GLAM/Newsletter/February 2025/Single

Celebrating the English Wikipedia’s Birthday in Albania!

On February 1, 2025, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group planned an event in Tirana, Albania, to celebrate the English Wikipedia’s birthday, a significant platform for free knowledge worldwide. The event brought together Wikimedians, students, and contributors to reflect on Wikipedia’s impact and contribute to its growth.

As English Wikipedia remains the main resource worldwide thanks to its dedicated contributors, we wanted to highlight its role in digital literacy, fact-checking, and open education, basic editing, compare and contrast En Wikipedia and Sq Wikipedia. The event included discussions and a collaborative editing activity. Participants shared experiences and reflected upon strengthening the Albanian Wikimedia community.

Social media

• We have a public channel on WhatsApp of Albanian Language if you want to join and discuss Wikimedia projects.

If you want to see more about our activities, you canː

• Like our Facebook page, follow us on formerly Twitter or X or Instagram.

Belgium Public Domain Day and Dance Heritage

News from Wikimedia Belgium.

On February 25, STUK, in collaboration with meemoo, and Wikimedia Belgium, hosted a dance heritage editathon to give dance a more prominent place on Wikipedia.

Bart Magnus (meemoo) kicked off the day with an introduction to Wikipedia and article writing. Participants then explored relevant topics, improved existing pages, and worked on translations. After a lunch break, editing continued, resulting in ten updated pages and one entirely new article the day itself.

The event was both productive and inspiring—expanding the presence of dance heritage on the world’s most consulted encyclopedia!

• 
  Writing session in STUK Leuven, checking sources online and offline.
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  Writing session in STUK Leuven, preparing the text offline.
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  Writing session in STUK Leuven, training by Bart Magnus (meemoo)

Did you know that works no longer under exclusive intellectual property rights become part of the public domain?

In Belgium, this usually happens 70 years after the author's death. Every year on January 1st, thousands of works enter the public domain—but that doesn’t always mean they are easily accessible.

On January 9, 2025, meemoo, the Royal Library of Belgium, international partners, and Wikimedia Belgium hosted the Public Domain Day, exploring the opportunities and challenges of public domain heritage.

The program featured keynotes, workshops, and discussions, including a talk by Séverine Dusollier (Sciences Po Paris), the launch of the revised Europeana Public Domain Charter, and Belgian showcases. Wikimedia Belgium presented the 10 winners of the photo contest Wiki Loves Heritage 2024.

The day ended with networking over a reception. Whether you're a professional, policymaker, or heritage enthusiast, Public Domain Day offers valuable insights and connections!

• 
  Main session
• 
  Prize winners and jury

For the seventh time, the Wiki Loves Heritage competition was organised in 2024.

During Public Domain Day on 9 January, the 10 winners were honoured. All participants were also personally invited to this and were given their photos to take home after the ceremony.

Curious about what judges had to say about the photos of these winners? You can read a brief summary of the top 3 here:

The picture shows a serene chapel harmoniously embedded in a natural setting.

The contrast between the white chapel, the blue sky, and the green of nature is enhanced by the composition of clean lines and organic natural forms.

The tranquillity and simplicity of the landscape is accentuated by the harmonious colours and inviting centrepiece of the chapel, with a touch of dynamism provided by the subtle aerial activities.

Picture by: Leo Van Vreckem

The photo captures the historic and serene atmosphere of the Begijnhof Ten Wijngaerde, enhanced by an autumnal colour palette and calm composition.

The rhythm of windows, tree trunks and poles adds to the harmony, while the wide framing and soft lighting make the architectural details less prominent.

The sculpture radiates silence, detachment and tranquillity, befitting its historical and religious context. A classic and atmospheric moment of the ‘Venice of the North,’ captured in the colourful silence of autumn.

Picture by: Thaler Tamas

The picture of Château de Namur shows the castle clearly and balanced, well integrated into its surroundings with a historical context.

The drone shot highlights the massive nature of the building and provides a full perspective that emphasises its scale and accessibility.

Although the composition is classic, the interplay of lines adds dynamism. A successful shot that highlights both the architecture and accessibility of the location.

Picture by: Gilles Laurent

• 
  Woestijnkapel of Gooik
• 
  Begijnhof of Bruges
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  Château de Namur

Wiki and COP30 in the Amazon rainforest

As we told in our August 2024 report, Wikimedia Brasil was the main organizer of the project "Amazonian Knowledge on Wiki" with funding from Wikimedia Switzerland and Creative Commons. It disseminated information about the biodiversity of the Pará Amazon. The collections, especially those related to biodiversity, emphasize the crucial role of open knowledge in preparation for COP-30, which will happen in Belém in November 2025.

During "Amazonian Knowledge on Wiki", we've uploaded the herbarium collection of the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) available at REFLORA platform. The 10,684 uploaded images depict over 1,800 species of plants. 1,121 of those species had their first image thanks to this collection (i.e., now they have a P18 on Wikidata). You may see the final visual report on the right.

In February, we have formalized our GLAM-Wiki partnership with the Museu Goeldi and uploaded metadata on 3,178 locations of other phyla to Wikidata. The Wikidata Q identifiers already existed, but the majority of them did not have values for taxon range (P9714).

