GLAM/Newsletter/July 2025/Single
10 years of Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
Celebrating 10 years of the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group
Free knowledge connects people, preserves culture, and opens access to information for everyone. Since its foundation on July 17, 2015, the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group (WoALUG) has been part of this mission, working to expand Wikipedia in Albanian and to collaborate with cultural and educational institutions.
On July 23, 2025, we celebrated this 10-year journey at the Qemal Baholli Library in Elbasan, a consistent partner and one of the most active GLAM institutions supporting our work in Albania.
This event brought together contributors, teachers, professors, students, institutional partners, and representatives from the Swedish Embassy, a longstanding partner. It was an opportunity to reflect on the work done so far and to discuss the continued role of Wikipedia and its sister projects in education, cultural documentation, and civil society.
This meeting served as a momentum of celebration, appreciation for our collaborators and a space for advocacy. We underlined the need for more awareness and support for Wikimedia projects, especially within cultural and educational institutions. Wikipedia as a project continues to be an important platform for sharing knowledge in Albanian, documenting the culture, and social causes.
Each of the representatives from various institutions and organizations shared their perspectives and experiences on working with Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group and highlighted how Wikimedia projects can support learning, cultural preservation, and access to information.
As we move forward, our goal is to deepen our cooperation with GLAM institutions in Albania, and to create more opportunities for people to get involved in the Wikimedia movement.
Furthermore, read more about our journey on Diff here.
Social media
- We have a public channel on WhatsApp of Albanian Language if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you can:
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
Wikipedia on Aruba – From Island to Archive: Aruba’s Journey on Wikimedia
Ban Wiki! meet-ups
In recent months, Wikipedia on Aruba has taken active steps to raise awareness and promote participation in its Wikimedia project, aiming to increase representation of Aruba in global knowledge platforms. To reach and involve the community, the team has focused on outreach strategies that highlight how Wikimedia projects can benefit Aruba’s cultural and natural visibility. A dedicated Metapage has been launched to announce activities and updates. Additionally, a community survey was conducted to better understand local needs and interests. Under the campaign name "Ban Wiki!" meaning “Let’s go Wiki!” in Papiamento Wikipedia on Aruba has hosted several monthly edit-a-thon events in person as online, creating opportunities for participants to learn how Wikimedia platforms work and how to contribute.
Content donation De Graaff
A major highlight was the first content donation to Wikimedia Commons: a rich collection of photographs taken in Aruba by Rinus de Graaff, now in the public domain. These images provide valuable visual documentation of Aruba’s natural heritage and economic development since 1950. We have conducted an interview with Mr de Graaf which can be seen on our YouTube page/ Wikipedia on Aruba
Aruba Birdlife Conservation
The initiative has also continued to grow partnerships with local NGOs, including Aruba Birdlife Conservation, which has shared reference materials and local bird names for integration into Wikidata. This collaboration reflects a shared commitment to documenting and preserving Aruba’s unique biodiversity and knowledge systems through open-access platforms. Together with the community and partners, Wikipedia on Aruba continues its mission to make Aruba’s stories, language, and heritage visible to the world.
This newsletter has been prepared by the Wikipedia on Aruba team. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions.
Bangladesh’s First Digitized Palm-Leaf Manuscript Preserved by Rajshahi Wikimedia Community
In a landmark achievement, the Rajshahi Wikimedia Community digitized Bangladesh’s first palm-leaf manuscript, a rare 200 year old Sanskrit text in Bengali script titled Shyama Mantra.
In July 2025, the Rajshahi Wikimedia Community reached a historic milestone in cultural preservation by digitizing Bangladesh’s first known scanned palm-leaf manuscript "Shyama Mantra". This ancient text, written in Sanskrit using Bengali script, is dedicated to the goddess Kali and is traditionally recited during Kali Puja (Shyama Puja).
The manuscript, believed to be over 200 years old and written before circa 1800, was discovered in a private collection in the Rajshahi region. It contains a total of 84 fragile leaves, of which pages 66 and 71 could not be recovered. Despite the missing leaves, the manuscript provides a rare glimpse into early religious practices and regional script styles.
