We pre-recorded the interview, and it was broadcast at the unsociable hour of 3am this morning. Fortunately, it’s also online, as part of the Outriders podcast (indexed under today’s date, 20 November 2012), so you can hear it at your leisure. It takes up the first twelve minutes of the show.
We discussed QRpedia, my current role as Wikipedian in Residence with Staffordshire Archives and Heritage Service, and my favourite Wikipedia article, The King of Rome.
[This post is rather overdue. Apologies to those of you who’ve been waiting for it.]
Saturday
Saturday at Wikimania started with an interesting plenary by Wikimedia Foundation Chief executive Sue Gardner, whom I’d had the pleasure of meeting, when I produced and engineered the live-streaming of a Wikimedia-UK board meeting, from the British Library in November 2011.
After lunch, it was my turn to face the spotlights I gave a presentation on the development of, and my work with, QRpedia, as part of a workshop I led with Lori Byrd Phillips and John Cummings, who have deployed QRpedia respectively at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, and as part of Monmouthpedia. After they had both spoken, we led the participants in hands-on exercise to create QRpedia QR codes, which they will hopefully in their home towns around the world. One participant tweeted:
this qrpedia session has, thus far, been the least schizophrenic and most concretely useful bit of #wikimania
We then had a mad dash to the theatre next door, to hear the closing plenary, by the Official Archivist of the United States, David Ferriero (I’d met him at the launch event and found him both approachable and witty. He wouldn’t let us have back their copy of Magna Carta, though). His speech was both complementary to Wikipedians and very inspiring; I do recommend you watch this video of it:
Then, we all piled outside for a group photo. See if you can find me!
Image by Adam Novak, CC-By-SA
A spare couple of hours gave time to return to the hostel, which I did by taking a meandering walk, freshen up, a then take another long walk, trough a part of town new to me, past many embassies, to Dupont Circle, for the closing party, with more plentiful free food and beer. The former was delicious, the latter as mediocre as I was sadly coming to expect. Yet another long walk got me to my bed.
Sunday
Though that formally ended the conference, the next day was given over to an unconference. I attended a useful session on browser tools to assist power-editing, then led a session on “Templates (Infoboxes): rationalisation and metadata emission” (trust me, that will mean something to technically-minded Wikipedia editors). This was one of the Wikimania’s highlights for me; not because I led it, but because the attendees gave me answers to some issues that had been vexing me for some time, and have continued since to work collaboratively with me, on-line, to resolve them. I also got to meet “Quarl” , who some years earlier had helped me immensely, by doing the coding of an idea I’d had, which became the template (“{{Coord}}“) now used over a quarter of a million times on the English Wikipedia (and many more in other languages) to display coordinates and emit them as metadata (a ‘geo’ microformat). These are used by partner organisations, like Google (for the Wikipedia layer on their maps) and by Yahoo. And I hadn’t even realised Quarl was at Wikimania!
The flip side, though was that the unconference was poorly attended, and petered out, so after lunch, I sloped off and decided to visit some of the museums I’d thought I would have to miss out on. I first called at the Smithsonian’s Museum of American History, specifically to see their three steam locomotives, the earliest of which, the John Bull, was made in England in 1831. They also had a Washington streetcar and a vehicle from the Chicago “L” overhead railway, plus several road vehicles. I then went over to the National Archives, where I saw not only the aforesaid copy of Magna Carta, but also the three “stars” of their exhibition, the original Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.
My next call was the Old Post Office, whose tower is available to visit, giving splendid views over all of Washington, and Ronald Reagan Airport in neighbouring Virginia. It also allowed me to see a horrible storm brewing over Arlington Cemetery, so when I left I headed straight for my hostel, and made it just before a downpour started.
Once the rain had passed, I had a last couple of beers in another local bar, part of the Capitol City Brewing Company group, whose beer is brewed locally. I tried the “Amber Waves” and “Pale Rider” ales, which were good by local standards.
Monday
I was not sure what to do with my last day in Washington, but luckily was persuaded to visit the ‘other’ Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center near Dulles Airport. With John Cummings, I took a long bus ride to the airport, then he and I and some other Wikipedians shared a short taxi ride to the Museum. Wow. I got to stand next to the Space Shuttle ‘Discovery’ (admittedly, I’d seen it before, but only as a point of light, transiting in orbit from over Ireland to over Germany, viewed from my front garden!), a French Concorde, a Blackbird spy plane and, some unique German oddities from the last weeks of WWII, and, chillingly Enola Gay, the single vehicle that has killed more people than any other in our planet’s history.
We then had to take a shuttle bus to the airport, a bus back to Washington, pick up our bags from the hostel (the museum’s own publicity material said we couldn’t take luggage to the museum with us; annoyingly that turned out to be untrue, but caused us to waste over two hours), then take another bus back to the airport.