Most of the species in this batch were located in Belém (304), Pará (153), Melgaço (116), Juruti (104), Novo Progresso (89), Coari (66), Altamira (55), Itaituba (54), Amazonas (53), Conceição do Araguaia (50). Some specimens were collected abroad, such as in Peru (19), Arizona (16), Nicaragua (15), Poland (11), Kansas (9), Polish Baltic Coast (7), United Kingdom (6), French Guiana (5), Oklahoma (4), and Parima (3).

The batch was composed of 1,060 Arthropoda (invertebrates with jointed exoskeletons), 1,024 Chordata (animals), 477 Squamata (reptiles), 328 Anura (short bodied, tailless amphibians), and 141 Mollusca (invertebrate animals).

See the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi GLAM page and the uploaded media.

Wikiproject Dia de Doar

Dia de Doar is a movement that promotes generosity and a culture of giving, connecting people and fostering a more compassionate society. It celebrates the act of giving and encourages this habit continuously. The movement is decentralized, providing materials so anyone can create their own initiative. It happens thanks to those who donate or encourage donations in their communities. The partnership between Wikimedia Brasil and Dia de Doar aims to improve our funding campaigns, joining efforts to recruit new donors for WMB.

See the Dia de Doar GLAM page

Historical tiles of Maranhão

As we told in our last report, 2025 is the year of the State of Maranhão on Wikimedia platforms. Part of the GLAM activities related to this campaign is improve information on State cultural institutions, events and heritage on Wikidata.

São Luís, the state capital, is known for its large number of historic buildings covered with old ceramic tiles, usually featuring geometric patterns, which were cataloged in the publication Inventário do Patrimônio Azulejar do Maranhão by Zelinda Lima (2012). The analysis of this inventory enabled the addition of 767 new items to Wikidata, resulting in new points on the map of suggested buildings to be photographed in September for Wiki Loves Monuments Brazil 2025. This edition will feature a special prize for the best photograph from Maranhão.

New upload from Musica Brasilis

Musica Brasilis brings to you another 374 sheet musics by 117 Brazilian composers. Among them:

• 
  Pedro I of Brazil / His works
• 
  Luciano Gallet / His works
• 
  Marcos Portugal / His works
• 
  Zequinha de Abreu / His works

Musica Brasilis is a project and a portal that makes available Brazilian music repertoires of all times and genres, but mostly metadata about Brazilian composers and scores. Rosana Lanzelotte is one of the Brazilian leading harpsichordists and the coordinator of this huge and ambitious project that aims to rescue, catalog and disseminate Brazilian compositions from neglected paper collections to open-licensed digital sheet musics.

See the Musica Brasilis' GLAM page and the uploaded media.

Black Presence in APESP

Presença Negra no Arquivo is the title of the in-person exhibition currently on display at the Public Archive of the State of São Paulo. On its 133rd anniversary, APESP shares with the world, under free licenses, 89 historical images that showcase a small portion of the presence of Black people in the documents preserved by the institution. The documents, from the 18th to the 20th century, depict the struggles of the enslaved population for freedom, justice, and equality.

See the Arquivo Público do Estado de São Paulo GLAM page and the uploaded media.

WMB is a member of TAROCH Coalition

Wikimedia Brasil is part of the TAROCH Coalition (Towards a Recommendation on Open Cultural Heritage) launched by Creative Commons (CC). This is a collaborative effort supported by Arcadia Fund aiming the adoption of a UNESCO standard-setting instrument to improve open access to cultural heritage.

GLAM digital and seminar on Jewish life

In January and February, we were delighted to host two very well-attended GLAM digital events. The first event “Wiki Loves Manuscripts” took us to the Herzog August Library in Wolfenbüttel and the second event “Wiki Loves Expressionism” to the Brücke Museum in Berlin.

We used a banner for the first time which was displayed in the German-language Wikipedia. This attracted new participants. The event in March will introduce us to Vienna's Heurigen culture and will also serve WMAT as an introduction to the planned GLAM-on-Tour event in the summer.

“GLAM digital”, a joint pandemic fomat of WMAT and WMDE has already welcomed over a hundred speakers from cultural and memory institutions and will take place at least 10 times a year again in 2025. The joint online format has become an important tool for the two Wikimedia chapters in initiating and consolidating collaborations with cultural and memory institutions and an interesting additional offer for the GLAM wiki community.

In February 2025, together with people from the community in and around Stuttgart and the Pädagogisch-Kulturelles Centrum Ehemalige Synagoge Freudental (PKC), we were able to offer a compact seminar for students at the PH Ludwigsburg for the third time in a row.

In this way, more Jewish life and Jewish culture could be made more visible in the Wikimedia projects. In addition to gaining their first experience of editing in Wikipedia, the students were also able to get to know Wikipedia as a medium for communicating knowledge in everyday school life.

GLAM call and Progetto cultura

GLAM 2025 is the new call for proposals from Wikimedia Italia, designed to support Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums in digitizing and sharing their collections under open licenses. In partnership with ICOM Italia and Creative Commons Italia, this initiative empowers cultural institutions to unlock the potential of digital technology and make Italy’s rich heritage accessible to a global audience.