By carefully scanning the entire manuscript, the community has taken a major step toward safeguarding Bangladesh’s tangible heritage. This initiative not only preserves a culturally significant artifact but also offers valuable material for scholars, linguists, and the public.
This marks the first time a palm-leaf manuscript has been digitally preserved in Bangladesh through Wikimedia Bangladesh’s GLAM efforts setting an important precedent for future digitization projects.
De Standaard Solidarity Prize and How to Upload Artwork
News from Wikimedia Belgium.
Wikimedia Belgium and De Standaard Solidarity Prize
Every year, De Standaard organises the De Standaard Solidarity Prize, a call for non-profit organisations to highlight their social mission through a creative and up-to-date advertisement. From all these submissions, 20 ads will be published for free on the back of the newspaper. One winner will even receive two full newspaper pages later.
We from Wikimedia België also participated this year. With our colourful poster, we wanted to convey two important messages:
- We are committed to gender equality across all Wikimedia platforms.
- Sharing free knowledge is and remains our absolute priority.
But we can't do that without you. Volunteers are the beating heart of Wikipedia. As long as there are people writing, improving and sharing their knowledge, free knowledge will continue to exist.
We were unfortunately not selected as one of the 20 laureates, but that does not take anything away from our enthusiasm. We are proud of the image we created and are happy to share it with our community.
👉 Let us know what you think!
👉 As for next year? We'll compete for a spot in the paper again then.
📌 Want to view the poster a bit larger? Click here
📸 Two heritage competitions, a summer full of images!
Have you been out and about with your camera or smartphone this summer? Good news: two photo competitions are currently running where you can share your images of Belgian heritage with the world via Wikipedia.
🟡 Wiki Loves Denderland 2025 - Santé!
🎯 Theme: breweries, distilleries and people's pubs 🗓️ Still until 30 September 🏆 Chance to win a place in the expo as well as participation in the national heritage competition
Want to know more or participate?
🔵 Wiki Loves Heritage 2025
📷 For heritage from all over Belgium - from castles to processions, from museums to maritime heritage 💰 With great cash prizes of up to € 500 🗓️ Up until September 30 🌍 Help make heritage visible on Wikipedia 👉 Whether you send in one photo or dozens, every contribution counts. Seize this opportunity to give your digital photos a second life and preserve cultural heritage for the future.
➡️Click here to participate or read more.
🖼️ Upload artwork? Avoid this error
Wikimedia Commons is a treasure chest of freely usable images, including works of art. But things sometimes go wrong when uploading such images: the photographer is wrongly identified as an artist. This is not only legally incorrect, but also causes confusion in our collective knowledge base.
📌 The photographer is not the artist
Suppose you take a photograph of a sculpture or painting. You are the photographer, but not the creator of the artwork depicted. In that case, you should correctly credit the artist of the artwork, and yourself as the photographer. A common mistake looks like this:
{{Information
|source={{own}}
|author=[[User:Hilke Arijs|Hilke Arijs]]
✅ That's how it should be:
{{Artwork
|source={{photo|{{U|Hilke Arijs}}}}
|author={{Creator:Nicolas Keppens}}
Unfortunately, the standard Wikimedia Commons upload tool does not offer the possibility to fill this in correctly right away. Therefore, it is important to edit the wikitext manually after uploading.
💡 Tip: If the artwork is in a public space, you can also add the following line (if applicable):
|permission={{FoP-Belgium}}
Agenda
📅 Coming soon: Wiki Loves Monuments 2025
Get your camera ready, because in September it's that time of the year again: Wiki Loves Monuments is coming back! During this international photo contest, you can take pictures of protected heritage in Belgium from 1 to 30 September and upload them to Wikimedia Commons.
Whether you share one image or a whole series, your contribution helps make Belgian heritage visible worldwide through Wikipedia.
📌 More info and participation link in our August newsletter.
🗣️ A question for the board? Let's hear from you!
