Page:Bringing Wikimedians into the Conversation at Libraries.pdf/18

Case study​: The Wikipedia Visiting Scholar scheme offers more flexibility than the more formal WIR role. It can be adapted to suit the needs of the host institution, but also the skills and interests of the volunteer. In 2015 the National Library of Wales developed and invited applications for a Wikidata Visiting Scholar position. Working to the same principals as the Wikipedia Visiting Scholar position, the successful applicant was guaranteed access otherwise closed access datasets as well as specialist advice from curatorial staff and technical support from the systems team. The successful candidate was able to work remotely, processing library data and combining it with other open data to create a rich linked open data resource on Wikidata. This allowed the library to share its data openly for the first time, and to study the advantages of doing so, with little or no cost, or disruption to core library duties. Whilst the library had clear goals (convert metadata to linked data and release via Wikidata), the Visiting Scholar was given the freedom to choose which data he would develop and how he would visualize and interpret the data later. This flexible approach can make all the difference in keeping key volunteers engaged, motivated and focused.^[1]

Student Interns, Practicum students or University Classes

One of the common patterns that emerges among Wikimedians who become Wikipedians in Residence or staff champions: they often do so after being high performing students (usually graduate students) in a field related to the institution's focus, either library science, museum studies, archival studies, or a related writing-focused program, such as art history, history or a social science. Moreover published case studies in the library and archive studies community include a number of projects where university libraries or archives engage student workers to highlight institutional content by contributing new content on Wikimedia projects. Early case studies take the approach of “just adding links” to institutional collections on Wikimedia, a practice perceived as spam by some parts of the Wikimedia community; newer case studies focus on the win-win relationship between quality content on Wikimedia projects and the visibility of not only the contributing institution’s digital assets, but also the broader materials available on that niche subject area.

Employing students to get involved in Wikimedia contributions for the institution, acts as a flip-version of the Wikipedia Visiting Scholar project: instead of a low-cost, low risk contribution from a Wikimedian, student employees offer a low cost, low risk introduction where the institutional supervisor and their student learn how to effectively participate within the
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1. Jason Evans and Simon Cobb. ‘​How the world’s first Wikidata Visiting Scholar created linked open data for five thousand works of art’ ​Wikimedia Blog, November 5th, 2016. https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/11/05/wikidata-visiting-scholar-art-dataset/