Wikimania 2024

Learn and discuss with members of the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network
08-09, 16:15–16:55 (Poland), Lviv (21+22+23) (interpretation)
Language: English

This roundtable will share the experiences of various Wikimedians in Residence (WiR). Roles, challenges, best practices, and tools they have used in their work with Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and other projects. New initiatives, whether local or global in nature as well as strategy to expand the impact of WIR will be on the table as well.

Discussion with the wider Wikimedia community is encouraged, even expected, in order to share best practices related to new developments and how does the work of WIRs advance the Wikimedia goals, and finds way in the 2030 strategy implementations.


Depending on the time available for the session, we will adapt our strategy.
If the time allocated permit, we will start with a series of 5-minute lightning talks by different Wikimedians in Residence, followed by a panel discussion, and exchanges with the audience. In case there are time restrains, we will mostly focus on a discussion with all interested parties (host, guests, and full audience !)

The proposal is submitted by members of the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network (WREN). WREN is an official Wikimedia affiliate dedicated to cultural, heritage, and scientific collaboration with partner institutions such as GLAM, NGO and government entities. Goals of the organization include defining and protecting the common elements of the Wikimedian in Residence role, creating a peer support network which invites new and experienced Wikimedians in Residence to find each other for collaboration, and to encourage a global professional environment which inspires institutions to offer appointments to persons to engage with Wikimedia projects.

Come prepared to learn, but also to ask questions ! Wikimedians from around the world are welcome.

Learning outcomes:
Our audience, after joining this session, will
* Understand the role of Wikimedians in Residence (WiR) in their work with partner institutions.
* Review the goals, outcomes, and lessons learned from specific WiR projects in their respective lightning talks.
* Discover and share best practices for contributing quality content at scale.
* Discuss and propose future types of collaboration with external partners.

The submission is proposed by Florence Devouard, in the name of the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network (WREN) UserGroup : https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedians_in_Residence_Exchange_Network

Several members of the group have agreed to join that session, but the final list will be confirmed later.
So far names include : Jamie Flood, Lane Rasberry, Andrew Lih, Martin Poulter, Eric Luth etc.

Session recording: https://youtu.be/y5rg4dIxH0A?list=PLhV3K_DS5YfJ1xyY0LNDNX3RKyRQEXOdB&t=24589


How does your session relate to the event themes: Collaboration of the Open?*

The short talks and the discussions will be a way to learn from each other and share knowledge about initiatives and ways of dealing with challenges of Open-advocacy and Wiki-related work.

We will have the opportunity to showcase a thematic group with members from all over the world, engaged with very different institutions/organizations is an example of their inclusion and our diversity in outreach work

But the main hope is for us to discuss how does the work of WIRs advance the Wikimedia goals, and finds its way in the current and future 2030 strategy implementations, in particular through collaborations (such as an IGO collaboration or such as partners working across several languages)

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?*

Average knowledge about Wikimedia projects or activities

How do you plan to deliver this session?*

Onsite in Katowice

What other themes or topics does your session fit into? Please choose from the list of tags below.

Collaboration, Capacity building

Username:Anthere (She/her). French. Languages : FR N; EN-4.

  • Co-Executive Director of Wiki in Africa
  • Wikipedian-in-Residence at World Intellectual Property Rights (WIPO)
  • Former Chair of Wikimedia Foundation
  • Co-founder, former Vice-Chair and currently member of Wikimédia France

Key words : Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Africa, IP rights, Open Movement, Community Building, Open Source, Creative Commons, Life-long learning, accountability, Gender Gap, Equity

More info and contacts
* fdevouard//@//anthere.org
* https://www.linkedin.com/in/devouard/

This speaker also appears in:

Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and English Wikipedia contributor, trainer and advocate. Current Wikimedian In Residence at the Khalili Foundation and past Wikimedian In Residence at the University of Oxford. Work with universities and cultural institutions to promote open culture, open education, and open access. User:MartinPoulter

Wikimedian in Residence at the University of Edinburgh (Jan 2016 to date)

Mapping the Accused Witches of Scotland with Wikidata (witches.is.ed.ac.uk)
Wikimedia at the University of Edinburgh website (tinyurl.com/wiki-uoe)

This speaker also appears in:

Jamie Flood has been editing since 2016 and has served as Senior Wikipedian at the United States National Agricultural Library since 2019. She is a founding member of the Wikimedians of Indiana User Group and has facilitated editing efforts across the country with various collaborators. Jamie is an experienced community organizer and collaborator and was the Community Manager for the development of the View it! tool. Jamie is passionate about editing around agriculture, women in STEM and other fields, and sharing cultural heritage collections on Wikimedia Commons.

This speaker also appears in:

J'ai rejoins le mouvement Wikimédia en 2021. Actuellement, je suis membre du conseil d'administration de Wikimédia France et Wikimédien en résidence à Strasbourg.

I am Project Manager for Involvement and Advocacy at Wikimedia Sverige. In that capacity, I have recently worked primarily with international partnerships, such as with the UN agencies, and advocacy for the open movement at the national, European and international level. I have an M.A. in Comparative Literature, and live in Stockholm.

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