All 2013 projects | Key theme 3: Establishing free knowledge in society – Goal 4: Cooperations – Change 4.4: Continuing cooperations and identifying new projects

Project description: Excellent partnerships

Cooperating with well-respected institutions is an effective way for Wikimedia Deutschland to show the public the added value of free access to cultural content. (P22)

Contact / Project Manager: Barbara Fischer (Politics & Society)
Total budget: €50,000
Implementation period: November 2012 – November 2013

What is the project about?

In order to generally increase acceptance of the concept of free knowledge in cultural institutions, we aim to collaborate with outstanding cultural institutions (GLAMs: galleries, libraries, archives, and museums).

We regard cultural institutions with particularly comprehensive and valuable collections or with collections of particular interest to the Wikimedia projects as excellent partner organizations. We will contact these GLAMs directly in order to set up joint projects. We will set aside funding for potentially expensive projects.

Our aim in providing good documentation of this collaboration is to influence other cultural institutions’ digitization strategies, to help to safeguard cultural heritage, and to play a part in creating free access to it.

How will this project help us meet our annual goals?

Our aim is for cultural institutions to generally provide free digital access to cultural heritage. We would like to encourage them to do so by proposing interesting collaborative projects, as successful projects and their documentation will in turn inspire other cultural institutions to provide freer access to their collections.

We are therefore focusing on GLAMs which have a particularly good reputation and a major impact in their own field or hold an unusual type of collection. Our projects will promote acceptance of free access to cultural heritage, as they can only be carried out in cooperation with the Wikimedia communities or because they are regarded as particularly innovative due to their links with the Wikimedia projects.

In turn, these projects will serve as examples of best practice and encourage other institutions to set up similar schemes.

What are the key milestones along the way and by when should we reach them?

Internal Wikimedia events such as Wikimania and Wikimedia Deutschland’s general assembly, in dialogue with the Wikimedia communities, will provide opportunities to revise our acquisition strategy.

No.	When	What
1.	December 2012 – June 2013	We will set up collaborative projects with well-respected partner organizations and implement the first measures as appropriate. We will document the projects, for example in blog posts and on the Wikipedia:GLAM page in Wikipedia. We will present a mid-term report to the communities for discussion prior to the 2014 Annual Plan. This report will describe the current status of the collaborative projects and look ahead to the second half of the year. This will give us an opportunity to discuss trends and experiences and to adjust our approach where necessary.
2.	August – October 2013	We will continue to set up collaborative projects and to implement measures. If necessary, we will take a different approach here than before, depending on the outcome of the discussion on the mid-term report. We will document the process and plan the focus for 2014. In preparation for the 2014 Annual Plan we will invite the members to suggest possible partner organizations for 2015 in cooperation with the communities.
3.	November 2013	We will present the year’s collaborative projects and a preview of the planning for 2014 at the general assembly in order to obtain feedback from the association and communities.