Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2014-12-10/Op-ed

It's GLAM up North!

• Highlights from the York Museums Trust's online collections
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  A carved, bas relief eagle from

  Romano-British Eboracum

  .
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  Portrait of Monsignor Giovanni Battista Agucchi by Domenichino
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  The Middleham Jewel. A star artefact in the Yorkshire Museum
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  The Wrestlers by William Etty
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  An early, wooden-cased telescope by Abraham Sharp
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  The Coppergate Helmet
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  A replica flint spear by notorious forger by Edward Simpson - 'Flint Jack'

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One hundred and fifty accredited museums! Ranging from tiny, volunteer-run collections in village halls, to national scientific and and industrial museums; Yorkshire has an over abundance of GLAMwiki potential. Now, nearly six months into a

) am beginning to uncover some of the treasures in the county's collections and help museums through the various challenges to digital openness and working with Wikimedia.

Though the initial results may look small, they are hopefully signs of much bigger things to come. Firstly, there has been a great response from one of Yorkshire's smallest museums: Shandy Hall. This former vicarage in the village of Coxwold was the home of the innovative writer Laurence Sterne and has begun releasing images of the site and high-quality scans of artwork related to Sterne's life (in this Commons Category). This has already led to several images making their way onto English Wikipedia on Sterne's biography and the articles on his key books: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman and A Sentimental Journey Through France and Italy. There are plans for many more images to be released and the curators have set up a Wikipedia training session with English Literature students from Northumbria University to help improve content related to Sterne. There are also factual resources on the Sterneana pages of the Laurence Sterne Trust (who run Shandy Hall) that can help Wikipedians improve this related content.

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• First uploads from Shandy Hall
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  Sterne and Grisette by Abraham Solomon
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  Old Kitchen fire at Shandy Hall
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  Tristram Shandy First edition spines
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  West entrance of Shandy Hall in snow

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One pilot scheme in the project has grown out of a talk at Wikimania. This is an attempt to create a

) have been thrilled at the clear representation of their work. It is hoped that a directory of global GLAMwiki projects can be built in this way and that the discussion pages on each directory page can become a useful space for Wikimedians to engage with GLAM staff.

The most dramatic victory so far has been that the host institution,

licenses.

Two of the galleries in this article show a handful of the best images that have already been transferred to Commons. It is hoped that this is the first of many transfers and there are plans to use the GLAMwiki Toolset to perform mass uploads.

So what's next? More of the same! Big museums such as the

with the capacity to photograph some of their key objects and improve their digital openness. Wikimedians are encouraged to get in touch (on Wiki or by email) if they have ideas for the project or ways in which Yorkshire's museums can strengthen particular gaps on Wikimedia sites.

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• More highlights from the York Museums Trust's online collections
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  Biblical warrior Benaiah in battle by William Etty.
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  The type specimen of Rhomaleosaurus zetlandicus, on display at the Yorkshire Museum
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  Preserved hair from a Roman coffin found in the 1870s during excavations on the site of York Railway Station.
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  A Utagawa Toyokuni print of two ladies examining an early telescope
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  A medieval stained glass roundel of a King
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  Saint Francis receiving the stigmata by Cima da Conegliano

The

project