FYI. Liam Wyatt has championed Wikimedia's relationships with cultural institutions, and has led key initiatives like the British Museum's "Wikipedian in Residence" program in June 2010 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/BM ). Please see his announcement below regarding an important event hat will take place in London in November. Hope some of you will be able to make it there.

Erik

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt <at> gmail.com>
Date: 2010/9/14
Subject: [cultural-partners] Announcing GLAM-WIKI:UK
To: wikimediauk-l <at> lists.wikimedia.org, chapters-cultural-partners-AeOJrEpdGNdYqTQye2laTg@public.gmane.org, Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List <foundation-l <at> lists.wikimedia.org>
Cc: board-AeOJrEpdGNeDdCuiJf/lWA@public.gmane.org, Matthew Cock <MCOCK <at> thebritishmuseum.ac.uk>


Dear WikimediaUK, Cultural Partnerships & Foundation-l mailing lists,

On behalf of Wikimedia UK I am pleased to formally announce the second edition of the GLAM-WIKI conference - this time to be held in London at the British Museum on the 26th and 27th of November. The purpose of this conference is to bring the UK and European GLAM sector [gallery, library, archive & museum] into direct conversation with the Wikimedia community so we can build a better understanding of our common purpose - sharing culture - and how to assist each to best do that. After all, we are here for the same reason, for the same people, in the same medium so we might as well do it together

As the British Museum will be generously hosting this event, and today marks the anniversary of the deciphering of the Rosetta Stone (hence today's Feature Article on the English Wikipedia), we thought it would be an auspicious time to declare that registration is now open. The registration price for Wikimedians is £20.

You can read all the details at:
http://glamwiki.org
and the WM-UK blogpost just published: http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2010/09/announcing-registration-now-open-for-glam-wikiuk-at-the-british-museum/

Wikimedia France will be hosting edition three of GLAM-WIKI one week later in December at the Assemblée nationale in Paris, and Wikimedia Australia hosted edition one last year at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, so we're in good company.

Keynote speakers at this conference will be:

• Author, activist, blogger and London local Cory Doctorow
• Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation Sue Gardner
• Director of the Columbia University copyright advisory office Dr. Kenneth Crews

And many other presenters besides! Some are already listed on the conference page and many more will be announced by <at> wikimediaUK

Wikimedians from the UK and further afield are invited to register for this conference. If you are in contact with professionals in the GLAM sector, please mention this event to them too. Moreover, if you would like to come and moderate a session please write to me directly with your proposed session.

If you have any questions you can write to me privately, leave them on the event's talkpage or reply on the mailing list.

Sincerely,
Liam [[witty lama]]

Convener, GLAM-WIKI:UK & Wikipedian in Residence, British Museum
wittylama.com/blog
Peace, love & metadata

_______________________________________________
Chapters-cultural-partners mailing list
Chapters-cultural-partners-AeOJrEpdGNdYqTQye2laTg@public.gmane.org
http://lists.wikimedia.ch/listinfo/chapters-cultural-partners

--
Erik Möller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

Today I am pleased to announce the Wikimedia Foundation Community Fellows program, a project of the Foundation’s Community Department. This program is partly something the Foundation has been considering for a long time and partly an outgrowth of the recent Community Department open hiring call. In reading through the nearly 2,000 submissions to the open call, we realized that there are far more qualified members of the Wikimedia community than we can ever hire at one time. We also realized that the most promising submissions came from people who were interested in working on specific problems or opportunities in the movement rather than looking for permanent staff positions.

Therefore, the Fellows program is intended to create an environment where individuals and teams can concentrate full-time on important problems and opportunities in Wikimedia projects and the movement as a whole. Fellows will lead intensive, time-limited projects focused on key areas of risk and opportunity — projects that require the support of the Foundation to succeed.

We are currently looking for Fellows among those who have already answered the open hiring call and we will also be posting a form for submitting new Fellowship applications soon. In addition to Wikimedia volunteers, we would like to engage outside academics and professionals who have expertise that could benefit our projects.

Each Fellowship will have its own objectives that require a unique skill set. The length of the Fellowships at the Wikimedia Foundation will vary from weeks to as long as a year, depending on the requirements of the project. A handful of Fellows may eventually join the Foundation staff permanently. However, the purpose of the program is to take charge of vital work that may not require a long-term position but which volunteers have not previously dealt with successfully.

Along with introducing what will be a continuing Wikimedia Foundation program, we’d like to welcome the first Fellow in the Community Department: Steven Walling. Steven represents exactly what we’d hoped to attract through this process: talented Wikimedians who have a knack for crafting clear theories about how Wikimedia communities operate and how they can be supported. Steven’s previous experience as a freelance writer, blogger, and community manager make him an excellent choice to pilot this program. Steven is beginning a year-long Fellowship, during which he will work on multiple projects. He will be blogging about his projects as he continues.

We are deeply excited about the possibilities for the Wikimedia Foundation Fellowship program. Bringing in talented individuals who have specific projects in mind will allow us all to ask questions and solve problems that were previously out of reach for either volunteers or staff. I hope you’ll join us in welcoming Steven and more new Wikimedia Foundation Fellows as they are announced.

Zack Exley,
Chief Community Officer