GLAM/Newsletter/November 2024/Single
Minigrant and Photowalk Projects in Albania
Minigrant initiative by highlighting on Wikimedia Commons the Bulqiza area, Albania
To strengthen the Wikimedia community in Albania from August to November 2024, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group recently completed a mini-grant project that brought attention to Bulqiza in Albania. Through this grant, a community member contributed 100 photos showing the urban and rural life of Bulqiza and its surrounding areas to Wikimedia Commons. This project aligns with our 2023–2025 strategic plan to support important initiatives that promote free knowledge and community development in Albania. By adding these images, WoLAUG and the Wikimedia community in Albania contribute to enriching the online content and ensuring that the real life of less-documented areas is shared within the free knowledge pages.
Below are some of the images shared for this project.
The 2024 Wiki Photowalk showcasing the hidden beauty of Albania!
In 2024, the Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group embarked on an inspiring mission to bring lesser-known places in Albania into the global spotlight on Wikimedia Commons.
With the Wiki Photowalk project, participants ventured through remote and picturesque areas, capturing unique images to enrich the visual content across Wikimedia projects.
We proudly provided financial support to enable two dedicated participants to reach these distant areas, helping to ensure even the most hidden gems of Albania are represented on Commons.
From stunning natural landscapes to snapshots of daily life, historical sites, and vibrant cities, our contributors uploaded 302 photos, each telling a story of Albania's rich cultural and natural heritage.
This initiative is a powerful step toward preserving and sharing Albania’s beauty with the world—one photograph at a time!
Below are some of the images shared during the Wiki Photowalk:
Social media
- We have a public channel on Telegram Wikipedians of Albanian Language (language used mostly Albanian) if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.
If you want to see more about our activities, you canː
- Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.
Winners of WLM 2024 Brazil
The Wiki Loves Monuments Brazil 2024 contest occurred between September 1st and 30th in Brazil and it counted more than 28 thousand images from 282 photographers. Those photographs represent monuments of 24 of the 26 states and the Federal District. All the participants contributed to illustre 2,493 monuments, 2,485 of them were first illustrated on Wikimedia platforms.
Wiki Loves Mato Grosso
This year, in commemorations of the Wiki Loves Mato Grosso initiative, we had an exclusive prize for the best photograph of that state! In addition to that, we promoted events to engage participants in Mato Grosso, such as the Wiki Takes Cáceres. The winner is a photograph of the Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho, Cuiabá, taken by the photographer Rosenberg Mesquita in July of this year.
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Best images and Best contributors
The other categories of prizes were Best Contributors and Best Images. In the first one, we gave prizes to the 10 photographers that have more illustrated monuments previously without free-licensed images; Together, they illustrated for the first time almost 850 monuments.
The later category is the main one, in which the jury selects 10 images to represent the country in the international phase of the contest. The ten images represent the states of Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Federal District, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Santa Catarina and Pará, and are displayed next:
See the presentation of the winners and the images uploaded.
New partnership with Centro Espírita Nossa Senhora da Guia (CENSG)
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We have signed one more GLAM partnership in Rio de Janeiro State.
The Centro Espírita Nossa Senhora da Guia (CENSG) (Our Lady of Guidance Spiritist Center) is an Umbanda temple of the Omolokô branch, founded in 1998 in the city of Volta Redonda, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. As a space dedicated to preserving the ancestry, memory, and culture of Afro-Brazilian religions and Indigenous peoples, CENSG was recognized in 2024 by the Instituto Brasileiro de Museus (Brazilian Institute of Museums) as a "Memory Point" and by the Ministry of Culture as a "Culture Point".
Due to our partnership, aimed at promoting the history and memory of Afro-Indigenous traditions on the internet, the institution uploaded 133 images from its collection to Wikimedia Commons. The selected photographs show items originating from Afro-Brazilian religions and from the Indigenous peoples of Brazil. These are divided between works preserved as museum pieces by the Umbanda temple and items that form a living collection, still actively used in their rituals.
See the Centro Espírita Nossa Senhora da Guia's GLAM page and the uploaded media.
WikiConvention francophone 2024
WikiConvention francophone 2024: a celebration, in French, of the wiki community
The 8th edition of the WikiConvention francophone took place on November 2 and 3 in Quebec City, preceded by two days of preconferences. A major event for the French-speaking Wikimedia community, this edition brought together nearly 130 people. Participants had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of wiki projects, take part in stimulating discussions, share moments of conviviality, and discover the local culture.
The opening lecture was given by Benoît Dubreuil, French Language Commissioner. Nearly 60 presentations and workshops were scheduled during the convention and pre-convention days. This was a great opportunity to learn more about some of the contributions campaigns, such as #SheSaid, or new projects, such as Wikifunctions. It was also the occasion to highlight local initiatives happening in French around the world, such as the collaboration between WikiClub 3L and the Cégep de St-Jérôme in Quebec, or Wikimédia Côte d’Ivoire’s contribution to the African Cup of Nations 2023. Being a crucial topic at the moment, artificial intelligence was at the center of several discussions, in particular during the Digital Commons and Artificial Intelligence Day, which was organized concurrently on Friday 1ᵉʳ November.
The WikiConvention is one of the privileged moments for strengthening ties within the French-speaking community, offering an opportunity to meet people from a variety of backgrounds, whether they are making their first contributions or have been actively participating for several years. At this year’s event, 16 countries were represented, French being a minority language in some of them. The next edition in 2025 will take place in Benin.
This conference was made possible thanks to WikiFranca, Wikimedia Canada, the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimédia France, Wikimedia CH, et the Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes.
