2025:Program/Uploading Central Australian Historical Images to Wikimedia Commons

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Session title: Uploading Central Australian Historical Images to Wikimedia Commons

Session type: Poster

Track: GLAM

Language: en

This session will look at the partnership achieved between Wikimedia Australia and the Alice Springs Public Library.

The images uploaded included those of First Nations people and I will look at the processes undertaken to ensure that these are suitable for upload to a public platform and where we sought guidance from in this project.

Description

In 2024/2025 Wikimedia Australia partnered with Alice Springs Public Library to upload over 1,000 images relating to Central Australian history to Wikimeida Commons; this included linking these images with relevant Wikipedia pages.

This collection had never been made available online before and, before uploading, there was extensive consultation within the community, and a cultural sensitivity assessment was performed by an Arrernte cultural leader and expert which guided this project.

These images are now viewed an average of 50,000 a month and have added great value to Wiki platforms while also showing how many gaps there are in coverage of this region on Wiki platforms.

As at March 2025 this project is still in process.

For more information see: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Central_Australian_Historical_Images https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Alice_Springs_Public_Library

How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?

This presentation relates to inclusivity and telling First Nations stories in Australia

What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?

Everyone can participate in this session

Speakers

• alice

My name is Alice Woods and I've been employed by Wikimedia Australia since September 2023; you can see my staff profile on the Wikimedia Australia website. I started editing Wikipedia in earnest in 2019 and contribute to other Wikimedia platforms as well.

I have a wide variety of interest areas with a particular interest in Central Australian people, places and history. This includes adding information about First Nations history, people and lands. I am not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander so I understand my limitations in this regard and hope to do so in a respectful way. I welcome feedback as how I can improve in this regard.

I have relocated to the East Coast in the Northern Rivers Region of NSW and aim to start expanding Wikimedia content in this area also.