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Italy report

Ongoing and New GLAM-Wiki Projects

By Marta Arosio

GLAM-Wiki Event at CNR Library

A recent academic poster that highlights GLAM-wiki projects at CNR

On 19 May, the Central Library “Guglielmo Marconi” of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR), in collaboration with Wikimedia Italia, will host a public event in Rome dedicated to GLAM-wiki projects.

The meeting will present the CNR ongoing GLAM projects, developed together with several CNR institutes and external partners. The program will highlight current projects, achieved results, and future perspectives in the fields of digitization, open access, semantic enhancement of collections, and dissemination through Wikimedia platforms.

The event will also showcase educational activities carried out with lower and upper secondary schools, including the Wikibook Wikicarte geografiche digitali per una Città Educante, created by students using CNR shared contents. Contributions from graduate interns in Archival Science and Library Science from Sapienza University of Rome will also be featured, reflecting the value of cooperation between libraries and higher education.

The initiative aims to strengthen long-term connections between research institutions, schools, universities, and the Wikimedia movement, demonstrating how collaborative open knowledge projects can support access to scientific and cultural heritage.

Among the speakers are representatives from Wikimedia Italia, CNR research institutes, Sapienza University of Rome, the Scuola Normale Superiore, and the Library of the Conservatory of Rome. Sessions will cover topics such as digital tools for heritage preservation, collaborative cartography projects, open data for libraries and archives, musical heritage digitization, and the integration of library catalogues with Wikidata.

First steps with new GLAM partners

Interior of Mole Antonelliana, that hosts the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin

Wikimedia Italia have recently taken the first steps in building collaborations with two major Italian GLAM institutions: the Museo Nazionale del Cinema in Turin and the Biblioteca Nazionale di Potenza.

Initial online training sessions have been delivered to staff at both institutions, focusing on contributing to Wikimedia projects and understanding the opportunities offered by open knowledge platforms. These early exchanges mark the beginning of a broader collaboration aimed at supporting the institutions in sharing their collections and expertise with a global audience.

Both partners have expressed a strong interest in uploading materials to Wikimedia Commons, including photographic collections and digitized documents, as well as contributing to Wikipedia and Wikidata.

The Museo Nazionale del Cinema, housed in the iconic Mole Antonelliana, offers a unique, immersive journey through the history of cinema, with extensive collections ranging from early visual devices to contemporary film production. The Biblioteca Nazionale di Potenza, a state public library under the Ministry of Culture, plays a key role in preserving and promoting local heritage, with significant historical collections and a strong focus on the cultural history of the Lucania region.

These collaborations highlight a growing shared commitment to making cultural heritage more accessible, reusable, and visible through open platforms, while strengthening ties with leading cultural institutions across the country.


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