We're thrilled to share that Wikimedia Italia’s latest call for proposals has attracted an unprecedented 167 project submissions, almost three times the number we received in 2024. This remarkable surge in interest highlights the growing commitment of cultural institutions across Italy to digitizing and sharing their heritage under open licenses.

The diverse range of projects, from innovative multimedia exhibits to extensive archival initiatives, reflects a vibrant cultural landscape eager to embrace the digital era. As these proposals pave the way for broader access to Italy’s cultural legacy, we look forward to witnessing how these creative endeavors will transform public engagement with art, history, and education.

On May 18, Wikimedia Italy is set to host the second edit-a-thon for Tutta la cultura su Wikipedia, the exciting evolution of the pilot project Empowering Italian GLAMs which concluded in 2024. Tutta la cultura su Wikipedia builds on the success and legacy of its predecessor by supporting Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums in contributing to Wikimedia projects. The event aims to facilitate these institutions' engagement with the well-established flows of information within the Wikimedia movement, ensuring that Italy’s cultural treasures are more accessible than ever.

This edit-a-thon is a unique opportunity for cultural professionals and enthusiasts alike to come together, share expertise, and enhance the digital representation of Italy’s rich heritage. By providing hands-on support and fostering collaboration, Progetto Cultura continues to empower Italian GLAMs, reinforcing their vital role in promoting open access to cultural knowledge and heritage.

[GLAM metrics] Usage of Delpher in Dutch Wikipedia articles

Delpher provides access to millions of digitized pages from Dutch historical newspapers, books and magazines. It is a frequently used source in the Dutch Wikipedia.

In this article in Dutch we will look at how often Delpher is referred to in which Wikipedia articles, and which Delpher pages are cited most often. We will also search for Dutch Wikipedia articles that are entirely or largely based on Delpher.

The most important points (as of January 17, 2025) from this article are:

• 15,569 distinct Wikipedia articles together contain 45,409 links to 43,063 unique pages in Delpher.

• These references are mainly to newspapers (38,530 URLs), followed by books (4,923 URLs) and magazines (1,872 URLs).

• The article Lijst van rampen in Nederland (List of disasters in the Netherlands) contains the most links to Delpher with 182, followed by the article Lijst van historische Nederlandse netnummers (List of historical Dutch area codes), with 175 Delpher URLs. The article about Jacques Anquetil closes the top 3 with 130 references.

• If we disregard the Newspaper homepage and the Delpher homepage, the illustration Afstandsaanduidingen langs Rijkswegen (Distance indications along national roads) in the Nieuwe Tilburgsche Courant of 12-02-1937 is referred to most often, namely in 13 Wikipedia articles. In second place is page 2 of the newspaper Suriname of 02-09-1933 with references from 12 articles.

• There are 61 Wikipedia articles that are (almost) entirely based on Delpher content. In other words: they owe their existence to a large extent to Delpher.

• The underlying raw data that this article uses is available on GitHub.

A similar analysis is available for the Digital Library for Dutch Literature (DBNL). In this article in Dutch we look at how often (as of September 5, 2024) which Wikipedia articles refer to the DBNL, and which DBNL pages are cited most often. We also search for Wikipedia articles that are entirely or largely based on the DBNL.

Wikipedia podcast episode, Trilepidea newsletter article, and the Wikipedian at Large

Wikimedian in Residence at Auckland Museum, Anjuli a.k.a Winnieswikiworld hosted an episode of The Amp, brought to you by Tāmaki Paenga Hira Auckland War Memorial Museum. The episode was written and produced by Wikipedia enthusiast Steph Strock and Anjuli Selvadurai with sound design by Sara O’Brien and production support from Laura Skerritt. The executive producer was Teresa Cowie from Connect Content.

The episode dives into the world of Wikipedia, introducing the platform to newbies, discussing how Auckland Museum works with Wikimedia and addressing the importance of sharing content about our city, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

Anjuli speaks to fellow Auckland Museum WiR Marty Blayney (User:Prosperosity) about their contributions to local histories and suburb pages on Wikipedia. Online Collections Information and Partnerships Manager James Taylor talks data, reach, and the motivations behind the Museum's involvement. We also hear from two of our Wikipedia summer students, Aashish Ramanlal and Katryn Baker, about their experience as new editors, as well as how Collection Technician Research Support Sophie Elborough's published research has been utilised in the Women in Red movement, making women servicepeople more visible our war history.

To listen to the episode Welcome to Wikipedia visit the Auckland Museum website.

Stitchbird2 and Ambrosia10 recently had an article published in Trilepidea, the New Zealand Plant Conservation Network newsletter (starting on page 4).

The article gave information on 10 online contributions that network members could undertake to assist biodiversity and open science communities. Amongst these 10 suggestions was information on how to upload images into Wikimedia Commons, using the ISA tool to add structured data to Wikimedia Commons, contributing to Wikidata using Mix'n'match, how to edit both Wikidata and Wikipedia, and finally how to join New Zealand based Wiki meetups.