The flight home took off at dusk, and from my window seat I saw New York, Long Island and Cape Cod, all lit up. I then slept like a log until we were over Ireland. My trip home was really smooth. The Heathrow Express train to London, my tube train, my train home from Marylebone, and my bus from central Birmingham to my house were each waiting for me as I arrived and departed a soon as I boarded. It was like clockwork. The next day I slept late, but had no jetlag.
Conclusion
I confess I made my first trip to the USA expecting not to like it; for it to be too brash and aggressive. I was wrong. I loved it, and I’d go back tomorrow. The people were fantastic, and I barely scratched the surface of the cultural and historic interest Washington has to offer, let alone the rest of that vast country.
Wikimania was fascinating. I met so many people I’d corresponded or worked with online or who were new to me, and I continue to chat electronically with many of them. I’m buzzing with ideas for things we can do on, and with, Wikipedia.
But most of all, I remember a Wikipedia editor who asked for a volunteer to push his wheelchair round the Capitol tour. He was from Israel, and the guy pushing his chair, with whom he was sharing a lot of laughter, was from Iran. Enough said.
I started yesterday by joining a guided walk around Arlington Cemetery. The hostel I’m staying at offers regular tours to various venues and areas, led by local volunteers. A short Metro hop took us under the Potomac River and into Virginia, the state from which the cemetery overlooks Washington. In fact, from the top of the hill there, you can see three states, the third being Maryland.
Arlington is as sombre and as impressive as you would imagine, and impeccably maintained. As well as its famous military burials, dating back to the civil war, it has the graves of John F Kennedy and wife Jackie, and his brother Edward. There’s also a monument to those lost in the Lockerbie bombing and a tomb for unknown soldiers from various conflicts. Before leaving, I was lucky enough to see a very smart, male Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina).
My next call was George Washington University, venue for the Wikimania conference. After a great lunch and yet more catching up with friends, I attended a “Wiki Loves Libraries” event, to which librarians from other institutions had been invited. I gave a lightning talk on QRpedia, and had some useful discussions about Authority Control and Wikidata.
Then it was time to turn to the hostel, which I did by bike, to freshen and smarten up, before travelling to the Library of Congress for the formal reception event kindly sponsored by Google. Fine food and free beer certainly helped the mood, and I caught up with more people I’d met in Amsterdam, and met the official Archivist of the United States.
I particularly enjoyed viewing a display of significant American books including The Legend of Sleepy Hollow which was written in my home town, Birmingham, England!
The view of the sunset behind the Capitol building was breathtaking. A courtesy bus took us to Dupont Circle, where a group of Brits and one German-Namibian found a bar for more refreshments (I enjoyed the best beer I’ve had here so far, an oatmeal porter), and put the World, or at least Wikipedia, to rights. There are some very interesting issues for Wikipedians in Namibia, where internet connectivity is patchy, and where source material is often not readily available. Work is underway to provide a self-contained, offline version of Wikipedia for schools there. We also enjoyed some pretty loud rock music, including the sublime ‘Freebird‘. The 18-year-old me who bought that on a 12″ single, would never have dreamed he’d one day listen to it in an American dive bar.
I started today by cycling east, up (and I emphasise up!) Capitol Hill, and to The Capitol Building or, rather, past it, as there is oddly no stand for hire bikes near that building. I found one a couple of blocks beyond The Capitol, where the streets are filled with picturesque residential buildings, of greater age than the anodyne office blocks in much of central Washington. It felt a bit like finding Notting Hill where Whitehall should be. I walked back to the Capitol for the first Wikimania activity — a guided tour of that building. We visited the interior of its vast rotunda, and its crypt, as well as a hall full of statues which was once where the House of Representatives met. The audio-visual presentation and museum-type displays in the new, underground, visitor centre gave me a much better understanding of the history and working processes of the US democratic system than I’d previously held. We also saw a real live congressman (I have no idea which).
Afterwards, I walked a couple of bocks to the north-east, to Union Station, to take a look at some real American trains (I’d only so far seen those on the metro).
On leaving, I asked a passer-by for directions to my bus stop, and he offered to walk with me as he was going that way. He turned out to be US government attorney and professor of law, and we had an interesting conversation about the pleasures of travel, and the use of Wikipedia in education.
I used the Circulator, a bus which runs across town, and costs only a dollar per trip, allowing one to hop on and off as often as desired within two hours. As it passed my hostel, I nipped in for a wash and brush up, and stopped at a roadside farm produce stall to buy a peach, picked in nearby Loudon County, Virginia, just three days ago. It was without doubt the best peach, and possibly the best piece of fruit, I have ever eaten.
