Thanks,
GerardM
Are you more of a Wikimedian or a museum person
I've always been a sort of interesting combination of the two. I was a museum person before I was a Wikipedian, as it was through my Collections Care and Management course as a museum studies graduate student that I was introduced to Wikipedia as a potential tool for sharing museum content. After dedicating myself to that project, which resulted in the IUPUI Public Art Collection
At this point in time I'm involved in Wikipedia projects with two museums. I have a sense that I'm perceived as a museum studies grad student who happens to be heavily involved with the GLAM initiative and understands the Wikipedia community. I admit that I'm also known as "the Wikipedia girl" in my graduate program. I get good-humored eye rolls from my peers sometimes, but many in my program have also made a name for themselves through Wikipedia, being involved in the Indiana Statehouse Public Art
What does a childrens museum have to offer Wikipedia
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
How important are illustrations in your work
Do you consider yourself a Wikipedian or a Wikimedian
While I'm sensitive to the Wikimedian distinction and attempt to honor it in my various blog posts and articles, I personally consider myself more of a Wikipedian. I tend to focus my efforts within Wikipedia and only recently have spent more time within Commons, learning the ropes for the Children's Museum's image donation. It's also easier to describe the term "Wikipedian" to museum people. "Wikimedian" tends to confuse them even more. Though I do find myself explaining the Wikipedia-Wikimedia relationship rather often, which usually proves to be eye-opening for those in the museum.
Is Wiki(m/p)edia a project or a movement in your appreciation
How important are the Wikipedia visitor statistics for GLAMS
Speaking specifically for the Children's Museum of Indianapolis, page view statistics are not a top priority, but rather an added perk. The museum wants to share their content with a global audience, while also bettering the representation of the museum within Wikipedia. This doesn't necessarily bring in a lot of click through traffic to their own website, but it does increase audience understanding of what the museum can offer through the more visible Wikipedia. The museum is actually directing their visitors to Wikipedia, through the use of the Wikipedia Widget
One way that page view statistics are used in the museum is in measuring monthly visitor "usage" of the notable museum objects. The new Wikipedia articles for six iconic museum objects are now included in these metrics within the Collections department. I thought this was a smart way to measure the extent that the museum's collections are impacting their audience, both on-site and virtually.
One of the core values
I took "the world" to heart when beginning my internship, and I know that connecting their audience with a number of cultures is an important goal for the museum. The museum reaches out to the community through monthly Target Family Free nights, where I've had the opportunity to volunteer and experience the diversity of visitors. In programming, the museum reaches out to a diverse audience while also presenting multicultural perspectives in authentic ways. This is especially evident in "Take Me There: Egypt"
The museum has partnerships with a number of institutions around the world, and I believe the collaboration with Wikipedia was just one more way to reach out to a multicultural, global audience. They're only just beginning, and have big plans for other ways that they can use Wikipedia to reach out to children and families, both in their local community and around the world. I look forward to seeing where things go from here.
