User:Cormaggio/Research outline

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My research is on Wikimedia UK a Wikimedia local chapter for the UK. I'll be looking at what we can do to promote this charity and what possible projects we can coordinate to further this. I'll also be looking at what we can learn from the other chapters around Europe (and, hopefully, the world!) Overall, I would like to look at different levels of locality - in relating the work of the Wikimedia community as a whole with the work of particular communities here in the UK - specifically in Manchester. My blog is meant to chart this process.

As I said on my blog, "this project is about me learning about what to do with Wikimedia UK - rather than simply writing up a list of recommendations about what other people should do." [1] In other words, the project will be very participatory, as opposed to my flawed (IMO) rationale last year in simply observing the activities of an online community. I want to get stuck into this, try out things, help people, talk to people - all the time remaining reflective and critical of this process and my role in it. I want to find out firstly, what we can do, and then, helping out in these projects, seeing how we could improve them, and then find out how it affects (?) people who are involved. The MSc will be mainly about the first of these, and then hopefully my PhD will look at the last two, the continuing story.

I'm doing a literature review of the use of wikis in education (ICT & constructivist learning), community development, and informal learning to see if there is any overlap between these areas. There doesn't seem to be much literature specifically related to all three of these, but I will be attempting to weave them together into a meaningful base for my/our work in this charity. This year is very much exploratory, and I look forward to doing so with a range of other people, from Wikimedia or not. Below are some ideas I have for who to tallk to. I'll also link to my literature review and project proposal here (or from my blog) when they are done.

Wikimedia-related people I want to get in touch with for my research on Wikimedia UK[edit]

Note: must check for anonymity: or whether people want usernames or real names

Around Europe[edit]

In UK[edit]

Non-Wikimedia people[edit]

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