GLAM Wiki Conference Philippines 2024/Report/Marivic Altabano


My Experience at the GLAM Wiki Conference Philippines 2024

The GLAM Wiki Conference Philippines 2024 was an unforgettable experience at my age. It was held at Vigan City, it brought together cultural heritage professionals from galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM) with the vibrant Filipino Wikimedian community. We exchanged ideas, best practices, and collaboration results related to open digital resources and cultural preservation, including tangible and intangible heritage.

This was my first conference since becoming a Wikimedian in 2022 as associate member and in 2023 become a regular member. I'm very grateful to the Wikimedia Foundation for their generous conference sponsorship, which allowed me to participate. They provided us transportation, accommodation and foods during the conference at Hotel La Fernandina, Vigan, Philippines on September 20 - 22, 2024.

During the conference, Here are some highlights:

Day 1: We visit to Baluarte, a showcase of diverse animal life, both living, synthetic, and preserved. In the afternoon, we proceed to the historic Vigan Carcel for a series seminars. Mr. Pablo Chan, director of the National Museum, shared his insights into the museum's history ,mandate, function, and network, Dr. Danilo Gerona, a distinguished historian, provided a comprehensive discussion on the founding of Villa Fernandina. Father Castaneda captivated us with his talk on "Linguistic Hospitality," a concept promoting translation as a bridge between languages. Emphasized the importance of preserving the native Ibanag language. The day concluded with a captivating gallery walk at the Carcel.

Day 2: Sir Mark Kineth presented and demonstrated clever improvised accessories for capturing tiny insects was very useful in photography. Ms. Khate and Dr. Jesusa's session titled "Lakaw" shed light on the challenges faced by the Agta people in the Bicol region, known as the most disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups. Mam Maffeth reported the status of Philwiki Community the whereabouts of the ongoing programs and projects while Sir Irvin imparted and discussed about the Wikisource proofreadathon contest. The day culminated with a valuable workshop on Wikisource, a platform for collaborative editing of public domain texts called proofreadathon in different languages.

Day 3: We embarked in Ilocos Norte for adventure, visited the majestic sand dunes, the Malacañang of the North , and the oldest Paoay Church in the Philippines. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to learn and share knowledge. I'm eager to impart these learnings and experiences to my family, friends, and colleagues.

As a Wikimedian, would like to participate in editing and proofreading challege, and I believe that I can most effectively contribute to the Wikimedia community.