Coventry History Editathon

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Cultural partnerships
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Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry

Coventry History Edit-a-thon - In a nutshell Where?: Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry When?: 10:00, Saturday 31st March 2012 Point of contact: Harry Mitchell and Rock drum Short url: bit.ly/covhe Hashtag: #glamherbert Tag: glamherbert (for blog posts, YouTube, Flickr, Delicious, etc.) Commons category: Category:Historic Coventry Editathon Results of the day: The results of the day are collated at the foot of this article: Results of the day

What is it?

The Herbert Backstage Pass, October 2011

Following on from the success of the backstage pass event at the Herbert, the donation of images from the Herbert under a Creative Commons license for use on Wikipedia, and an editor recruitment event titled "Wikipedia and You", this editathon has been organised to build upon the already successful relationship between Wikimedia and the Herbert.

The onsite Coventry History Centre holds information on Coventry's history.

An edit-a-thon is an event aimed at sharing the expertise of real-world cultural institutions with our wiki-expertise. Principally this involves an organisation or interest group hosting an event for the benefit of Wikimedians and in reciprocation we help improve the content on Wikimedia projects that is relevant to that organisation.

Location & timing

Saturday, March 31st, 2012 at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, Coventry.
The museum is located at Jordan Well, CV1 5QP. Coffee and tea was available from 10:00 in Learning Space 2. The event was signposted, with staff at Reception on hand to offer assistance.

The museum is located in Coventry city centre, about 15 minutes' walk from Coventry railway station. There is no parking available at the museum, but there are a number of pay and display car parks nearby. Blue Badge holders may park on Bayley Lane opposite the entrance to The Herbert. Bike racks are available directly outside the museum.

Coventry City Council has produced a city centre map which details car parks, Park and Ride bus stops, the railway station and the bus station: City Centre Map. The Herbert is located in the Cathedral Quarter at the corner of Bayley Lane and Jordan Well. See also the Museum's getting here instructions for directions.

What happened

Pariticpants were asked to bring your laptops. We started with a brief introduction to collaboration with the Herbert, the resources available and the goals of the day. Attendees had access to books and other secondary resources, including the History Centre. This targeted edit-a-thon was made possible by access to free WiFi, knowledgeable staff and primary and secondary resources.

Schedule

Time	Activity	Room	Led by
10:00 - 10:30	Meet for tea and coffee	Learning Space 2
10:30 - 11:00	Welcome and Introduction	Learning Space 2	Erin Hollis, The Herbert Rock drum Harry Mitchell
11:00 - 11:30	Tour 1: Introduction to the History Centre	History Centre	Rayanne Byatt
11:30 - 12:00	Tour 2: Guided tour of "Wonderful Watercolours"	Gallery 4	Martin Roberts
12:00 - 12:30	Tour 3: Details TBA	TBA	TBA
12:30 - 13:00	Introduction for newbies	Learning Space 2	Experienced Wikimedians
	Editing session		All
13:00 - 13:30	Meet for Lunch - Curators and Wikimedians (Learning Space 2)
13:30 - 17:00	Editing session	Learning Space 2	All
17:00 onwards	End and Pub/Dinner	TBA	All invited

Identified content for improvement

• Improving articles related to the history of Coventry.
• Creating new articles or improving existing articles about specific artefacts in the museum's collection related to historic Coventry.
• Using photographs and information about museum objects and archives to improve related topics.
• Suggesting text that The Herbert owns which could be incorporated into Wikipedia subject to appropriate copyright licensing.

Relevant articles

These are some suggestions made for articles that attendees to focus on, or which might provide inspiration for other relevant articles. Several of these are the subject of watercolours which will be part of an exhibition at the museum on the day of the event.

• History of Coventry
• Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
• Sir Alfred Herbert
• JB Shelton (doesn't currently have an article)
• Coombe Abbey
• Whitefriars, Coventry (was the subject of collaboration at the Backstage Pass)
• Coventry Cross (monument)
• Bablake School
• Godiva Procession
• Lady Godiva
• Ford's Hospital, Coventry
• Coventry city walls
• Bayley Lane (doesn't currently have an article)
• St Mary's Guildhall
• Joseph Gutteridge
• The Old Grammar School, Coventry (St John's Hospital) (doesn't currently have an article)
• Graham Sutherland
• Coventry Cathedral
• John Gulson (doesn't currently have an article)
• Spon End
• Walter Ritchie (sculpted 'Man's Struggle' now on an outside wall of the Herbert)

