This list of Best Practices includes ways that cultural organizations can best coordinate with Wikimedia. Click on each section for further information and resources that can help you decide which project may work for your institution.
The GLAM community has organized various types of outreach events, each meant for a specific audience and each with a specific purpose. These include GLAM-Wiki conferences directed at GLAM professionals, GLAMCamp workshops that bring together Wikimedians for coordination efforts, and other outreach events, such as Edit-a-Thons and Backstage Passes, that are often specific to a singular institution.
A Wikipedian In Residence works with a specific GLAM to examine and execute ways that institutions can broaden content on Wikimedia in relation to their collections — without compromising the missions and visions of either.
Since every residency will be very different, there is not a specific how-to guide. For general information, see the Wikipedian in Residence page.
QR codes are bar codes that allow anyone with a smartphone to scan it and instantly gain access to content provided by the creator of the QR code. GLAMs are using them in exhibitions to showcase well researched Wikipedia articles relating to their collections. Learn how you can incorporate this innovative technology into your current and future exhibitions.
Wikimedia has made it easy for GLAMs to release media content, like images, audio and video, into Commons;` learn about mass uploading, copyright and how to partner with Wikimedia to make the most of the images you seek to free.
If you would like to assistance in formally granting permission to free your images to the Wikimedia Foundation, see the OTRS letter page.
If you'd like to learn more about media rights and usage on Wikimedia Commons, please see our easy to read Media rights & usage on Commons documentation
List of informal and formal partnerships between affiliates of the Wikimedia Foundation and other groups/organizations that have resulted in substantial new collections being added to Commons.
Wikidata, the linked, structured, open data project, is increasingly become a model ecosystem for sharing GLAM Data, and connecting it with the authority controls and metadata provided by other institutions. For the case for GLAM-Wiki projects with Wikidata, see this blog post. For a greater sense of the landscape of opportunities, see [[
Many GLAMs are interested in updating their own article within Wikipedia, but this is often discouraged due to issues with conflict of interest. This type of request can be carried out if you understand how to maintain a neutral tone and avoid original research.
Upcoming exhibitions are an excellent opportunity to work with Wikipedians to showcase the objects and themes curated by GLAMs. Learn about ways to bring Wikipedia to your exhibition and vice versa, past projects and conflict of interest avoidance.
Optical character recognition (OCR) is the digital process of translating written, typed or printed text. With the help of Wikimedians from around the world learn how you can translate and improve your archival documentation and share histories never shared before.
