Create 2023/Activating Archives: How the Archives of Ontario is Building Community through GLAM-Wiki: Submissions:2021/Editing seems too hard

This submission has been accepted for WikiConference North America 2023.

In June 2020, the Archives of Ontario (AO) uploaded its first collection of images to Wikimedia Commons and launched its GLAM-Wiki page to make records more accessible on a platform where people already are. At the time, the initiative was a necessary means of providing access to records while the AO’s facility was closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, it has grown to become a core means of reaching new audiences, building relationships, and inspiring communities to activate our collections and engage with their histories.

The AO’s GLAM-Wiki page currently provides access to around 7,000 images, that have received close to 14.5 million views. Even more astounding than these statistics are the stories we’ve received from individuals and communities using these images, underscoring the power of archival records as historical evidence and as source material to spark new ideas, perspectives, knowledge, and social change.

This presentation will share how the AO’s collections are being activated by highlighting case studies from the AO’s Wikimedia Commons uploads and exploring the myriad ways the AO’s GLAM-Wiki work has supported, inspired, necessitated, expanded, and re-conceptualized community engagement. Conference participants will learn how the AO’s work in the GLAM-Wiki sphere supports wider efforts to expand representation, support inclusion, and build relationships that continue to break down barriers between archives and the public they serve.

The slides for this presentation are available on the WikiConference North America 2023 category page in Wikimedia Commons.