Wikimedia Belgium maintains transparency as one of our main pillars within the organisation. Therefore, we invite all our volunteers and members to submit a question to the board during the month of August.
What would you like to know about Wikimedia Belgium? Are you curious about our plans for the future? Do you want to know if there will be more live events soon? Or are you wondering how we are working to attract new members? This is the time to make your voice heard!
During our two-day board meeting by the sea, we take time to reflect on your input together.
Do you have an idea, a concern or just a pressing question? Please send them through!
📬 Please react by sending an email.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Women in Wartime
Women in Wartime event at Auckland Museum
On Tuesday 15th July 2025, Wikimedian in Residence Anjuli Selvadurai, Online Cenotaph Collection Technician Sophie Elborough, and Online Cenotaph and Enquiries Services Manager Victoria Passau hosted Women in Wartime, a public talk held in the Research Library Te Pātaka Mātāpuna, with over 30 attendees. The session sought to cast light on the vital, though often underrepresented, role women played in wartime. By highlighting the stories of two women, Nina May Palmer and Catherine Frances Bryers,the event demonstrated how Online Cenotaph and Wikipedia, both open access platforms, can work together to strengthen public knowledge and foster collaborative engagement.
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Despite the vital roles these women played, and their extensive achievements they were awarded during their lifetimes, neither had Wikipedia pages. In preparation for the event, Anjuli and Sophie created and updated these pages to demonstrate the possibilities for collaboration and connection between Online Cenotaph and Wikipedia. Wikipedia, as a platform can bring a lot of recognition to women like May and Frances, potentially connecting their stories with researchers worldwide.
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This work supports the Wikiproject x Online Cenotaph which utilises Auckland Museum’s biographical database, Online Cenotaph, which aims to share underrepresented histories of New Zealand’s involvement in conflict over time. The Cenotaph Stories article, ‘New Zealand Nurses in Samoa’ served as a fundamental resource in creating and improving the pages for each of these history making women who were the first New Zealand nurses to see active service in WWI as part of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force stationed at Apia Hospital in Samoa. Their stories highlight the surprising breadth of New Zealand’s involvement in WWI as well as the struggles women faced just to serve. Wikipedia’s collaborative nature allows others to edit and improve upon this research and even join in on the project. As we continue to strive to represent diverse histories and stories significant to Aotearoa, we hope that you can join us in sharing, platforming and preserving these online.
If you are interested in getting involved in the Wikiproject x Online Cenotaph, please contact wikipedia@aucklandmuseum.com.
Expanding Access to Heritage Knowledge
Wiki in Schools - Heritage Meets Open Knowledge
The Wiki in Schools Heritage Project has continued to strengthen the connection between classroom learning and Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage. This initiative, in collaboration with the Igbo Wikimedia Community User Group, has introduced students and educators to the possibilities of contributing to global knowledge platforms while preserving local heritage narratives.
One of the highlights of this phase was a heritage-themed edit-a-thon. The event brought together participants from school and heritage user groups, supported by experienced Wikimedians who provided hands-on training on contributing images and videos to Wikimedia Commons. The sessions covered the full cycle of contribution—from image licensing and metadata standards to effective storytelling through photographs and short documentary clips.
Through this collaboration, participants learned how to upload content and how to contextualize it within Nigeria’s cultural and historical frameworks. This ensures that their contributions are both globally accessible and locally meaningful.
The Wiki in Schools project, which has been running for several months, is scheduled to conclude at the end of this month. Upon completion, the team will share impact metrics detailing the number of students trained, media files contributed, and articles improved, providing a clear view of the project’s tangible contributions to open knowledge.
Wiki Loves Monuments Advocacy - Opening Doors Through Collaboration
The Heritage Conservation Integration User Group has taken a significant step toward ensuring Nigeria’s participation in Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM)—one of the largest global photo competitions focused on heritage. This move comes in the wake of changes to the Nigerian Copyright Law of 2023, which removed Freedom of Panorama, limiting the ability of the general public to freely photograph public monuments for open use.
