Wikipedia:GLAM/SocAntScot/Three Month Report

Institution	Resident	Residency period	Period covered	Date of report
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland	Doug Rocks-Macqueen	January 2019 - January 2020	January 2019 - March 2019	April 2019

Overview

The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland was formed in 1780 and has been producing information ever since, including books, journals, excavation reports, lectures (which are now video recorded), and the Scottish Archaeological Research Framework. They have over 2,700 members worldwide. The history of the Society tells the story of many of Scotland’s Cultural Institutions.

The Wikimedian-in-Residence post is one day a week and is designed to:

● Assess how the work of the Society could be best aligned with Wikimedia and ensure that staff and members are enabled to directly contribute their knowledge and expertise to develop Wikipedia articles; provide training on Wikimedia editing, best practice, and volunteer engagement, to staff; and identify opportunities for content improvement/image releases.

● Work with the Dig It! project team on a programme of events (including two edit-a-thons) and activities within the Society and with partner organisations, establishing links between Society staff and members, Wikimedia volunteers and others and identifying areas of Wikipedia and sister projects that could be enriched with resources and knowledge from the Society.

● Be an advocate for open knowledge within the Society, developing policies, systems and processes which would allow greater collaboration between Wikimedia UK and the Society, and creating best practice documents as needed.

Progress narrative

The Wikimedian-in-Residence (WiR) works the equivalent of one day a week, and for this reporting period has effectively been in post for two weeks, or ten working days. This has been matched through staff time from the Dig It! project, plus staff time from other departments involved in overseeing and supporting the post. Two staff members have formed a working group to oversee and support the WiR, who is line managed by the Director of the Society.

From the outset, the key to success was identified as having a person familiar with the work of the Society and that the WiR would be able to work at a strategic level, particularly in developing policy. Initially an existing member of staff took on WiR responsibilities (with no previous experience of Wikimedia projects) but the role did not gel with their other duties. Subsequently, the current WiR was appointed on secondment from Landward Research Ltd, who was both familiar with the work of the Society and experienced in Wikimedia projects. Since being in post, the current WiR has led an edit-a-thon based at the Society for members, and interviewed a series of Society Staff regarding their role in order to develop policy.

Having a WiR with a broad understanding of the Society's work has been incredibly useful for such a time-restricted role, however, familiarity with Wikimedia projects has proven essential. Support from other staff has also been key to the role working. Dig It! has found that matching time has proven more straightforward than originally thought: rather than an added extra it has simply become a core component of the project's work. Exploring how to cement that across the Society and into the future is an important element of the WiR's job. Training support from Wikimedia UK and the support network of other WiRs has been integral, and individual staff members have had a range of CPD opportunities. If a future staff member with no Wikimedia-related experience was appointed an expanded training period at the outset would be recommended.

Strategic goal one

Increase the representation of marginalised people and subjects on Wikimedia
Outcomes Assessment of what Society content could be used to enhance Wikipedia Society membership supported in wiki editing as a form of outreach and knowledge sharing	Outputs Two Society Edit-a-thons

Progress narrative

Working with individual staff members is ongoing. In March the first opportunity to engage members (or Fellows) of the Society was provided. This included four Fellows, but also provided the opportunity for Society staff to learn more and undergo training. It also involved a staff member of the National Museum for Scotland's Research Library, which holds a considerable amount of Society-related information. Over 2,500 words were added to a number of pages. The potential to improve content on Wikipedia related to the Society is considerable, and future areas of work were mapped.

Events

Date & duration	Event name	Location	Attendees	Usernames/link	Trainers
21st March 2019	Society Edit-a-thon	SoAS Offices	4	Dashboard entry	2

Partnership interactions

Date	Activity/purpose of meeting	Institution/partner	Location	Attendees	Meeting/Presentation/Conference Talk link
21 March 2019	Edit-a-thon	National Museums of Scotland Research Library	SoAS offices

Data and/or description of Other Projects under SG1

For this period additions have been made to Wikipedia, and discussions have been ongoing regarding how Society data could feed into other Wikimedia projects.

Strategic goal two

Work with the Wikimedia projects to develop digital, data and information literacy
Outcomes Society staff trained in editing Wikipedia, ensuring that relevant guidelines (e.g. conflict of interest) are understood	Outputs Staff training opportunities

Progress narrative

Dr Sara Thomas provided Wikimedia training to Society staff at the outset of the project. This was initially to staff involved with oversight of the project. As the WiR works with other staff members this will be training that we will aim to roll out more widely with staff, Fellows and partner organisations.

Events

Date & duration	Event name	Location	Attendees	Details
18/01/2019	Wikimedia training day	Edinburgh, Society offices	5

Strategic Goal three

Create changes in policy and practice that enable open knowledge to flourish
Outcomes The potential for society engagement with other Wiki projects, including WikiSource, Wikimedia Commons and WikiData outlined The Society works more openly The Society’s ability to encourage organisations in their network to engage in open knowledge is scoped and encouraged	Outputs Policy on best practice for integrating Society's work and content with Wikimedia projects Plan and outline of future opportunities for integrating engagement with Wikimedia projects into the work of the Society

Progress narrative

Creation of the policy will comprise the main output of the residency and it has been useful in this regard that the WiR is familiar with the various Wikimedia projects. The policy is envisaged as a live document, with a focus on a number of Wikimedia projects and recommendations for future work. A key challenge will be to enable the WiR to maintain this strategic perspective while not getting bogged down in event organisation. It is here that the partnership with Dig it!, taking up the logistical duties, is essential.

Events

Date & duration	Event name	Location	Attendees	Usernames/link	Trainers

Partnership interactions

Date	Activity/purpose of meeting	Institution/partner	Location	Attendees	Meeting/Presentation/Conference Talk link
24/01/2019	Meet-up with University of Edinburgh WiR	University of Edinburgh	Edinburgh	4
08/02/2019	Meet-up WiRs from across the UK	Wikimedia across institutions	Glasgow

Projects/events in development (relating to any goal), if any

The Dig It! wiki campaign is being developed, with a first edit-a-thon being planned for May.