I hopped back on the Circulator to George Washington University, to register and and pick up my delegate pack and speakers’ badge for Wikimania, the conference I’m attending. I had intended to depart again immediately, and walk around Georgetown for an hour or two, but more of the UK contingent had arrived, as well as some more of my friends from last December’s GLAMseterdam, and I finally met the delightful Lori Phillips, the Wikipedian in Residence at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, with whom I’m co-presenting on Saturday, so I lingered to chat, instead. The provision of free muffins and bagels, and drinks, did not influence my decision, at all.
At 5pm, a bunch of Wikipedians met up and took the Metro to the impressively maintained (and vandalism free, unlike many in the UK) Congressional Cemetery, where I was pleased to see an extensive deployment of QRpedia, by Peter Ekman, whom I had been happy to advise remotely. It was great to meet him too. We had a guided tour of the cemetery from its Program Director, RebeccaBoggs Roberts, during which we observed monuments to, and the burial places of, many notable characters, including J. EdgarHoover and composer John Philip Sousa. There were plenty of birds (no new ones) and a new Swallowtail butterfly, and I finally managed to find one of the big and noisy cicada-type insects which one hears here every evening.
We returned by Metro, timing our trip perfectly, as it started to rain just as we entered the station. When we came to leave at the other end, it was coming down like a tropical monsoon, and we were forced to shelter in the station entrance. While we did so, two metal manhole covers were noisily blown out of their seating by the air pressure inside the drains.
Eventually, the rain subsided and we made a dash for the hostel, thankfully arriving without a soaking.
Following on from yesterdays post, in which I forgot to mention that I saw a clear though distant view of New York from the aeroplane on the way in…
Yesterday morning, I had a bit of a wander this found a lovely butterfly garden next to the Natural History Museum, but with only two species. I photographed both, so might be able to identify them later.
Next to that was an interesting sculpture garden, where I heard and saw a Song Sparrow (aptly, Melospiza melodia). I then made a quick pop into the National Portrait Gallery & Museum of American Art, which deserved a longer stay. At least they had air conditioning and a faucet (I’m learning the language, see) from which I could top up my water bottle. Yesterday was again ridiculously hot — I drank more water in a day then I ever have before.
I covetously examined a Scottevest jacket in the nearby Spy Museum Shop, but I’m still deciding whether the use I’d get from one justifies the cost.
After that, I was off to the Smithsonian National Zoo. On the way there, an elderly local woman on the Metro — did I mention Washington’s efficient Metro? — enquired about my accent “Oh”, she said, “I from Birmingham too. Until the mid 1960s, when I married an American, I used to live off the Coventry Road at Small Heath”. So did I, in the mid 1960s.
Like all of the Smithsonian venues here, entrance to the zoo is free, which is excellent. I had time for a quick look at my first Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) — which was luckily, quite active — and to watch the wild Night Herons being fed. A Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus; a cousin of the buzzard I see at home) flew through to steal one of the dead mice they’re given. Wild Chipmunks (exact species not yet determined) were running about on the footpaths.
I then had a meeting with staff from the zoo, including a director, who seemed very keen to hear about QRpedia.
Another Metro ride took me back to central Washington, from where walked to The White House, to see if President Bartlet was about. He wasn’t, but a very confiding American Robin (Turdus migratorius; actually not a Robin but a relative of our Blackbird) was entertaining. It was also interesting to see Eastern Gray Squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) in their natural habitat, rather than as the feral pests which they are at home. Another walk brought me back to the hostel, stopping only for ice-cream.
After a rest and catching up on email and Twitter, I joined a group of people from my hostel for a bus ride to historic Georgetown, with a guided walk. Georgetown is the Handsworth Wood or Notting Hill of Washington, with fantastic private houses, including the one where John F Kennedy and Jackie lived and had their children immediately prior to his election as President. We wandered around Georgetown University, which could easily double for Hogwarts. It was frustrating to see swifts and martins hawking for insects, but not to be able to identify them. Afterwards, we walked down the steps which feature in the closing scene of the Exorcist. The evening ended with an obligatory bar stop and a bus ride home.
(you can see links to these in the left-hand column of the article; please let me know if you can translate it into other languages).
Last December, I wrote to Transport Scotland, an executive agency of the Scottish Government’s Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning Department and as such accountable to Scottish Ministers, suggesting a plaque be erected on the station, noting this milestone, in collaboration with WikimediaUK, the registered charity that supports Wikipedia and related projects in the United Kingdom. I proposed that the plaque would include a QRpedia barcode, allowing overseas visitors to see the article in their preferred language.
I have today received their reply, which appears to employ a stereotypical bureaucratic lack of imagination.
Jordanhill station is owned by Network Rail and leased along with the vast majority of all other railway stations in Scotland to First ScotRail to manage and operate on a daily basis.
I have discussed with ScotRail your proposal to install a plaque at the station to mark the one-millionth article on Wikipedia about Jordanhill. We do not wish to take this forward.
