Presentation given at the Europeana AGM, Milan, 6 December 2017

1. Europeana 1914-18
Wikimedia Challenge
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki
/Europeana/1914-18
#EuropeForCulture #AGM2017

2. Wikimedia affiliates
to submit a portfolio
of activities, to
showcase the diverse,
innovative, and high-
quality ways that this
important period of
Europe's history can
be
https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/20
20601/contributions_13743.html
https://www.europeana.eu/portal/en/record/20
20601/contributions_11667.html
understood through open-access
heritage. With an emphasis on working
with Europeana partner cultural
institutions across the continent.
The Challenge

3. The Participants

4. Special mentions:
• Wikimedia Estonia for its innovative use
of the Wikipedia platform to curate a
multilingual virtual art exhibition;
• Wikimedia Italy for the quality and
diversity of the content produced;
• Wikimedia Switzerland for its detailed
and beautifully produced portfolio.
And the winners are...
https://meta.wikimedi
a.org/wiki/Europeana/
1914-
18/Wikimedia_Italia#/
media/File:Poster_con
_disegno_di_donna,_s
critta-
_Tacete_Anche_il_vost
ro_silenzio_affretter%
C3%A0_la_Vittoria.jpg
[Announcement blogpost with jury comments]

5. Innovation award: Wikimedia Austria
Portfolio
“…based on a partnership with the education sector, it highlights
the use of various media to investigate propaganda.”

6. Quality award: Wikimedia Norway
Portfolio
“…direct engagement with Europeana content (especially
through the Transcribathon platform), extensive outreach to
partners, and hosting of events.”

7. Diversity award: Wikimedia UK
Portfolio
“…projects relating to
many different cultural
institutions; pertained
to multiple countries
(England, Wales,
Scotland, India, and
Canada); and included
multiple media forms.”

8. Portfolio
Overall winner of the Europeana 1914-1918
Wikimedia Challenge:
Wikimedians of Romania
Jury Comments: “The Romanian Wikimedia community ran a Wikisource/Transcribathon
project; uploaded Wikimedia Commons from Europeana 1914-18 crowdsourced material;
and contributed their own material to the Europeana 1914-18 platform. They also entered
the Europeana Transcribathon as a 'team'; and improved the categorisation and Wikipedia
usage of Europeana 1914-18 material which had already been shared. This impressive
portfolio was created by an entirely volunteer team.”

9. Wikimedians of Romania Team
Iulian MĂCREANU – Team Coordinator

10. Wikimedians of Romania Team
 6 editors and 1 robot
 contributors at Romanian Wikipedia
 volunteers and anonymous
Macreanu Iulian – Team & content coordinator
Strainu – Technical coordinator
WWI Aprentices – Digitizer & Corrector
Accipiter Q. Gentilis - Editor
Haptokar - Editor
Nenea hartia - Editor
Strainubot - Robot

11. The WWI project
• Started in 2014
• Cross-platform approach
Wikimedia
• Romanian Wikipedia
• Commons
• Wikisource
Europeana
• Europeana 1914-1918
• Transcribathon
• European Film Gateway
GLAM partners
• Reusing of digital contents

12. Achievements
 more than 800 articles on Romanian Wikipedia
 more than 1.200 images on loaded on Commons
 more than 250 images loaded on Europeana
 more than 45.000 characters digitized at Transchribaton
cross-platforms transfers
creating an off-line digital library

13. Why we joined?
 we already had a consolidated and stabile
project
 identify new ways and opportunities to
improve our ongoing project
 a chance to evaluate and validate our works
in comparison with other similar projects

14. What we discover?
 it is not so difficult to make valuable contributions for
recovering our cultural heritage, even if you are a small team
from a not so bigger country
 Europeana has a huge amount of valuable resources that can
be easily used for developing our project and bring it at a new
level
 GLAM partners could provide access to a lot of new and
valuable resources
 Wikipedia and Europeana, are complementary making easy
developing of cross-platform projects

15. Lessons learned?
 How to have a succesful project:
 appropiate fit our own project into the “big picture”
 proper use of the synergy between platforms
 deep understanding of the specifities and differences (Wikipedia, Europeana,
GLAM partners)
 adequate use of all the ressources made available by the GLAM partners
 be consequent and keep working in an organised and systematic way
 Understand to manage and develop complex and multi-platform projects
 Discovered and became aware and interested in “New Worlds” (Europeana,
GLAM partners)
 Remained “caught” and became enthusiastic by the new type of works:
telling stories, bringing old photos in light, transcribe old war journals etc.

16. “WIKI-EUROPEANA” odyssey of a WWI soldier -
Marin GOGOLOI
“The impact of culture on society - it's a value, not a cost! ”
EUROPEANA

17. 1916 -
A book in
German
Romanian Front
- 2017
A German painter
Albert Reich
Digitized by a
GLAM partner
Descendants of
Marin Gogoloi
2017
1916-1918
1917 2014
2014
1916
2017
2017
Picture of
Marin Cogoloi
Story on
Europeana
Image loaded on
Commmons
2017
National Military
Archives
Identified

18. Thank you!