AWA Anglophone Meetup for May 2025: From Forgotten Pages to Global Libraries

Picture of Logo for Wikisource Training

Introduction

Once upon an old, tattered book in the dusty corners of a grandmother’s shelf, spine cracked, pages yellowed, words faded… Stories like this one are everywhere. Forgotten, unread, and slowly vanishing. But what if I told you that you have the power to bring those stories back to life, digitally, and share them with the world? That’s the magic of Wikisource, a free online library, a digital sanctuary for primary sources, and home to historical documents, out-of-print books, government records, and more, all freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection. This was an enlightening experience for me at the African Wikipedian Alliance (AWA) Anglophone monthly meet-up held on May 14th and 16th, 2025, where Divine G. Nanteza, a Wikimedian of the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda, shared with the community how to rediscover or resurrect lost or forgotten stories. This isn’t just a tech tutorial. It’s a call to action for every digital librarian at heart.

The session is a follow-up on the previous training series from last year, where members were introduced to Wikisource and taught how to perform minor and major edits. Watch recordings of previous sessions on our events meta page to stay up to date. This edition of the training is focused on the advanced tutorial of helping users identify and import content into Wikisource. It also aims to equip users with practical steps to conceptualize and lead Wikisource campaigns. This was part of the announcement made by the moderator, Bukola James, Community Coordinator AWA, CfA, during her introductory message to the participants at the beginning of the session. Let’s dive in…

Step One: The Treasure Map

The trainer, Divine commenced with an introduction to the tools to make it happen. Ever heard of The Internet Archive? The first step is to seek out the treasure using the Internet Archive, a non-profit digital archive housing millions of books, music files, films, and artifacts. Then find a book that must be in the public domain, free from copyright restrictions, and begging for a second chance.

Step Two: The Magical Portal

Once you’ve uncovered your gem, it’s time to open the gateway, the Internet Archive Upload Tool. You’ll paste your book’s unique identifier into this tool, add its title, author, and year, and just like that, the book is uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, with all the technical metadata. Note that the Internet Archive tool also automatically populates metadata fields as seen in the screenshot below. It’s like watching a dusty relic transform into a living document. Remember that all books worthy to be on Wikisource must first be identified on Wikicommons before they can be imported to Wikisource..

Screenshot of the IA tool page

Step Three: The Scribe’s Workshop

Now it’s time to step into your role as a digital scribe. On Wikisource, Divine demonstrated how to create an index page, assign page numbers, insert titles, and begin proofreading with the help of an OCR (Optical Character Recognition), a tool that pulls text from scanned pages. Wikisource isn’t a solo quest. It thrives on collaboration. Editors around the world work together to verify, proofread, and perfect each book. It means you’re not just uploading content; you’re building a community archive. The trainer reminded attendees that with best practices, like checking copyright, collaborating with others, and using the Internet Archive tool effectively, you’ll become a guardian of knowledge.

Final Notes

Before handing over the virtual mic back to the moderator, the trainer emphasized that the books we save aren’t just ink on paper; they’re dreams, histories, revolutions, lullabies, and lessons. And when you bring them to Wikisource, you breathe life into them again. So the next time you see an old book lying forgotten, remember: you have the power to give it a voice in the 21st century because in the world of Wikisource, every contributor is a storyteller. And every story deserves to be heard.

Screenshot of participants at the Wikisource training

Call to Action

As a norm of AWA community activities, the session was interactive and concerns from participants were addressed. After taking group photos with attendees, the moderator, Bukola, urged participants who are not yet community members to get involved, collaborate, and start contributing responsibly. Become a digital librarian because every great library needs books, and that’s where you come in. Join the movement. Let’s make history accessible, one book at a time. You can join our growing AWA community too by clicking here to register and get invites to upcoming CfA WiR bi-weekly webinars. For those who missed the session, a recorded version is available on the community programs page.