GLAM/Newsletter/February 2025/Contents/New Zealand report

This Month in GLAM – Volume XV, Issue II, February 2025

New Zealand report

Wikipedia podcast episode, Trilepidea newsletter article, and the Wikipedian at Large

Welcome to Wikipedia podcast episode

Wikimedian in Residence at Auckland Museum, Anjuli a.k.a Winnieswikiworld hosted an episode of The Amp, brought to you by Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. The episode was written and produced by Wikipedia enthusiast Steph Strock and Anjuli Selvadurai with sound design by Sara O’Brien and production support from Laura Skerritt. The executive producer was Teresa Cowie from Connect Content.

The episode dives into the world of Wikipedia, introducing the platform to newbies, discussing how Auckland Museum works with Wikimedia and addressing the importance of sharing content about our city, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Anjuli speaks to fellow Auckland Museum WiR Marty Blayney (User:Prosperosity) about their contributions to local histories and suburb pages on Wikipedia. Online Collections Information and Partnerships Manager James Taylor talks data, reach, and the motivations behind the Museum's involvement. We also hear from two of our Wikipedia summer students, Aashish Ramanlal and Katryn Baker, about their experience as new editors, as well as how Collection Technician Research Support Sophie Elborough's published research has been utilised in the Women in Red movement, making women servicepeople more visible in our war history.

To listen to the episode Welcome to Wikipedia visit the Auckland Museum website.

NZ Plant Conservation Network Article

Stitchbird2 and Ambrosia10 recently had an article published in Trilepidea, the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network newsletter (starting on page 4).

The article gave information on 10 online contributions that network members could undertake to assist biodiversity and open science communities. Amongst these 10 suggestions was information on how to upload images into Wikimedia Commons, using the ISA tool to add structured data to Wikimedia Commons, contributing to Wikidata using Mix'n'match, how to edit both Wikidata and Wikipedia, and finally how to join New Zealand based Wiki meetups.

A Wikipedian at Large

User:Giantflightlessbirds has been working on two separate projects as a mobile Wikipedian or "Wikipedian at Large". The first is the annual grant given out by Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand, which runs half-time for all of 2025. The focus of the 2025 Wikipedian at Large project is Banks Peninsula, a volcanic peninsula next to Ōtautahi Christchurch on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. Some good coverage in three local papers (for example, "Wikipedians to shine a light on Banks Peninsula" in the Press) led to several new volunteer editors signing up. The first public event was a Wikipedian field trip to Ōnuku Marae on 6 February to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840; the New Zealand Governor General and Prime Minister were present and many representatives of Kāi Tahu, the local Māori iwi. Three Wikipedians photographed the marae and village and interviewed attendees, and a few days later an new article appeared on Ōnuku.

Waitangi Days at Ōnuku
Wero (2019)
Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy and Rānui Ngārimu (2019)
Wero (2025)
Jymal Morgan delivers whaikōrero (2025)

A second shorter Wikipedian at Large project has been happening with the District Council of Ashburton, a small town an hour from Christchurch. Spurred by similar work done on the West Coast of the South Island, the Ashburton Wikipedian at Large project is using the Council's resources and photo library to improve the Wikipedia, Commons, and Wikidata coverage of the area. Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand is funding work with Ashburton Art Gallery and Heritage Centre to digitise local history books and transcribe them with Wikisource, and to upload about 1000 out-of-copyright historical photos to Commons. On a recent field trip Giantflightlessbirds photographed the scenery of the Ashburton Lakes area, including Mount Sunday, a tourist attraction from its role in a Lord of the Rings movie.