GLAM Vigan Wiki Conference PH 2024/Report/MarvinBikolano

GLAM Vigan Wiki Conference PH 2024/Report/MarvinBikolano

With the theme "Empowering Communities Toward an Accessible Knowledge and Cultural Heritage, the PhilWiki Community, volunteers, and Wikipedians in the country actively participated in the GLAM Wiki Conference at Vigan, Ilocos Sur on September 20-21, 2024.

DAY 1

On day 1, the conference started with a warm welcome from the National Museum of the Philippines - Ilocos. Dr. Sakti Pramudya, the Senior Partnerships Manager for East South East Asia and Pacific (ESEAP) of the Wikimedia Foundation, delivers his keynote address from Jakarta, Indonesia. In his message, he also congratulates the conference organizer for successfully organizing the first national conference focusing on the GLAM project. The program was followed by a talk from Dr. Danilo Gerona, a professor and renowned historian in Bikol. Dr. Gerona shared the collective history of the Vigan Ilocos Sur as one of the oldest cities and civilizations during the Spanish era based on the documents retrieved and displayed in the libraries in Spain. Rev. Edmundo C. Castañeda Jr., Ph.D. also gave a lecture on Linguistic Hospitality: The Risk of Translating P. Payo’s 1867 Ibanag-Spanish Dictionary into English. The participants had an opportunity to explore one of Vigan's museums wherein artifacts, paintings, crafts, and memorabilia that were associated with the sixth President of the Republic of the Philippines, Elpidio Quirino were exhibited.

DAY 2

On day 2, a presentation from various educators and Wikipedians was conducted sharing their experiences, efforts, and studies on cultural preservation and information through innovative methodologies such as the integration of wiki advocacy into the education curriculum. Participants also learned and experienced macro photography from Mr. Mark Kenneth. The projects of the Philwiki Community conducted in 2023-2024 were also presented to encourage other contributors to be involved in other efforts of the organization. One of the significant projects conducted is the Wikisource proofreadathon contest wherein new editors and proofreaders were capacitated and shared their knowledge during the conference. Participants learned to proofread manuscripts under the Wikisource project and applied their learnings by editing/proofreading manuscripts. This also improves the participants’ skills and knowledge in contributing to the wiki projects. Participants had also the opportunity to explore other museums on Day 2, like the Padre Burgos House National Museum and the Crisologo House.

DAY 3

Day 3 was an intense adventure for the participants while discovering cultures and traditions and documenting heritages at Ilocos Norte. Early in the morning, the team traveled from Vigan to the Paoay Ilocos Norte to experience the extreme adventure in Paoay Sand Dunes. This is one of the tourist attractions in the North that showcases different scenery from the rest of the places in the Philippines. We also explored the Malacañang of the North, an ancestral mansion of the late Ferdinand Marcos, Sr., the former President of the Philippines. The Malacañang of the North is a two-story mansion with a rich story associated with the political history of the Philippines. The awarding was held outside the beautiful mansion to acknowledge the active participation of the participants and appreciate the significant contribution of the facilitators who voluntarily served the GLAM Conference. It was an unforgettable experience to be part of the facilitating committee of the event wherein I continuously learned new things about Wikimedia, connected to other people, and contributed to the attainment of the organization’s goal.