AfLIA receives a grant for promoting open knowledge practices in African libraries through Wikidata
15 JULY 2022
AfLIA has received a second grant from Wikimedia Foundation for the training of at least two hundred (200) information professionals in the African library and information science sector from 20 or more African countries on how to effectively open up and link knowledge by making their library collections more visible through Wikidata.
The grant will facilitate the creation of a course – Promoting open knowledge practices in African libraries through Wikidata. Among other things, it is expected that the course will equip information professionals with the requisite skills to understand how to use of Wikidata;
- as a database and visualization tool for mapping knowledge,
- for increasing the reach and access of the unique collections of numerous African libraries, museums and archives
- for connecting their collections through linking local metadata with a network of global metadata
- as a platform for description of information resources and
- for changing bibliographic details into structured data
In 2020, AfLIA received a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation for the Wikipedia in African Libraries course. More than 450 information professionals (in two main cohorts) were equipped with the ability to work collaboratively on the largest online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, to ensure that the information about Africa is accurate and reliable. The Course also enabled participants to learn and understand how to help their user communities tell African stories from African perspectives. The learning materials and other resources generated under the Wikipedia in African Libraries Project (English and French) are freely available here. The course was an adaption of OCLC’s Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together.
This new grant will provide information professionals an opportunity to further their discovery journey about Wikimedia projects and communities, and to continue spearheading the campaign for free knowledge. The Course to be developed promises to be more exciting, in-depth, and technical and will expose African information professionals in the library and information science sector to 21st century digital and data skills. AfLIA will employ a Course Manager / Facilitator, a Curriculum Development Consultant and a French Facilitator to ensure that the objectives of the grant are achieved. The Course will run in two main Cohorts and will be open to all information professionals in the African library and information science sector
For more details, visit the grant page here.