GLAM/Newsletter/May 2017/Contents/Netherlands report
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The Mind of the Universe; Photos of Syria; Wikipedian in Residence project Memory of the World
The Mind of the Universe: public broadcaster works with Wikimedia movement
The Mind of the Universe: public broadcaster works with Wikimedia movement
Dutch public broadcaster VPRO and the Institute for Sound and Vision are cooperating with the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia Nederland to make unique footage about groundbreaking science available. The Mind of the Universe is an international tv series and open source digital platform about the rapid evolution of our knowledge. Through interviews with groundbreaking scientists, it provides a glimpse of tomorrow’s world,
The interviews were produced in 2015, 2016 and 2017 by Dutch public broadcaster VPRO for a tv series, VPRO decided from the start that all materials (including footage not used for the documentary) would be made available under an open license. The platform Mind of the Universe Open Science TV provides access to all this material. It also has transcripts of the interviews, which are searchable by keyword. All materials can be downloaded and re-used, as they were published under a CC BY-SA license.
With the help of a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation, and working closely with Wikimedia Nederland, the Institute for Sound and Vision will host a series of events to promote use Mind of the Universe material throughout the Wikimedia projects. They will also produce a white paper to share their experiences and promote the concept of CC BY-SA licensing among public broadcasters worldwide. For the Wikimedia projects the Mind of the Universe material is a valuable contribution: it is professionally made material, featuring the leading scientists of today explaining the state of research in their fields of work. The material also includes footage of research facilities, including some which had never before allowed cameras inside.
Photos of Syria on Wikimedia Commons
For years, Syria has been the scene of a bloody civil war resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, millions of refugees, and the destruction of entire cities. The recent image donation by the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen (the National Museum of World Cultures) in the Netherlands shows another Syria. Many of these photos were taken in the 1980s and show scenes of daily life and images and cities not yet devastated by war. Other images show objects from the collection of the museum. Together, they form a valuable resource on Syria for the various Wikimedia projects. The upload consists of 352 photos in total and can be accessed here. It coincides with a photo exhibition in the NMvW on Aleppo.
Short Wikipedian in Residence project for UNESCO - Memory of the World started
As announced in last month's newsletter, Wikimedian Spinster (Sandra Fauconnier) has started working as a short-term Wikimedian in Residence with three Dutch cultural institutions that have UNESCO documentary world heritage (Memory of the World) in their collections. In June-September, Sandra will work at the Zeeuws Archief, Utrecht University Library and the International Institute of Social History. More information and updates about the project can be read on the project page (in Dutch).