Artists with works on display in Wonderful Watercolours: Views of Coventry and Warwickshire

• David Gee (doesn't currently have an article)
• Sydney Bunney (doesn't currently have an article)
• David Cox
• Heneage Finch
• William Henry Brooke
• Paul Sandby
• Copley Fielding
• Thomas Girtin
• Thomas Monro
• Michael Angelo Rooker
• Thomas Hearne
• Florence Weston (doesn't currently have an article)

Accessibility

The Herbert is fully wheelchair accessible and there is lift access to every floor. Accessible toilets are available on both the ground and first floors. If you have an queries about accessibility, please contact erin.hollistheherbert.org.

Sign ups

Attending

• John Pickering
• David Rees
• Dheeraj Gurugubelli
• Interested in writing about JB Shelton. Mum's taxi (talk) 21:14, 12 March 2012 (UTC)
• Happy to help others with wiki-editing, or take photos as needed. Otherwise, interested in industrial history. --RexxS (talk) 17:55, 15 March 2012 (UTC)
• Will Heard
• Nicholas Jackson

Maybe

• Definitely maybe 82.36.181.113 06:39, 3 March 2012 (UTC)
• Vishwas M Byrappa

Apologies

• PatHadley (talk) 14:31, 8 March 2012 (UTC) Sorry, I'd love to come to this but I'm already tied up with something!
• Dilip Mutum Sorry, something urgent has turned up. Will be participating online.
• Mike Peel - apologies, too exhausted from a busy week. Will participate online.

Participating online

• Will do some, probably mostly the artists. Johnbod (talk) 13:34, 13 March 2012 (UTC)

Parking

The museum is located in Coventry city centre, about 15 minutes' walk from Coventry rail station. There is no parking available at the museum, but there are a number of pay and display car parks nearby. Blue Badge holders may park on Bayley Lane opposite the entrance to The Herbert.

Coventry City Council has produced a city centre map which details car parks, Park and Ride bus stops, the rail station and the bus station: City Centre Map. The Herbert is located in the Cathedral Quarter at the corner of Bayley Lane and Jordan Well. See also the Museum's getting here instructions for directions.

The nearby car park on Lower Ford street has a special, cheap Saturday tariff of 50p for up to two hours and £1.00 beyond that.

Any Questions? Add your own

1. Do I have to register to attend, or can I just arrive on the day?

   Due to the limited number of places, the only way to guarantee a place is to sign up.

2. Is there a minimum number of Wikipedia edits I have to have made to be allowed to attend?

   Of course not. However, this event is about editing so we expect you to get involved, if you attend.

3. Do I have to be a member of Wikimedia UK?

   No, this is open to all. However if you would like to join Wikimedia UK and get involved in other projects like this or start your own, you can do so here.

4. Can I bring my camera?

   Yes, please do!

5. What about lunch?

   Lunch will be provided, courtesy of the museum and Wikimedia UK.

6. Do you have to own/bring a laptop?

   If you have access to a laptop, it would be helpful if you could bring it. Wikimedia UK may be able to provide one or two spare laptops for the event.

7. Are there age requirements to attend this event?

   There is no minimum (or maximum) age limit - as long as you're interested and have permission from the relevant parent.

8. Is there a car park?

   See #Parking - the short answer is that there is no 'dedicated' parking, but the museum is close to a fair few public car parks.

9. Are there bike racks?

   According to the City Council's website at http://www.coventry.gov.uk/downloads/download/780/cycle_storage, yes. They're located "at the entrance of the building, and also further up the road towards the Cathedral. There are also hoops located either side of Jordan Well, which is located between Earl Street and Gosford Street." It is a safe area to leave your bike, as it is opposite the cathedral and the university, which are both very touristy and frequented by cyclists.

Results of the day

Articles created

• David Gee (by Laurapinnick)
• John Dowling (pilot) (by RexxS)
• John Bailey Shelton (by Mum's taxi)
• Ford's Hospital, Coventry (by Tom Morris)
• Sydney Bunney (by Dtmrees)

Content improved

• Graham Sutherland (by Nicholas Jackson)

New users

• User:Japick
• User:Philip coventry uk
• User:Laurapinnick

Images donated by the museum

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Press coverage

• Tina Junday: Learn how to add Coventry history to Wikipedia at Herbert art gallery Coventry Telegraph (March 30 2012)
• Sharing Knowledge on the Web Coventry Observer (12 April 2012)