Wikipedia Science Conference/Planning

Rationale and evaluation

This conference stems from a proposal on Wikimedia UK's Water Cooler. See the blog post "Using Wikipedia to Open Up Science" for an explanation of why the time is right for a Wikipedia Science Conference.

In terms of Wikimedia UK's strategic goals:

Running a national conference with high impact partners raises our own profile and that of our mission (G1.3), is likely to bring new highly skilled volunteers into the movement (G2a) and provide leverage and a supportive environment to raise awareness of the benefits of 'open' (G3.2/3).

G1 Develop open knowledge

The conference will explore how, by engaging with the Wikimedia sites, scientists can advance their professional goals of promoting use and citation of research, promoting informed public discussion and even improving the quality of research outputs. It will also train them in the basic skills of contributing, whether by directly editing, or indirectly by making research outputs available with appropriate licences and technical interfaces.

G4 Encourage and support technological innovation

There are scientists using Wikipedia and its sister sites in novel ways to improve or disseminate scientific knowledge. Examples: the PFAM proteins database at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, PLOS Computational Biology's "Topic pages" and Peter Murray Rust et al.'s automated extraction of facts from published papers. The conference will bring these people together with similar professionals to disseminate their work. Greater mutual understanding between Wikimedia communities and professional scientists will help these projects succeed.

G5 Develop, support, and engage with other Wikimedia and open knowledge communities

The Open Access community is a using a mix of top-down and bottom-up influences to change mainstream scientific practice so that scientific outputs of research. The Wikimedia movement and the Open Access movement have strongly aligned aims and values. Many of the people involved in OA advocacy are themselves Wikipedia enthusiasts or editors. A joint conference where both communities meet as peers is chance to turn the shared goals into more concrete activities.

How will success be measured?

(see Wikimania Support Team Report for ideas)

• Number of attendees
• 'Friends' and member signups arising from the event
• Number and variety of organisations represented
• Attendee evaluation
• Open content projects that result
• Media coverage
• Sessions written up as papers
• New wiki editors registered/ lapsed editors reactivated
• Uptake of ORCID IDs by editors/ in biographies
• Uptake of DOIs on Wikimedia projects when citing scholarly resources that have one
• Volunteer engagement
• Videos recorded and uploaded to internet => Videos edited and uploaded to Wikikimedia Commons
• What else?

Drafts

• /CFP

Publicity

This can begin once the dates and some named speakers are finalised.

• Jointly via Wellcome Trust blog/social media and WMUK blog/social media. Logos of both organisations should appear on publicity material.
• WMUK has contacts in a couple of dozen scholarly societies/ research centres. Should be encouraged to post notifications in their newsletters/ social media.
• WMUK education contacts/ expert outreach contacts in science areas (listed on the Office wiki)
• Wikimania 2014 attendees?
• Those of us who work in scientific institutions can promote the event in their own workplaces.
  • We'd need a PDF poster to share or print.
  • Martin has been sent a contact for the Crick Institute
• Press releases as the conference approaches, perhaps leading on a controversial statement by a speaker, e.g. "Wikipedia is the future of scientific publishing"-PMR. Jointly decided/ released by Wellcome Trust/Wikimedia UK?
• Circulate to contacts in science communications / STEM group at CIPR and to STEMPRA