Connected Open Heritage
– Preserving cultural heritage at risk online, and giving people easy access to it.Edit
Timeplan | Countries | Partners | Get Involved | Documentation | Exhibitions | FAQ | Discussion |
Care to help? Click here for some tasks! |
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The greatest threat towards the cultural heritage is lack of knowledge and disinterest. The best way to protect the cultural heritage is therefore knowledge and information that is easy to find and free | ”
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— Lars Amréus, Director-General of the National Heritage Board of Sweden. |
Project log Here we will continuously list the milestones in the project.
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BackgroundEditWars and disasters, negligence and poor maintenance all mean that much of our built cultural heritage, such as monuments, archaeological sites etc., is at risk of being lost forever. Interest and knowledge are needed to prevent its destruction. To help preserve our existing built cultural heritage and to understand lost heritage through recreation and restoration, accurate and reliable information needs to be easily accessible to everyone, for free. The Connected Open Heritage (Kopplat Öppet Kulturarv, KÖK) project will use the experience from previous projects within the Wikimedia movement to gather as much information as possible about cultural heritage on Wikimedia projects and to build on the work done by volunteers all over the world. It will make it easier to search for the built cultural heritage that you care for. The project is funded by the Culture Foundation of the Swedish Postcode Lottery and will last until June 2017. |
AimEditThe aim of this project is to improve and create knowledge about the built cultural heritage of the world and make it available digitally, with open and free licenses. This will increase the awareness and interest to save the world's cultural heritage. If you or your organisation hold data, text, images or other media about built cultural heritage please click here to find out how you can be involved. |
GoalsEditTo achieve this the project has five goals:
More specific tasks to reach the goals are:
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Method and activitiesEditThe main and fundamental activity of the project is to modernize the handling of built cultural heritage data. This will be done by transferring all information from the Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) database to Wikidata, and develop the tools needed to make the data more useful and so more valuable. The project will determine how WLM datasets can be matched with the structure of Wikidata and how the data can be uploaded. The method will be continuously evaluated and developed after each dataset and done in close collaboration with Wikimedia volunteers and staff. The project will explore and share methods for keeping Wikidata updated with data from official sources. In parallel we will begin work to update existing data, add more data, more media and link it to other information sources. The selection process concerning what data and media to add to Wikidata will be based primarily on the needs of Wikimedia volunteers, and secondly based on requests from our partners in the heritage sector and then, if time permits, other stakeholders' wishes. Data from all over the world will be added, with a particular focus on countries in Africa, Asia and Southern Europe. We will actively work to convince decision-makers to release built cultural heritage data and media under an open license. To be able to reach the right people and to get a better understanding of the local situation we will use the vast networks of UNESCO, Cultural Heritage without Borders and of the wider Wikimedia movement. We will also work with GLAM institutions all over the world to add media files related to cultural heritage to Wikimedia Commons, achieved through batch uploads. To contextualise the media and data we will run events aimed at adding the new material to Wikipedia. The events will be run in connection with other events including the photo exhibitions. We will put in a considerable amount of work into communication about this great resource which will include creation of information materials, press releases, blog post and social media to participation at conferences concerning cultural heritage, GLAM, education, Open Data and humanitarian aid. To reach the public a travelling photo exhibition will be organized. The photo exhibition will travel to at least three different countries with the aim of highlighting cultural heritage that is threatened and how digital tools can be used to preserve it. The photo exhibition will be organized together with Wikimedia Italia. Wikimedia Italia will join us in selecting the best and most important pictures from Syria and other places where cultural heritage is in danger or destroyed, write short narratives about them and the Wikimedia movement’s work with cultural heritage. The photo exhibition will include both a physical and digital component so that more people will be able to access the material. |
Get involvedEditIf you are interested in being involved in the project please sign up on the Get Involved page. For any other questions please e-mail john.andersson wikimedia.se . |
WikimaniaEdit |