GLAM/Newsletter/September 2024/Contents/Poland report

This Month in GLAM – Volume XIV, Issue IX, September 2024

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Poland report

What's up in GLAM-Wiki in Poland

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CEE Meeting 2024

At the CEE Meeting 2024, Kamila Neuman, Open Culture Manager at Wikimedia Polska, presented the challenges and opportunities related to organizing Wikipedia editing workshops for GLAM staff.

In her presentation, titled "Experiment, Fail, Learn: Innovative Strategies for Engaging Partner’s Staff in Wikipedia Editing" she emphasized that engaging cultural sector staff, despite many barriers (such as lack of time and numerous projects), brings significant benefits. The goal of the presentation was to inspire CEE Meeting participants to develop effective, practical strategies for involving GLAM staff in Wikipedia editing.

Kamila Neuman's second presentation at the CEE Meeting 2024, titled "Effective GLAM-Wiki Partnerships: Learning from Others' Mistakes with Limited Resources," focused on building successful partnerships even with limited resources by drawing on existing knowledge and the experiences of others.

Kamila emphasized that we don't need to "reinvent the wheel" when creating GLAM-Wiki partnerships. Instead, we can benefit from the wealth of experience accumulated within the Wikimedia movement. One of the biggest challenges, however, is navigating the vast amount of available knowledge and best practices. In this context, Kamila shared her most valuable information sources, which have proven useful in her own work. She highlighted the importance of finding relevant materials and adapting them to individual needs.

She also encouraged active participation in international meetings, where knowledge and experiences can be exchanged, and support from others can be sought. Sharing one's own insights can help in building better, more effective GLAM-Wiki partnerships.

You can find these presentations on Commons under the following links: Experiment, Fail, Learn - Innovative Strategies for Engaging Partner’s Staff in Wikipedia Editing by Kamila Neuman, CEE Meeting 2024 and Smart GLAM-Wiki Partnerships - Learning from Others' Mistakes with Limited Resources by Kamila Neuman, CEE Meeting 2024.

Wikipedian in Residence Updates

The Czartoryski Library - A Division of the National Museum
The Czartoryski Library - A Division of the National Museum

In collaboration with the National Museum in Krakow, a new Wikiresidency has begun at the Czartoryski Library. This residency, led by Agata Stadnicka, focuses on making the library's valuable historical collection more accessible by digitizing and sharing it on Wikimedia Commons. The collection includes rare manuscripts, illuminated texts, and documents that date back centuries. Notable works include royal charters, treaties, and personal correspondence from figures like Nicolaus Copernicus and Fryderyk Chopin.

The Wikiresidency is part of a broader project to renovate and modernize the library, turning it into a "wiki-friendly" space for knowledge seekers. Over the coming years, the project will involve digitizing the library's resources and expanding related content on Wikipedia and its sister projects. The first phase includes training library staff in Wikipedia editing, using their expertise to enhance high-quality content related to the collection.

As part of the residency, public events and workshops will be held, inviting both the museum team and the wider Wikimedia community to engage with this extraordinary collection.

The project is co-funded by the European Union as part of the European Regional Development Fund, supporting the renovation and modernization efforts.

Bereźce on the Pripyat, cottage
Bykowce near Sanok
Kosów, old houses under Castle Mountain
Shepherds' concert near Sityck, in Polesia
Sienkiewicze, interior of a room
Sienkiewicze, by the weaving workshop

In September, Wojciech Szczęsny, Wikipedian in Residence at the National Library in Warsaw, illustrated Wikipedia articles and Wikidata elements using files from Polona. In total, he added 738 images. These included views of towns and villages from Poland and the pre-war Kresy region, as well as ethnographic photographs.

A significant portion of the files consisted of photographs by Henryk Poddębski, one of the most important travel photographers of the interwar period. You can learn more about him here: Henryk Poddębski. The files sourced from Polona are categorized separately under: Photographs by Henryk Poddębski in the National Library in Warsaw.

On September 10th, an online meeting of Polish Wikipedians in Residence took place. The purpose of these meetings is to exchange knowledge, share experiences, and establish common standards for GLAM-Wiki collaboration.

The latest meeting was initiated by Wojtek Szczęsny, who presented simple ways to streamline work within residencies. He also showcased a custom tool he developed that speeds up editing in Wikipedia, Wikidata, and other Wikimedia projects.

We discussed important GLAM-related presentations from the recent Wikimania in Katowice and focused on tools for measuring the impact of collaborations, such as the Commons Impact Metrics proposed by the Wikimedia Foundation, which we will be testing soon.

During the two-hour meeting, we also reviewed plans for the development of the Wikipedian in Residence program and discussed the ongoing work on the GLAM-Wiki guide, aimed at helping GLAM institutions better understand how to collaborate effectively with volunteers and Wikimedia Polska. We also touched upon the topic of the next meeting, which is planned as an in-person gathering in November this year.

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