The Chemical Heritage Foundation's Wikipedian in Residence program began in May 2013, under the supervision of Jeffrey Guin. From May 2013 to June 2014, Mary Mark Ockerbloom was employed as the Wikipedian in Residence through a series of short-term contracts. During this time, work focused on engaging with staff at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and members of the broader digital humanities and Wikipedia communities, to identify areas of common interest. Mary participated in and organized a variety of events, both at the Chemical Heritage Foundation and elsewhere in the community. Several hundred images were released, on an ongoing basis, from different collections within CHF, and over 700 articles were improved or created on Wikipedia. At the end of the pilot period, Mary was hired as ongoing staff. The following information describes some of the activities undertaken during the pilot period.
Improve Wikipedia's coverage of people and topics relating to the history of Science, particularly Chemistry, and Women in science. This includes editing existing pages, providing access to sources for citations on existing pages, and creating new pages about notable people and topics. Specific events focusing on content have included:
Donate content, particularly images from the CHF archives on topics such as Alchemy, to Wikimedia Commons. These images may then be utilized by educators and researchers worldwide without restrictions.
Date | Images on Commons |
Distinct images used (Main namespace only) |
June 27, 2013 | 80 | 75 |
October 15, 2013, Ada Lovelace Day | 120 | |
December 12, 2013 | 214 | 130 (60.75%) |
April 4, 2014, after Women's History Month | 323 | 178 (55.11%) |
Empower Foundation staff and guests to develop skills and confidence as Wikipedia contributors.
Promote opportunities for new relationships and connections within the libraries, archives, and museum communities.
The following events were held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation as part of the Wikipedian in Residence pilot program, between May 2013 and June 2014.
CHF’s Wikipedian in Residence, Mary Mark Ockerbloom, will demystify how Wikipedia works and explain why contributing knowledge there is vital to the relevancy of cultural institutions. She will also explore how Wikipedia became the world’s most popular information source, powered by the wisdom of the crowd around the world. Since a very small percentage of our heritage resources are publicly accessible, we’ll wrap up with a fun discovery session themed “We have Wonders.” We’ll quickly brainstorm ideas for enriching Wikipedia beginning with our personal favorites from CHF’s rich trove of collections and scholarship. Whether you have hopes of becoming a respected Wikipedian or simply want to understand how to use the service more effectively, this is a critical primer.
If you haven’t shared your brainstorming list from our first session, you can download the brainstorming document from:
This is a no-stress opportunity to start your journey as a Wikipedia contributor. If you aren't concerned about uploading images, you are welcome to attend only the first half.
In the first part of the presentation Mary will walk through creating an account, searching, editing pages, and creating new pages. If you bring a computer, you can create your username and password, make your first edit, and practice editing in your sandbox. After the Editing overview, we’ll break briefly for lunch. In the second part of the workshop, after the break, Mary will talk about uploading images and metadata to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. Ideas from the previous brainstorming session may be used as starting points to illustrate working with Wikipedia. If you aren't concerned with uploading images, feel free to attend only the first part of the talk.
Draft slides for the presentation are available online at:
There are also some "sample" starting points for structuring various types of articles:
You can use these as a reference guide after the presentation to try working through examples on your own.
Members of the CHF community and guests will have an opportunity to work on Wikipedia pages of interest to them. Activities may include editing pages, creating new pages, and adding images and metadata. Coaching will be provided. CHF's collection of women scientists will be a focus. If you have a favorite chemist, alchemist, or past award recipient help to write him or her into Wikipedian history!
Please visit the Meetup page for more details about this event.
Please visit the
Meetup page for more details about this event.
The GLAM Café at the Chemical Heritage Foundation is a meetup group, held the second Tuesday of each month from 5-8 p.m., for people interested in areas including GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums), digital humanities and Wikipedia.
At least 36 people attended, about half of whom were involved in PhillyDH. People interested in Wikipedia started arriving around 4.30, and mostly left by 7.00 or 7.30. PhillyDH people arrived between 5.00 and 6.30 and stayed until 8.00. PhillyDH held a breakout meeting from 6.00 to 8.00. There is overlap between the two groups, so having rolling times may work well.
Time | Wikipedia/GLAM | PhillyDH Breakout |
4.30 | 5 | 0 |
5.30 | 28 | 0 |
6.30 | 18 | 18 |
7.30 | 4 | 18 |
The large round tables in the GLAM room worked well; we should have 4 or 5 of them next time instead of 3. The lounge-style seating was used somewhat in the beginning, but not once the groups broke apart. We may want to have some available. People rearranged the tables in the breakout room into a rough circle so that they could all see each other during their meeting. They may break into smaller working groups next time. The small rectangular tables are good there because they are easy to rearrange. The lighting was good.
Having a mix of sweet and protein in the snacks is important. The Greek yoghurt was popular. Bagels with cream cheese would be a good choice as well. Cookies, danishes or biscotti are all good complements. All three drink options (coffee, tea, water) were used.
