Pressmeddelande 2012-05-25/en
Council of the Swedish Central Museums + Wikipedia = True
COUNCIL OF THE SWEDISH CENTRAL MUSEUMS and WIKIMEDIA SVERIGE
Press release 2012-05-25
Wikimedia Sweden and the Council of the Swedish Central Museums will start working together to make better use of the information and knowledge available behind the museeum walls. The goal is to reach a larger, more diverse and younger crowd.
— Wikipedia is a new and exciting tool for us in the world of museums. We'll reach new groups by producing material for Wikipedia. This is a collaboration across boundries that is right in line with our mission. I'm confident that this will help us reach out to young users that may not find us today, says Lena Rahoult, director of The Swedish Museeum of Architecture and chair of the council.
Already today the museums write texts and information material for use on their own websites, in books and brochures. By writing for Wikipedia they hope to reach a larger audience, particurlary schools and students. During the summer and fall a series of workshops where museum staff will learn how to write and edit articles, upload images and how to work with the community will be conducted. Parts of the museums collections will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. There will also be photo safaris and edit-a-thons at the museums.
— We are moving on from collaborating with a single museum at the time to working with all the national museums. That is a huge gain for both us and them. Everyone reading Wikipedia articles will benefit from the expertise the museum staff will provide and the museums will reach a larger audience, says Axel Pettersson, project manager for GLAM-activities at Wikimedia Sweden.
Council of the Swedish Central Museums is a network for 14 of the top directors at the Central museums. The Central museums are The Swedish Museum of Architecture, The Royal Armoury, Hallwyl Palace, Skokloster Castle, Museum of Modern Art, National Museum of Fine Arts, Swedish Museum of Natural History, The National Swedish Museums of Military History, Music Development and Heritage, Swedish National Maritime Museums, National Historical Museums, Swedish National Museums of World Culture, Swedish National Museum of Science and Technology, Skansen, Museum of Work and the Nordic Museum. All of theese belong to the Ministry of Culture and has been commisioned to enhance the collaboration within digitizing and making the cultural heritage more accessible.
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopedia run by Wikimedia Foundation and generated by volunteers. Wikimedia Sweden is a non profit association working towards making knowledge freely available to all humans.
Press contact
Council of the Swedish Central Museums: Sven Rentzhog, +46 (0)70 655 05 14
Wikimedia Sweden: Axel Pettersson, +46 (0)730 59 58 13