Editing Wikipedia at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (original) (raw)
Theater|Wikipedia’s Deep Dive Into a Library Collection
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Wikipedia’s Deep Dive Into a Library Collection
- Oct. 20, 2011
AMATEUR digital archivists and musical theater devotees are invited to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts on Saturday for a six-hour “editathon,” an event meant to improve Wikipedia’s musical-theater-related entries using the library’s special collections.
Titled “Wikipedia! The Musical!,” the event is part of Wikipedia Loves Libraries, a series that encourages active users of the online encyclopedia to engage with established cultural institutions and make use of their resources.
Aspiring editors should bring a laptop and a bit of investigative drive; no experience is necessary. Doug Reside, the digital curator for the performing arts at the New York Public Library, will offer participants a brief tutorial on how to edit an entry properly, as well as “a quick overview of some important collections at the library that are not well represented in Wikipedia’s current articles.” The musical theater angle, he explained, is a function of location, scholarly interest and the medium’s interdisciplinary, “multi-modal” roots, which are well served by the library’s extensive archives.
In an e-mail Mr. Reside mentioned that the event would give editors access to the library’s considerable Harold Prince and Audrey Hepburn holdings. “Audrey Hepburn is interesting in that we have materials related to her stage work, which is not as well known or documented as her film career,” he said. (Ms. Hepburn’s Wikipedia article describes her chiefly as “a film and fashion icon.”)
Mr. Reside also emphasized the library’s material on various theater technicians, many of whom remain unlisted on Wikipedia, or whose entries are brief.
He pointed specifically to the designer Boris Aronson, who created pioneering scenes, costumes, lighting and sets for dozens of Broadway shows but whose Wikipedia entry seems unjustly anemic. The library has Mr. Aronson’s papers, which were donated by his wife in 1987 and include designs, programs, scripts and production materials.
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