We should plan to accommodate those who come early. For the next GLAM Café, the PhillyDH breakout group plans to meet from 6.30 to 8.00, giving people time to attend the GLAM Café beforehand. There was a sense that the first meeting was largely a meet-and-greet, and that people would like the next meeting to be more work-oriented (focused on getting things done more than on talking).
In spite of several inches of snowfall, 10 people attended the GLAM Café. Most were from the PhillyDH community. Discussion focused on project development, sharing techniques for various projects and upcoming digital humanities events.
Twenty-one people attended the GLAM Café. There was a mix of interests and organizations. About 2/3 of the people had connections to the PhillyDH community, but many of them also were interested in Wikipedia. Around 6.15, the attendees split up into 4 or 5 working groups.
Seventeen people attended the GLAM Café, mostly from Philly DH, with some interest in Wikipedia. There was interest in having 3-4 lightning talks next week, just before we break out into working groups. We split up into groups rather later in the meeting this week; using the lightning talks as a transition point could be useful. Organize with Matt to ensure that we have people lined up. The Wikipedia group brainstormed ideas for a spring Wikipedia event, possibly a Phlash trip.
Between 17 and 20 people attended. Using the smaller room for a breakout and having the food in the center of the mezzanine worked well. There were two lightning talks. Mary worked with Marianne Weldon and Evan McGonagill from Bryn Mawr to prepare for their edit-a-thon. Audrey Hamelers from University of Delaware is planning an edit-a-thon for April 26.
At least 22 people attended. More than half were interested in PhillyDH, and slightly less than half in Wikipedia event planning. Jeff Guin gave a brief talk on the MonkeyBook. Attendees worked on a planned edit-a-thon at the University of Delaware, being organized by Audrey Hamelers and others. We also brainstormed about a proposed June GLAM Wiki Day to be held at CHF.
About 14 people attended. The PhillyDH people discussed upcoming initiatives for PhilllyDh. Four Wikipedians edited articles about women scientists, in memory of Adrianne Wadewitz. New articles were created for Margaret E. M. Tolbert and Madeleine M. Joullié (DYK on 19 May 2014). Existing articles edited included Gertrude B. Elion, Reatha King, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Gladys Anderson Emerson, and Allene Jeanes.
GLAM Café meetups continue to be held on a monthly basis.
The Chemical Heritage Foundation's Wikipedian in Residence program began in May 2013, under the supervision of Jeffrey Guin. From May 2013 to June 2014, Mary Mark Ockerbloom was employed as the Wikipedian in Residence through a series of short-term contracts. During this time, work focused on engaging with staff at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and members of the broader digital humanities and Wikipedia communities, to identify areas of common interest. Mary participated in and organized a variety of events, both at the Chemical Heritage Foundation and elsewhere in the community. Several hundred images were released, on an ongoing basis, from different collections within CHF, and over 700 articles were improved or created on Wikipedia. At the end of the pilot period, Mary was hired as ongoing staff. The following information describes some of the activities undertaken during the pilot period.
Improve Wikipedia's coverage of people and topics relating to the history of Science, particularly Chemistry, and Women in science. This includes editing existing pages, providing access to sources for citations on existing pages, and creating new pages about notable people and topics. Specific events focusing on content have included:
Donate content, particularly images from the CHF archives on topics such as Alchemy, to Wikimedia Commons. These images may then be utilized by educators and researchers worldwide without restrictions.
Date | Images on Commons |
Distinct images used (Main namespace only) |
June 27, 2013 | 80 | 75 |
October 15, 2013, Ada Lovelace Day | 120 | |
December 12, 2013 | 214 | 130 (60.75%) |
April 4, 2014, after Women's History Month | 323 | 178 (55.11%) |
Empower Foundation staff and guests to develop skills and confidence as Wikipedia contributors.
Promote opportunities for new relationships and connections within the libraries, archives, and museum communities.
The following events were held at the Chemical Heritage Foundation as part of the Wikipedian in Residence pilot program, between May 2013 and June 2014.
CHF’s Wikipedian in Residence, Mary Mark Ockerbloom, will demystify how Wikipedia works and explain why contributing knowledge there is vital to the relevancy of cultural institutions. She will also explore how Wikipedia became the world’s most popular information source, powered by the wisdom of the crowd around the world. Since a very small percentage of our heritage resources are publicly accessible, we’ll wrap up with a fun discovery session themed “We have Wonders.” We’ll quickly brainstorm ideas for enriching Wikipedia beginning with our personal favorites from CHF’s rich trove of collections and scholarship. Whether you have hopes of becoming a respected Wikipedian or simply want to understand how to use the service more effectively, this is a critical primer.
If you haven’t shared your brainstorming list from our first session, you can download the brainstorming document from:
This is a no-stress opportunity to start your journey as a Wikipedia contributor. If you aren't concerned about uploading images, you are welcome to attend only the first half.
