National Archives at Kansas City hosts Wikipedians

Today's post comes from National Archives at Kansas City staff members, Archivist Elizabeth Burnes and Exhibit Specialist Dee Harris. Photograph, Improvement Missouri River in Vicinity of Glasgow, MO, August 1881. RG 77, Records of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Omaha District.  (National Archives at Kansas City) The National Archives at Kansas City welcomed … Continue reading National Archives at Kansas City hosts Wikipedians

NARA plays host for Wikipedians at GLAMcamp DC

This is a guest post by Lori Byrd Phillips, US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator for the Wikimedia Foundation. Lori has also served as the Wikipedian in Residence at The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis since 2010 and is currently a museum studies graduate student at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. It’s a well-known fact that Wikipedians love NARA … Continue reading NARA plays host for Wikipedians at GLAMcamp DC

Help us strengthen open government at the National Archives!

Starting today, we need your ideas, comments, and votes to help us revise the Open Government Plan of the National Archives.  Please visit the Open Government Idea Forum and take a few minutes to let us know what you think we should be doing to strengthen transparency, participation, and collaboration at the National Archives. Two … Continue reading Help us strengthen open government at the National Archives!

Yes, Wikipedians Scan

David Ferriero's recent post over on the AOTUS blog made mention of NARA's Wikipedia ExtravaSCANza in the context of a discussion of the "Yes We Scan" initiative and a broader digitization strategy. I want to take the opportunity to recap the citizen archivist scanning the National Archives has been hosting for Wikipedians in recent months. … Continue reading Yes, Wikipedians Scan

'Tis the Season to Participate Online!

Throughout this holiday season, we encourage you to participate in the exciting activities featured on the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, which is available starting today. Check it out and try tagging, transcription, editing articles, uploading digital scans, and participating in contests all related to the records of the National Archives. We hope that you’ll share any suggestions … Continue reading 'Tis the Season to Participate Online!

Online catalog now links to Wikimedia resources

A few weeks ago on The Text Message, I introduced Wikimedia's Wikisource project to you. A sister project of Wikipedia, Wikisource is a free repository of primary-source texts which are transcribed, proofread, and arranged—like Wikipedia—collaboratively by a community of online volunteers. It is my pleasure to announce that, since August 15, Wikimedia's presence now extends … Continue reading Online catalog now links to Wikimedia resources

Wikipedia Backstage Pass Tour and Scanathon

  On Saturday, August 6, more than a dozen Wikipedians attended the backstage pass tour and scanathon at the United States National Archives in College Park, Maryland. The day began at around 11 a.m., as attendees mingled casually among snacks and swag in a lecture room while others passed through security and registered for visitors … Continue reading Wikipedia Backstage Pass Tour and Scanathon

Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks

We asked our new Wikipedian in Residence, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, to tell us a little bit about himself and his passion for Wikipedia.  Welcome to the National Archives, Dominic! Tell us a little about yourself.  Where are you from?  What do you study in school? I am a history buff, a word nerd, a news junkie, … Continue reading Meet Our Wikipedian in Residence: Dominic McDevitt-Parks

National Archives' First Wikipedian in Residence: This article is a stub.

Have you ever landed on a Wikipedia page containing just the beginnings of an article, waiting to be filled in with valuable content? In Wikipedia parlance, these are stubs; skeleton pages set up with the basic outline of a topic which subject matter experts can work together to build into full encyclopedia articles. We see … Continue reading National Archives' First Wikipedian in Residence: This article is a stub.