Recognizing the challenge, the group has worked closely with the Igbo Community Wikimedians User Group Nigeria to develop a targeted advocacy strategy. Rather than halting the movement, the plan pivots toward building partnerships with institutions that hold the legal rights to document heritage monuments. This includes museums, heritage boards, and cultural agencies whose mandates allow them to capture and archive such works.
Through these collaborations, the goal is to ensure that the photographs and media files of Nigerian monuments are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license. This approach not only respects Nigerian copyright law but also upholds Wikimedia’s commitment to free cultural knowledge.
If successful, this advocacy and partnership model will serve as a blueprint for heritage documentation in countries facing similar legal restrictions—proving that legal hurdles can be navigated through strategic alliances and community-driven action.
GLAM Wiki 2025: Program Highlights & Volunteer Call
What to expect from the conference program
We look forward to welcoming the Wikimedia and cultural heritage communities to GLAM Wiki 2025 in Lisbon, from 30 October to 1 November.
The program a mix of community sessions, inspiring keynotes, a collaborative hackathon, a GLAM strategy session to plan the movement’s next steps, a dedicated workshop for Portuguese-speaking participants, and guided tours of museums and cultural institutions in Lisbon.
What will the Global GLAM Wiki Strategy Session look like?
The GLAM Wiki community has been growing and evolving for years — and this year’s conference marks an exciting new chapter! On Day 3, we’re hosting a special workshop to help shape the future of GLAM in the Wikimedia Movement. This hands-on, action-focused session is being developed in collaboration with stakeholders from the GLAM Wiki Community, the GLOSS working group, the Content Partnerships Hub, the Wikimedia Foundation, and others.
All participants are welcome — especially those interested in building strategies for future GLAM, Culture, and Heritage activities across the movement. Together, we will:
- Define and map interdependencies between GLAM entities, communities, and support structures.
- Promote practical, actionable outcomes, potentially in the form of work groups or task forces.
And what about the Hackathon and the Everything GLAM Wiki Workshop?
On Day 2, the GLAM Wiki Hackathon begins with a discussion about the needs of the GLAM Wiki community, informed by past studies and program submissions. Based on this discussion, groups will work on selected topics. The focus will be on collaborative problem-solving, rather than creating new tools. Participants can join at any point during the day — no need to be a developer!
Meanwhile, the Everything GLAM Wiki Workshop will bring together a Portuguese-speaking audience for a hands-on introduction to Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. National and international experts will share practical tips and real-world examples. Expect plenty of opportunities to ask questions, exchange ideas, and discover how cultural institutions can start meaningful collaborations within the Wikimedia ecosystem. No previous experience required — just bring your curiosity.
More details are coming soon — stay tuned!
While you await the full program release, you can already register to participate in the conference. See the details here.
Want to volunteer at GLAM Wiki 2025?
Volunteers are at the heart of the Wikimedia movement, and we have a variety of roles to help make the conference a success.
You can support us in the following ways:
- Room host – supporting presenters, keeping track of session times, welcoming participants
- AV support – distributing interpretation headsets, handling microphones, assisting presenters
- Documentation and note-taking – photographing sessions, taking collaborative notes on Etherpad
- Registration – using the Pretix check-in app, distributing lanyards and badges
- Catering support – monitoring the catering area for participants during breaks
- Wayfinding – helping attendees navigate rooms and facilities
If you’re interested, please note these key dates:
- Until 20 September – Apply to be a volunteer through this form
- 6–8 October – Mandatory online training (45 min)
- 30 October – 1 November – In-person volunteering at GLAM Wiki 2025
You can find complete information on the application process here. We will review applications on a weekly basis until we reach 25 confirmed volunteers. No prior experience is required—just a genuine interest in being part of the conference!
July in Wikimedia Serbia
GLAMorous Wikidata
The GLAMourous Wikidata 3 thematic activity was held from July 21 to 27, during which data about the cultural heritage of Serbia and the world was added to Wikidata. Participants in the campaign added almost 2,200 properties in 368 items, while 109 items were created. The three most active participants in the campaign, Nikolina Šepić, Gzanag and Sadko, received book vouchers worth two thousand dinars each.
