Evans-Tibbs Archive Wikidata Project edit

Background edit

Thurlow Evans Tibbs Jr. (1952-1997)

Artist file for Howardena Pindell, from the Evans-Tibbs Collection

Washington Star Pictorial Magazine, newspaper clipping, May 2, 1954, from the Evans-Tibbs Collection

As part of National Gallery of Art's efforts towards promoting greater diversity in its collections and exhibitions, the National Gallery Library Wikidata team initiates a pilot project to increase accessibility to African American artists in the Evans-Tibbs Collection through Wikidata. The Evans-Tibbs Collection was established by Thurlow Evans Tibbs Jr., a gallerist and advocate for African American art in Washington. The artists represented in the Evans-Tibbs collection were active both locally in the Washington D.C. art community and nationally between 1810 and 1998. Various materials about the Evans-Tibbs artists are preserved in the National Gallery Library Vertical Files: books, brochures, exhibition catalogues, photographs, etc. Although some of these items are accessible through online digital collections, it is still hard to access the information about the artists in more visible and effective ways. This pilot will allow us to create Wikidata for a sample of the Evans-Tibbs artists and experiment with various functions of the Wikidata platform to improve visibility, connectivity, and accessibility of the artists online presence. Since Wikidata employs linked data structures, we can also examine the potential for Wikidata/Linked Data applications on the library’s named entity management and discovery.

Aim and Scope edit

The goals of the National Gallery Library Wikidata Pilot project are:

1) to create Wikidata items for a sample of African American artists in the Evans-Tibbs Collection

2) to establish NGA local practices for Wikidata development including workflows and tools

Tasks & Timeline edit

Task 1: Develop a project plan: identify a collection, create a project proposal, and create the list of core/extended properties (2 month, 8/2020-9/2020)

Task 2: Select a sample set, collect and evaluate data for the artists (4 months, 10/2020-1/2021)

Task 3: Perform data clean-up & standardization and upload data into Wikidata (3 months, 2/2021-4/2021)

Task 4: Test batch searching/other visualization tools and gather feedback (2 months, 5/2021-6/2021)

Task 5: Make an evaluation and documentation (2 months, 7/2021-8/2021)

Potential Outcomes edit

Increase visibility and accessibility to an underrepresented group (African American artists) in art communities and in the umbrella platform of Wikimedia (Wikidata, Wikimedia, Wikipedia)
Establish Wikidata local workflows and tools, which can be applied to other collections

Increase library staff’s awareness of linked data trends in library environment and identify potential for the library’s named entity management and discovery

Quick Links edit

Contributors edit

Atomlinson-nga / ESnga / Sarahobender / Sbae2020

Wikidata:WikiProject PCC Wikidata Pilot/National Gallery of Art Library

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