ESEAP Conference 2024/Report/Winnieswikiworld

Wikimedia ESEAP Conference, Kota Kinabalu 2024 Report: Collaboration Beyond the Horizon

by Winnieswikiworld

I have been lucky enough to visit West Malaysia many times with family as it is one of my ancestral homes. I have experienced the diversity of culture that Kuala Lumpur has to offer, however this was my first time in Sabah East Malaysia. It was a privilege to spend time here during and ESEAP 2024 Conference and learn about a variety of the Indigenous groups of the Sabah region.

Thank you Kota Kinabalu, Sabah for your gracious hosting and sharing your cultures.

Myself, and three new Wikimedians from Auckland, New Zealand presented at ESEAP in Kota Kinabalu 2024. Our project, Editing Wikipedia to understand our past: Enriching Tamaki Makaurau Auckland’s local history on Wikipedia, discussed our experiences in a 10-week internship at Auckland Museum. During this time we learnt how to engage with Wikimedia and created Wikipedia articles to represent our communities in Auckland. Our contribution to the conference aimed to share our experiences as first-time Wikimedia users and the impact learning through Wikipedia has had on us.

The opportunity to learn from the ESEAP community has broadened my understanding of the breadth of work being done on Wikimedia. I have included a selection of presentations/sessions which I learnt from and enjoyed participating in:

Can Oral Hokkien Language be Written? How Can Wikidata help?

Presented by User: Supaplex

This presentation was about addressing the gap of written form articles in the Taiwanese Hokkien known as ‘Taigi’. With a 48 million speaking population, Taigi is also a minority language in The Phillipines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Wikidata Partnerships: Use cases for the Region

Presented by User: AlanAng

In this presentation I learnt that Wikidata was established in 2012. It presented themes of data contributions, connecting with Wikidata and data reuse. The case study of Smithsonian Libraries and Archives showed the success of connecting library data with Wikidata and facilitating the creation of linked data. This was through the Freer and Sackler galleries collection of Chinese Ancestors portraits which linked to the Smithsonian catalogue website metadata. The challenges faced were name culture (english vs transliterated), noting changing royal and noble titles, noting changes in women associated with family/different names and property interpretation and constraints.

Women@Work: More than just a Wikimedia Contribution

User: Ballardmaize

This presentation discussed a campaign of working women in their local provence in The Phillipines. By interviewing and storytelling with working women they were able to engage with source communities and address community needs. There was a specific focus on equal gender representation and community involvement on Wikimedia by using art + feminism to support global advocacy and gender initiatives. Through the open knowledge movement and making information accessible the team was able to broaden the way these women can contribute knowledge. This showed the power of participation and provided a platform for women to be part of an advocacy movement. It was evident that inclusion and creating a sense of community will build hope for future collaborations.

How to Encourage Women in Mainland China to Actively Particupate in the Wikimedia Global Movement

User: HiNancy

This presentation showed the significant gap in participance of women in Wikimedia, especially in mainland China. This is a shared global issue that we should all be addressing together. In order to enhance diversity of knowledge, they have conducted interviews with Wikimedians to survey how they can best involve and encourage gender diversity in the Wikimedia movement moving forward. To tackle these challenges, they propose the following strategies: broaden the scope of interviews, explore forms of participatory media and integrate subcultural elements into activities. I also learnt you need a VPN to access Wikipedia in China!

A 70-year-old Wikipedian Talks About the Charm of Libraries

User: Wakakuramon

This presentation discussed the importance of collective knowledge from the perspective of an older generation. It showed that Wikipedia is for everyone. The speaker spoke from her experience as a librarian and showed the intersects of library practices and the way Wikipedia runs. This highlighted that so much knowledge is yet to be entered into the internet, so libraries have the potential to support and help resource the Wikipedia movement. Librarians know to search for answers and characteristics of reference books and databases and could be critical to the Wikimedia community. Through cross-border cooperation, we can address the credibility issue that faces Wikipedia Japan and utilise the knowledge of the older generation.

Free the Freedom of Panorama in ESEAP

User: Reke, Buszmail

Freedom of panorama is a special rule in copyright law which applies to buildings and both 2D artworks and 3D sculptures. It describes the legal right in some countries to take pictures of artworks, sculptures, paintings, buildings or monuments that are in public places even when they are still under copyright. FOP serves as an exception under copyright laws similar to fair use, that dispenses with the need to secure prior permission from a copyright owner for the use of a work. Using images helps us make articles in Wikipedia that are more visually appealing and accessible to audiences. Wikipedia Commons only accepts freely-licensed media files as per its commons: licensing policy page. FOP photos and works can be hosted in Wikipedia articles and other knowledge platforms, however this rule is different in various language Wikipedias and countries. For example the absence of FOP in The Phillipines means information must be redirected through EN Wikipedia. A work around is used where people black out the copyrighted material so people can get an idea of scale, shape and location. Some fixes proposed were using date-driven photos of works temporarily seen or installed in public spaces.

Other attended sessions:

As I continue to pursue a career in the GLAM sector, I have had the opportunity to see how the ESEAP GLAM community have been engaging with digitisation of archives and manuscripts to further preserve cultural heritage. The ESEAP conference has inspired me to further contribute to Wikimedia in my future work and advocate for its use in museum practices. The ESEAP 2024 conference has been an incredible experience and a pleasure to attend. I would like to extend my thanks to the organisers and all those involved in making the experience so meaningful.