GLAM/Newsletter/June 2014/Contents/Belgium report

This Month in GLAM – Volume IV, Issue VI, June 2014

Belgium report

Bouchout Declaration on Open Access to Biodiversity data; Virtual collaboration in the government

Pro-iBiosphere final event Meise

At 11 June Daniel Mietchen gave a presentation about Wikipedia and Wikimedia at the pro-iBiosphere Final Event in Meise, near Brussels. The event was held in the Bouchout Castle which houses the Botanic Garden Meise.

At the event the Bouchout Declaration on Open Access to Biodiversity data was launched, signed by over 50 institutions and organizations.[1]

The Bouchout Declaration for Open Biodiversity Knowledge Management

The purpose of the Bouchout Declaration is to help make digital data about our biodiversity openly available. It offers members of the biodiversity community a way to demonstrate their commitment to open science.

— http://bouchoutdeclaration.org/

Related links

Page about the Wikimedia workshop at the Pro-iBiosphere final event
Presentation during the Wikimedia workshop on Wikipedia
Category with photos of the event
Mailing list announcement Wikimedia workshop at biodiversity event near Brussels in June, 13 April

This Month in GLAM mentioned

Virtual collaboration in the Belgian federal government

At 17 June Romaine gave a presentation for the communicators and knowledge managers of various federal government departments. The subject of the day was virtual collaboration and Wikipedia is a good example of such collaboration. There was especially attention to how users work together on a wiki. This included:

procedures and how differences in opinion are managed;
projects organized on a wiki and projects together with GLAMs and other organisations; and
the limitations users face, among:
- no freedom of panorama (FOP) in Belgium;
- government works are copyrighted and not in the public domain; and
- the difficult position of orphan works.

Presentation for the communicators and knowledge managers of various federal government departments
The Berlaymont building houses the headquarters of the European Commission, censored due a lack of FOP