User:Giantflightlessbirds has been working on two separate projects as a mobile Wikipedian or "Wikipedian at Large". The first is the annual grant given out by Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand, which runs half-time for all of 2025. The focus of the 2025 Wikipedian at Large project is Banks Peninsula, a volcanic peninsula next to Ōtautahi Christchurch on the eastern coast of New Zealand's South Island. Some good coverage in three local papers (for example, "Wikipedians to shine a light on Banks Peninsula" in the Press) led to several new volunteer editors signing up. The first public event was a Wikipedian field trip to Ōnuku Marae on 6 February to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840; the New Zealand Governor General and Prime Minister were present and many representatives of Kāi Tahu, the local Māori iwi. Three Wikipedians photographed the marae and village and interviewed attendees, and a few days later an new article appeared on Ōnuku.

• Waitangi Days at Ōnuku
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  Wero (2019)
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  Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy and Rānui Ngārimu (2019)
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  Wero (2025)
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  Jymal Morgan delivers whaikōrero (2025)

A second shorter Wikipedian at Large project has been happening with the District Council of Ashburton, a small town an hour from Christchurch. Spurred by similar work done on the West Coast of the South Island, the Ashburton Wikipedian at Large project is using the Council's resources and photo library to improve the Wikipedia, Commons, and Wikidata coverage of the area. Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand is funding work with Ashburton Art Gallery and Heritage Centre to digitise local history books and transcribe them with Wikisource, and to upload about 1000 out-of-copyright historical photos to Commons. On a recent field trip Giantflightlessbirds photographed the scenery of the Ashburton Lakes area, including Mount Sunday, a tourist attraction from its role in a Lord of the Rings movie.

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  Mount Guy
• 
  Mount McRae
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  Lake Clearwater
• 
  Mount Sunday

Wikimedia MKD GLAM program for 2025

Wikimedia MKD has, for several years now, been working on enhancing its GLAM activities by selecting a specific theme each year. This approach allows for a more in-depth exploration of the chosen subject and maximizes the potential for content creation and expansion across Wikipedia and its sister projects. By focusing efforts on a particular topic, Wikimedia MKD ensures a systematic and thorough coverage, making a significant impact on the availability and accessibility of knowledge related to the theme.

For 2025, the organization has chosen "Crafts and folk costumes" as its central theme for GLAM-related activities. This topic has been carefully selected due to its rich cultural and historical significance, as well as its potential to generate diverse and high-quality contributions. The focus will be on editing, promoting, and expanding knowledge on this subject through various projects and initiatives.

Recognizing the importance of expert support and institutional collaboration, Wikimedia MKD has sought to facilitate the efforts of its members and activists by establishing a partnership with a key institution in Macedonia that is deeply connected to the chosen theme. As a result, a collaboration has been formed with the National Museum of Macedonia, an institution that holds extensive expertise, collections, and research materials related to traditional crafts and folk attire. Both parties have expressed great enthusiasm for this partnership, seeing it as an opportunity to exchange ideas, provide mutual assistance, and ensure the successful realization of Wikimedia MKD’s GLAM programme objectives.

Since "Crafts and folk costumes" is a broad and multifaceted topic, it offers numerous possibilities for contributions across different subfields. It encompasses various aspects, including traditional craftsmanship techniques, regional variations of folk costumes, historical and social influences on their development, and even the preservation efforts undertaken by cultural institutions. Given this vast potential, Wikimedia MKD has found it justified to integrate most of its GLAM activities within this overarching theme, ensuring comprehensive and impactful coverage.

Among the first initiatives launched within this programme is the Wikipedian-in-Residence Programme, which is already actively operating. This initiative involves close collaboration with the Museum of Macedonia, where a dedicated Wikipedian works alongside museum professionals to document and digitize valuable cultural heritage materials. Over the course of several weeks, Wikimedia MKD anticipates achieving remarkable outcomes, potentially surpassing even the initial expectations. Through this structured and well-supported approach, Wikimedia MKD aspires to significantly enrich Wikipedia’s content on crafts and folk costumes while also strengthening its network of institutional partnerships for future GLAM activities.

What's up in GLAM in Poland

On February 14, 2025, Marcin Szwarc, a volunteer and Wikipedia administrator, conducted an online training session for the staff of the Museum of Photography (MuFo). The goal of this meeting was to prepare the museum team to upload digital resources to Wikimedia Commons. The training program included uploading individual photos, managing metadata, and adding and editing structured data in Wikidata.

The training aimed to enable the MuFo staff to effectively navigate and develop skills in editing and managing the museum's digital resources within the Wikimedia projects.

On February 26, 2025, at the international RightsCon conference in Taipei, the Heritage Guard Network (HGN) project team presented online the key findings and recommendations from the pilot project, addressing the question of how to preserve cultural heritage in crisis using Wikimedia projects and open-source technology.

Kamila Neuman, Open Culture Manager from Wikimedia Polska and a member of the HGN project team, presented the work and conclusions of the Engagement Group, which were conducted by our organization. The presentation also featured participation from Olesia Lukaniuk of Wikimedia Ukraine, Eric Luth of Wikimedia Sweden, and Farida El-Gueretly from the Wikimedia Foundation.

RightsCon is an international, global conference focusing on digital and technological rights. RightsCon brings together participants from various sectors to discuss the future of the internet and technology. More information about the conference can be found on the RightsCon website.

February is a month full of meetings and intensive preparations for the upcoming spring events.

