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As this role is a fairly new and interesting-sounding job title, I thought I should intimate what this year-long residency will involve.

In short, I am to facilitate a sustainable relationship between the University and Wikimedia UK to the mutual benefit of both communities.

You're so Venn: Where the Wikimedian in Residence sits between Wikimedia UK and the University of Edinburgh.

You’re so Venn: Where the Wikimedian in Residence sits between Wikimedia UK and the University of Edinburgh.

To do this, I will be an advocate of open knowledge and deliver training events & workshops which will further both the quantity & quality of open knowledge and the university’s commitment to digital literacy.

Areas of convergence between Wikimedia UK and the University of Edinburgh's missions.

Areas of convergence between Wikimedia UK and the University of Edinburgh’s missions.

More practically, this will involve arranging & delivering skills-training sessions which will fit in with and, importantly enhance, the learning & teaching within the curriculum. I will also stage events outside the curriculum which will draw on the university’s, and Edinburgh’s, rich history & knowledge.

Editathons will be a large part of this, however, there are numerous ways where staff & students can get involved & directly contribute their knowledge & expertise to develop Wikimedia UK’s diverse range of projects, including: Wikipedia; Wikivoyage; Wiktionary; Wikispecies; Wikiquotes; Wikisource; Wikiversity; Wikibooks; Wikinews;  Wikimedia Commons; Wikidata; Mediawiki; Wikimedia Labs and more besides. (https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Our_projects)

Wikimedia UK's diverse range projects

Not just Wikipedia: Wikimedia UK’s diverse range projects (above).

If you would like to know more about how our main open knowledge project, Wikipedia, fits in with academia then these two recent articles make very compelling reading:

  1. https://wikiedu.org/blog/2016/01/14/wikipedia-15-and-education/
  2. https://www.refme.com/blog/2016/01/15/wikipedia-the-digital-gateway-to-academic-research/

Alternatively, I am based in the Learning, Teaching & Web Services Division within the Hugh Robson Link Building on George Square, Edinburgh,  and am very happy to chat to you about the residency.

Contact details

Contact details

Indeed, should you wish to discuss collaborating on any projects then I would be only too glad to hear from you.