On 3 February 2011 17:59, Tom Morris <tom@tommorris.org> wrote:

On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 23:39, geni <geniice@gmail.com> wrote:
> I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the
> lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
>
> http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
>
> I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would
> be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program.
> Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and
> the like.
>

One thing we* could potentially do for the GLAM sector that could be
quite helpful is to have a very simple service where they could log in
to a website with a nice shortish URL (the sort of length that could
be posted on Twitter or printed onto museum signs). They could
basically then have some information on the page - a short
description, a photo (which would get uploaded on to Commons) etc.
They would be encouraged to put up a description that is the same as
it is on the physical sign and optionally a photo. They would be
strongly encouraged to make both the text CC-BY-SA and to get a photo
up it would have to go on Commons.

Imagine it as a sort of 'Open Museum Signs' site. Providing it as a
free service would mean that smaller museums could document their
stuff online, and it could do QR codes and maybe someone could build a
smartphone app (so you could wander around the museum looking at
objects and then sharing them with your friends or whatnot).

I sketched something very crappily in Adobe Ideas:

http://i.imgur.com/wo4d7.png

Something like that is all there would be on the page. You scan the QR
code, you see the object, and you can choose to read more on
Wikipedia.

The point about it is that it would be a nice simple thing the GLAM
institutions could control, but the rights for the text would be
assigned in such a way that it could be reused on Wikimedia projects
and any photos they upload would be put onto Commons. And because
there is a link from the object to the article(s) on WP, as they start
doing more and more signs, they have a motivation to keep an eye on
the articles. For smaller museums, it would be a way for them to start
producing structured data (which publicly funded bodies are trying to
do more and more) but also be a feeder for Wikipedia.

Providing free tools for museums and other GLAMs might be a good way
of getting initial buy-in to the whole collaborating-with-Wikimedia
thing during a recession.

* And by 'we', I mean 'hopefully not me'. Well, not yet anyway. I'm
off to the Dev8D conference soon and some museum people go to that, so
I may be able to find some people to get the ball rolling. I've also
thought of a domain, which I won't share or register if there isn't
any interest.

--
Tom Morris
<http://tommorris.org/>

Please don't print this e-mail out unless you want a hard copy of it.
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