User:Dominic/Affiliations

I work with, and for, Wikipedians. Here, teaching a workshop for students at George Washington University Gelman Library's Special Collections Research Center.

I am a library/archives technologist whose mission, like the Wikimedia community, is the dissemination of quality open knowledge. Over the years, my passion has become my livelihood, as I have been able to support myself through my contributions to Wikimedia.

I also advise on ethical paid editing on Wikipedia, having helped develop the current best practices—and have written on the subject for almost 10 years and been cited as an expert in news media. I do not take pay for simply writing content, but I have been employed—typically in a "Wikipedian in Residence"-type role for cultural institutions—for professional services such as community engagement, software development, and other consulting related to Wikimedia projects. I am well aware it is not the norm for most Wikimedians to ever receive pay for anything they do here—and I began exactly like that as a Wikipedian in high school in 2004—but I am here for the same reason everyone else is, and that why I am open about what I do.

I have changed my user page several times over the years to reflect my current disclosures of affiliation and conflicts of interest, but that has gotten more cumbersome because of my long history and because I am currently working on multiple small projects at once. For transparency, on this page, I am listing all of my various roles for which I have ever been paid in any capacity for work related to Wikimedia:

• From May 2011–October 2012, I was a Wikipedian in Residence paid student intern at the National Archives and Records Administration, working with the Social Media Team in the Policy and Planning Division. I established initial connections with the Wikipedia community for the agency, and began various projects, such as contributing images to Wikimedia Commons and creating a WikiProject.
• From May 2013–August 2013, I was a paid Wikpedian in Residence fellow at the Smithsonian Institution, serving in the Office of the Secretary, and also supervised by the Office of the CIO. In this role, I did outreach to various Smithsonian about engaging Wikipedia, and produced a report with recommendations on the Smithsonian's future Wikimedia work.
• From September 2013–November 2019, I was a Digital Content Specialist at the National Archives and Records Administration. This was a full-time, permanent (federal GS 9-12) position in the Digital Public Access branch of the Office of Innovation. My primary duties were maintaining NARA's relationship with the Wikimedia community, developing and operating its upload bot, and working on other open data/citizen engagement projects.
• From November 2019–January 2020, I was contracted by the Balboa Park Online Collaborative to develop a Wikidata bot as part of the Cleveland Museum of Art's Open Access Project, for bulk importing and synchronizing the museum's collections metadata (and uploading digital assets).
• From December 2019–January 2021, I was a Data Fellow for the Digital Public Library of America. This was a full-time, grant-funded position (with funding provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation), during which I set up DPLA's Wikimedia project. As part of this project, I worked with the DPLA Technology Team to develop a pipeline by which DPLA's member institutions could contribute to Wikimedia Commons, and we created a bot that uploaded over 2 million files (so far) from library collections. I also trained dozens of library staff from many institutions in Wikipedia editing.
• From November 2020–January 2021, I was contracted by 1909 Digital to consult for the nonprofit MHz Foundation. I provided Wikimedia training to their staff working on the MHz Curationist project—a platform for curated open-access cultural heritage—and produced a report next steps they should take in their engagement with the Wikimedia community.
• Starting in January 2021, I was contracted by the Cleveland Museum of Art (via 1909 Digital) to continue work on their Wikidata project, providing additional bot code and consultation on navigating the bot approval process.
• From February 2021–June 2021 (at least), I remain employed by the Digital Public Library of America after the Sloan grant funding expired, on a part-time basis (10 hours/week), while we continue to seek funding for the work. I am still Data Fellow and engaged in the same duties I worked on throughout 2020.
• From March 2021–April 2021, I was contracted by Orgill, Inc. (via 1909 Digital), to provide advice on their company Wikipedia article. This is my first-ever for-profit client. I put language in the contract that specifies I will abide by, and advise the company to abide by, all Wikipedia policies and best practices. I am not simply writing their article for pay, but rather training their communications staff in ethical and effective Wikipedia engagement, and assisting them in navigating the Articles for Creation process.
• In April 2021, I was again contracted by the MHz Foundation (via 1909 Digital), this time to assist in the Wikimedia Project Grants process. I have helped them develop their proposal and will be shepherding it through the process of community notifications and dialoguing with the Grants Committee.

In addition to each of these projects, I have also occasionally received scholarships or grants, usually from Wikimedia affiliates, to reimburse me for expenses related to conferences or events. I have never been employed by the Wikimedia Foundation or an affiliate.