribute to and assess Wikipedia articles relevant to their subjects of study. This requires critical thought (what information in this openly edited article can be trusted? Are the sources used of high quality?) as well as the exercise of research and writing skills to improve Wikipedia articles. The understanding students gain from their training of Wikipedia, the concept of open licensing, and the Wikipedia online community also enhances their digital literacy. And, of course, students' contributions will remain in Wikipedia, improving its quality indefinitely.
• Improving understanding of Wikipedia amongst staff and graduate students. Wikimedia projects are many things to the academic community - an educational and research resource, an image library, an example of the digital humanities, and a unique online community to be researched. Through holding staff workshops, the Wikipedian in Residence can demystify Wikipedia and help staff make appropriate use of these tools.
• Enhancing to other digital humanities projects and community education programmes by ensuring they are making best use of Wikimedia resources.