2025:Program/The African Library ecosystem and the Wikimedia movement in the continent: A marriage made in heaven?

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Session title: The African Library ecosystem and the Wikimedia movement in the continent: A marriage made in heaven?

Session type: Panel

Track: GLAM

Language: en

🎥 Session recording: https://w.wiki/FC$C 🎥

At the instance of the African Library and Information Associations and Institutions (AfLIA), and as an aspect of Integrating Wikimedia Projects into the African Library Ecosystem project under the Knowledge Equity Fund, virtual conversations were held between librarians and Wikimedians in the continent to explore pathways for mutual engagements and collaborations. The panel discussion will delve into the highlights of the conversations, the practical implications and the next steps for the African library sector within the Wikimedia movement.

Description

The pursuit of knowledge equity in Africa remains hindered by the underutilization of library networks as strategic partners in digital inclusion efforts. Despite the vast potential of libraries as knowledge hubs, a significant gap exists in their integration into open knowledge ecosystems. This disconnect limits access to reliable, localized, and diverse information, especially for marginalized communities that rely on libraries for learning and digital empowerment. AfLIA is working with African Wikimedians through IWIPALE ( Integrating Wikimedia projects into African libraries’ ecosystem project) to build a strong relationship between the African Wikimedians and the Library ecosystem on the continent to create a pathway that will enhance knowledge sharing between two entities and encourage Africa Librarians to inculcate Wikipedia project as part of daily life. During this panel, representatives from AfLIA will join African Wikimedians to explore the highlights of the virtual conversations between the African library ecosystem and the Wikimedia movement in Africa, current situation around the knowledge ecosystem on the continent with a focus on potential opportunities arising from the benefits of adopting the recommendations from the Conversations and outcome of the IWIPALE project as well as the challenges both parties will encounter during this initiative on the continent.

How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?

Libraries are a great source of knowledge. Opening the doors of African libraries fully to the Wikimedia movement in Africa will engender a more robust and inclusive representation of African knowledge and stories in Wikimedia projects. It will also breed sustainability when libraries as heritage institutions become spaces for learning about Wikimedia projects.

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

Everyone can participate in this session

Speakers

• neosuigwe

Nkem Osuigwe (PhD) has served as the Head of the public library system in Anambra State Nigeria (2009 -2015), a Director of Nigerian Book Foundation(2016-2018)where she currently sits as a member, Board of Trustees. Presently, she works with AfLIA(African Library and Information Associations and Institutions) with headquarters in Accra, Ghana as the Director, Human Capacity and Training. In 2022, she won the the Wikimedian of the Year 2022, (Newcomer category). She had won the Dr. Victoria Okojie award on Advocacy and promotion of Library services in 2015 and the Wikimedia Nigeria User Group Torchbearer Award in 2023. She is an alumnus of WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) and serves in the UNESCO/IGF OER Dynamic Advisory Group.

• olaniyanshola

Profile:

Olaniyan Olushola, a Nigerian Media strategist, language archivist, entrepreneur, public speaker, and open knowledge advocate, has left an indelible mark on the Wikimedia community. His journey began in 2015 when he founded the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, a testament to his long-term commitment as a Wikimedia editor. His support has been instrumental in establishing numerous Wikimedia Affiliates in Nigeria, and he currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wikimedia Nigeria Foundation.

His work encompassed open knowledge advocacy, capacity building, education, event organisation, the Gallery, Library, Archive, and Museum (GLAM) sector, and editing Wikipedia.

In 2017, he co-produced a Wikipedia Campaign in Nigeria to produce a video featuring prominent Nigerian artists as promotional material for Wikipedia. In under three weeks, the content had garnered over 17 million viewers worldwide. In 2018, it was nominated for the Best Video award at the African Excellence Awards, organised in Dublin.

In 2018, he initiated the WikiFanClub initiative at the University of Ibadan, in Southwestern Nigeria. The project focuses on recruiting Nigerian undergraduate students to the Wikimedia Movement by partnering with Nigerian tertiary institutions. As of 2024, the project is running in more than ten Nigerian tertiary institutions, with many more in the pipeline. Over 1000 undergraduates have benefited from the project.

In 2022, he began documenting the indigenous languages in Nigeria. By 2023, the project will have produced over 150 freely licensed audiovisual resources to enhance Wikipedia and its sister projects.

In 2023, I worked as a working group member who introduced the inaugural edition of the African Journalism Award. The project contributed over 2,000 secondary and reliable sources of African content to enhance African-related content on Wikipedia. I was featured as a panellist at the 2023 Wikiindaba in Agadir, Morocco, to discuss the project's impact in promoting Wikipedia and its sister African projects through engaging and recruiting professionals to the movement.

As a women's advocate, he worked with key partners to train and improve women's online visibility. In 2018, Olushola collaborated with Wiki-in Africa on Wiki Loves Women, a project supported by the Goethe Institute in Johannesburg, South Africa. The project engaged more than twenty women-led initiatives and organisations in Nigeria to identify and train women professionals to contribute to Wikipedia. The project helped improve over 2,000 profiles of notable Nigerian women on the English Wikipedia. In 2022, he led the Decolonisation project, supported by the Goethe Institut, Lagos—a gender-focused and multilingual initiative aimed at decolonizing the Internet, which eurocentric biases and narratives had dominated, and producing quality content in local languages about Nigerian women. Over 3000 profiles about Nigerian women were created and improved in Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba.

Since 2014, in Johannesburg, he has participated in all the Wikiindaba conferences, an annual regional gathering of all Wikimedians and Open Knowledge advocates in Africa and the Diaspora, to discuss and promote the importance of open knowledge in Africa.

In 2021, he served as a member of the Partnership Working Group for the Movement Strategy 2030. By 2023, he led the ongoing discussion to establish the "Planning West African Wikimedia Committee," which includes over 15 Wikimedian affiliates from Anglophone and Francophone countries. In 2024, he led the signing of a one-year contract to deploy the first-ever Wikipedia In Residence Program with Lagos State, aiming to document the state's heritage and people, and increase its visibility on the Internet. Still, in 2024, I started the Public Advocacy Team in Nigeria to create a team of Wikimedians who can access, review, and engage with the government and the public about the impact of public policies on Open Knowledge. It comprises leaders from each of the Wikimedia affiliates in Nigeria.

• IngridThomson

As a librarian, my focus has been around Wikimedia + Libraries with an emphasis on advocacy and education for librarians. I am actively involved with the Wikimedia South Africa chapter, currently serving on its board, and am also involved with the broader movement working with other Wikimedians and Wikibrarians in Africa.

• Alice Kibombo

She is a librarian and a former WiR with AfLIA