British Library is looking for a Wikimedian In Residence (6 months)

  • February 9, 2012

The British Library is recruiting an experienced Wikipedia editor with a good understanding of Wikimedia and GLAM projects. The post has funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the programme of activities will be run as part of the on-going partnership with Wikimedia UK. As the official Wikimedian in Residence, the post offers the opportunity to make a considerable contribution to the public’s knowledge of the British Library’s unique collections and AHRC-funded projects by engaging with the widest possible international community of Wikipedians/Wikimedians and GLAM “e-volunteers”.

The position has been specified in consultation with Wikimedia UK and is an ideal opportunity for an experienced Wikimedian with strong communication and organisational skills. The key outcomes will be to promote and establish collaboration between staff and Wikimedia volunteers, in addition to arranging Wikipedia (and sister project) training sessions and events at the Library.

For further details, and to apply, please visit www.bl.uk/careers

If you would like to discuss the UK GLAM programme and our cultural partnerships, please contact <uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Fae>

Closing date: 23 February 2012

8 thoughts on “British Library is looking for a Wikimedian In Residence (6 months)”

  1. Pity this isn’t based at Boston Spa. Why not, jooi? Does it need to be in That London, given that it’s effectively Net-based?

    1. A fundamental part of the role is to work closely with curators and various departments within the library as well as running events. Most of this work will require meeting people at St Pancras, but Boston Spa will be another major location to support; to what extent Boston Spa might be an alternative home location might be something to negotiate during the interview… I’m aware that the Wired article headlined this as editing all day, and although the role requires significant experience of the Wikimedia projects, the expectation is that the Wikip/median in Residence will have the inter-personal skills to enthuse and empower experts and an e-volunteer network to improve the body of open public knowledge rather than doing it all themselves.

  2. This is a great opportunity. As a Wikisourceror, I would be very interested in collaborating closely with this project. There has just just been a Wikipedian in Residence at the US National Archive and Records Adminitration, and Wikisource gained hundreds of unique works though its Wikiproject NARA. Being a library rather than a records archive, the British Library offers even greater prospect of being able to contribute bodily to the Wikisources.

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