Commons:Wiki Loves Heritage 2019 in Belgium/Organizations
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![Logo Wiki Loves Heritage](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/WikiLovesHeritage-Paars.png/200px-WikiLovesHeritage-Paars.png)
The project Wiki Loves Heritage helps cultural institutions, organisations and private collections to enhance their presence online by increasing the availability and visibility of their heritage collections on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and the other Wiki-projects. Wiki Loves Heritage offers its partners the opportunities to present their collections to wide and new audiences, and to play a decisive role in increasing the visibility of Belgian cultural heritage on an international level. Participating to Wiki Loves Heritage is also an opportunity to get community involvement and audience development.
Join and organise an activity
Wiki Loves Heritage offers different models of participation for heritage organisations, from which they can choose and combine the ones that fit the best with their specific contexts. The different propositions were elaborated from previous successful experiences with different kinds of organisations: arts institutions, non-profit organisations, private collections, heritage cells, etc. The models are easily identifiable by the public participating to the photography contest, and made to attract a wide public of culture and photography lovers, arts students and open knowledge enthusiasts.
- Free access
- Suitable for all kinds of institutions. The institution lists the objects that can be photographed and are not under copyrights, and offers free admission to photographers that participate in the contest, under certain conditions to be defined with the institution.
- Editing workshop
- Recommended for institutions with a workshop space (tables, chairs and internet). After having taken pictures of artworks the participants are invited to an editing workshop with experienced Wikipedia trainers. During the workshop they will learn how to upload the images on the Wikimedia Commons database, how to add all necessary information and credits to the files, and start using the images on the institution’s Wikipedia page.
- Special presentations
- Suitable for all kinds of institutions. The museum offers special guided tours and/or presentations which participants can subscribe to. During these tours the participants have the opportunity to photograph selected artworks, with good equipment — tripods, etc. The presentations will encourage people to add more information to the files and to use the images in Wikipedia pages. Also useful for private collections.
- Photography training
- Suitable for all kinds of institutions. The museum and Wiki Loves Heritage offers specific photography training with professional photographers and good equipment — tripods, etc. For instance, how to take pictures of 3D artworks / details in a painting / old books... Also useful for private collections.
- Exceptional photography permission
- Especially suitable for museums where normally taking photos is restricted. The museum offers a number of special and free guided tours which participants can subscribe to. During these tours, outside normal opening hours for instance, the contest participants have an exclusive opportunity to photograph selected artworks. That way the museum can keep control over the group and ensure more safety. Also useful for private collections.
- Providing access
- For smaller institutions with active volunteers and local heritage. In this model accessibility plays a major role. Where objects are normally behind glass or otherwise photographing tricky, the institution is putting additional effort to give the photographers the opportunity to take quality photos with the possibility to modify the setup around the work.
- Behind the Scenes
- Ideal for institutions with spaces usually not accessible by the public and objects that are not always shown in the exhibitions, a well-stocked depot for instance. In addition to one of the other models, the institution organises one or more activities with special ‘behind the scenes’ guided tours. With the tours the organisation tells about the background of the museum and participants can document more of its collections.
- Heritage walk
- Organise a guided walk in the city or municipality through known and less known heritage sights. The participants then upload the photos taken during the walk afterwards under the guidance of the organisation.
- One-day photo search
- Based on the inventory of immovable heritage, compose a one-day photo search in the region. The participants then upload the photos taken during the walk afterwards under the guidance of the organisation.
- Contemporary art
- Especially suitable for recent artworks collections, public and private. Contemporary art under copyrights cannot be published on Wikipedia unless the artist gives permission to photograph and publish the works. Supported by expertise from the Wiki Loves Heritage organisation, the institution can contact the artists in their collection, or their heirs, to ask the necessary permission. For Wiki Loves Heritage, the institution makes a list of objects of which the permission has been acquired and these may then be photographed.
Further collaborations with Wikipedia & Wikimedia
Besides participating in Wiki Loves Heritage photo contest, organisations can work together in the Wiki Loves Heritage initiative and collaborate with Wikipedia and Wikimedia in different ways, on short and long term, finding the best model or tailoring specific ones adapted to the profile of the organisation.
Common collaboration models
- Workshop Wikipedia for staff of your organisation: in an afternoon or a morning, the staff of your organisation meets experienced Wikipedia editors to learn more about how Wikipedia works, its philosophy and how you can use Wikipedia/Wikimedia for getting more attention for your organisation. This activity is commonly preceded by a short introduction about editing Wikipedia, time for asking questions and followed by bringing the learned into practise by starting writing on Wikipedia.
- Workshop Wikipedia open to the public at your organisation: starting in the morning, people interested in your organisation can participate in a Wikipedia workshop where they write about topics from your collection. This activity is commonly preceded by a short introduction about editing Wikipedia, its philosophy and basic principles, and followed by editing in Wikipedia under the guidance of experienced Wikipedia editors.
- Content donation: with a content donation (a part of) a digital or digitalised collection is made available under an open (Creative Commons) license through Wikimedia Commons, the media library of Wikipedia and all Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Commons often serves as a free back-up of the digitalised collection of an organisation and can contain images, audiovisual materials and texts. These files can be re-used in Wikipedia and beyond, with respect for the licensing terms. Your collection becomes more relevant for society and you will have more visitors to your website. For uploading and following the usage of the files, we have handy tools available.
- Meta data donation: with a donation of meta data you share the data of (a part of) your collection under the CC0 on Wikidata, the database of Wikipedia and all Wikimedia projects. The data in Wikidata can be used by your organisation, and also by other institutions in Belgium, and can give your database more context and relevance. In 2015 a whitepaper has been written about the usage of Wikidata and Linked Open Data, and contains a briefly introduction in the Wikimedia movement and the projects Wikipedia and Wikidata, a description of the business cases to document artworks in Wikidata, specifically for museums, and a crosswalk, explaining how collection data is mapped to the data model of Wikidata. Read the whitepaper at: Flemish art collections, Wikidata and Linked Open Data.
- Wikipedian-in-Residence: is a Wikimedia specialist who is temporary “embedded” in your institution and organises activities during that period around the various Wikimedia platforms. These activities may include all of the above, but also training for the staff of your organisation. He or she also acts as an intermediary between the Wikimedia community and the employees of your organisation. Ideally, your organisation is able to engage independently with the Wikimedia community after the departure of the Wikipedian-in-Residence. Funding for Wikipedian-in-Residence is usually applied on a project basis with external funds.
- GLAM-Wiki coordinator: is someone in an organisation who takes up the role of coordinator between the internal organisation and the Wikimedia community. Various cultural institutions have made the interaction with Wikimedia an integral part of their policy, and structurally freed time for collaboration. A GLAM-Wiki coordinator is part of the institution and arranges images and other media to be released under an open license and organises activities to enlarge the usage of the released materials and having the public have more attention for the collection.
More possibilities
To give organisations a better understanding of how Wikipedia works and how they can collaborate with us, we have published two brochures with more information and specific examples of the many organisations that successfully collaborate(d) with Wikipedia.
Download | How to work successfully with Wikipedia
Download Free Knowledge thanks to Creative Commons Licenses
More information
- Sharing curatorial knowledge with the world – Museums Collaborating with Wikipedia
- The GLAM objective
Contact
Contact us for more information at infowikimedia.be