Wikimania 2017 - GLAM afternoon session - Media Hopper - The University of Edinburgh Media Platform

"Small GLAMs: opportunities & possibilities of working together with small cultural heritage institutions

Michelle van Lanschot (Mtmlan84) -  Wikipedian in Residence for Erfgoed Gelderland (www.erfgoedgelderland.nl)

The number of small heritage institutions contributing to Wikimedia projects is relatively limited. This is often caused by a lack of knowledge on open data and a shortage of employees or volunteers to work on these projects. As a result, the material that is located in regional collections is not shared on Wikimedia platforms. Therefore, the gap between large national heritage institutions and the regional small heritage institutions is expanding. This poses a challenge to the inclusive policy of the Wikimedia movement.

To find a workable solution for this issue, Wikimedia Netherlands launched a collaboration with Erfgoed Gelderland, a provincial umbrella organisation for local cultural heritage institutions. This collaboration aims to provide 7 small heritage institutions with tools and knowledge to participate in different Wikimedia projects. Guidelines and manuals for small heritage institutions to work on the Wikimedia projects independently will be the main result. The lecture is an analysis of the project, indicating successes, weaknesses and learning points of working with small GLAMs. It proposes workable solutions for some of the issues that the project identified in working with small GLAMS. It also aims to indicate the differences in working with national, large heritage institutions and small heritage institutions and the advantages and disadvantages this brings."