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Science History Institute project page
Science History Institute mark
 This page was created to document the collaboration of the Science History Institute, formerly known as the Chemical Heritage Foundation, with Wikipedia. As part of WikiProject GLAM and the Wikipedian in Residence program, Wikipedian Mary Mark Ockerbloom worked with staff of the Science History Institute from May 2013 to June 22, 2020.

The Science History Institute

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The Chemical Heritage Foundation Building, 2008
Entrance with new name, Science History Institute, 2018

The Institute's goal is to collect, use, and share the history of science and technology, with particular attention to chemistry and molecular science. Institute resources include the Othmer Library and oral history collection, museum collections of scientific objects and artwork, and extensive archives (including the papers of several Nobel Laureates). The Institute organizes museum exhibits and symposia and has an active Fellowship program for scholars. The Institute also grants several awards in the areas of history and science.

A Wikipedian in Residence

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This project sought to coordinate the sharing of resources between the Science History Institute, formerly the Chemical Heritage Foundation, and the Wikimedia community in a way that was beneficial to both. Summaries of Mary's activities on Wikipedia can be seen on her User Page.

Pilot period (2013-2014)

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During the pilot period (May-June 2013; September-December 2013; January 2014-June 2014), Mary Mark Ockerbloom was employed on a series of short contracts, under the supervision of Jeffery Guin, to explore the potential for collaboration between the Chemical Heritage Foundation and Wikipedia.

Ongoing (September 4, 2014-January 31, 2018)

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As of September 4, 2014, Mary Mark Ockerbloom was hired as ongoing staff, under the supervision of Shelley Wilks Geehr. Part of her work involved the Beckman collection, where a multi-year project examined the historical impact of Arnold Orville Beckman's scientific work, and his connections to other scientists and engineers during the last century.

Ongoing (February 1, 2018-June 22, 2020)

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As of February 1, 2018, the Chemical Heritage Foundation changed its name to the Science History Institute. Mary Mark Ockerbloom continued in the position of Wikipedian in Residence at the renamed Institute, as part of the Distillations team. As of June 22, 2020, the position of Wikipedian in Residence and a number of other positions at the Science History Institute ceased to exist due to lack of funding amid the pandemic.

Objectives

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Expansion of content and support of authoritative sources

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Improve Wikipedia's coverage of people and topics relating to the history of Science, particularly Chemistry, Women in science, and topics relevant to rare earths, instrumentation, and the Arnold Orville Beckman archive. This work includes editing existing pages, providing access to sources for citations on existing pages, and creating new pages about notable people and topics.

Media contribution to Wikimedia Commons

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Donate content, particularly images from the Institute's archives on topics such as Alchemy, to Wikimedia Commons. Associate these with items on Wikidata whenever possible. These images may be utilized by educators and researchers worldwide without restrictions.

Outreach

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Empower Institute staff and members of the broader digital humanities community to engage with Wikipedia and develop skills and confidence as Wikipedia contributors. Promote opportunities for new relationships and connections within the libraries, archives, and museum communities.

Outcomes

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Final Report as of June 22, 2020, by Mary Mark Ockerbloom, WIR

Overview

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The Wikipedian in Residence post was created as a mission-driven position in 2013, to coordinate the sharing of resources between the Science History Institute and the Wikipedia community in ways beneficial to both. The Institute shared resources through my work on encyclopedia articles in Wikipedia, images in Wikimedia Commons, and structured data in Wikidata. My activities fall into three main areas: editing, image release, and outreach.

Editing

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The articles that I edited on English Wikipedia primarily related to scientists and the history of science (e.g., DU spectrophotometer (GA), rare earths scientists) with a strong focus on improving coverage of underrepresented groups such as women in science (e.g. Eleanor Vadala, Gao Xiaoxia) and immigrants (e.g. Georg Bredig, Ignaz Kreidl, Mercedes Pascual, Betty Heimann).

On average each month, I wrote 1-2 new articles, heavily revised another 5-6, and made hundreds of smaller changes to Wikipedia and Wikidata. By citing the Institute’s resources as authoritative sources, I improved the accuracy and depth of information on Wikipedia and Wikidata and increased the accessibility of the Institute’s resources.

Image release

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Images from the Science History Institute.

I released images from our collections and events on Wikimedia Commons, and added them to Wikipedia articles and Wikidata items. Images came from all Institute departments: archives, library, museum, Distillations videos, awards, and other events. About half of the images released are portraits, which are highly desired on Wikipedia.

An image can appear on Wikipedia articles in hundreds of languages, not just English, and may be utilized by educators and researchers worldwide without restrictions. As of June 22, 2020 I had released 1,481 images, 309 of them in the past year. 71.3% of these images were used on Wikipedia or Wikidata, on 3,412 pages. Institute images were viewed roughly 220,000 times per day as of April 2020.

Some of my favorites include:

Outreach

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I have been involved both internally and externally in outreach with people and organizations, primarily in the greater Philadelphia and Delaware Valley area. I gave invited talks, led workshops and edit-a-thons, and coached editors at Institute-sponsored monthly WikiSalons (and the earlier GLAM Café).

Goals of this work were to empower Institute staff and members of the broader digital humanities community to engage with Wikipedia and develop skills and confidence as Wikipedia contributors. We built a community of knowledgeable editors to support each other in this work and promoted opportunities for relationships and connections within the libraries, archives, and museum communities.

In the 2019 fiscal year, 141 people attended Wikipedia events; in the 2020 fiscal year, I worked with 214 attendees. Attendees were adults, mostly white, and more often female than male. They were staff, fellows, librarians, archivists, teachers, students, scientists, historians and retirees.

In the past year, in addition to workshops at the Science History Institute, I worked with the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries (PACSCL has 42 member institutions); Philadelphia Museum of Art Library; Fisher Fine Arts Library, University of Pennsylvania; Saint Joseph's University; and the 500 Women Scientists organization. I also led a 3-day workshop for cultural institutions in the Miami, Florida area through Vizcaya Museum and Gardens.

I tracked a variety of metrics, including article editing (new articles and major editing), image release (the number of images released, how many are portraits, what departments they are from, and their use on Wikipedia and Wikidata pages), and outreach (number and types of attendees).

With the change to working from home due to COVID-19, we saw increased interest among librarians and archivists who are restructuring their work in response to the pandemic. This was an opportunity to reach people and help them to develop new skills. I responded to this demand by speaking to PACSCL and working with their members to plan future events, and by shifting to an online monthly WikiSalon featuring short 5-10 minute skill-building videos targeted to librarians and archivists.

My User Page on Wikipedia is transparent and lists events and new articles that I have worked on over the past 7 years.

Events

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For past and future events and activities in the Philadelphia area, see my User Page and Wikipedia:Meetup/Philadelphia.

Media mentions

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See w:en:User:Mary Mark Ockerbloom#News_coverage.

Finding Science History Institute resources

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Relevant Wikipedia projects

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Several Wikipedia projects focus on relevant areas. Their pages give information about what is currently in Wikipedia and what needs work.

Topic areas

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Collaboration

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Helpful Wikipedia resources

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Other resources

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