La WikiConvention francophone 2024 : une célébration de la communauté wiki, en français
La huitième édition de la WikiConvention francophone s’est déroulée les 2 et 3 novembre derniers dans la ville de Québec, précédée de deux jours de pré-conférence. Événement majeur pour la communauté wikimédienne francophone, cette édition a rassemblé près de 130 personnes. Les participantes et participants ont eu l’opportunité d’approfondir leurs connaissances des projets wiki, de prendre part à des discussions passionnantes et de partager des moments de convivialité et de découverte culturelle.
La conférence d’ouverture a été donnée par Benoît Dubreuil, Commissaire à la langue française. Près de 60 présentations et ateliers étaient au programme des journées de convention et de pré-convention. L’occasion de découvrir certaines campagnes de contribution, comme la campagne #SheSaid, ou de nouveaux projets, comme Wikifonctions. Ce fut également l’occasion de mettre en lumière des initiatives locales en français à travers le monde, comme la collaboration entre le WikiClub 3L et le Cégep de St-Jérôme au Québec, ou la contribution de Wikimédia Côte d’Ivoire à la Coupe d’Afrique des Nations 2023. Sujet crucial en ce moment, l’intelligence artificielle a été au centre de plusieurs discussions, notamment lors de la journée des Communs du Numérique et de l’Intelligence Artificielle, qui était organisée en parallèle le vendredi 1ᵉʳ novembre.
La WikiConvention est l’un des moments privilégiés pour renforcer les liens au sein de la communauté francophone, offrant une occasion de rencontrer des personnes d’horizons variés, qu’elles en soient à leurs premières contributions ou qu’elles participent activement depuis plusieurs années. Lors de cette édition, 16 pays étaient représentés, le français étant parfois une langue minoritaire dans certains d’entre eux. La prochaine édition en 2025 aura lieu au Bénin.
Cette édition a été rendue possible grâce à WikiFranca, Wikimédia Canada, la Fondation Wikimédia, Wikimédia France, Wikimedia CH, et le Secrétariat du Québec aux relations canadiennes.
deGrowth in N0vember
deGrowth in N0vember
Though November is one of the the least favored months to report (more work to finish, less daylight and energy to spare), for us it is first reporting in 2024. Against odds and with some improvising we produced an exhibition and program #deGrowthFORMS in Zagreb ULUPUH Gallery and online. It is complexity of the DeGrowth topic and its interpretations in media, technologies, haritage institutions and social/knowledge activism that kept us busy in the program. It featured Wikimedia and MediaWiki presentation to students of media-design, workshop with library-information science researcher on libraries and civil society, as well as experimental work on getting ULUPUH members to use MediaWiki for project documenting and Commons for documenting. We demonstrated MediaWiki farm using our project instance https://MMiIM.MiraHeze.org We hope to follow up this work with collaborations on podcast and print publication in 2025 both with students, academia and art professionals.
If you're interested in our work, please get in touch at: GLAM@open.hr (new email) and https://w.wiki/uQT or follow via #GLAMwikiCROATIA #GLAMwikiHR on:
FB +Insta. +T and Mastodon.Social ! <3
Visual memory presented with collections of East Bohemia Museum in Hradec Kralove
Collection of old posters uploaded on Wikimedia Commons
Museum of East Bohemia in Hradec Kralove is the most active GLAM partner of Wikimedia in the Czech Republic. Lukas Nekolny, chief wiki-resident and museum educator Kristyna Juráčková provide a great job in extending the imagery at Commons and providing knowledge to institutions linked to the museum.
Digitization starts at Rammohun Library and Free Reading Room
The West Bengal Wikimedians User Group has started a GLAM project with the century-old Rammohun Library and Free Reading Room, Kolkata from November, 2015. A Wikimedian-in-residence has been trained and assigned to digitize the public domain collections of the library, who will be responsible for selection, digitization and uploading of the contents on Wikimedia sites. The paid position will be taken care of by a general support fund from this year from a portion dedicated to Bangla Wikisource. The scanner used for the digitization, has been kindly provided by CIS-A2K upon request.
Wrap up the nine projects funded by 2024 GLAM call and Italian Wikidata Days
2024 GLAM call
Since 2021, Wikimedia Italia publish an annual grant program for cultural institutions, offering technical and financial resources to support them in sharing their collections on Wikimedia project with free licenses.
2024 GLAM call funded nine projects, from Italian Association of Ecclesiastical Librarians, Frizzi Archive of the Aldo Capitini Technical Institute in Perugia, University Libraries of the University of Urbino, Annibale De Leo Archbishop’s Library in Brindisi, Library of Economics and Management of the University of Turin, Civic Libraries of the Municipality of Bologna, Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa, Strada Nuova Museums in Genoa and Ugolini Archive of the Department of History at Sapienza University of Rome.
"This type of activity also impacts tourism; most visitors nowadays look for information online. Thanks to this project, the museum's Wikipedia pages now feature quality, reliable texts with new details about recent restorations." said Martina Panizzutt and Elisa Occella from Museums of Strada Nuova in Genoa.
Italy boasts a rich artistic and cultural heritage, with the highest number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites globally. Among them is the Rolli Palace system in Genoa's historic center, which includes the Museums of Strada Nuova. Thanks to the GLAM call, these museums have opened their doors to a boundless audience by sharing images of their collections on Wikimedia platforms and creating new Wikipedia entries for scholars and culture enthusiasts worldwide. The museum's artworks hold immense cultural value, as do the palaces themselves and their curated displays. These treasures can now be admired on Wikimedia Commons.
