Wikimedia and Libraries User Group/Annual Report/2022-2023

This report provides an annual summary of the activities and achievements of the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group for the year 2022-2023. The goal of the user group is to connect librarians with Wikimedians and also to pursue cooperation between libraries and Wikimedia. This report gives insights into the efforts of the steering committee to foster the engagement of librarians in Wikimedia projects.

Steering Committee Members

Windblown29 serves as the chair of the steering committee. The members of the steering committee are AfricanLibrarian, Clifford Anderson, and Orlysi. We are planning the next election for the steering committee of the user group in fall 2024.

Steering Committee Meetings

Regular monthly meetings are convened by the Steering Committee. The objective is to plan practical activities to engage the members of the user group and to decide on strategic direction. Prominent topics of discussion have revolved around invigorating engagement with the user group members and incorporating more librarians globally into our initiatives.

Wikimedia Summit 2022

Clifford Anderson, Windblown29, and Orlysi represented the user group (and the interests of librarians, broadly speaking) at the Wikimedia Summit 2022.

Wikimania Singapore

AfricanLibrarian, Clifford Anderson, Orlysi, and Windblown29 joined Silvia E. Gutiérrez De la Torre, Senior Program Officer for Libraries at the Wikimedia Foundation, for a panel discussion titled Libraries + Wikimedia: past, present and future at the Knowledge Beyond Boundaries satellite conference at the National Library of Singapore.

Wikipedia+Libraries International Convention

AfricanLibrarian, Windblown29, and Orlysi are representing the steering committee for the organization of the 2024 Wikipedia+Libraries International Convention.

Artificial Intelligence Salons

The user group is planning to host a series of three salons on artificial intelligence, libraries, and Wikimedia during September, October, and November of 2023.

Throughout the year 2022-2023, the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group has made significant strides in bridging the world of librarians and Wikimedians. Our participation in movement-wide strategy sessions and Wikimania helped to publicize our work to libraries worldwide. Our planned initiatives like the Artificial Intelligence Salons demonstrate our commitment to assessing changes in the information ecosphere and their potential impact on our movemenet. Our user group looks forward to more such engagements in the year ahead, especially the much-anticipated second Wikipedia+Libraries International Convention in 2024.