[OpenGLAM] Position: Wikipedia Affiliate, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Thu Dec 19 20:20:53 UTC 2013

Position announcement: Wikipedia Affiliate, Roy Rosenzweig Center for 
History and New Media

(also posted at 
http://chnm.gmu.edu/news/position-announcement-wikipedia-affiliate-roy-rosenzweig-center-for-history-and-new-media/) 

In conjunction with The Wikipedia Library 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:The_Wikipedia_Library> project, 
the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media 
<http://chnm.gmu.edu/> (RRCHNM) at George Mason University is seeking 
applicants for a "Wikipedia Affiliate."€ This is an unpaid, year-long, 
remote research position beginning March 1, 2014 and ending February 28, 
2015 that entitles the affiliate to full library privileges at George 
Mason University <http://library.gmu.edu/>, including proxied access to 
all online materials to which the GMU Libraries subscribe: more than 400 
databases, thousands of scholarly journals and mainstream periodicals, 
and hundreds of ebooks. The position is designed to give research 
library access to a Wikipedia editor who does not currently have such 
access or who has only limited access to scholarly resources: the 
purpose of the position is to help improve Wikipedia's reliability and 
accuracy by providing Wikipedia editors with access to the best 
scholarly information resources while providing a model for other 
universities to do likewise.

      Qualifications

The affiliate will be an experienced Wikipedia editor with at least one 
year of regular activity contributing to Wikipedia on historical topics 
in any field, region, or period. The affiliate will also be a thorough 
researcher who is committed to improving Wikipedia articles by 
consulting and citing reliable, scholarly sources and who is a lucid 
writer of text for Wikipedia encyclopedia articles on historical topics. 
An undergraduate or graduate degree in History, Art History, or a 
related discipline is desirable but not required.

      Position Description and Duties

During the affiliate year, the affiliate will conduct scholarly research 
using the library resources of George Mason University with the aim of 
significantly improving the accuracy and reliability of at least 25 
Wikipedia articles on historical topics, preferably articles within a 
particular historical scope (for example: modern Russian and Soviet 
history, U.S. Civil War history, the history of late imperial China). 
Near the end of the affiliate year, the affiliate will write a brief 
report listing the Wikipedia articles he or she has contributed to and 
improved over the course of the year, describing how his or her access 
to GMU library resources has helped increase the reliability of 
Wikipedia on this topic and analyzing whether the affiliate program 
could serve as a model for other universities. The affiliate will also 
be asked to give a brief talk on the same subject to RRCHNM, either in 
person or via a remote technology such as Skype.

      Application Instructions

To apply, please send the following documents to Dr. Amanda French at 
afrench5 at gmu.edu <mailto:afrench5 at gmu.edu> by January 20, 2014:

1. A standard résumé or curriculum vitae that also includes

  * a link to your Wikipedia profile and
  * at least three links to Wikipedia articles on historical topics that
    you have contributed to.

2. A cover letter that includes

  * a description of your background, including why you contribute to
    Wikipedia and what level of historical expertise and interest you
    have in which fields, regions, or periods;
  * a summary of what access you currently have (or don't have) to
    research materials such as databases and scholarly journals;
  * an explanation of why you want to become a Wikipedia Affiliate to
    RRCHNM; and
  * a brief outline of the historical topic(s) and/or specific Wikipedia
    articles you would focus on during your affiliate year.

All applicants will be notified of the outcome of the search by the end 
of February 2014. The affiliate year will begin March 1, 2014.

      About the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

Since 1994 under the founding direction of Roy Rosenzweig, the Center 
for History and New Media (RRCHNM) at George Mason University has used 
digital media and computer technology to democratize history, €”to 
incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage 
popular participation in presenting and preserving the past. The center 
itself is a democratic, collaborative space where over fifty scholars, 
technologists, and researchers work together to advance the state of the 
art.

RRCHNM uses digital media and technology to preserve and present history 
online, transform scholarship across the humanities, and advance 
historical education and understanding. Each year RRCHNMâ€™s many 
project websites receive over 20 million visitors, and over a million 
people rely on its digital tools to teach, learn, and conduct research.

George Mason University is a public research university located 
approximately 14 miles from Washington, D.C., with over 30,000 students. 
Global education and research are a fundamental part of the 
universityâ€™s mission to serve its diverse and international student 
body. RRCHNM is part of the Department of History and Art History.

      About The Wikipedia Library

The Wikipedia Library connects Wikipedia editors with libraries, open 
access resources, paywalled databases, and research experts. We are 
working together towards 5 big goals that create an open hub for 
conducting research:

  * Connect editors with their local library and freely accessible
    resources
  * Partner to provide free access to paywalled publications,
    databases, universities, and libraries
  * Build relationships among our community of editors, libraries, and
    librarians
  * Facilitate research for Wikipedians, helping editors to find and
    use sources
  * Promote broader open access in publishing and research

The Wikipedia Affiliate to RRCHNM position is based on the Wikipedia 
Visiting Scholar idea suggested by Peter Suber at the Harvard Open 
Access Project <http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/research/hoap>.

-- 

Amanda L. French, Ph.D.
http://amandafrench.net

Email: amanda at amandafrench.net
Cell: 720-530-7515
Twitter: @amandafrench
Skype: amandafrenchphd
AIM: habitrailgirl