"Everyone should be able to access and study cultural heritage. If a library's collections aren't accessible, it loses its purpose as a public institution. Wikimedia projects allow for universal access to culture; no single entity can match Wikipedia's dissemination power." Katiuscia Di Rocco, Director of the Annibale De Leo Archbishop’s Library
In Piazza Duomo, Brindisi, stands the Annibale De Leo Archbishop’s Library, the first public library in Salento. It houses invaluable illuminated parchment codices and incunabula. Katiuscia Di Rocco, director for 22 years, has championed accessibility, especially for rare and precious documents like the library's holdings. Among its treasures are two codices not found in either the British Library or the Vatican Library. Thanks to the Wikimedia Italia grant, the library has made remarkable progress in digitizing and sharing its collection. Inspired by this experience, staff have continued digitizing, starting with significant collections like the “cinquecentine” (books printed before 1601), a French love letter collection soon to be translated into Italian, and over 300 parchments, including one from Frederick II and another from the year 1000.
"Making 3D models of museum artifacts available under a Creative Commons license is a step forward in accessibility and usability of collections." said Elena Bonaccorsi, Director of the Natural History Museum, University of Pisa
Italy's cultural wealth extends beyond art to include scientific collections. Sharing such collections on Wikimedia platforms makes culture more accessible to a general audience and supports open science, providing students and researchers access to valuable materials. The Natural History Museum of the University of Pisa houses a significant historical and scientific collection spanning six centuries. It holds over a million specimens, including approximately 23,000 vertebrate zoology artifacts, many not on public display. In 2022, the museum began digitizing collections, creating 3D models of modern and fossil whales. Participating in the MAB grant was a natural continuation of this work. By sharing on Wikipedia with open licenses, the museum's images have quickly reached a vast audience, garnering over a million views each month.
You can find all the files shared within the GLAM call here: commons:Category:Supported by Wikimedia Italia in 2024
Wikidata Days 2024: Celebrating Collaboration and Data Innovation
On November 8 and 9, the Italian-speaking community of Wikidata gathered at the “Dario Nobili” Library of CNR in Bologna for the Wikidata Days 2024, an event celebrating the 12th anniversary of Wikidata. The two-day event was filled with presentations, talks, workshops, and numerous opportunities for exchange and discussion among participants.
The idea for the event emerged within the GWMAB – Wikidata Group for Museums, Archives, and Libraries, inspired by Wikidata Days held in Portugal. Thanks to the support of Wikimedia Italia, Wikimedia CH, and CNR Bologna, it was possible to showcase the many Wikidata projects in the GLAM sector, with a particular focus on collaborations with other Wikimedia projects and OpenStreetMap.
The event's program covered several key themes, including the collaboration between Wikidata and academic libraries. In Italy, and beyond, librarians play a fundamental role within the Wikidata community, contributing with their expertise and sharing bibliographic data such as information on authors, titles, publishers, and classifications. Through their collaboration with Wikidata, library catalogs can connect to other datasets in the Linked Data cloud, enriching them through data exchange and connections, which are the core strength of the LOD format behind Wikidata.
The first set of presentations focused on projects that align library catalogs with Wikidata. Among the experiences shared was the work done by the University of Florence’s library system, which has developed a “wikistation” to promote collaboration between the university and Wikimedia projects, and the National Central Library of Florence, which has worked on aligning the Thesaurus of the Nuovo Soggettario (a classification system for books) with Wikidata’s ontology, with a focus on photography terms.
Elena Ravelli from ICCU presented the latest collaboration project between the SBN catalog, Italy’s largest collective catalog, and Wikidata, which has enriched a sample of over 16,000 authors with biographical data extracted from Wikidata. Stefano Bargioni shared the experience of the Library of the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome, which, using the open-source library management software Koha, benefited from the flexibility to modify the application and develop tools based on Wikidata, available both for catalogers in the cataloging interface and for end-users in the OPAC.
Alessandro Marchetti discussed the latest developments in Italy and Switzerland regarding the reconciliation of scientific authors with Wikidata, as part of the WikiCite project, highlighting how different institutional contexts influence decisions in data production and management.
Other projects focused on structuring data for import into Wikidata, such as the project on Italian library science journals in Wikidata, presented by Alessandra Moi, Andrea Marchitelli, and Carlo Bianchini, and the Bibliography of Italian libraries, books, and information project, presented by Roberta Licitra, Cecilia Checchi, and Carlo Bianchini.
The ability to query structured data allows for new types of research and discoveries. Alessio Ionna illustrated how structured information via Wikidata can be applied in historical and art studies, citing the Wikiproject Buonaccorsi, which uses Wikidata to gather and link data from diverse sources, such as photographs and documents, both digital and paper-based. The LibMovit project, which involves researchers from the Universities of Pavia and Bologna, aims to convert into structured, queryable data the information provided by foreign travelers in texts about Italian libraries they visited in the 18th century, using Wikibase Cloud to create an instance dedicated to this data.
Wikidata’s role as a hub for linking projects and disciplines was further explored through presentations on the intersection between geographical data, maps, OpenStreetMap, and Wikidata, applied to cultural heritage mapping. Ilaria di Cocco discussed open data for the cultural heritage of Emilia-Romagna, and Klaus Werner presented on how to map cultural heritage with OpenStreetMap and Wikidata.
The workshops focused on practical aspects such as organizing and cleaning data, reconciling data using OpenRefine, retrieving and organizing inaccurate or reference-lacking data in Wikidata, and using SPARQL queries to extract and display data. There was also a session on entering geographic data into Wikidata and the importance of linking Wikidata with OpenStreetMap.
The event closed with a cake to celebrate Wikidata’s 12th anniversary and a look ahead to future gatherings. The next major event will be the conference on Wikidata and research, scheduled for June 5-6, 2025, at the University of Florence. Organized by an international scientific committee with support from Wikimedia Italia and the University of Florence, the conference is open for proposals for papers, lightning talks, and posters until December 9. Upcoming Wikidata Days in Switzerland
Finally, Wikimedia Switzerland, which contributed to the event, announced the organization of the next Wikidata Days in Switzerland. The event will target librarians, researchers, and information specialists to address the challenges of heterogeneous cataloging systems.