New Wikipedian in Residence project in preparation
A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed with the Vuk Karadžić National Library in Veliko Gradište and a Wikipedian in Residence project was agreed starting in September.
New Wikipedian in Residence project in preparation
Wikimedia Serbia received a scholarship to participate in the GLAM Wiki Conference in Lisbon from October 30 to November 1.
Poster Exhibition, Screening Public Viewing, Women Memorials
Poster Exhibition
After the Edit-a-thon at the National Library on feminist posters in Bern the GLAAB Gallery offered its space to continue working on the topic. The edit-a-thon focussed feminist contemporary art expressed in posters. The project is related to the UEFA women football games as the Swiss capital Bern features women during the games. The first cooperation with a Swiss gallery started well. At the end of the edit-a-thon the gallerist presented posters by the guerilla girls.
Screening Public Viewing
The women football games started and ended in Basel. The games were shown in a public viewing projection at the K-Haus in Basel. Before each game our film on women and football with artworks by 14 artists and filmmakers had been shown during the month of July. Besides we invited Wikimedian to write about the games and the player. The Edit-a-thon offered an introduction and had participants from different ages and different backgrounds. Four new editors on that date started working in the wiki projects.
Women Memorials
The event took place at the Hackerspace Bitwäscherei in Zürich. Four memorials created by Wikipedians and visual artists from four different countries were presented on a table besides many other interesting tools from the maker space. One object was created with a 3D-printer, one referred to a Wikipedia article, the third object referred to the hidden history of women and the fourth object in bright colours added humour to the presentation. The photos show the different objects.
Japanese art in Arabic
Khalili Foundation
Volunteers created four new translations into Arabic this month, bringing the total number of articles created by this project to 89, 19 of which are Arabic translations. The four articles are:
- Khalili Imperial Garniture - first translation of this article!
- Khalili Collection of Japanese Art - fifth language version of this article.
- Khalili Collection of Swedish Textiles - third language version of this article.
- Khalili Collection of Kimono - third language version of this article.
These four articles together make use of 31 images that have been shared by the collections.
The Nasser David Khalili navigation template has now been translated into Persian, so now exists in four languages. Also on Persian Wikipedia, a volunteer expanded the article about the painting Musa va 'Uj from a short summary to a complete translation.
Most of the work this month has been on the UNESCO Memory of the World International Register, about which there is a separate report. There are no new image uploads this month.
The stats server reports 4,137,516 image views this month.
Wikinics & Edit-a-thons
NYC 400 Wiknic
New York City Wikipedians held a wikinic, NYC 400 Wiknic Washington Square Park.
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Minnesota/Wiknic July 2025
Minnesota Wikipedians held a wikinic, Minnesota/Wiknic July 2025.
Bay Area Wiknic 2025
Bay Area Wikipedians held a potluck wikinic, Bay Area Wiknic 2025
Chicago/13 July 2025
Chicago Wikipedians held a wikinic, Chicago/13 July 2025
Georgetown University Summer Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
Massive Data Institute and Wikimedia DC held a workshop, Editing for Equity: Closing the Wikipedia Gender Gap; Bridging the Online Gender Gap: Rebecca MacKinnon and the Fight for Gender Equity on Wikipedia
Women Do News Edit-A-Thon
Women Do News and Wikimedia NYC held a meetup, NYC 400 Women Do News Edit-A-Thon
DC Preservation League Architects Edit-a-thon
DC Preservation League and Wikimedia DC held an edit-a-thon, DC Preservation League Architects Edit-a-thon
BHL blog by Tiago Lubiana, BHL Wikimedian in Residence, and news on the BHL transition
BHL blog on Tiago Lubiana’s contributions as Wikimedian in Residence
Tiago Lubiana, the BHL Wikimedian in Residence, published a farewell BHL blog giving a summary of some of his contributions during his time as BHL’s Wikimedian in Residence. This blog covers his work creating a comprehensive BHL Meta-Wiki portal, his development of tools such as BHL Arena, a fun interactive game using BHL images, the Wikimedia Commons Impact Metrics dashboard for BHL as well as the BHL Image Explorer, which empowers the discovery and reuse of BHL images on Wikipedia. Tiago collaborated in developing a structured metadata model for BHL images in Wikimedia Commons as well as creating documentation giving detailed workflows for using tools like Open Refine to add structured data to BHL images in that platform. Siobhan Leachman, Chair of the BHL-Wiki working group, on behalf of the group and herself would like to express her gratitude for all that Tiago has contributed and thank Tiago for all his efforts.