The second online meeting in 2025 with Wikimedians in Residence was dedicated to the details of the upcoming working meeting in Lublin. At the same time, we are working hard on the WikiChełmoński editing campaign, and you will soon learn more about its details. During the upcoming Wikimedia Poland conference in Lublin, the National Museums in Poznań and Kraków will organize workshops that will introduce the community to Chełmoński's works in a light and fun way. Additionally, Marcin Wilkowski, creator of the humanistyka.dev platform, will present how Wikipedia and its sister projects can be used in teaching digital humanities.

Swiss GLAM Programme

At the museum Centre d'Art we continued working on faces and masks. This time Rose Musyoki was giving an online input from her local perspective in Nairobi. There are inner and outer masks, some are visible, some are hidden. The COVID19 pandemic changed the way we are communicating. Rose was taking about how it feels for her having a black skin and how she perceived being hidden. After her talk people continued working on their specific subjects and talking about possibilities in communication processes. Sone drwaings from masks were developed. At a time were the carnival is quite present and political situations seem unstabile a lot of questions raised around the topic. How does the next generation perveive facial expressions? What influence stayed from the pandemic scenario of wearing masks all the time? How do people socialize with all these experiences?

Loreley Film is a Swiss initiative that is working on rediscovering forgotten European artists of the 20th century from under-represented communities. Another story shall be told and give female artists visibility. At the Berlinale Editathon Swiss, German, Austrian and other European Wikimedians worked together. On Monday Loreley Film was presented at the No Gallery in Charlottenburg. Wikimedia CH sponsored the event. The name Loreley refers to the the Loreley mountain that is the subject in several literature pieces. According to several texts the captains were looking uphill and then the ships have capsized. German poet Heinrich Heine wrote a song on it that can be read here and also heard with the melody of Friedrich Silcher.

The map service is now integrated at the Swiss association of archivistes. The VSA-AAS is using the map with the Wiki entries to empower Swiss archives using Wikimedia platforms. It can be accessed here by scrolling down.

Islamic and Jewish history

I gave a talk to the Deoband Community Wikimedia group: a live online event which was recorded and AI-summarised. I began by introducing Sir David Khalili, the Khalili Foundation, and the eight Khalili Collections, then we looked in some detail at the two collections of Islamic art and their representations on the Wikimedia projects. The DCW is particularly interested in the academic study of Islam, and I showed how the images shared from the Khalili Collections can be used to illustrate many different aspects of Islam and its history. We also discussed how other cultural institutions such as university libraries can be persuaded to share their own digital images.

During the questions, I was asked how we balance accessibility and authenticity in sharing material. I explained how Wikimedia Commons lets us not just upload images but add a great deal of contextual material, including warning users to be mindful of the authentic cultural context these objects come from. It also allows us to monitor the use of images, so we see that they are used in neutrally-written educational material.

I finished off and published the Samurai Shokai article, after running it by Dror Elkvity, curator of the Japanese art collection. The article is now awaiting Did You Know review. This is the 24th new English article from this project, and the 67th new article including translations.

Waqas Ahmed and I attended an event celebrating fifty years of the University of Cambridge's Genizah Research Unit. The Cairo Genizah manuscripts illuminate the faith, scholarship, and daily life of Jews, Muslims, and Christians in medieval Egypt. 200,000 of them are now conserved and studied at Cambridge. I was presented with a copy of the book The Illustrated Cairo Genizah and have started putting facts from the book into Wikidata. A first phase is to describe the Cairo Genizah itself, which is not a collection but a corpus of manuscripts distributed across several collections. Then this will allow me to describe some of the collection highlights in Wikidata and Wikipedia.

The Wikimedia Foundation has been running a consultation on future development of Wikimedia Commons and I contributed a piece based on my experience as the Khalili Foundation's Wikimedian In Residence. I argued that Wikimedia Commons enables much deeper learning and research into a topic than Wikipedia does. As an example, I highlighted that the Wikipedia article on Kimono has 46 images, while Wikimedia Commons has 28,160 images relating to kimono, plus their associated descriptions and metadata, thanks to images shared by collections including the Khalili Collection of Japanese Kimono.

The stats server reports 6,109,095 image views for the Khalili Collections images for February.

Most of the on-wiki work this month has been on the UNESCO Memory of the World international register, for which there is a separate monthly report.

GLAM news from Ukraine – events for libraries, #1Lib1Ref, launch of a larger GLAM product

Early 2025 has been a busy period for Wikimedia Ukraine, from our annual Wikimarathon that brought hundreds of people across dozens of cities in Ukraine & abroad on the occasion of Ukrainian Wikipedia's birthday to a slate of other contests, campaigns & events.

In the GLAM field, three initiatives stand out in particular:

1. Events for libraries as part of the annual Wikimarathon in late January/early February

Wikimarathon is Wikimedia Ukraine's annual gateway for newcomers, an opportunity to use UkWiki's birthday as a way to drive new volunteers to Wikipedia via an online campaign and offline training events.

This year we supported 37 events in the span of a week, both in Ukraine and for Ukrainians abroad. Out of them, 16 events were organized by libraries and/or in libraries. Some events were designated specifically for librarians (for example, a webinar organized by the Khmelnytskyi Regional Universal Scientific Library gathered close to 100 people), but most were open to the general public (for example, a public event at the regional scientific library in Ivano-Frankivsk gathered around 50 people, both students and senior citizens).

