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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.

For more details, check out case studies.

GLAM events

• 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.
  • For a Guide to event planning in general refer to the Event planning process
  • For GLAM model projects, see the Coordinating a GLAM outreach event How-To Guide and the Edit-a-Thon How-To guide.
  • For specific examples, see the Smithsonian Archives of American Art and the British Library case studies.

Wikipedians in Residence

• 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.
• For a specific example, see the British Museum case study.

QRpedia

• 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.
  • For more details, see the Using Wikipedia QR codes How-To Guide.
• For a specific example, see the Derby Museum case study.

Multilingual cooperations

• Wikipedia is an international community and with Wikipedias 281 languages there is an entire world to reach out to in regards to your content!
  • For more details, see the Engaging a different language or cultural community How-To Guide.
• For a specific example, see Derby Multilingual Challenge.
• Newer projects rely on Wikidata to populate the competitions. See for example, the Wikidata Project for the Europeana Art History Challenge

Content donations

• 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.
  • For more details, see the Image donation How-To Guide and the Guide to Batch Uploading. Note that Wikimedia Commons supports most media types, and that
  • 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
• For specific examples, see the:

• Walters Art Museum case study
• Archives of American Art case study
• 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

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 [[

Case studies include:

• The Europeana Art History Challenge A competition asking Wikimedians to help describe and provide context on the Europeana 280 projects.
• The TED partnership -- a case study on partnering to document TED talk speakers.
• Flemish Art Musueum Case Study -- a network of 8 Flemish Art Museums worked with a Wikidata advocate, to integrate their catelogues into Wikidata.
• Yle Archive -- an audio archive that uses Wikidata to tag concepts in their digital archive, taking advantage of Wikidata's sophisticated

Best practices for donating data to Wikidata can be found on Wikidata.

Improving your institution's article

• 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.
  • For more details, see the Updating your institution's article How-To Guide.
• For a specific example, see the Indianapolis Museum of Art case study.

Wikipedia articles in exhibitions

• 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.
  • For more details, see the Wikipedia in exhibitions How-To Guide.
• For a specific example, see the Brooklyn Museum case study.

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and WikiSource

• 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.
  • For more details, see the Improving OCR How-To Guide.

Digitization and restoration

• Learn how GLAMs can work with Wikimedians to give historical images new life — at no cost.
  • For more details, see the Digital image restoration How-To Guide.
• For a specific example, see WikiProject Media Restoration.