GLAM/Newsletter/February 2014/Contents/France report

This Month in GLAM – Volume IV, Issue II, February 2014

France report

National Archives; Sèvres & mass uploads; Wikipedians in the European Parliament

National Archives − follow-up

As part of our partnership with the National Archives, and as a follow-up to the September project, 32 major documents from the French history were mass-uploaded on Wikimedia Commons.

Ratification by Henri VIII of the treaty of Ardres, ending the war between François Ier & Henri VIII (1546)
Treaty of Münster, one of those which ended the Thirty Years War (1648)
Farewell letter of Charlotte Corday (1793)
Letter from Charles Baudelaire to Empress Eugénie (1857)

Sèvres: Wikimedia Commons helps to share the best manufacturing practices

Tuesday 25 February 2014, two Wikipedians went to Sèvres Porcelain Manufacture in a partnership with Wikimedia France chapter. It's been almost a year now that Wikipedians come regularly to photograph and film the know-how of the Manufacture specialized craftsmen who create high quality porcelain while preserving gestures and ancient techniques. The Sèvres Manufacture is organized in numerous workshops each specialized in a specific treatment. An object such as a plate can thus pass through several workshops for the different actions to perform: Cast, cooking, glazing, gilding, etc.

Photos and videos taken during the recording sessions are then subjected to validation by the Manufacture in order to communicate the best practices, and those selected are published on Wikimedia Commons. A similar validation has been made by the Cadre Noir (the French cavalery school), who share their photos which illustrate the best practices (and more).

Haute-Saône museums

Preparations for the mass-upload with the Haute-Saône museums is going along. We have decided to use the GlamWiki Toolset, and with our help the museum is proceeding to tests on the Wikimedia Commons Beta Cluster (example).

Wikipedians in the European Parliament

During the plenary sessions of the European Parliament, on the February 3rd to 6th, 2014, a group of Wikipedians performed a photography and editing project in Strasbourg. About 50 users from nine different countries participated to take pictures of the 764 members of the European Parliament. Students from a make up school did professionally the make up of the politicians and experienced photographers took pictures of them. About half of all politicians got their picture taken and all these pictures have been added to the articles about them.

Project page on Commons: Wikipedians in European Parliament