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2025:Program/Learn and discuss with the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network

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Session title: Learn and discuss with the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network

Session type: Panel
Track: GLAM
Language: en

đŸŽ„ Session Recording: https://w.wiki/F9TY đŸŽ„

This session will showcase the experiences of Wikimedians in Residence (WiRs) from around the world, highlighting the evolving nature of their roles, the challenges they face, and the strategies and tools they use across Wikipedia, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and beyond. Participants will share insights from both long-standing and newly launched initiatives, offering a wide perspective on cultural and institutional partnerships.

Organized by the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network (WREN)—an official Wikimedia user group—this session is open to all, especially newcomers and those curious about engaging institutions in the Wikimedia ecosystem. Whether you're just exploring the concept or already working in the field, you’ll walk away with practical ideas, tested approaches, and a deeper understanding of the WiR role.

Description

How do Wikimedians in Residence (WiRs) drive change within the world’s leading cultural, scientific, and policy institutions? This session, organized by the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network (WREN), brings together experienced WiRs from around the globe to share insights, successes, and future visions for the role. WiR face challenges in the current environment, including the ability to utilize technical tools and metrics needed to demonstrate impact with partners.

Depending on the available time, the session will feature a series of dynamic 5-minute lightning talks from various WiR, followed by a panel discussion and interactive audience exchange.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the WiR role, explore case studies from diverse contexts, and take away best practices for building partnerships that produce impactful, scalable Wikimedia content. Whether you're curious, experienced, or considering a WiR appointment, this session offers inspiration, community, and practical knowledge.

Proposed participants include but are not limited to: Florence Devouard (France), Jamie Flood (US), Andrew Lih (US), Johanna Janhonen (Finland)

Learning Outcomes:

  • Understand the function and value of Wikimedians in Residence
  • Learn from real-world project outcomes and challenges
  • Discover strategies for effective content collaboration at scale
  • Explore new opportunities for institutional partnerships
  • Introduce Wikimedians in Residence best practices, especially for those from the African region hosting Wikimania
How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?

Wikimedians in Residence (WiRs) are key in advancing all three parts of this year’s theme. Inclusivity is at the heart of the WiR model by partnering with cultural, educational, scientific, and policy institutions worldwide to surface underrepresented knowledge and voices, ensuring a more diverse and equitable Wikimedia ecosystem. The impact of these collaborations is tangible: from improving the quality and depth of Wikimedia content to enabling local communities to contribute in meaningful ways. However, we also struggle to find better ways to relate this impact to partners through metrics. Lastly, sustainability is showcased by sharing best practices, tools, and peer support to strengthen the long-term viability of WiR programs.

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Etherpad link

https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Wikimania_2025_WREN

Resources

Speakers

  • Andrew Lih
Andrew Lih has been a Wikipedia editor since 2003 and is an administrator on English Wikipedia and Wikidata. He is the author of the 2009 book The Wikipedia Revolution: How a bunch of nobodies created the world’s greatest encyclopedia. He is a passionate advocate of collaborative efforts between the cultural and heritage sector and the Wikimedia community. In the United States, he serves as Wikimedian at Large at the Smithsonian Institution, the world's largest museum, education, and research complex. In 2022, he was named one of the first Wikimedia Laureate for his lifetime of work with the Wikimedia movement.
  • Johanna Janhonen
Johanna Janhonen, the WiR of Notes on the Margins project, was in Wikimedia Finland’s board for three years and led the social media team at Wikimania Stockholm 2019. She is a member of Wikimedia UK’s Wikipedia trainers’ group and writes about Wikimedia in her columns and social media accounts.
  • Jamie Flood
Jamie Flood is the scholarly communication librarian and assistant professor at Butler University and a consultant for the Wikipedia Partnership with Indiana University Indianapolis. She is an active Wikipedia editor; founder of the Wikimedians of Indiana User Group and organizer for WikiConference North America 2024 and 2025. Jamie consults and travels to help train individuals, libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions to contribute to the Wikipedia ecosystem and focuses specifically on training and editing about underrepresented people and topics. Jamie served for 6 years as the Wikipedian in Residence at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Library (NAL).
  • Florence Devouard
Username:Anthere (She/her). French. Languages : FR N; EN-4.
* Co-Executive Director of Wiki in Africa
* Wikipedian-in-Residence at World Intellectual Property Rights (WIPO)
* Former chairwoman of Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees
* Co-founder, former Vice-Chair and currently member of Wikimédia France Chapter
* Wikipedian since 2002.
As well as
* Financial auditor an member of Les sans pagEs UserGroup
* Member of m:Wikimedians for offline wikis UserGroup (contact member for the affiliate)
* Member of the Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network UserGroup
* Formerly treasurer of WikiFranca (hub-to-be for French speaking wikimedia groups)
* Board member of Open Food Facts
* Vice-Chair of Ynternet.org
Key words : Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Africa, IP rights, Open Movement, Community Building, Open Source, Creative Commons, Life-long learning, accountability, Gender Gap, Equity
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