In the first part of the presentation Mary will walk through creating an account, searching, editing pages, and creating new pages. If you bring a computer, you can create your username and password, make your first edit, and practice editing in your sandbox. After the Editing overview, we’ll break briefly for lunch. In the second part of the workshop, after the break, Mary will talk about uploading images and metadata to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. Ideas from the previous brainstorming session may be used as starting points to illustrate working with Wikipedia. If you aren't concerned with uploading images, feel free to attend only the first part of the talk.
Draft slides for the presentation are available online at:
There are also some "sample" starting points for structuring various types of articles:
You can use these as a reference guide after the presentation to try working through examples on your own.
Members of the CHF community and guests will have an opportunity to work on Wikipedia pages of interest to them. Activities may include editing pages, creating new pages, and adding images and metadata. Coaching will be provided. CHF's collection of women scientists will be a focus. If you have a favorite chemist, alchemist, or past award recipient help to write him or her into Wikipedian history!
Please visit the Meetup page for more details about this event.
Please visit the
Meetup page for more details about this event.
The GLAM Café at the Chemical Heritage Foundation is a meetup group, held the second Tuesday of each month from 5-8 p.m., for people interested in areas including GLAM (galleries, libraries, archives and museums), digital humanities and Wikipedia.
At least 36 people attended, about half of whom were involved in PhillyDH. People interested in Wikipedia started arriving around 4.30, and mostly left by 7.00 or 7.30. PhillyDH people arrived between 5.00 and 6.30 and stayed until 8.00. PhillyDH held a breakout meeting from 6.00 to 8.00. There is overlap between the two groups, so having rolling times may work well.
Time | Wikipedia/GLAM | PhillyDH Breakout |
4.30 | 5 | 0 |
5.30 | 28 | 0 |
6.30 | 18 | 18 |
7.30 | 4 | 18 |
The large round tables in the GLAM room worked well; we should have 4 or 5 of them next time instead of 3. The lounge-style seating was used somewhat in the beginning, but not once the groups broke apart. We may want to have some available. People rearranged the tables in the breakout room into a rough circle so that they could all see each other during their meeting. They may break into smaller working groups next time. The small rectangular tables are good there because they are easy to rearrange. The lighting was good.
Having a mix of sweet and protein in the snacks is important. The Greek yoghurt was popular. Bagels with cream cheese would be a good choice as well. Cookies, danishes or biscotti are all good complements. All three drink options (coffee, tea, water) were used.
We should plan to accommodate those who come early. For the next GLAM Café, the PhillyDH breakout group plans to meet from 6.30 to 8.00, giving people time to attend the GLAM Café beforehand. There was a sense that the first meeting was largely a meet-and-greet, and that people would like the next meeting to be more work-oriented (focused on getting things done more than on talking).
In spite of several inches of snowfall, 10 people attended the GLAM Café. Most were from the PhillyDH community. Discussion focused on project development, sharing techniques for various projects and upcoming digital humanities events.
Twenty-one people attended the GLAM Café. There was a mix of interests and organizations. About 2/3 of the people had connections to the PhillyDH community, but many of them also were interested in Wikipedia. Around 6.15, the attendees split up into 4 or 5 working groups.
Seventeen people attended the GLAM Café, mostly from Philly DH, with some interest in Wikipedia. There was interest in having 3-4 lightning talks next week, just before we break out into working groups. We split up into groups rather later in the meeting this week; using the lightning talks as a transition point could be useful. Organize with Matt to ensure that we have people lined up. The Wikipedia group brainstormed ideas for a spring Wikipedia event, possibly a Phlash trip.
Between 17 and 20 people attended. Using the smaller room for a breakout and having the food in the center of the mezzanine worked well. There were two lightning talks. Mary worked with Marianne Weldon and Evan McGonagill from Bryn Mawr to prepare for their edit-a-thon. Audrey Hamelers from University of Delaware is planning an edit-a-thon for April 26.
At least 22 people attended. More than half were interested in PhillyDH, and slightly less than half in Wikipedia event planning. Jeff Guin gave a brief talk on the MonkeyBook. Attendees worked on a planned edit-a-thon at the University of Delaware, being organized by Audrey Hamelers and others. We also brainstormed about a proposed June GLAM Wiki Day to be held at CHF.
About 14 people attended. The PhillyDH people discussed upcoming initiatives for PhilllyDh. Four Wikipedians edited articles about women scientists, in memory of Adrianne Wadewitz. New articles were created for Margaret E. M. Tolbert and Madeleine M. Joullié (DYK on 19 May 2014). Existing articles edited included Gertrude B. Elion, Reatha King, Carolyn R. Bertozzi, Gladys Anderson Emerson, and Allene Jeanes.
GLAM Café meetups continue to be held on a monthly basis.