Among other cities, three events took place in the libraries of Kyiv, Ukraine's capital city — including in the Yaroslav Mudryi National Library of Ukraine, one of Ukraine's biggest libraries & Wikimedia Ukraine's partner.

2. The latest edition of #1Lib1Ref in Ukraine

Wikimedia Ukraine has been organizing #1Lib1Ref on Ukrainian Wikipedia for four years now. The campaign engages librarians and others to add missing references to articles on Wikipedia.

We shifted dates of the campaign later than the international round so it doesn't overlap with Wikimarathon. The first 2025 edition in Ukraine takes place from February 19th to March 10th. We're organizing two instructional webinars, as well as a few offline events across Ukraine.

We'll share final results later in March, but as of early March the campaign has brought 60+ participants who improved almost 550 articles on Ukrainian Wikipedia.

3. The launch of “Open GLAM in Ukraine”, a potential large-scale project to open up and bring Ukraine's cultural heritage from GLAM institutions to the Wikimedia platforms

In late 2024 a consortium of partners that includes Wikimedia Ukraine, Wikimedia Sweden and the National Archives of Sweden received a grant from the Swedish Institute to support a pilot project that would help bring Ukraine's cultural heritage from GLAM institutions to the Wikimedia platforms.

The main goal of the pilot project is to conduct research and analysis of the state of GLAM institutions needs and interests. To that end, we have launched a wide survey for Ukrainian GLAM institutions and are expecting to get responses from hundreds of organizations across the country. (We'll share more about the analysis when it's wrapped up later in the spring).

Based on the pilot, we would apply for a larger project that could support on-the-ground digitization and uploads to Wikimedia platforms.

February meetings

Utah wikimedians, and Wikiportraits held a meetup, Wikipedia Day 2025.

Los Angeles wikimedians held a workshop, Wildfire Edit-a-thon at the Hammer Museum

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and Wikimedia DC held a workshop, Wikipedia:Meetup/DC/DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Black History Month Edit-a-thon.

Wikimedia U.S. Mountain West held an Online Meeting, US Mountain West/2025-02-11.

Wikimedia Foundation, the Internet Archive, and Hacks/Hackers, held a meetup, WikiCredCon 2025.

San Diego wikimedians held a meetup, San Diego/February 2025

BHL-Wiki Working Group February monthly highlights

The agenda for the meeting can be found at this link. The agenda document gives notes taken during the meeting, action items, as well as the dates of future online meetings and the zoom link to join. Links to the recordings of the previous meetings are also given.

The next BHL wiki working group is anticipated to be held on Monday 17th of March. Find the meeting time in your local time here.

Tiago Lubiana, the BHL Wikimedian in Residence, recently updated the BHL Wiki community on the progress he is making in his role. See this link for his update.

Siobhan Leachman, Chair of the BHL-Wiki working group, has completed a first draft of the Best Practices: Using BHL ids across the Wikiverse and using Wikidata ids in BHL document.

Andy Mabbett, a member of the group, has generously agreed to add further information to the document on the use of BHL identifiers in Wikispecies.

Any feedback from BHL or Wiki folk interested would be gratefully received.

Tiago led a general discussion regarding new content being uploaded into BHL, using the example of content uploaded by BHL Australia. He was initially wanting guidance on prioritisation as some of this content is scientifically current as apposed to historical biodiversity literature.

This led to a wide ranging discussion which included information given by Nicole Kearney, the manager of BHL Australia, on technical issues relating to current BHL uploads to Flickr. There is also the general and ongoing issue of the lack of staff resources available to upload BHL images into Flickr.

The BHL Wiki working group came to a consensus that, given the current issues BHL is having uploading files to Flickr, the working group should prioritise uploading BHL images to Wikimedia Commons rather than first adding the same to Flickr and then uploading to Wikimedia Commons from there. The working group recognised that although extensive, the BHL images in Flickr are only a small subset of the images available to be uploaded from BHL into Wikimedia Commons.

Tiago raised the possibility of a creating a tool to assist with uploading BHL sourced images into Wikimedia Commons that would also include automated structured data statements relating to those images. He intends to investigate whether Flickipedia tool can be augmented or forked to help provide a more automated way to add BHL images and appropriate structured data statements to Wikimedia Commons direct from BHL.

The BHL-Wiki working group drafted and agreed improvements intended to be made to the BHL FAQ relating to Wiki topics have all now been uploaded onto the BHL website.

Connecting Media Art Archives

The workshop Globally Connecting New Media Art Archives on archiving media art was arranged by ZKM | Center for Art and Media on 5–8 February 2025 in Karlsruhe, Germany. The workshop invited experts to lay the groundwork for a connected archival network. The network of archives includes both independent researchers and representatives from international archives, such as the ACM SIGGRAPH History Archive, Archive of Digital Art (ADA), Ars Electronica, FILE (Electronic Language International Festival), ISEA Symposium Archives, MEMODUCT, and ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe.

In October 2024, AvoinGLAM initiated an expert meeting on Media Art on Wikimedia projects that set out to create a blueprint for using the Wikimedia ecosystem for archiving information around media art. Eight members of the expert network joined the ZKM workshop, with Chiara Borgonovo presenting the group's work.

