THE National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth has employed someone to become the UK’s first permanent Wikimedian.

As national Wikimedian, Jason Evans will make Wikipedia and its sister projects a core aspect of the library’s activities and services.

Building on the successful collaboration between the library, Wikimedia UK and the Wiki community, he will lead activities associated with the library’s collections, Wales as a nation and/or the Welsh language.

The National Library of Wales, Wikimedia UK (owners of Wikipedia) and the editing community have worked together since 2014 to host a Wikimedian in residence.

Jason Evans was appointed and has helped the library to explore the use of Wikipedia and its sister project in the fulfilling its aim of giving access to knowledge, especially relating to Wales and the Welsh.

This month, the activity becomes a core aspect of the library’s work.

The library won ‘Partnership of the Year’ in the UK Wikimedian of the Year Awards for their influential work and vision in making the role permanent.

Images from the library have been used in Wikipedia articles which have been seen more than 250 million times.

As well as enabling these collections to be used in this way, the Wikimedian in residence has held 20 public events and has taught more than 100 people how to edit, and together they have improved thousands of pages.

The library has also played a key role in supporting the Welsh Wicipedia, leading initiatives like the Welsh Government-sponsored WiciPop project which resulted in the creation of hundreds of articles and Welsh-language record company Recordiau Sain sharing over 7,000 audio files.

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