Today I was invited to an event called #glamderby (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) – it was a backstage tour of Derby Museums aimed at sharing the expertise of cultural institutions with Wikipedia editors. As I am neither a cultural institution or a Wikipedia editor, I was there to help photoblog and amplify the events of the day.
If you follow me on twitter, you may of been annoyed by the bombardment of TwitPic’s appearing in your stream. If you missed them, then they can be found above (and here on Picasa for Wikipedia use). The day was a real eye opener to the gap between the people with cultural and historical material and the people that would like to document it ‘free’ online. The Derby Museum is free to visit, so there is a fine line in what information and imagery can be provided to Wikipedia. The event today answered copyright questions and provided access to material with experts sharing their knowledge of the exhibits. I think we may see many new Wikipedia articles appearing soon.
The main focus was on the introduction of QR Codes ‘stuck’ on the exhibits and the ability for anyone with a smart phone to scan the code and get information on the item in their phone’s native language. This is a real game changer for Museums and Galleries – think about it.
I don’t need to ramble on here about the project as there are already lots of Wikipedia articles:
QRpedia – Language-detecting & mobile-friendly Wikipedia QR codes
Also, I am pleased to say I met some more geeks today … YAY!
[…] A couple of pictures of odd signs hidden away in the museum. More photos available on Richard Mackney's blog. […]