Commons:Structured data/GLAM

Structured Commons

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GLAM and culture

SPARQL

Modeling

Discussion

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

Structured Data on Wikimedia Commons benefits cultural heritage data: Wikimedia Commons files can be described with structured, machine-readable and multilingual metadata (Linked Open Data), structured copyright and attribution information, and rich APIs.

About Structured data and GLAM

Wikimedia platforms are fueled by information that comes from Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums (GLAM). Every heritage institution in the world has a collection and knowledge waiting to be shared. Some information can be used in an encyclopedic way and some in a more structured format.

One of the ways to share this structured knowledge is through the information available within the items the institution already curated, fixed, and, in some cases, made available online in their databases. These items and their information can easily fit the Structured Data ecosystem, on Wikidata or on Commons, as Structured data on Commons (SDC).

Structured data on Commons is an opportunity for GLAMs to share their metadata, together with its media files, in a more interconnected way. Mainly because it makes the data more easily translatable, machine-readable, available for accessibility resources, and connected to metadata from other files and institutions. Regarding the media files, Structured data on Commons makes them more findable on Commons, mainly through the new Commons search, Media Search, and more used on Wikipedia in several languages, thanks to the Structured Data Across Wikimedia project.

Get to know more about GLAMs and Structured data on Commons navigating through the header pages above. An entire portal dedicated to Structured data for GLAM-Wiki is available on Meta.

See also

Structured data across Wikimedia

The continuation of the Structured Data on Commons project is the Structured Data Across Wikimedia (SDAW) project, which is currently under development by a follow-up restricted grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Q1200258).

The SDAW project aims to make structure content more available on wikitext pages in a way that will be machine-recognizable. The goal is to make reading, editing, and searching easier and more accessible across projects and on the internet overall.

Research and resources about GLAM and (Structured Data on) Wikimedia Commons

How do cultural institutions use and contribute to Wikimedia Commons? What are their needs? How are their media files on Commons re-used by external platforms? The following resources provide insight:

Related to Structured data on Commons:

• (2017-18) GLAM contributions to Wikimedia Commons – a research project to understand the need for and potential impact of structured data integration for GLAM contributions to Wikimedia Commons.
• (2018) The GLAM workflow on Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons – a general overview of the typical process of a GLAM project on Wikidata or (structured) Wikimedia Commons.
• (2018) Technical needs of external re-users of Commons media – this research project includes re-users who use a lot of GLAM-related media files in their websites and applications.
• (2019-present) Wikidata:Linked open data workflow - tools and scripts in the linked data workflow for Wikidata and Structured Data on Commons.

IIIF: links, resources and discussion

International Image Interoperability Framework (Q22682088) integration has not been part of the development roadmap for Structured Data on Commons, during 2017 and 2019, but there are several volunteer-driven IIIF tools. The improved Commons API (with structured data) also makes new IIIF applications easier to develop. This page brings together relevant resources around IIIF and Wikimedia projects.