GLAM/Newsletter/April 2026/Contents/Poland report

This Month in GLAM – Volume XVI, Issue IV, April 2026

Poland report

GLAM-Wiki Developments: Residencies, Partnerships and Audiovisual Heritage

New GLAM-Wiki partnerships with university libraries

In March 2026, Wikimedia Polska began new conversations and introductory activities with academic libraries interested in developing GLAM-Wiki cooperation and exploring the role of Wikimedia projects in open access strategies.

An introductory workshop was organised for the staff of the University Library in Toruń. Participants were introduced to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and Wikisource, with discussions focused on how academic libraries can use Wikimedia projects to increase the visibility and accessibility of their collections, research, and institutional activities. The workshop was designed as the first step towards developing a longer-term GLAM-Wiki partnership and identifying possible directions for future collaboration.

Introductory meetings and presentations were also held in Wrocław together with the Regional GLAM team and the University Library in Wrocław. The visit focused on familiarising library staff and regional GLAM representatives with the Wikimedia ecosystem and discussing how Wikimedia projects can support cultural and academic institutions in sharing digital heritage and building public visibility within open knowledge networks.

Polish Wikimedians in Residence test Commons Impact Metrics tools

In March and April, Wikimedia Polska organised two meetings for Polish Wikimedians in Residence. Participants included Kamila Neuman, Katarzyna Makowska, Agata Stadnicka, and Grzegorz Gogacz, while the April meeting also welcomed two new residents: Maciej Szostek (Piastu) and Marta Malina Moraczewska.

The meetings focused on Commons Impact Metrics (CIM) tools and methods for measuring the impact and reuse of materials shared through Wikimedia Commons. Participants exchanged first experiences with testing the tools and discussed future plans for developing onboarding resources and a practical toolkit for new Wikimedians in Residence in Poland.

The meetings also reflected the growing network of GLAM-Wiki residencies in Poland. Maciej Szostek recently began a Wikimedian in Residence programme with PKO Bank Polski, focused on opening and sharing archival materials related to the history of Polish banking and economic heritage.

Marta Malina Moraczewska joined the network as Wikimedian in Residence at EC1 Łódź – City of Culture, where the residency is connected with activities around film, audiovisual heritage, and digital culture. The project also includes an English-language section inviting members of the international Wikimedia community to engage with and contribute to the initiative.

New Wikimedian in Residence at PKO Bank Polski

At the end of March, a new Wikimedian in Residence programme was launched in cooperation with PKO Bank Polski, one of the most historically significant financial institutions in Poland. Long-time Wikimedia contributor Maciej Szostek (“Piastu”) began working with the institution to analyse archival and historical materials for possible inclusion in Wikimedia projects.

The collaboration aims to increase public access to resources documenting the history of Polish banking, architecture, and economic heritage. The residency will focus particularly on identifying archival and iconographic materials that could be shared through Wikimedia Commons and used to expand knowledge related to economic and social history in Poland.

“Women Behind the Camera” edit-a-thon at FINA

On 28 March 2026, Wikimedia Polska and the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) organised the edit-a-thon “Women Behind the Camera” at the FINA headquarters in Warsaw. The event was part of the nationwide “(Un)known Women of Wikipedia” editing campaign organised by Wikimedia Polska, with FINA joining the initiative as one of its institutional partners.

The edit-a-thon was dedicated to women creators in Polish cinematography whose contributions remain underrepresented in public narratives about film history. Participants worked on biographies related to film directing, editing, cinematography, sound production, costume design, and other areas of audiovisual creation. During the event, participants created a new Wikipedia article about Jolanta Słobodzian and expanded or improved 14 additional biographies.

The event combined Wikimedia editing activities with broader discussions about visibility, representation, and cultural memory, and included a lecture by Dr Paulina Kwiatkowska. Volunteer Wikimedians played an important role in supporting participants throughout the edit-a-thon. StrzydlatyMuflon conducted the introductory Wikipedia editing training, while experienced editors Gytha and Bonvol provided mentoring and practical support for participants during the editing session.

Discussions on openness and AI during the EUscreen symposium

In April, Kamila Neuman, Open Culture Manager at Wikimedia Polska, participated in the EUscreen symposium “Reframing Openness: Empowering Authenticity and Reuse in Audiovisual Heritage”, co-organised by EUscreen Foundation and the National Film Archive – Audiovisual Institute (FINA) in Warsaw.

The symposium focused on the changing meaning of openness in the context of AI technologies, platform infrastructures, and the reuse of audiovisual heritage. Discussions addressed questions related to reciprocity in digital commons, responsible AI use, copyright, and the sustainability of open cultural infrastructures.

The keynote lecture was delivered by Alek Tarkowski from the Open Future Foundation and a board member of Wikimedia Europe. He discussed the growing “paradox of openness”, in which cultural institutions continue to share collections openly while new technological ecosystems increasingly reshape how these resources are accessed and reused. The presentation highlighted how AI systems consume cultural collections at unprecedented scale and how heritage institutions must develop new governance and infrastructural models that protect digital commons while remaining open and accessible.

Particular attention during the symposium was given to the growing role of trust, authenticity, and institutional responsibility in managing and sharing digital heritage collections. The event brought together representatives of cultural institutions, researchers, and practitioners working at the intersection of openness, archives, and emerging technologies.

Presentations from the symposium, including Alek Tarkowski’s keynote lecture, are available on YouTube.

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