NZ Species Edit-a-thon, OEGlobal 2024 and Auckland Museum's Summer Students
New Zealand Species Edit-a-thon
A recap on the two day edit-a-thon was published on the Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand website. See this link for more.
Open Education Global 2024 Keynote
Siobhan Leachman (User:Ambrosia10) was invited to give the keynote at the recently held OEGlobal 2024 conference in Brisbane. The presentation slides and script can be found here. Her keynote was recorded and has been released on Youtube at the 21min mark.
Welcoming Auckland Museum's Wikipedia Summer Students
As part of the annual Summer Scholar programme, Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum welcomed a new cohort of five university students to join our Collections & Information Access team and to be introduced into the world of Wikipedia. Our students come from a diverse range of areas including Law, Art History, Economics, Politics, International Relations, Anthropology, Global Studies and Sociology.
The students will take part in a 10 week programme,learning about the Wikimedia movement and how to make meaningful contributions to Wikipedia. The brief centres around creating Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland local histories more visible on Wikipedia to support teachers and students in the new Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum.
During week one, students learnt about how GLAM institutions can utilise Wikimedia platforms and build Wikimedia strategies in sharing the knowledge and resources from their institutions. They learnt the basics of Wikipedia and completed the dashboard training modules. The students created their user pages: Chefcat29, LegionesCataegis, LynKing1123, RW3003, Sid432, and are busy researching and creating articles. Some of the first articles they created are: Charlotte Museum, Goldstein (rabbi), St Heliers Memorial Fountain and Nathan Homestead. We look forward to sharing all their incredible mahi and contributions over the next few months!
Wiki presentation to the New Zealand Herbarium Network
New Zealand editors Stitchbird2 and Ambrosia10 gave a 15 minute presentation to the New Zealand Herbarium Network on the botany related Wiki work and WikiProjects they have recently been involved with. The slides for this presentation can be found here.
What's up in GLAM-Wiki in Poland
Workshop: Empowering Wiki Residencies in GLAM
Kamila Neuman led the workshop "Empowering Wiki Residencies in GLAM: Scaling and Enhancing GLAM-Wiki Partnerships by Expanding and Strengthening the WiR Position" during the 11th European GLAM-Wiki Coordinators Meet-up, which took place on November 5, 2024. The event brought together coordinators from across Europe to exchange experiences and ideas for advancing GLAM-Wiki collaborations.
The workshop aimed to explore ways to scale GLAM-Wiki partnerships by strengthening the role of Wikipedians in Residence (WiR). Participants worked in groups to analyze barriers and opportunities for expanding WiR programs and brainstorm strategies for engaging Wikipedians in Residence. Discussions centered on how WiR programs can support more effective and sustainable collaborations with GLAM institutions while increasing the number of active residents.
Although the limited time of the workshop prevented concrete solutions from being developed, it facilitated meaningful discussions and enhanced knowledge sharing. Participants openly exchanged experiences, sharing both successes and challenges, and reflected on future initiatives.
The workshop underscored the potential of such meet-ups as platforms for building collective strategies and mutual support within the GLAM-Wiki community.
First In-Person Meeting of Wikipedians in Residence, November 14–15, 2024
On November 14–15, 2024, a meeting of Wikipedians in Residence took place at the Wikimedia Polska office in Warsaw. The event was attended by Wojciech Szczęsny – Wikipedian in Residence at the National Library in Warsaw, Grzegorz Gogacz – Wikipedian in Residence at the Warsaw Public Library – Central Library of the Masovian Voivodeship, and Agata Stadnicka – Wikipedian in Residence at the Czartoryski Library of the National Museum in Krakow. Representing Wikimedia Polska were Kamila Neuman, Open Culture Manager, and Wioletta Matusiak, Education and Development Manager, who facilitated the meeting. This was the first in-person meeting of the year, providing an opportunity to discuss ongoing activities, exchange experiences, and strengthen collaboration.
Until now, Wikipedians in Residence have only met online – a total of ten virtual meetings have been held. This in-person gathering allowed participants to get to know each other better, gain a deeper understanding of their work, and discuss future initiatives together. These were two very intensive days, during which we also had the chance to learn about Wojciech Szczęsny's workflow. Wojciech presented tools he developed to optimize and accelerate editing activities within Wikimedia projects, which proved both inspiring and practical for all participants.
During the meeting, there was also time for integration aligned with our common interests – participants visited the Józef Chełmoński exhibition at the National Museum in Warsaw. This was a particularly valuable experience, as in 2025, we plan activities related to exhibitions dedicated to Chełmoński at National Museum in Poznań and Krakow.
The meeting also resulted in a concrete action – by the end of November, we collaboratively prepared and submitted an application for a mobility grant to Italy, with Wikimedia Italy as the project partner. Through this initiative, we aim to learn about the functioning of GLAM-Wiki projects in Italy and visit local GLAM institutions to better understand their collaboration models. This is an example of how in-person meetings can lead to specific initiatives that contribute to the development of our GLAM-Wiki projects.
High-Quality Portraits of Polish Monarchs on Wikipedia: Digital Treasures from POLONA
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Dobrawa -
Boleslaw I Chrobry -
Mieszko I -
Jan III Sobieski -
Anna Jagiellonka
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The Kings and Dukes of Poland by Jan Matejko is one of the most renowned works depicting Polish rulers. Particularly popular are the portraits of monarchs from the Piast dynasty, whose original likenesses have not survived. For many Poles, figures such as Mieszko I or Bolesław Chrobry are almost synonymous with Matejko’s illustrations.