During the workshop, Lozana Rossenova (Open Science Lab at TIB) and Andreas Kohlbecker (ZKM), both members of the expert network, spearheaded the creation of a common architectural vision for connected media art archives. The proposed architecture would enable archives with different levels of technical capability to connect their collections with one another. It would be done through a central registry based on a knowledge graph, allowing the archives to retain full control over their data.

Organizations with a knowledge graph could immediately allow their data to be federated while other kind of databases would have to make their data available as linked open data. The Wikibase option AvoinGLAM and the expert network are promoting, would provide archives without existing databases with a Wikibase setup that could connect to the global linked open data ecosystem. The infrastructure could further connect the media art archives to broader linked open data networks like Wikidata, Europeana, EU Data Spaces and European Open Science Cloud.

👉 Chiara Borgonovo, Susanna Ånäs, Dusan Barok, Annet Dekker, Joost Dofferhoff, Tereza Havlíková, Andreas Kohlbecker, Hanno Lans, Philipp Messner, Andrew Gryf Paterson, Lozana Rossenova, Gaby Wijers: Media Art Archiving on Wikimedia Projects.

👉 Lozana Rossenova: Connecting media art archives – closer to reality through advances in research data infrastructures, 10 February 2025, TIB blog.

5.1 million image views

This is the fifth monthly report of the ongoing work to improve the representation of the UNESCO Memory of the World international register on Wikimedia projects. This is supported and fully funded by the Khalili Foundation, with the involvement of UNESCO and Wikimedia UK.

The articles An African Song or Chant from Barbados and Memory of the World Programme were linked from the front page of English Wikipedia on 3 February, along with a thumbnail image of the music manuscript. There were 5.1 million views of the image and statement. 8,902 users followed the link to An African Song or Chant from Barbados, nearly 2,000 read about the Memory of the World programme and there were bumps in interest for several linked articles.

A lot of work was done this month to improve the English Wikipedia articles relating to the Memory of the World international register.

• Memory of the World Register – Africa: updated the list by adding the 2023/2017/2011 additions; updated statements of fact
• Memory of the World Register – Arab States: updated the list by adding the 2023 additions; replaced all broken links; added more wikilinks; tailored the introductory text; added an image gallery
• Memory of the World Register – Europe and North America: added flag icons for the countries and re-worded the introduction

There are a lot of articles which relate in some way to the MOW international register but which do not make clear what the register is and cite a broken link. Sometimes they lack a link back to the article about the MOW programme. There are a lot of these, so I have been inserting a fuller description of the register and its significance and correct weblinks. Examples: Tanzania National Archives, Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam), Shahnameh, Uigwe, The Hamburg Bible.

• Chinese: Codex Argenteus
• Malay: Golden Bull of 1356
• Portuguese: Dīwān ul-Lughat al-Turk
• Swedish: Astrid Lindgren Archives
• Swedish: Dag Hammarskjöld Collection
• Tamil: Nagarakretagama

This link shows the popularity (views by humans) of English Wikipedia articles about the Memory of the World programme and International Register (not articles about the individual inscriptions). The effect of the Did You Know link on 3rd February is very visible. Following the "All languages" links and summing the numbers, we get 19,487 page views.

Wikidata event: Data Reuse Days 2025

Data Reuse Days 2025 took place online over a 10-day period from February 18 to 27. Most of the sessions are streamed over YouTube and recorded for folks who would like to rewatch. There were a lot of insightful topics for data reusers of all technical proficiencies, from How to use Wikidata's Data (an introduction) to building a simple app with REST API, and even helping AI to learn from Wikidata.

Sessions such as "169k Reasons to Care: Wikidata’s Role in Open Library Author Pages" and "Data round-tripping with authority files" are especially relevant for GLAM users, on top of several interesting applications showcases.

If you've missed the event or would like to rewatch some of the sessions, they can be found at the Wikidata Data Reuse Days 2025 page.

Hope to see you all future events!

Wikisource Conference 2025

Wikisource Conference 2025 was held in Bali, Indonesia.

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  State of Wikisource

Cokorda Rai Adi Pramartha, and Munawar Holil gave an update of manuscript digitization and transcription, The State of Indonesian Manuscripts: Heritage, Preservation, and Access. There was an etherpad.

Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert reviewed the collaboration between the British Library, and Bengali and Javanese wikisource, Wikisource and the British Library: collaborations with Bengali and Javanese communities. There was an etherpad

Darafsh and Borandokht briefed on the state of Persian wikisource, Building Awareness for Persian Wikisource: Low-Cost Strategies and Community Engagement.

The wikisourcers broke into small groups to develop a roadmap, and attended an Indonesian Theatre performance.

Wikisourcers did a photowalk at the beach. Pasar Seni Photowalk

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  Sanur Beach

Transkribus gave a briefing about manuscript transcription.

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  Javanese Wikisource and Transkribus

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  Indonesian dancers

Wikimedia + Libraries International Convention 2025

The Wikimedia + Libraries International Convention 2025, held at the Daniel Cosío Villegas Library in Mexico City, marked a pivotal moment for the global library and information science community. This second iteration of the conference brought together librarians, information professionals, and library workers from over 20 countries, fostering discussions on the intersection of libraries, Wikimedia projects, and the critical work of ensuring access to trusted information.

