Wikimedian in residence to be recruited for Scotland’s public libraries

Library - Image credit: Enokson via Flickr

The Scottish Library and Information Council (SLIC) is to recruit the first ‘Wikimedian in residence’ for Scotland’s public libraries.

The aim of the temporary position is to increase the digital contribution of libraries and to widen access to offline collections of historical and cultural content held by Scotland’s libraries. 

The Wikimedian in residence will train library staff to create and edit articles for Wikipedia, identify appropriate content and help libraries to host digital content creation workshops for library users.

Content will include local history materials and biographies of local people of note that are not currently digitised, with a particular focus on notable Scottish women to address the under-representation of female achievements in general across Wikipedia content.

The project was proposed by Inverclyde Libraries and funded by an award from the Public Library Improvement Fund (PLIF), which is administered by SLIC on behalf of the Scottish Government. 

Pamela Tulloch, chief executive of SLIC, said: “There is a widespread perception that disruptive technologies like Wikipedia are making the role of public libraries as information providers redundant. 

“On the contrary, public libraries in Scotland are embracing digital technology and using it to their advantage, and this project is a perfect example of that in action. 

“We will be working with Wikipedia to showcase library collections to a wider audience.”

Daria Cybulska, Head of Programmes and Evaluation, Wikimedia UK said: “Librarians are both enablers for local communities in terms of accessing knowledge, as well as professionals in a position to share digital skills with library users in Scotland. 

“For this reason, we are very excited to be partnering with SLIC to deliver a Wikimedian in Residence project, potentially reaching every library in Scotland. 

“This is the first project of this kind in the UK and has great potential in terms of skills development and growth of open knowledge.”

SLIC is looking for a person with experience of editing Wikipedia and working with its community, knowledge of copyright issues, ability to teach and good reporting and evaluation skills. 

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 7 June.