BHL transition
As explained in the June GLAM Wiki newsletter the 3rd update by BHL on their transition away from being hosted by the Smithsonian Institution can be found here.
Introducing Oulu Löyly – we want to hear your thoughts!
AvoinGLAM continues the series of sauna-related events. Following the success of AI Sauna and other cultural heritage hackathons, we are preparing Oulu Löyly, a hands-on creative and strategic think & do fest as part of Oulu2026 European city of culture, tentatively 8–10 June, 2026 with pre-events 6–7 June, 2026.
Oulu Löyly will bring together a mix of change-makers: heritage communities, GLAM professionals, policy-makers, Wikimedians and open advocates, creative practitioners, researchers and technologists to design futures for sharing cultural heritage in the digital environment, so that small actors such as community archives, vulnerable communities and grassroots initiatives can benefit from and control their heritage while keeping it openly accessible.
Regional event with a global topic
The event also brings together different geographical dimensions. The map for activities is laid out by northern conditions, local communities, and European legislation, but also reaching out to peers across the globe with similar challenges in the digital environments. It is an opportunity to strengthen regional collaboration in the Nordic and Baltic countries in support of responsible open sharing of knowledge and culture, while adding momentum to global initiatives that highlight the role of culture in sustainable development and as a public good.
Wikimedia meetups
The event provides the setting for regional meetups organized together with Nordic Wikimedia chapters Wikimedia Finland, Wikimedia Norway, and Wikimedia Estonia and in partnership with Wikitongues. It will host the meeting of the Nordic and Baltic chapters and a meetup of Finno-Ugric wikimedians.
Community engagement survey
Would you be open to answering a few quick questions?
- You can familiarize yourself with the survey, and respond to it by August 24, 2025
- or you can email your thoughts to susanna.anas@avoinglam.fi
- We would be happy to talk about this with you, and could alternatively schedule a quick online chat.
If you would like to find out more, you can get an idea of the themes and topics, and start contributing your ideas to the event! We will be at the GLAM Wiki 2025 conference in Lisbon, where we can plan together in person!
✱ Learn to pronounce Oulu Löyly: /ˈou̯lu ˈløy̯ly/
We welcome you with a little linguistic exercise. The words Oulu and löyly both include diphthongs – combinations of two vowel sounds within one syllable – that are typical in Finnish and other Finno-Ugric languages.
Löyly is also rooted in many finno-ugric cultures, meaning the steam or spirit released when water is thrown on sauna stones. For the event, it is a reminder for taking a holistic view of culture, language and the environment together.
Start practising already!
You can also view an explainer video about the event!
Getting the message out
This is the tenth monthly report of the ongoing work to improve the representation of the UNESCO Memory of the World international register on Wikimedia projects. This is supported and fully funded by the Khalili Foundation, with the involvement of UNESCO and Wikimedia UK.
Progress
Martin has been making hundreds of improvements on English Wikipedia and Wikidata to better represent the institutions where MoW inscriptions are located (Examples: Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico, National Archives of Uruguay, Shantou Municipal Archives, Kong Tac Lam Temple). This will facilitate the inclusion of those institutions in the Wikidata dataset. He has reordered the introductory text of the International Register list articles and added some third-party sourcing to the main article about the Memory of the World Programme. Clara recently joined the project to continue Hannah's work. Since then, she has been making general improvements to the MoW online register, such as adding missing nomination forms and images to existing entries or committees. She has also started uploading the 74 new inscriptions to ensure public access to both new and existing nominations. Additionally, she is supporting the visibility and outreach strategy for the UNESCO x Khalili collaboration by communicating the project from UNESCO’s side through articles, social media posts, and mentions on the website.
