WikiIndaba conference 2021/AfricanLibrarian/Report

Participant

AfricanLibrarian

My experience

WikiIndaba gave me the opportunity to have a bird's eye view of the activities of Wikimedians in Africa. Wikimania was great but WikiIndaba brought it home. I learned, I identified with projects and individuals and most importantly, there were scalable ideas and thought lines for future engagements for me personally and for my organization. There were connectivity issues at different points and this was a huge challenge.

Sessions attended

I co-presented at the main conference - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Wikimedia_and_African_Libraries:_envisioning_future_pathways where wetalked about how librarians can work with the Wikimedia Foundation to create structural equity in the creation and dissemination of information. I also participated in a panel discussion and shared the highlights of the Wikipedia in African Libraries course - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Wikipedia_in_African_Libraries:_milestones_attained,_challenges_and_outcomes

I attended the following sessions;

1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Privacy_best_practices_for_contributors_and_event_organizers The session increased my awareness of media literacy practices as common privacy threats that Wikimedians face in organising and participating in events and how to circumvent them were outlined.

2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Wiki_GLAM_Awareness_for_Librarians_in_Kwara_State The presenter had participated in the Wikipedia in African Libraries course and her presentation gave me the opportunity to gauge the impact of what was taught in the course as pertains to running programs within communities.

3. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Innovation_in_Free_Knowledge:_Insights_of_the_African_community I understood the need to press more for opening up knowledge in Africa and the different pathways that can be used to do this.

4. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/African_Wikimedia_Projects_Tracker_-_Refreshing_how_we_see_African_language_projects The oral history of every African language is intertwined in the language and it will be great to ramp up activities for African languages on Wikipedia. In order to do this, the needs to be reliable data from projects done in African languages on Wikipedia

5. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiIndaba_conference_2021/Program/Building_a_Wikimedia_Community_in_African_Educational_Institutions:_Experiences_of_Wikimedians_in_AfricaBuilding a Wikimedia Community in African Educational Institutions: Experiences of Wikimedians in Africa This presentation charted avenues for getting African academics to key into the Wikimedia movement and why it is critical

Connections made

I interacted with visitors to the exhibition booth set up by my organization. There were new voices and connections as well as those I was already familiar with.

Learning points

The discussion booth set up by my organization afforded me learning opportunities to understand how others view what we have been doing as I fielded questions from those who visited. It taught me that communicating what one is doing within the movement is important to create more buy-ins, partnerships and possible future pathways for growth.

Outcome

I plan to have better records (from different perspectives) of every step of Wikimedia projects that I participate in or organize. It really helps in telling the story better!