Content Partnerships Hub/Structured Data on Commons

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Improving the Wikimedia movement’s work with content partners

Structured Data on Commons

Structured Data on Commons – making multimedia files easier to find and understand

Structured Data on Commons is the new and quickly developing infrastructure to enrich the files on Wikimedia Commons with multilingual, machine-readable information that makes them easier to search, analyze and re-use.

A lot of work has already happened but we are still waiting for a larger adoption. Focused efforts to add Structured Data can help to reach a threshold where the value is more visible than it currently is.

What

Structured Data on Commons (SDC) makes it possible to annotate pictures and other media files with simple statements on what they depict, when and by whom they were created, which GLAM collections they belong to, and much more. The technical infrastructure uses Wikibase, the same technology as used for Wikidata.

You can read about our work with SDC in several thematic areas, such as Wiki Loves Monuments photos and files shared by GLAM institutions, in this white paper, published in 2021.

Here you can see the SDC uploads that we have done since September 2021.

Why

Since SDC information is easy to parse by machines, it builds the ground for new tools and applications, as well making it easier for editors to describe their files. For example:

The new MediaSearch, implemented in 2021, uses SDC depicts statements to deliver better search results – regardless of the user's language.
The Wikimedia Commons Query Service makes it possible to run complex search queries.
SDC makes it possible to describe files in a lot of detail, and is more intuitive than navigating the category system – giving more power to both experienced and new editors.
The machine-readable data can be accessed via an API, giving developers more flexibility to create new tools.