Until recently, the scans of Matejko's drawings used on Wikipedia were of low quality – both in resolution and color fidelity, which often diverged from the original. Wojtek Szczęsny, serving as Wikipedian in Residence at the National Library, undertook efforts to enhance these materials:
- He acquired high-quality scans from the first book edition of The Kings and Dukes of Poland from around 1893, available in the Polona digital library.
- He enriched the collection with colored versions of the portraits created by Leonard Stroynowski and Zygmunt Papieski, sourced from postcards dating back to the interwar period.
Thanks to Wojtek Szczęsny's efforts:
- High-quality scans have replaced the previous images not only on the Polish Wikipedia but also across 86 language versions of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
- The portraits of Polish rulers are now used in approximately 2,700 locations on 1,600 pages.
- Every month, these 80 scans of monarch portraits receive about 2.7 million views, allowing Wikipedia users worldwide to access faithful reproductions of Polish rulers' portraits.
Lists of Polish kings and dukes, as well as biographies of rulers, are present even in less popular language versions of Wikipedia. This highlights the importance of providing top-quality content that not only promotes Polish culture and history but also enriches global knowledge about our heritage.
Through Wojtek Szczęsny’s dedication, The Kings and Dukes of Poland by Jan Matejko has gained new life in the digital world, reaching millions of viewers around the globe.
Original works by Jan Matejko on Wikimedia Commons: Images from "Królowie i książęta. Rysunki Jana Matejki" (1893)
Colored versions: Kings and Dukes of Poland (color) in the National Library of Poland
Wikimedia Polska Joins the TAROCH Coalition (Towards a Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage)
Wikimedia Polska has officially joined the global TAROCH coalition (Towards a Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage), an international initiative aimed at developing UNESCO guidelines for open access to cultural heritage.
The TAROCH coalition seeks to create and adopt a Declaration on Open Access to Cultural Heritage, which will be open for endorsement by civil society organizations and institutions. At the same time, a strategy will be implemented to globally promote the recognition of open access. These efforts will lay the foundation for a comprehensive campaign to establish and adopt an official UNESCO standard on open access to cultural heritage by 2029.
This significant step was initiated and executed by Kamila Neuman, Open Culture Manager at Wikimedia Polska.
Learn more about TAROCH: Click here.
Summary of Wikidata Days 2024: Librarians don’t need hammers, they need Wikidata
70 professionals and open-knowledge enthusiasts join Wikidata Days 2024 at the National Library of Portugal.
Wikidata Days 2024, the major national conference about open-data management, occurred in Lisbon between November 14 and 16. This year’s slogan was “Data that transform: the role of collaboration in an interconnected world”. The conference brought together people from Europe, Asia, Africa and America and several Wikimedia chapters and user-groups, such as Wikimedia Spain, Brazil, Germany, Italy and Sicily, Wiki Editoras Lx and Wiki Esfera, along with 22 institutions ranging from museums, to libraries and research centers.
During three days, the participants had the opportunity to attend to 12 plenary sessions with use-case of Wikidata and Wikibase at international renowned institutions like the National library of Wales, represented by Jason Evans, and the National library of Germany, represented by Barbara Fischer. For those who wanted to improve their technical skills, there were 4 tutorials introducing Wikidata, Wiki Commons, Wikipedia and Open Refine. These activities were conducted by Ana Cravo, Éder Porto and Jorge Gomes. Additionally, Carlos Silva moderated a panel named “Intersections between GLAM, Academia and Wikimedia projects, with contributions by Vera Moitinho, Luís Ramos Pinto, Éder Porto and Miguel Correia.
At the end of the day, we celebrated the 12th anniversary of Wikidata with a delicious cake! With a star-rating of 4.2 assigned by the participants, Wikidata days 2024 built bridges between cultural heritage, scientific research and FAIR data. The feedback testifies the knowledge acquisition and satisfaction of the participants:
“What I enjoyed the most was the opportunity to create networks and get better acquainted with Wikimedia activities”
“I liked networking with colleagues from other countries concerning topics such as the use of Wikidata in research”
“Feeling as part of the Wikimedia community and meeting new people was important for me. I was also able to develop technical skills with more experienced people at Wikidata, really cool!”
Wikimedia Portugal thanks everyone involved. See you all in Wikidata days 2025!
Swiss GLAM Programme
GLAM on Tour Château Chillon
The “GLAM on Tour” at Château Chillon was a collaboration between “Les Sans PagEs” and the Wikimedia-GLAM team, made possible by the generous hosting of Château Chillon. The focus on “witches” in the canton of Vaud attracted a large number of eager collaborators who contributed to the French and German wikis.
Natacha LSP opened the November weekend with a presentation on the persecution of witches in the canton of Vaud, also sharing her experience of facilitating the “Wikiwitch” project.
Scientist Mme Gwendolin Ortega delved deeper into the historical past with her presentation entitled “Répression de la sorcellerie en Pays de Vaud (XVe-XVIIe siècles)”. Contributions involved updating the history of witch trials in the French-speaking part of Switzerland, particularly in the canton of Vaud, where approximately 2’000 witches were killed. Research and access to documents on witch trials in Switzerland were available to share help for further contributions. Further informations can be find in the Report.
Uploads Appenzell
The Kantonsbibliothek Appenzell Ausserrhoden is part of the GLAM Wiki group and decided to follow the National Library and put their common lizensed material to Wiki Commons. Using pattypan works well. There are different kinds of images: people, living heritage (Brauchtum), sailing, people, manuscripts, Switzerland etc. In order to safe it for the future and to share it with a broader audience they continue uploading their archive to Wiki Commons.
3D Project
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The end of the year in GLAM we are focussing on 3D objects and their specific realities. While in real life one can walk around the object the digital image foto has only two dimensions. Still it works as a 3D work by our perception. How can physical and digital space combine the different realities? The image on the right shows human feet as carriers of the table. There is a lot to explore on the relationship between 3d objects and humanity. 3D is also used to rebuild destroyed cities as for Example Palmyra using a 3D-printer.