The English and French versions of links to the MoW International Register have been added to the Wikidata dataset.
A project page now exists for the Memory of the World Challenge, which will encourage Wikipedia volunteers to create and improve articles relating to the MoW International Register. After some tweaks, this page will be ready for translation into other languages. The idea is to encourage translation of these instructions into multiple languages before running the challenge itself during September.
Wikimedia UK has made a task from this project part of its August Mini-Wiki challenge. There is a list of 100 broken links from Wikipedia to the MoW International Register, and beginner Wikipedians are encouraged to replace them with current links.
Publicity
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Diff, the newsletter of the Wikimedia movement, published "Preserving the Memory of the World: an opportunity for Wikipedia", which explains the International Register, the current project to improve it, and the opportunity presented by the new Wikidata dataset. We're very grateful to user Clintonpeter for translating the article into Malayalam. Wikimedia UK has publicised this work in its Summer Newsletter.
Martin gave the opening talk via Zoom at the global GLAM-Wiki meetup on 5 August to describe the project. This was attended by a room of people in Nairobi as well as by online participants, for a total audience of 55.
New Wikipedia articles
- Russian: Sarajevo Haggadah
- Fula: Three Stelae of Kōzuke (This article has an infobox which draws information from the Wikidata dataset that this project has created, showing how the data can be used to improve articles across multiple languages.)
- Armenian: Benz Patent-Motorwagen
Page views on Wikipedia
There were 18,304 views on pages about the MoW Programme and International Register, across all Wikipedias. This is an increase over last month, but we are still in the summer lull where views are low compared to term-time.
Culture & Heritage team transitioning to broader Content Enablement team
Team transition
The Wikimedia Foundation’s Culture & Heritage team is now part of a larger team at the Foundation that facilitates volunteers’ contribution of content by securing access to source materials, supporting organizers, and collaborating on the development of high-impact contribution features. Recently, we published the final update to our team page on Meta, highlighting work we accomplished in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
As part of the Content Enablement team, we will facilitate volunteers’ contribution of content in three ways:
- Gather—Secure access to source materials and databases through partnerships with publishers, libraries, and media organizations. (Our flagship program is The Wikipedia Library.)
- Guide—Support organizers to meet their content goals by co-designing and disseminating more effective and rewarding processes. (Right now, we’re encouraging organizers to use the Event Registration tool.)
- Grow—Integrate community and partner requirements in the development of high-impact contribution features. (For example, it’s now possible for organizers to add their lists of priority articles to the Content Translation tool.)
Self organization of the GLAM-Wiki thematic network
This reframed team is more aligned with the Foundation’s fundamental role as a platform provider, enabling volunteers to freely share trustworthy encyclopedic content. It also comes at the right moment for the GLAM-Wiki thematic network, which is increasingly organized and able to identify its own capacities, opportunities, and needs.
In 2024-2025, we supported the organization of the GLAM Global meetup, a side event during Wikimania 2024. Since then, there have been monthly Global GLAM calls, with rotating hosts and time zones, aiming to encompass the entire world.
We have continued providing support for thematic conferences, but also launched a survey to decentralize the decision-making process away from the Wikimedia Foundation. Recently, a working group emerged to explore a GLAM Leadership & Organizational Structure Solution (GLOSS) and the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group expanded to nine members.
Our roots are in libraries and cultural heritage, and we love being part of this network, so we will continue to participate, listen, and learn, and make sure that your requirements are understood at the Wikimedia Foundation. We expect to dedicate up to 20% of our time to responsive support. For example, Silvia is collaborating with Gorana Gomirac, Angie Cervellera, and AKibombo to develop more global coordination and support for 1Lib1Ref (see the learning clinic on YouTube); Satdeep is connecting communities with partners to transcribe manuscripts and books on Wikisource; and Giovanna is supporting the Core Organizing Team for GLAM-Wiki 2025. We look forward to seeing many of you in Lisbon in October!
August's GLAM events
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