Wikimania 2024 was featured in a Japanese E-mail magazine

I contributed my “Wikimania 2024 Participation” article to Weekly e-mail magazine “Academic Resource Guide” published by Japan’s ACADEMIC RESOURCE GUIDE, Inc. (arg). Since this magazine is free but membership is required, I reproduced the article on my blog.

Article

Original: レポート「Wikimania2024参加記」（門倉百合子）【Academic Resource Guide, No. 1021, 26 August 2024】

Reproduced on my blog: 「Wikimania2024参加記」を『ARG』に寄稿 (English translation: “Contributed ‘Wikimania 2024 Participation’ to ARG”) 【「70歳のウィキペディアン」のブログ = The Blog of “A 70-year-old Wikipedian”】Retrieved August 26, 2024.

Contents

The article consists of three parts. In the first part of this article, I briefly described the days leading up to my participation in Wikimania. First, I wrote on my scholarship application that I would like to participate if a Wikimedian orchestra was formed. The scholarship was approved, but I did not write the proposal for the orchestra myself. However, someone else had written one (I later learned it was Lukas Mezger), and it was approved. Then in June there was a call for orchestra members, and I applied. On the other hand, my proposal to present my book “A 70-year-old Wikipedian talks about the charm of libraries” was not accepted. The reason was probably that I had already presented it at ESEAP in May.

In the second part I wrote about Wikimania in Katowice, Poland. I participated to some sessions, include an online session from Ukraine, and two presentations from Japan, by Sae Kitamura and Eugene Ormandy. I was also invited to a meetup of librarians, which I attended and got to know many librarians. I did not have the opportunity to present my book, but I introduced my book in conversation with many people, and fortunately many of them were interested in it.

In the third part, I wrote about the WikiOrchestra. It was a rehearsal on the third day and a real performance at the closing ceremony on the fourth and final day. I had the pleasure of playing Polish music with members from all over the world. So I wrote an article in Diff called ”How a “WikiOrchestra” performed Polish music at Wikimania 2024”.

It was an eventful four days, but even though I am neither young nor good at English, I was able to learn a lot at my own pace. I also learned that there were many people from non-English speaking communities, each with their own diverse activities. All of them were open and willing to help me when I had a problem, which made me happy. From parents and children in baby carriage to elderly people in wheelchairs, the scene of exchange among the diverse generations from all over the world was unforgettable. Even after the event was over, conversations continued on and on in various group chats, and I am now realizing that my awareness is expanding more and more globally.