ScotRail has been delivering a comprehensive station re-branding programme which began in 2008 and will be complete in 2014. There are Brand Guidelines in place for this programme which aims to simplify and unify all station branding and this includes the removal of information from third parties.
I’m open to suggestions as to how to proceed, and who (and whether) to lobby to have the matter reconsidered. What do you think?
During the first weekend of December, I was in Amsterdam, at the invitation of Wikimedia-UK and Wikimedia-NL (two of Wikipedia’s many “chapters”, which support the work of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects). I was there — along with Wikipedians from 22 countries — to participate in GLAMcamp, an unconference about GLAMWiki collaborations, between Wikimedia volunteers and Galleries, Libraries, Archves and Museums (GLAMs), including my work as Wikipedia Outreach Ambassador to ARKive. Unlike most Wikipedia events, which are open, this one was an invitation-only event (though there was a public workshop on the Friday afternoon), so I was flattered to be invited.
I was asked to lead a workshop about QRpedia, the project with which I’m involved, which puts QR codes into GLAMs, linking to Wikipedia articles, but detects the language used by the GLAM visitor’s mobile device and serves them an article in that language or offers the alternative languages or a Google translation if none is available. Did you know Wikipedia exists in 272 languages? How many museums do you know that can afford to offer interpretive material in so many languages? Or even a few?
This QRpedia code links to the Hindi article about Qrpedia — but if you scan it with a phone set to use another language, such as English, guess what happens..?
Feedback about QRpedia was positive, and I was told of its use in India, though I’m still awaiting details. The biggest areas of concern expressed were the availability of statistics, so I was delighted to be shown this QRpedia stats tool created by the project’s developer Terence Eden; and the need to provide unique URLs for institutions, so we can distinguish, say, requests for the article on the industrial revolution from a museum in Amsterdam from one in Birmingham. We’re currently holding a consultation on how best to create custom URLs for that purpose, and input from museum colleagues would be especially welcome.
While at GLAMcamp, I also gave a brief talk on my work deploying microformats in Wikipedia, which aroused quite a lot of interest, and I’m now in discussion with representatives of a couple of non-English Wikipedias, who are looking to deploy them.
Our venue was Mediamatic, which doubles as an art gallery, and had an exhibition in progress about fungi. They kindly agreed to allow us, durng the event, to deploy the Netherlands’ first QRpedia code, on an exhibit about Fomes fomentarius.
Wikipedians from various countries queue to scan the first QRpedia code in The Netherlands
Of course, it wasn’t all work, and we managed to fit in two backstage museum visits, to the Amsterdam Museum (whose staff were particularly accommodating) and The Rijksmuseum, as well as some good meals and some local snacks, including broodje kroket, the moreish stroopwafel and the seasonal delights of banketstaaf, kruidnoten, and gevulde speculaas — all traditionally eaten on Saint Nicholas’ Day, the final day of my stay, when Sinterklaas visits.
We also spent an evening at “Boom Chicago” an hilarious comedy improvisation show, delivered by US/Canadian crew, in English. And guess who they decided to pick on?
Boom Chicago: I have no idea who this is supposed to be…
Sarah Stierch kindly videoed “my” guest appearance, complete with references to an answer I gave earlier in the evening, when I was asked to name a profession, and replied “Saggar Maker’s Bottom Knocker “.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7JGzhh2z_Y
After my QRpedia presentation, I was surprised and delighted to be asked to repeat it — four days later, in Hamburg, Germany! A very quick turnaround by Wikimdia-DE, who kindly funded my trip, meant I was able to book flights immediately upon my return to Birmingham — flying out via Zurich and back via Copenhagen. Spending my first, brief, visits to Switzerland and Denmark wholly inside airports, was bizarre.
So, a few days after Amsterdam, I found myself delivering a localised version of my presentation to staff from the various museums that make up the Stiftung Historische Museen Hamburg (Foundation of Historical Museums of Hamburg), as well as enjoying a tour of the Hamburgmuseum and even a little birdwatching (my German bird list now includes Grey Wagtail, Fieldfare, Peregrine and Buzzard, among more common species) But best of all, we were able to deploy Germany’s first QRpedia code at the museum.
Martina Fritz of the Hamburgmuseum scans the first QRpedia code in Germany
So, two national firsts for QRpedia, and five airports in five countries, in five days for me. I have to say, much as I enjoyed it, speaking about Wikipedia in Dudley a few days later wasn’t quite so glitzy!
My thanks to everyone involved for making the two trips both possible and memorable, and especially Peter Weis in Hamburg, who sacrificed two days of his own time to make sure I was kept entertained. I came away from GLAMCamp with renewed enthusiasm for working with the GLAM sector, and a bunch of new friends and contacts with whom I can share tips and requests for advice and assistance.
