Wikimedia+Libraries/Program/Submission/African Librarians’ Week in Context
Title of your proposal
[edit]African Librarians’ Week in Context
Name(s) and/or username(s)
[edit]- Doreen Appiah: DoreenAppiah, Program Officer, AfLIA
Topic
[edit]- Tutorials and Training on Wikimedia’s core-knowledge projects (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons)
Type of submission (Please choose one)
[edit]- Individual Presentations (15 minutes)
Keywords and hashtags
[edit]African Libraries, AfLIA, Librarians Week
- AfLibWk
Abstract
[edit]The African Librarians Week initiative was birthed to give librarians a voice in telling their stories and that of their communities for building inclusion, understanding and equity. Also, it was important for African librarians to join the global campaign of the 1Librarian, 1Reference in order not to be left behind. AfLIA as the continent’s Library Association worked with the Wikipedia Library to actualize this dream.
Webinars were organized and professionals including librarians who have great insights into Wikipedia were invited to introduce African librarians to the #1Lib1Ref campaign and how they can use Wikipedia to enhance the provision of information services in Africa. The opportunity to gain skills that will ensure that the stories about Africa and Africans in Wikipedia are accurate through editing and adding relevant citations boosted the desire to participate in the first and subsequent African Librarians Week events.
Champions were selected to organise librarians in their countries and publicise the event. A dashboard to track editors' contributions during the global 1Lib1Ref was created and training on Wikipedia policies, editing and adding citations was conducted.
The paper will briefly discuss AfLIA as a continental platform for Libraries and the information community in Africa. It will further outline the processes of organizing the maiden African Librarians Week and participating in the global 1Lib1Ref (i.e. how Champions were selected, the trainings conducted and the event itself). It will also highlight the benefits as well as challenges faced during and after the event
Expected outcomes
[edit]- Participants will learn the procedures of organizing a 1Lib1Ref campaign
- They will understand the responsibilities of the Champions
- Participants will gain an understanding of how to handle challenges during events
Duration (without Q&A)
[edit]20 minutes
Specific requirements
[edit]LCD, or projector for the presentation, access to wifi, and a PA system
Interested attendees (Please add yourself, and you may indicate your questions to the presenter).
[edit]- Doreen Appiah
- Walkuraxx (talk) 06:35, 19 June 2022 (UTC)
- Ngostary2k (talk) 21:45, 19 June 2022 (UTC)