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My name is Ally Crockford. I am currently the Wikimedian in Residence based at the National Library of Scotland, and am also a post-doctoral researcher and teaching assistant at the University of Edinburgh specialising in various aspects of late Victorian fiction, the medical humanities and the digital humanities.
Information about previous, ongoing, or future Wikipedia-National Library of Scotland collaborations will be updated regularly on the National Library of Scotland Project Page.
I welcome and encourage contacts from any contributors based in Scotland who would be interested in participating in workshops and events, or who are open to working with the NLS and other Scottish GLAM institutions in their contributions to any/all Wikimedia sites! You can leave me a message on my talk page, or add your name to an open list of interested participants.
Contents
Biography
I'm originally from Ontario, Canada, but spent four years living in Nova Scotia while pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Arts in English Literature with a minor in History at St. Francis Xavier University. I was awarded an M. Litt from St Andrews in 2008, and that same year I began my doctoral studies at the University of Edinburgh. In 2012 I graduated with a PhD in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh. In February, 2013, I began work on an AHRC Cultural Engagement Fellowship developing a three-month series of collaborative events with the Department of English Literature at the University of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh's Surgeons' Hall Museum. The project was called 'Dissecting Edinburgh: Literature and Medicine in the Scottish Capital', and concluded in May 2013.
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Interests
My research interests lie in the literature and culture of the late nineteenth century; my doctoral research focused on the figure of the child in the works of Walter Pater, Vernon Lee, George MacDonald, and Henry James, and I have also written articles and book chapters on the medical humanities and disability history, specifically in relation to nineteenth century teratology.
I am also very interested in Scottish history, literature, and culture, and in feminism, gender history, and gender studies more broadly.
Wikimedian in Residence
Official Definition
A Wikimedian (or Wikipedian) in Residence (WiR) is a Wikimedian who dedicates time to working in-house at an organization. The role is fundamentally about enabling the host organisation and its members to continue a productive relationship with the encyclopaedia and its community after the Residency is finished. The aim is to promote understanding of Wikimedia projects amongst NLS staff, as well as GLAM organisations in Scotland more generally, by organising workshops and events. WiRs also work with staff to digitize, compile, and organise resources that can be shared with the Wikimedia community.
National Library of Scotland
"Unfortunately, not everyone can visit the Library in Edinburgh to see these and many other historic items so this is a way of making them available to a much wider audience." - Gill Hamilton (Digital Access Manager, National Library of Scotland) [1]
According to recent articles about the Wikimedian in Residence post at the NLS, the library holds about 17 million items in its collection, including:
- 15 million printed items
- 100,000 manuscripts
- Two million maps
- 25,000 newspaper and magazine titles
- 320,000 new items every year
- Material in 490 languages [2]
The collection also includes unique items such as the last letter of Mary, Queen of Scots, the Order for the Massacre of Glencoe, and handwritten poems by Robert Burns.[3] The ideal outcome of the Wikimedian-in-Residence programme at the NLS is that the library can open access to these sources by uploading digitised copies to Wikisource or Wikimedia Commons in some cases, and by building strong links between Wikipedia and existing free online collections hosted by the NLS in others.
There is also the hope that the increase in contribution and the organisation of events and workshops will encourage more active contributions to Wikimedia projects across Scotland, and therefore I absolutely encourage contacts from interested GLAM organisations, Wikimedia Users, or anyone else who is interested in getting involved.
In Progress
As the Residency progresses, a log of projects or events being organised, contributions currently in progress, and contributions that have been identified for the future will be updated on the National Library of Scotland project page. Any additional contributions that I may make either as part of the Residency or personally will be listed here and clearly labelled. Again, I hope that Wikimedia users and potential users, specifically those in Scotland, will contact me with suggestions or offers to help at any time!
WiR Contributions
- Articles Created
- Content created
- Slides, information booklets, and other material created as part of the WiR programme at the National Library of Scotland, from July 2013 onwards.
- NLS Content uploaded
- Since June 2014, the residency at the National Library of Scotland has resulted in the upload of 1,100+ files from five collections, including:
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- 90+ images of the Tay Bridge disaster
- 40+ images of the construction of the Forth Bridge
- Nearly 700 files from the Jacobite prints and broadsides collection
- 100+ files from John Claude Nattes' and James Fittler's Scotia Depicta (1804)
- Nearly 200 19th century theatre posters and photographs from the Weir Collection
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Personal Contributions
- Articles created
- Articles edited
- Images added
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- Canada Gate in Autumn, London, 2007
- File:St Andrews Old Course Bridge in the Fog, 2008
- St Andrews Cathedral Coffins, 2007
- Cathedrale Saints-Michel et Gudule Spires, Brussels, 2010
- Edinburgh Christmas Markets, 2009
- "Beer Movers" Sculpture, Dalry Road, Edinburgh
- Dundas Town Hall, Summer 2009
- Dundas Governor's Road, Summer 2009
- Hamilton Town Hall Renovation, Summer 2009
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References
- ^ Brian Ferguson, "National Library of Scotland to hire Wikipedian", The Scotsman, 25 April, 2013
- ^ "National Library of Scotland Recruits Wikipedian", BBC Scotland, 24 April, 2013
- ^ Wikipedian-in-Residence: National Library's Collections to Get National Exposure, National Library of Scotland News, 24 April, 2013