GLAM/Newsletter/January 2012/Contents/USA report
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NARA's ExtravaSCANza; Kennedy comes to Commons, new partnership with Delaware Art Museum; Whistler's Mother in high res; brief news
National Archives ExtravaSCANza!
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) hosted a dozen Wikimedians over the course of one week in early January for their week long NARA ExtravaSCANza. The ExtravaSCANza was organized by Dominic McDevitt-Parks, the National Archives Wikipedian-in-Residence; the event served as an end to his 8-month stint at NARA.
NARA gave the Wikimedians access to special collection and all the tools needed to scan and document never before scanned images from the archives. Wikimedians scanned photographic images from NASA, Women's suffrage in the United States, Chile, and battleships. Wikimedians also participated in FedFlix; digitizing videos and experimenting with digitizing sound recordings. Highlights include radio broadcasts that encouraged Americans to answer questions from census-takers for the 1940 United States Census. Photos are being uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, and volunteers are needed to help categorize the new images!
JFK assassination audio released on Wikimedia Commons
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has released two audio reel recordings of conversations between Air Force One pilots and crew and personnel on the ground, following the JFK assassination in 1963. The recordings are 2 hours and 22 minutes in length. David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, explains that the audio "provides additional documentation concerning the immediate response of the U.S. Government on the day of President Kennedy’s assassination." User:Dominic was provided with a 1.4 GB raw audio file, converted it to .ogg format and had it uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, at the just about the same time that NARA publicly announced this release.
The Raab Collection, a Philadelphia-area dealer of autographs, historical documents and manuscripts, discovered the audio reels. Raab had the audio "professionally digitized" and a copy donated to the National Archives. [1] The audio was discovered among papers and materials in the collections of Senior Kennedy military aide and Army General Chester "Ted" Clifton, Jr. General Clifton. Raab is selling the original audio reels for US$500,000.
US Cultural Partnerships report
January marked the official start of Lori Phillips' role as US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator in 2012. A summary of relevant tasks will be reported here and on the Wikimedia Foundation's monthly report on a monthly basis. In January...
- Preparation has continued for the Wikipedia session and table at the American Association of Museums conference in April. The Wikipedia session will now be part of the exclusive online conference as well.
- GLAMcamp DC, which will take place in early February, is in its final stages of preparation. This has included establishing a proposed framework for GLAM:US collaboration, which will be presented at GLAMcamp and finalized as a goal of the event alongside other documentation and tool development.
- There has been ongoing follow-up on leads and expressions of interest from GLAM institutions, as well as consolidation of interested parties and contacts into a single, master list. This streamlining of information will continue at GLAMcamp DC.
In February, Phillips will have the opportunity to write a number of GLAM-related blog posts for various organizations, including the Center for the Future of Museums and the New Media Consortium.
New partnership starts with the Delaware Art Museum
Mid-January marked an announcement that a partnership with the Delaware Art Museum has formed. Smallbones is heading up an effort to improve content and images related to the museums collection on English Wikipedia and beyond. "I just contacted the museum and told them I was interested in writing about their artworks on Wikipedia, and they were excited to work together," explained Smallbones at the recent Wikipedia Day in New York City. Smallbones first major effort for the museum was the article about Lady Lilith, by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The article goes into great detail about the documentation and creation process behind the artwork. Learn more about how you can help here.
Whistler's Mother and American Gothic now high resolution
Several members of the GLAM community collaborated on an exploration of notable fine art images that were needed in high resolution on Wikimedia Commons. Two artworks that were identified were Arrangement in Grey and Black No.1, better known as Whistler's Mother, and American Gothic, both iconic works of American art. In particular, it was determined that the existing version of Whistler's Mother hosted on Commons was, in fact, a photograph of a smaller reproduction and not the original painting. Similar mix-ups have occurred with other notable artworks on Commons, including John William Waterhouse's Cleopatra and Katsushika Hokusai's The Great Wave at Kanagawa. It was suggested that this is because it is often easier to get images from commercial websites offering reproductions than it is to get images from the galleries and museums that house the original works. High resolution versions of both paintings were acquired and are now available on Wikimedia Commons.
News in brief
- Two Years of Sharing Open Culture. US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator Lori Phillips's was a featured contributor to the Open Knowledge Foundation, where she wrote "Wikipedians in Residence: Two Years of Sharing Open Culture". In the blog, Phillips reviews the past two years of the GLAM WIKI movement.
- GLAMcamp DC on the horizon. The second GLAMcamp to be held in the United States will take place February 10-12. This event will bring together Wikimedians and GLAM representatives interested in furthering US GLAM relationships and programs. GLAMcamp DC is sponsored by the National Archives and Records Administration and Creative Commons.
- Public art copyright guidelines research considered a win for WikiProject Public art. The Wikimedia Foundation sponsored legal research into United States freedom of panorama regarding public art. The research, which has determined that public artworks that are placed in the public sphere (i.e. parks, city streets), were made before 1978, and do not have an obvious copyright mark on the work are public domain and eligible for use in Wikimedia Commons. This is a win for participants in WikiProject Public art, who have seen article image use and uploads increase since the announcement.
- GLAMcamp DC to feature first GLAM event Friendly Space Policy. Inspired by the Friendly Space Policy developed for Wikimedia Foundation technical events, GLAMcamp DC has chosen to develop a policy that will provide a safe and welcome environment for all participants. While met with some protest and questions, the policy hopes to be developed for use at larger events and currently is being developed by Wikimedia UK for events.
- Historic American Buildings Survey images now on Commons. Images from the Historic American Buildings Survey are now being transferred by Multichill. This collection of over 35,000 photographic image and drawings of historical buildings in the United States all fall into the public domain. Explore the collection here.
- Librarians flock to rescue students in the dark during the Wikipedia Blackout. Librarians around the English-speaking world flocked to Twitter and other social media tools to assist students during the Wikipedia blackout on January 8. Read more about how librarians turned superheroes in this article from Inside Higher Ed: "Libraries: A Paper Wikipedia" by Mitch Smith.
- Tweet us and we'll tweet you back: GLAM-WIKI now on Twitter! Thanks to efforts made by US Cultural Partnerships Coordinator Lori Phillips, GLAM-WIKI is now on Twitter! Follow @glamwiki today!
- Archives of American Art seeks new Wikipedian in Residence The Archives of American Art are seeking an intern to serve as the second Wikipedian in Residence at the archives. Applications for summer internships are due February 24. Visit their website to learn more.
- Wikimania 2012 Submissions are now being accepted for Wikimania 2012, which will take place July 12-13 in Washington, DC. GLAM is a track for the conference. Panels, papers and presentations are due March 18. Learn more here.
- Provisions Research Residencies. Provision Library, a non-profit "instigator of arts and social change," is seeking residents for their upcoming research program. Applicants interested in cultural collaboration and copyright are encouraged to participate, making this a great opportunity for GLAM WIKI fans. Residencies will take place at George Mason University, just outside of Washington DC and include housing and a stipend. Applications due March 1 2012. Please visit here for more information.
