The GLAM-E Lab, a collaborative project between RAMM, the NYU Law’s Engelberg Center and the University of Exeter, has released a brand new resource for the open GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museum) community: an Open GLAM Toolkit.
This suite of tools, developed directly with GLAM organisations, can be used by any cultural organisation to develop their own access program and release collections for public reuse.
RAMM was the first organisation to collaborate with the GLAM-E Lab, adopting an open access strategy for public domain artworks in 2023. In one year, our 63 pilot images received over 6.16 million views online.
Since announcing the open access strategy, the museum has uploaded over 900 public domain images onto Wikimedia Commons relating to a number of themes, including International Women’s Day and Earth Day, and have been thrilled to see how people are using them.
“Adopting an open access approach at RAMM has let users reuse digitised collections and contribute to the rich cultural heritage of Exeter, regardless of where they are. We want people to be inspired, informed and entertained by RAMM’s collection and to use them to foster individual creativity. We recognise the importance of providing knowledge and information to the public to advance our mission and to unlock new cultural discoveries.”
– Julien Parsons, RAMM Collections & Content Manager
The GLAM-E lab were also awarded ‘Partnership of the year 2024’ at the UK Wikimedian of the Year awards recently. The awards honour outstanding contributions to the Wikimedia mission, and celebrates individual and collaborative talent, commitment, and hard work.
The toolkit can be accessed on the GLAM-E website.
Video: Michael Giminez
The GLAM-E Lab is funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
