Jump to content

Book swapping

From Wikimania 2016 • Esino Lario, Italy
Title Book swapping/books donation
Genre Evening programme, service, enjoyment
Date Wednesday to Sunday
Time drop by when you want
Location Community village
Contact Elitre - please help yourself when table is not attended
Status confirmed
Chairs one
Projector no
Other a table


We will create a corner where everyone can:

  1. wild-release books they brought to Esino and maybe collect others they're interested in; and/or
  2. bring books to be donated to Associazione Amici del Museo delle Grigne Onlus to create a special Wikimania Archive and leave a mark of the event in local culture (per suggestion on Twitter; we can't guarantee all books will be accepted and kept, though).

These books could be a source of good references for content on our sites, or just items you'd like to donate/bring back home because they're cool anyway (gorgeous pics, a language/script people may have never seen before, etc.)

If you're familiar with the international treats table at the Wikimedia Conference, think of this as slightly similar (but, you can bring the books home!).

See the official page with details: The Wikipedia Library/Books in Esino Lario. Table is by the Community Village, next to the snacks and drinks tables. There may be presentations going on in the same room, please bear that in mind!BOOKS STILL ON THE TABLE ON SUNDAY EVENING WILL BE LEFT IN ESINO, or brought elsewhere by organizers.

Participants

I will participate by bringing books

please also add them on Meta

I can create a label and share it on Commons

I can let other people know about this initiative (on social media etc.)

I can help at the books'corner

I will stop by at the table

Interested but not sure I can participate

Previous conversation on the topic

book swapping

We could use the most popular, multilingual website which has provided the ability to track books' paths for years now (I did so a few times in the past, 1 - 2; here's what a book page looks like in the system, with comments by people who took the book, read it,then left it somewhere else), but I can easily anticipate how people would object to having to register there, using a system which is possibly not open, etc.

I want to link this initiative to the Wikipedia Library, providing a sentence about it on the label which gets attached to the book, and a QR code to its main page.

So, first step: what should we use to track the books' journey? (please comment below) The only thing I can imagine would be on Meta, a table where the book "ID" is just the related row number. However, such a table may be not that easy to maintain (the data we need to track is book ID, basic info about the book, and then info on where it was/when it was/who released, found, re-released it, and so on).

This could be interesting, but its not a must -- I think just having a book swap table with information and labels would be sufficient, in the Community space. Astinson (WMF) (talk) 15:33, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Per feedback, let's just create a tracking table on Meta. Releasers can still track the books in their favourite systems as well if they wish to do so.

Second step (in progress): creating the label layout. Any takers? Here are some examples; maybe we could use the TWL logo. We also need to add a sentence like "The Wikipedia Library helps editors access reliable sources to improve Wikipedia. We also help knowledge professionals share their collections with the public. Find out more at [short URL here]", and a QR code that points to the initiative page on Meta, which will also feature info about TWL. The resulting design will be uploaded to Commons.

Sounds great You are more than welcome to use our short url wikilibrary.org wikipedialibrary.org , and we have other materials on Category:The_Wikipedia_Library. In the past, @MCruz (WMF): has helped us with visuals -- I think that could be a fairly small ask if she is interested, Astinson (WMF) (talk) 15:33, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Astinson (WMF): @Elitre:I can help with the label design, would be happy to =) - any timeline? When would we need this label printed by? MCruz (WMF) (talk) 16:30, 2 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
MCruz (WMF), thanks for your help. We need them in time for the first Wikimania day. Elitre (talk) 11:30, 7 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]
@Astinson (WMF):, MCruz (WMF), see talk page, thanks :) Elitre (talk) 10:05, 13 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Third step (in progress): after we have sorted out the things above, let's campaign to let everyone know about this!

@Ocaasi (WMF): and I would be happy to support this in communications. Astinson (WMF) (talk) 15:33, 1 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Fourth step: get the labels printed so that people can tag their books in Esino if they can't do it before.

Fifth step: organize the space in Esino (Elitre to take care of this)

Sixth step: be at the books' corner to explain initiative and help!

books donation

You may specify that you want to leave your books to Esino's community. Iolanda has recommended that we consider donating them to the Associazione Amici del Museo delle Grigne Onlus (Villa Clotilde) as they manage the Ecomuseo, are the people behind Associazione Comitato Wikimania Esino Lario 2016, and are heavily involved in Esino's culture. There is no guarantee they'll be able to actually make a "Wikimania Archive" out of our books, but let's try.


Report

Almost 50 books were exchanged during Wikimania!

commons:Category:Wikimania 2016 - Book swapping

See also