Commons:Structured data/GLAM/Uploading

Structured Commons

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GLAM and culture

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Modeling

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About GLAM • Value for GLAMs • Commons or Wikidata • How to upload • Tools for GLAMs • Workflow for GLAMs • Examples • Events and workshops

This page is dedicated to helping GLAMs and other cultural organizations understand how their collections can fit into Structured Data on Commons.

Cultural and heritage organizations around the world are very plural and have vastly distinct collections. For that reason, this process may differ depending on the type of material is being shared. For more information about how to model specific types of data see Structured data/Modeling.

Types of institutions

Structured Data on Commons (or the Structured Commons) can be used by any type of cultural institution to share its collections. It comprehends big or smaller institutions, from public or private backgrounds, and from all state levels (e.g. federal, state, municipal). The only necessary aspect is to have some type of media file, in a compatible format for Commons, and with a few metadata.

Upload process

The process of sharing GLAM collections on the Wikimedia projects takes place through a few steps. It also involves the use of tools for cleaning, adapting, and uploading the metadata, as well as for enriching and measuring the data's impact.

For Structured data, the process is very similar. See the recommended steps:

Preparing a structured data project

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  1. Connect with the Wikimedia community
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  2. Check what is already on Wikimedia projects
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  3. Clarify copyright status
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  4. Prepare data and media
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  5. Reconcile

Uploading the content

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  6. Uploading metadata
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  7. Uploading media

Enriching the data and media

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  8. Corrections
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  9. Enrich
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  10. Re-use

Measuring impact and round tripping the data

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  11. Measure impact
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  12. Roundtrip data

Details about some Structured data only tools are available on Structured data/GLAM/Tools. For a more complete GLAM-Wiki workflow see Structured data/GLAM/Workflow and for GLAM-Wiki projects using the Structured Commons, see Structured data/GLAM/Projects.

Barriers for GLAMs

For now, the GLAM-Wiki environment still faces a diversity problem. There are more institutions from Europe and North America than other countries with active initiatives. This also is reflected into the information available as structured data on Commons.

One of the objectives of the Structured Data on Commons project is to make Commons, as a platform, more accessible and readable for other languages, as it enhances translation and machine reading. For more information about the value of structured data for GLAMs data see Structured data/GLAM/Why.

Unfortunately, a lot of institutions in less privileged locations don't have collections with metadata available in a structured way. This is the main issue in a platform based only on structured data, such as Wikidata. For Commons, the most important is the media file. Using only the file, it's possible to build the metadata available with the community, using properties such as depicts (P180), copyright status (P6216), copyright license (P275), title (P1476), and so on.

See also

• Supporting Commons contribution by GLAM institutions
• Curation workflows on Wikimedia Commons
• Baseline Metrics for Structured Data on Wikimedia Commons
• Crowdsourced evaluation of Upload Wizard instructions
• Technical needs of external re-users of Commons media