Highlighting the Impact of Wiki Loves Monuments 2024 in UAE
Night view of the Liwa Oasis, a large oasis area in the Western Region of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Photographer: Ointerone
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A Merfa'a (Qur'an Holder) which were used between 1866-1868, by Sheikh Khalid bin Sultan Al Qasimi during the period of rule Photographer: ZI Jony
Expanding the Documentation of UAE’s Heritage
The WLM 2024 in UAE mobilized photography enthusiasts, heritage advocates, and volunteers to capture and share images of the country’s diverse monuments. From the grandeur of historical forts to the intricate designs of traditional Emirati architecture, the project succeeded in enriching Wikimedia Commons with high-quality, freely licensed images that are now accessible to the global audience. These contributions play a vital role in bridging gaps in digital heritage representation, especially for under-documented regions.
Building Community Connections
One of the key outcomes of WLM 2024 was the strong sense of community it fostered. Through local workshops and online campaigns, the initiative brought together participants from varied backgrounds, including professional photographers, students, and culture enthusiasts. These activities not only encouraged collaboration but also deepened participants’ understanding of the importance of documenting and preserving cultural heritage.
The project also served as a platform for cross-cultural exchanges, with participants engaging in meaningful discussions about the shared value of cultural preservation in a rapidly modernizing world.
Empowering Local and Global Impact
The contributions from the UAE have gone beyond showcasing monuments. They have sparked discussions around the importance of heritage preservation in an era of globalization and rapid urban development. Additionally, these images are being used in Wikipedia articles, and will be used in educational materials and research projects, ensuring that the UAE’s cultural treasures are recognized and celebrated worldwide.
On a local level, the project raised awareness about heritage conservation and inspired communities to take an active role in protecting their cultural identity. On a global scale, it highlighted the UAE’s commitment to contributing to open knowledge platforms like Wikimedia Commons.
Recognition and Looking Ahead
The success of WLM 2024 in UAE would not have been possible without the dedication of volunteers, the support of cultural institutions, and the enthusiasm of participants. Their efforts have not only enhanced the visibility of UAE’s monuments but also set a benchmark for future cultural heritage projects.
As the project concludes, its impact continues to resonate, laying the groundwork for sustained efforts in heritage documentation and digital inclusion. This achievement is a testament to the power of collective action in preserving and sharing the world’s cultural diversity for generations to come.
Empowering Knowledge: Librarians and Wikimedia at DILC 2024
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On November 17, 2025, the third day of the Dubai International Library Conference (DILC) 2024 witnessed a groundbreaking session titled "Empowering Knowledge: Librarians and Wikimedia." The event, a highlight of the conference, brought together two influential voices in the Wikimedia and library communities: Serine Ben Brahim, Director of Wikimedia UAE, and Alice Kibombo, Senior Programme Officer – Libraries at the Wikimedia Foundation.
A Collaborative Vision for Libraries and Wikimedia
In a world where access to knowledge defines progress, librarians play a pivotal role as gatekeepers of information. This session explored the symbiotic relationship between libraries and Wikimedia, emphasizing how both entities can collaborate to democratize access to knowledge.
Serine Ben Brahim shared insights into the transformative role Wikimedia projects can play in modern libraries. Drawing from her experience leading Wikimedia UAE, she highlighted successful local initiatives that have integrated Wikimedia platforms into library practices. Her talk underscored how libraries can use Wikimedia to amplify their reach, preserve cultural heritage, and engage communities in knowledge creation.
Alice Kibombo brought a global perspective, delving into the Wikimedia Foundation's efforts to empower libraries worldwide. She elaborated on the Wikipedia + Libraries initiative, which has equipped librarians with the tools and skills to contribute to Wikimedia projects. Alice emphasized the importance of capacity building, showcasing examples of how libraries in Uganda and beyond have leveraged Wikimedia to enhance information literacy and bridge knowledge gaps.
Key Themes and Takeaways
The session highlighted several key themes:
- Digital Transformation in Libraries: The speakers discussed how Wikimedia platforms serve as tools for libraries to transition into the digital age, offering free and accessible resources to their patrons.
- Knowledge Equity: Both speakers stressed the importance of addressing the systemic barriers that limit access to knowledge. They called for inclusive participation in Wikimedia projects to ensure diverse representation.
- Community Engagement: The session underscored the value of partnerships between libraries and Wikimedia communities to foster local knowledge-sharing initiatives.
An Engaging Exchange of Ideas
The audience, comprising librarians, archivists, and Wikimedia enthusiasts from across the globe, actively participated in the discussion. Questions ranged from practical strategies for integrating Wikimedia into library services to the challenges of ensuring accuracy and neutrality on Wikimedia platforms. The speakers’ insightful responses provided actionable solutions and inspired participants to explore collaborative opportunities.
Conclusion
"Empowering Knowledge: Librarians and Wikimedia" was a testament to the shared mission of libraries and Wikimedia to make knowledge freely accessible to all. By bridging the gap between these two realms, the session demonstrated how librarians can become active contributors to the Wikimedia movement, creating a more equitable and informed world.
As libraries and Wikimedia continue to strengthen their collaboration, events like this serve as a catalyst for innovation, ensuring that the power of knowledge reaches every corner of the globe.
Middle-Eastern history and interfaith education
Khalili Foundation
The Interfaith Explorers educational website, expanded with content adapted from Simple English Wikipedia, English Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, was formally launched at an online event on the 15th November, getting some very positive comments from attendees. I reviewed and updated the For Teachers section of the site, adding links to every page to make it easier to find the teacher resources. Wikimedia UK put us in touch with the School Library Association, who are keen to host another webinar next year and publish an article in their newsletter. I have also been in touch with RE-hubs.uk who are going to feature the site in their newsletter.
