I'd really like to stress that last point - with any group, the most
important thing you can ask is what /they're/ after, what they want to
do, what will help them to do what interests them in general.
Based on that, you will be much more effective at determining which
things to follow up on with them, based on what everyone here has
suggested, because every group you talk to is going to be different,
even if they are ostensibly a group of the same thing.
On 17/09/2018 13:26, Andromeda Yelton wrote:
I am a librarian! I think the key thing is finding ways that
*Wikipedia* can advance the *librarians'* goals. I think when these
initiatives fail it's often because they're framed in terms of how
librarians can advance Wikipedia's goals. (And asking people who are
overworked and underpaid to contribute free labor to a project they're
not already invested in is...not an obvious value proposition.)
Now I have no idea what the going concerns are for Egyptian
librarians, so I can't advise you on specifics. But here are some
things librarians are often interested in that can be approached via
Wikipedia:
* research and information literacy skills: finding and evaluating sources
* digital literacy and computer usage skills
* propaganda, misinformation, fake news (though I expect this plays
very differently in Egypt than where I am in the US)
* supporting the learning that is going on in professors' classrooms
* open access
They're often interested in digital preservation and research data
management too, but their approaches are SO different that Wikipedia
is probably less useful here.
What kind of interest are your librarians expressing? Why do THEY want
to learn more?
On Mon, Sep 17, 2018, 7:22 AM Reem Al-Kashif <[email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:
Hello,
Hope this finds you well. I didn't plan on meeting librarians at a
university here in Cairo, Egypt, but they expressed interest in
Wikipedia, so we are meeting :). The problem is, I really don't
know what activities to offer them. I have zero experience in
Wiki+libraries collaborations. It would be more than great if
anybody could help me out. What I need is:
1. Understanding the nature of librarians work (I know it is a big
topic, but some general remarks would do).
2. Having examples of activities they can be part of to contribute
to Wiki (be it Wikipedia or Wikimedia).
3. Understanding how rewarding those activities are (so that I
explain to them)
4. Having examples of similar activities, if any, around the world.
Bonus point 5. Having a clear plan of action to give them (i.e.
what do we do after the meeting and so on)
Thank you so so much in advance for helping me navigate this
uncharted territory.
Best,
Reem
--
*Kind regards,
Reem Al-Kashif*
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