Wikimedia Conference 2016/Program/26

26: How to become GLAM proof

How to move forward

Barbara presenting

What was this session about?

The session way about what important steps are to take and obstacles to remind before organizing a successful GLAM partnership.

What are the next steps to be taken?

A follow-up session will be held during the Wikimania (called "Wiki-wisdom for cultural institutions. Tried and tested formats for GLAMs")

Who is the person to reach out to?

Barbara Fischer (WMDE), the GLAM Wiki mailing list is also a good place to reach out

Slides

This session documentation was approved by one of the speakers.

Original Description

Together we will collect data and answers to following topics / questions:

1. Why are we doing it: Are we looking for content, editors and more? Low hanging GLAM fruits technique vs the "give me your HD images"; is GLAM equal GLAM? Libraries may contribute other things than archives or museums.
2. How do we get to do it: Trust building in partnerships & strategies that help to overcome reluctance; arguments that usually come opposing the idea of coop. Hinders such as no free licenses wanted
3. What could we do: collection of formats to cooperate; Events vs long terms projects. How to keep on and document an "it's complicated" relationship between our org and a GLAM; fields on which action could take place (cooperating with volunteers, learning how to use free licenses, learning technical bits ...)
4. What is needed: material in use (bring & show what you have), what would be helpful?

Session Format: Learning (Workshop)
Desired Outcome: Based on the learning pattern we might get a practical guide that will be more handy and enlarged by the experience of the participants
Speaker(s): Àlex Hinojo (Amical) & Barbara Fischer (WMDE)
Summary of the session: The both presenters – Barbara Fischer from Wikimedia Deutschland and Àlex Hinojo from Amical Wikimedia – both are GLAM organizers in their home organizations. The idea of the session is to build upon the previous one (“Organising a GLAM partnership being a user group” by Nikola Kalchev). Barbara presents the modular GLAM programme by WMDE. WMDE has identified 4 major hurdles for GLAMs to cooperate: A general lack of information, an information gap concerning open licence, technical obstacles and a lack of practice to interact with digital volunteers. Furthermore, she refers to the Learning pattern “Towards a successfull GLAM partnership” and stresses the importance of preparing the cooperations well in advance.

Together with Alex she invites the audience to collect out of their experience answers to following questions:

Why are we doing it : Are we looking for content, editors and more? Low hanging GLAM fruits technique vs the "give me your HD images; is GLAM equal GLAM? Libraries may contribute other things than archives or museums.
How do we get to do it: Trust building in partnerships & strategies that help to overcome reluctance; arguments that usually come opposing the idea of coop. Hinders such as no free licenses wanted
What could we do: collection of formats to cooperate; Events vs long terms projects. How to keep on and document an "it's complicated" relationship between our org and a GLAM; fields on which action could take place (cooperating with volunteers, learning how to use free licenses, learning technical bits ...)
What is needed: material in use (bring & show what you have), what would be helpful?

Answers to WHY: (order as appeared)

In India not many documents are online, many are behind closed doors. So GLAM work is mostly for “getting access”.
Having a nice place or an important name makes it more attractive to organize a Wikipedia workshop there.
One participant said GLAM work were mostly for increasing the quality of Wikipedia and its sister projects.
One participant said “schools for librarians can help professionalizing Wikipedians”.
Another participant mentioned the idea of spreading free knowledge and licenses to third parties.
Publicity and reputation for the Wikimedia Chapter
Estimation of volunteer work
Getting access to venue and resources
Obtaining (trusted) content for the Wikimedia projects
General getting access
Integrating professional skills and knowledge
Informing GLAMs on the open/free model
Professionalize Wikipedia and Wikimedia as whole
(add your argument)

After discussing the reasons for working with GLAM institutions, both presenters highlight common obstacles in the field. What kind of obstacles are known in the work with GLAM institutions?

A common obstacle is to get volunteers interested to work with the institutions. While volunteers have mostly free time on weekends, many GLAM institutions don’t work on weekend. So they have to dedicate their time, change their behavior for joint activities.
Another common barrier is that institutions don’t know much about Wikipedia, Wikimedia or Free Licenses. So they not used to work with these concepts and might have to change their behaviour.
Many GLAM find it hard to integrate both knowledge but especially media content to the Wikimedia projects
(add your argument)

For these obstacles – or for the working with GLAM institutions – there are some proven, useful solutions and ways.

Convince them with money-saving arguments, and their original approach to be open for the public
Have outreach / GLAM conferences, events together to highlight the positive sides, the advantages of the work.
WMDE developed a modular concept for working with GLAM institutions. Specific formats for specific needs (GLAM on Tour, KulTour, Wikiversum Weltcafé, Coding da Vinci, and GWToolset)
Trust-building is important! Keep the same contacts.
Be honest about what you can do, in terms of possible interested volunteers, etc., as we are not providing a service, we try to collaborate
Deep interest and curiosity are the best arguments to bring GLAM institutions as well as Wikipedians together. Show that Wikipedians are very interested in their material.

Here is collection of convincing arguments collected at the session.

Answers to HOW: (order as appeared)

Using Wikimedia content is cost reducing
Integrating to Wikimedia projects will increase visibility of GLAM
Cooperation is a chance to get audience involved
Global best practice examples shows how it is estimated by others
Get your volunteers an opportunity to engage themselves through new (Wikimedia) means
Enrich your collection and your knowledge by linking it to data from Wikimedia
Get familiar with professional digital standards
It is a GLAM task to enhance knowledge - Wikimedia helps you to scale up
social responsibility of GLAM institutions towards society
Open / free content is a chance link to further data and to explore its use in new contexts
many institutions were membership-based, so offering another possibility to engage people by showing these members that they can also share their knowledge on Wikipedia
as soon as some (or certain) institutions started collaborating, it was easier to convince others to join too

The presenters had to close the session before coming to point 3 and 4 due to time limitations. Thus all agreed how important it will be to follow-up this fruitful discussion at the Wikimania. The goal would be to have a rather complete library both of learning patterns on different formats for events, workshops and consulting structures and on information material (printed, online, presentations, Wiki pages …) as produced by chapters and volunteers within the movement.