My work this month has been on Interfaith Explorers and on the new UNESCO Memory of the World project, which has a separate monthly report. A volunteer on German Wikipedia has created an article about the Mahmal. It is not a translation of my English-language article, but uses some of the same images, including four from the Khalili Collections. All four of these images are being used in German Wikipedia for the first time. The article is very detailed and thoroughly researched and some of its content could be used to improve the English article. There are now articles about the Mahmal in six Wikipedia languages.
GLAMorgan reports 6,026,255 image views this month. Part of the reason for this big number is a high level of interest in the article History of Palestine (nearly half a million views), which uses an image of a 10th century Palestine dinar.
On volunteer time, I wrote a case study for Georgina Brooke's forthcoming book "Digital Content in Museums", mentioning my work with the Khalili Foundation and the Bodleian Libraries. I argued that these partnerships are models for how museums can work with the Wikimedia platforms.
November meetings
Wiki Uff da!
Minnesota Historical Society and Wikimedians in Minnesota held workshops, Wiki Uff da! - Editing Wikipedia for Absolute Beginners.
Seattle Meetup
Cascadia Wikimedians User Group, held a meetup, Seattle Monthly meetup.
San Diego
San Diego Public Library and San Diego Wikimedians held a a meetup, San Diego/November 2024.
US Mountain West
Wikimedians of the U.S. Mountain West held an online meetup, US Mountain West meetup.
TSU and USF Native American Heritage month
Tennessee State University, University of South Florida, and Wikimedia DC held an editathon, TSU USF Native American Heritage Month Edit-a-thon
Wikicurious - Capturing the Moment
Wikimedia NYC held a a meetup, Wikicurious - Capturing the Moment.
BHL-Wiki Working Group November monthly highlights
Agenda & recording of the November 2024 meeting
The agenda for the meeting can be found at this link. The agenda document gives notes taken during the meeting, action items, as well as the dates of future online meetings and the zoom link to join. Links to the recordings of the previous meetings are also given.
The next meeting will be held on December 18, 2024 at 2:00 pm EST. Any curious Wikimedian is very welcome to attend.
Announcing Tiago Lubiana as the BHL Wikimedian-in-Residence
Tiago Lubiana was formally announced and enthusiastically welcomed as the BHL Wikimedian-in-Residence. A blog post was recently published by BHL announcing his appointment.
Chair reports on NZ species editathon and the Open Education Global conference
The BHL-Wiki chairperson, Siobhan Leachman (User:Ambrosia10), reported back on the recently held New Zealand species edit-a-thon focusing on the use of BHL content during that event. Access to BHL was detrimental affected the first day of the event as a result of the attack on the Internet Archive. Happily by the time the second day of the edit-a-thon was held BHL content was accessible. She also reported back on her keynote at the Open Education Global Conference 2024 which included BHL related content. A recording of her presentation has been placed on Youtube.
Review of Wiki related BHL website FAQ
A review of the Wiki related portions of the BHL FAQ on the BHL website is underway. Proposed changes to the wording is intended to be put to attendees at the next BHL-Wiki working group meeting for feedback.
New BHL related Wikimedia Commons categories
Two new Wikimedia Commons categories relating to files from the Biodiversity Heritage Library have been created to assist with tracking progress for the Wikimedia Foundation Hypothesis statement on their Annual Plan. These categories relate to files in South America and files in Africa. Work is now being undertaken by the BHL Wikimedia-in-residence and members of the BHL-Wiki working group to populate these categories. Siobhan Leachman has documented a manual workflow for this work. This draft workflow is CC0 licensed so please feel free to comment, edit and of course use it.
Project management basics presentation
JJ Dearborn gave the BHL-Wiki working group a brief presentation on “What is a Research Spike” as part of the her ongoing efforts to upskill members on project management basics.
Winter Festival
Winter Festival
The open knowledge community in Finland, including AvoinGLAM, hosted a Winter Festival 2 December. The event gathered advocates from across the open community to coordinate activities together.
AI 💖 Regulation
The highlight of the event was the panel discussion on AI and regulation. The panelists included Miapetra Kumpula-Natri (Member of the Finnish Parliament, ex-MEP), Minna Mustakallio (Head of Responsible AI, Yle), Nitin Sawhney (Professor of Practice, Aalto CRAI-CIS Research Group), Tapani Tarvainen (Executive Director, Electronic Frontier Finland) moderated by Tarmo Toikkanen (Senior Lead, Data and AI programme, Sitra and former Open Knowledge ED).
👉 Watch the recording (English)
The speakers shared their in-depth understanding about the perspectives to regulation right in time before the deadline of submitting the statement for the request for comments regarding the implementation of the AI Act in Finland.
👉 Open Knowledge Finland's statement can be read on the website (Finnish).
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Moderator Tarmo Toikkanen -
Panelists Miapetra Kumpula-Natri, Minna Mustakallio, Tapani Tarvainen, and Nitin Sawhney
Creative Commons Finland Reboot
Creative Commons Finland Reboot gathered a dozen guests in sketching out CC Finland's activities, including
- Promoting correct licensing in open culture and advocating for Open Access policies for cultural heritage institutions.
- Promoting CC licenses, perhaps offer training.
- Supporting the work with the Creative Commons -led initiative TAROCH – Towards A Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage.
TAROCH
AvoinGLAM takes an active role in the preparation of the TAROCH initiative to advocate for a normative instrument supporting open cultural heritage at UNESCO.
AvoinGLAM, the National Library of Finland, and the Music Archive Finland have joined as founding members and together wish to facilitate Finland taking an active role in the initiative.
