GLAM/Newsletter/September 2011/Contents/Germany report
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Outreach to the Historical Archive of Cologne
- User:Raymond is Raimond Spekking, a Cologne-based Wikipedian and keen photographer. In this report he discusses the on-going partnership with the Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln (Historical Archive of Cologne).
Historisches Archiv der Stadt Köln
My first contact with the Historical Archive of Cologne was in September 2008 during an open house presentation. Publishing this photograph was forbidden because it shows historic drawings, and the archive was afraid that this would be uploaded to Wikipedia. I sent an e-mail after the visit and asked for an appointment to speak about a cooperation between the archive and Wikipedia.
A few months later, 3 March 2009:
- 13:56: I called the archive but the line was engaged.
- 13:58: The building of the archive collapsed (most of those images were taken by me).
During the following two and a half years, my spouse (Elya) and I attended a lot of cultural meetings/exhibitions/events in Cologne, and spoke about Wikipedia.
In September 2011, a new center for restoration and digitalization was opened. I was invited by the spokesman of the archive to a press conference to announce the initial operation of a brand new freeze drying machine. I took a lot of images.
Following a short talk with the director of the archive and a phone call with its spokesman, they now accept Wikipedia as a partner. I am sure this will be the beginning of a wonderful friendship.
The next stop is to convince the town councillors...