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  Opening of the conference
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  Library entrance with a WikiTruck video on display

The conference, organized by the Wikimedia + Libraries User Group, Wikimedia Mexico, and the Daniel Cosío Villegas Library of El Colegio de México with funding from the Wikimedia Foundation, featured a strong thematic focus. This thematic strategy unified discussions and reinforced the urgency of addressing misinformation and disinformation—identified by the 2024 Global Risk Report as one of the biggest short-term global risks.

The theme aimed to highlight the relevance of libraries and librarians, as well as other information professionals, in today’s digital landscape, emphasizing their expertise in verifying facts, combating disinformation, and promoting digital literacy. As part of this strategic approach, the team at COLMEX and Wikimedia Mexico worked together to provide 20 scholarships for local librarians, ensuring they could benefit not only from the thematic discussions but also from hands-on training in Wikidata, Wikisource, and Wikipedia workshops for newcomers, further strengthening their ability to engage with Wikimedia projects.

The event featured an engaging lineup of keynote speakers and panel discussions. Among the keynotes were:

• Costanza Sciubba Caniglia, Anti-Disinformation Strategy Lead at the Wikimedia Foundation, and Director at DIGeopolitica, whose experience spans roles with the United Nations and the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
• Alan Ang, Partner Manager at Wikimedia Deutschland, previously an advisor to the Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic.
• A high-profile panel on Disinformation and COVID, featuring representatives from Fósforo NGO, Wikimedia México, the United Nations, and former officials from Mexico’s Ministry of Health.

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  Costanza Sciubba from WMF
• 
  Alan Ang from WMDE
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  Disinformation panel

• A forum with the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) explored how Wikimedia projects align with the UN's global principles for information integrity, positioning libraries as key players in combating misinformation.

• WhoseKnowledge delivered a thought-provoking talk emphasizing how online violence silences marginalized voices. The session highlighted that disinformation isn't just about truth vs. falsehood but a tool of oppression, especially in Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), which disproportionately harms women, LGBTQI+ individuals, activists, and journalists.

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  IFLA panel
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  WhoseKnowledge presentation

• Presentations from all over the world, including Ukraine, Israel, and Brazil.

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  Presentation from Ukraine
• 
  Presentation from Brazil

• We had two presentations from WMF staff. Diego Sáez-Trumper presented on Wikipedia’s role in the AI ecosystem and its significance in the fight against disinformation. And * Silvia Gutiérrez showcased her study analyzing 800 posts related to libraries and all posts in This Month in GLAM, identifying common motivations for librarian participation, such as mission alignment with Wikipedia’s goals and activism in areas like gender equity, information literacy, open access, and language and cultural heritage preservation.

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• 
  Silvia Gutiérrez at WikiLibCon

• The thematic focus attracted diverse stakeholders, including representatives from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and UN experts, who discussed their Verified project initiated during the COVID-19 pandemic. These interactions expanded the conference’s reach beyond the Wikimedia and library communities, leading to greater media coverage, including newspaper articles and interviews with attendees.

The WLUG business and interactive session focused on sustaining a vibrant wiki-library community through governance, advocacy, and collaboration. The steering committee discussed expanding membership, organizing more events, and fostering partnerships. Participants explored strategies for supporting smaller user groups, enhancing communication, and promoting Wikimedia engagement among librarians. Key discussions covered identity and purpose, advocacy for Wikimedia in libraries, and the need for structured governance. Proposed solutions included forming workgroups for governance, mapping library ecosystems, and collaborating with IFLA. Spanish-speaking participants emphasized the importance of Wikidata for authority control and proposed certification for wiki-workshops. The session underscored the need for training, funding, and stronger connections between libraries and Wikimedia.

The conference not only fostered global collaboration but also celebrated Mexico’s rich cultural heritage through three immersive events. Participants enjoyed a vibrant Son Jarocho concert featuring the legendary Zenén Zeferino, showcasing traditional Mexican music. A trajinera tour offered a glimpse into the iconic canals of Xochimilco, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, blending history with natural beauty. Additionally, a visit to Ciudad Universitaria, another UNESCO World Heritage site, included its stunning murals and the historic Estadio Olímpico Universitario, where the 1968 Olympic Games took place. This stadium witnessed pivotal moments in history, such as Enriqueta Basilio becoming the first woman to light the Olympic cauldron and the iconic Black Power salute. These events highlighted Mexico’s cultural and historical significance, enriching the global gathering with a deeply local and unforgettable experience.

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  Mariachis at Trajineras Tour
• 
  Visit to Ciudad Universitaria Murals

A notable addition to the event was videotaping by Meg Vatterott, a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting Fellow, who is producing a documentary titled Rabbit Hole. Conference highlights will be included in the film as it explores Wikipedia’s role in shaping historical narratives online and highlights the importance of human oversight in AI-driven information systems.

As Wikimedia and libraries continue collaborations, the Wikimedia + Libraries International Convention strengthens the Wikimedia and Library Users Group’s position in global librarianship. The event concluded with a collective vision for the future, empowering libraries to lead knowledge-sharing efforts and ensure access to reliable information in an increasingly digital world.

March's GLAM events