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Director of Services at the National Library of Finland Johanna Lilja commenting on TAROCH, AI and cultural heritage
New UNESCO Living Heritage Elements
66 new living heritage elements corresponding to 5 regions and 90 countries were inscribed in the UNESCO Lists of Intangible Cultural Heritage at the 19th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage in Asunción, Republic of Paraguay on 5 December 2024. The 2024 entries mark the first registrations for Brunei Darussalam, Ghana, Myanmar, Rwanda and Somalia.
AvoinGLAM is adding data about the elements to Wikidata. This makes the heritage elements become visible on Wiki Loves Living Heritage, and connects them to further data as well as related articles and images on Wikimedia projects. AvoinGLAM's campaign of 2023 continues to grow the open online resource related to intangible cultural heritage.
Congratulations, among others, to the Ghana community for introducing Kente cloth on the lists (UNESCO page, Wikidocumentaries in Twi, Ghanaian Pidgin English, and the Ukrainian–Estonian inscription of Pysanka, Ukrainian tradition and art of decorating eggs (UNESCO page, Wikidocumentaries: Ukrainian)!
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Image from the Kente Festival 2019 -
Egyptian woman holding a pair of Egyptian simsimiyya lyres -
A mix of traditional Ukrainian, diasporan and original pysanky
New Media Art Archiving workshop at ZKM
The AvoinGLAM-initiated Media Art History Expert Meeting group made a successful proposal to the Workshop on New Media Art archiving 2025, which will be hosted by ZKM 5–8 February, 2025.
The workshop will build on the work initiated during the expert meeting held in Amsterdam in October and continue the effort to create a blueprint for making use of the Wikimedia ecosystem in archiving media art.
The activity is part of AvoinGLAM's tribute to Minna Tarkka (1960–2023).
👉 Workshop on New Media Art Archiving
Wikidata and Wikipedia improvements
Untangling the mess
The first stage of improving the Memory of the World Register on Wikimedia projects is to get a clean data set on Wikidata. This is what I have been working on this month. The goal is:
- A query on Wikidata for things with heritage designation → Memory of the World should retrieve all and only the inscriptions that are on the register (currently there are 494 of these).
- Wikidata should know the year when each inscription was added to the register, and its name in English.
- Each statement should be verifiable via a link to the relevant entry in the UNESCO online database. Links to the old database (which give a 404 error) or citations to Wikipedia should be removed.
Once this is the case, it will be easy to generate list articles for many languages of Wikipedia. This will also enable "target lists" of topics for article creation, for example we can ask for a list of MotW inscriptions lacking an article on English Wikipedia.
We are a long way off this state of affairs, but have made a lot of progress this month. As I look further into Wikidata and Wikipedia, I am finding more errors, but fixing most of them as I go. The biggest shortfall, as explained last month, is that about a third of the MotW inscriptions have no representation on Wikidata. So I am concentrating on the quality of that existing incomplete data set.
My first query for things with heritage designation → Memory of the World returned about three thousand results. This was because of cases where the MotW inscription consists of multiple things, and each of them had been tagged with this designation. For example, for the National Debt Redemption Movement Digital Archive in Korea, 2439 documents in the archive had been tagged. For the Three Stelae of Kōzuke, each individual stele was also tagged with the designation. We should be able to find individual objects in an archive or collection in the MotW register, but we don't need to tag every single object in order to do that. Where a collection or archive has MotW status, the collection property will identify objects in that archive. For instance, this query lists all the documents in the National Debt Redemption Movement Digital Archive. When a group of objects (such as the three Three Stelae) is on the MotW register, the property part of will connect the individual object to the inscription.
Wikidata wrongly identified the Freddie Mercury song "Love Kills" as having Memory of the World status. The reason: "Love Kills" is "part of" the film Metropolis, and Metropolis is mentioned in the Memory of the World Register. However, these are two different things. The Metropolis that has MotW status is a restoration of the original 1927 film, while the song is part of the 1980s musical adaptation. So I made sure that only the restoration is tagged with heritage designation → Memory of the World.
There is not space to list all the errors and inconsistencies I have been fixing on Wikidata and Wikipedia, but here are some representative examples. For Codex Argenteus, Wikidata had one representation for the manuscript and another for the object on the MotW register. These are the same thing so the representations have been merged. The Stone stele records of imperial examinations of the Lê and Mạc dynasties had two inconsistent dates of entry to the register; the incorrect one was removed. The human being Éric Schwab could be inferred to be on the register because his connection to The Family of Man was incorrectly described. I replaced the property collection with the more appropriate archives at.
I discovered that the English Wikipedia article Memory of the World Register – Latin America and the Caribbean has a lot of superfluous entries. Someone with good intentions has pasted in a list of 113 instances of Brazilian cultural heritage, but these were nominated for MotW status by the Brazilian national committee; only a minority were accepted onto the MotW international register. I have posted a notice for other editors, and the list will need careful review to cut it down to just the correct entries.
I fixed the following problems by supplying or updating information:
- Broken links to an old UNESCO site from 10 articles on French Wikipedia (other old versions of the site still have links)
- Broken links from 2 articles on German Wikipedia
- 15 inscriptions lacking the year of entry to the register.
- Various incorrect properties ("award received", "part of the series", "subclass of", "member of") used for Memory of the World instead of the correct property, "heritage designation"
I noticed that the English Wikipedia article "Arolsen Archives – International Center on Nazi Persecution" had an unnecessarily long title, so got it renamed to Arolsen Archives.
One Wikidata entry for a MotW inscription — Human Rights Archive of Chile — lacked an English label. When fixing this, I noticed that this archive had an article in Spanish Wikipedia but not in English Wikipedia. So I translated the article and added in some academic citations, creating the first new Wikipedia article from this project: Human Rights Archive of Chile.
December's GLAM events
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