Title: 100000 Photo Memories – museums and Wikimedians in synergy
Speaker: Josefine Hellroth Larsson, Alicia Fagerving
Abstract: 100 000 Bildminenn is an ongoing partnership project between the Nordic Museum and Wikimedia Sverige. Newly digitized archival photographs from the museum's archive are shared on Wikimedia Commons with the aim of involving the community in crowdsourcing descriptive metadata that will ultimately be incorporated into the museum's own systems. This is an example of an innovative project where the Wikimedia movement and a GLAM institution work closely together right from the start of the digitization process, and that requires the development of new tools and workflows so that both sides can benefit from it to the fullest.

We present the project 100 000 Bildminnen, a collaboration between Wikimedia Sverige and the Nordic Museum, one of Sweden's most prominent cultural heritage institutions. The ongoing project focuses on sharing newly digitized photographs from the museum's archive, but it takes a step beyond a run-of-the-mill upload.

It is innovative in several ways: both parties engaged in a conversation about each other's needs before the digitization started, and the museum is going to harvest the user-generated data and integrate it into their own systems. This requires new tools and workflows that we are developing.

The archival photographs only have rudimentary metadata. By sharing them on the Wikimedia platforms, we create an opportunity for volunteers to improve it – they may be able to recognize the street where a photo was taken or the exact type of airplane shown in a photo from the factory. Once they have added this information as either a description or structured data, the museum will be able to export this new data and re-use it on their own platforms. We are designing and developing the tools they will need to do that efficiently, and we are also organizing edit-a-thons where people with a special interest in the themes of the photo collection can learn to contribute to the Wikimedia platforms.

The participants will get an insight into an innovative GLAM partnership model, including the challenges faced by both sides. You are especially welcome if you are a Wikimedian or GLAM expert with an interest in developing projects that bring the Wikimedia movement and the GLAM sector closer together, such as through crowdsourcing.
Presented at: Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, 2023-08-18 06:35 to 06:55 UTC