Today is a celebration of the creation of the world's largest online encyclopedia and the radical idea that information can be created by and open to everyone. This concept resonates with our work at the National Archives, where we strive to support open government values of transparency, collaboration and participation. We believe in government that … Continue reading Happy Birthday, Wikipedia!
Our mission at the National Archives is to drive openness, cultivate public participation, and strengthen our nation’s democracy through public access to government records. We are fast approaching the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, a hallmark of the expansion of democracy here in the United States. On March 8, we will open our exhibit, … Continue reading A Call to Action for Scholars of American History: Contribute to Wikipedia
The National Archives is committed to maintaining an “open, inclusive work environment that is built on respect, communication, integrity, and collaborative teamwork.” Together, we are strengthened by diversity and advanced by inclusion. As part of NARA’s ongoing focus on the subject of civil rights and diversity, both in the historical record and as an organization, … Continue reading Celebrating Diversity at the National Archives
At the National Archives, we connect with customers in a multitude of ways: face-to-face, over the phone, across the desk, in our research rooms, in the classroom and of course, online. We serve a diverse set of customer communities, including educators, historians, genealogists, researchers, veterans and now groups such as civic hackers, Wikipedians and many … Continue reading By the Numbers: Connecting with Customers in Person and Online
The National Archives is proud to be the co-organizer and host site of WikiConference USA, which is being held in the National Archives Building in Washington D.C. Oct. 9–11. WikiConference USA is the annual national conference of Wikimedia enthusiasts and volunteers in the United States, and is open to anyone—regardless of their level of Wikipedia … Continue reading National Archives Hosts WikiConference USA
State Fair, 10/1972. National Archives Identifier 545457 The second of our new strategic goals is to “Connect with Customers.” Having spent most of my career working with the public, customer service is a passion of mine. In my personal life I am always looking for exemplars—places where I am dazzled by attention to service, places which … Continue reading Be Bold: Connect with Customers
In May 2011, Dominic McDevitt-Parks joined the National Archives as our first Wikipedian-In-Residence. This put the National Archives at the forefront of many cultural institutions in partnering with the Wikimedia community. Working for the National Archives as a part-time student intern, our Wikipedian led ground-breaking efforts for the agency. His automated-upload project provided 100,000 digital … Continue reading Breaking New Ground Again
Last Saturday I spoke to an enthusiastic crowd of Wikimedians at the Wikimania 2012 Conference here in Washington. Over 1400 people from 87 countries came together to talk, hack, and share their expertise and experiences at the week-long event. I was glad to share in their joie de vivre and to talk about our common … Continue reading Wikimania 2012
According to Alexa.com, the internet traffic ranking company, there are only six websites that internet users worldwide visit more often than Wikipedia: Google, Facebook, YouTube, Yahoo!, Blogger.com, and Baidu.com (the leading Chinese language search engine). In the States, it ranks sixth behind Amazon.com. Over the past few years, the National Archives has worked with many … Continue reading GLAMorous
I'm a big fan of Wikipedia. It's often the first place I go for information. According to a recent Pew Internet report, I'm also not alone. Forty-two percent of all Americans also turn to Wikipedia for information online. Every month, almost 80 million people visit Wikipedia and more than 91,000 active contributors have worked on … Continue reading Celebrating 10 Years of Wikipedia
