Wikimedia/Archives Week 2020

English Deutsch Français Italiano


International Archives Week 2020



CALL TO IMPROVE THE PRESENCE OF

ARCHIVES ON WIKIPEDIA


This year's International Archives Week will take place from June 8 to June 14, 2020 and focus on

"Empowering Knowledge Societies".



We invite you to help us completing and improving the presence of Archives on Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Thank you for participating!


This campaign is a joint initiative of Wikimedia Switzerland, Austria and Germany

and the Association of Swiss Archivists.


The Theme 2020: Empowering Knowledge Societies


International Archives Week 2020 is about how the archival, records and data landscape in the 21st century is changing public expectations, what constitutes credible evidence and how can the holdings be protected.

Empowering Knowledge Societies - What does this mean?


  • Empowering Knowledge Societies is about Artificial Intelligence, Digital Preservation and Emerging Technologies. Artificial intelligence and emerging technologies are quickly changing how archivists do their work. Therefore, it is important to understand both the strength and weaknesses of these technologies in archives and records endeavors. What can they help archives to do better? How can archives implement these new practices? What are the ethical implications? These technologies will also impact how archives preserve and make information accessible. Moreover, there are persisting questions about how to preserve records and data in a sustainable, practical and cost-effective way.


  • Empowering Knowledge Societies is about Sustainable Knowledge. Sustainable knowledge is fundamental to sustainable development and the achievement of development initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the core of these initiatives is the need for trustworthy information, regardless of format. Sustainable information is also about how archives protect their holdings from climate change, theft, looting, and illicit trafficking. Moreover, it is about looking beyond and examining the impact of archives on society and the environment.


  • Empowering Knowledge Societies is about Trust and Evidence. In the age of ‘alternative facts’, ‘fake news’, misinformation and cybersecurity threats, the need for trustworthy evidence (records, information, data) has become ever more essential. What is the role of archives in this environment? What is the role of records and archives professionals in the area of internet governance? Trust and evidence also mean reaching out and understanding what users need, so that they can believe in what archival institutions do and information is acquired, preserved and made accessible. How do archives empower user? To empower archives?

Besides its project on Wikimedia, the ICA invites you to share your vision of archives and of the profession of archivist on the ICA Blog.

Consult the Geographic Archives Map for linked Wikimedia Content

The following geographic map locates Archives in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, based on Wikidata records.

If you want to know which archives already have a Wikipedia article and which do not, as well as the respective quality of the article, you can find out by using the link to the map below. If you are a Wikidata expert, help us to improve and inject additional meta data into Wikidata to complete the information base for archives in Switzerland, Austria and Germany.

Have fun exploring!


Geographic Map of Archives in Switzerland, Austria and Germany


How to read the geographic map:
  • Black symbols: no Wikipedia article
  • Red symbols: one Wikipedia article
  • Orange symbols: at least two Wikipedia articles
  • Green symbols: four Wikipedia articles

How to participate & contribute

Wikipedia Articles

As a beginner or intermediate Wikipedia author you can contribute for example by improving and completing an existing article, inserting appropriate images and image galleries, inserting links to archival collections on webarchives and portals, updating info boxes or inserting Wikidata info boxes into Wikipedia articles. If you are an expert Wikipedia author you might engage in creating a completely new article. You can consult the geographic archives map and explore archives with no article, and write about a cultural institution or translate an existing article in a different language. Please remember, if you want your new article about an archive to be reflected on the geographic map, you have to interlink it in the Wikidata record of the respective cultural institution.

We have set-up an outreach dashboard. If you want to enroll and assign the articles or categories you are working on for International Archives Week please click here. The registration on the dashboard is optional.


Wikimedia Commons

If you like to work with media files, you might want to upload collections, archives related images and documents to Wikimedia Commons. Please remember that taking onsite photographs need to be compliant with the legal framework when uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. Maybe you still have many images, you did not have time to share and upload into Wikimedia Commons. Nevertheless, some institutions have released images collections and documents under a free license the past years. The collections are accessible through their portal or webarchive but are not yet available in Wikimedia Commons or embedded in a Wikipedia article.


Wikidata

If you like to work with meta data, you can help us to complete the geographical visualization on archives in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, linked to Wikimedia content on Wikidata. Every contribution counts.


  • Europeana Collections online Link
  • UNESCO Digital Library - Open access material for research Link
  • Swiss Federal Archives online access Link
  • Archival holdings of ETH-Library Link
  • e-Helvetica Swiss National Library Chttps://www.e-helvetica.nb.admin.ch Link]
  • Helvetic Archives of the Swiss National Library Link
  • Images Archives Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Volkskunde Link
  • ICRC Audiovisual Archives Link
  • Swiss National Sound Archives online catalog Link

Contact us!

If you like to contribute to the Wikimedia projects, you need support in the activities for International Archives Week, or you want to learn more about the association, contact the respective chapter directly.

Find the list of contact persons by country in the table below:

WMCH WMAT WMDE
For voluntary community
DE: ulrich.lantermann(_AT_)wikimedia.ch
FR: flor.mechain(_AT_)wikimedia.ch
IT: ilario.valdelli(_AT_)wikimedia.ch
verein(_AT_)wikimedia.at kultur(_AT_)wikimedia.de
For cultural institutions
debora.lopomo(_AT_)wikimedia.ch raimund.liebert(_AT_)wikimedia.at holger.plickert(_AT_)wikimedia.de
For communication and press
kerstin.sonnekalb(_AT_)wikimedia.ch raimund.liebert(_AT_)wikimedia.at presse(_AT_)wikimedia.de