Thomas Tunsch

Museum Documentation and Wikipedia.de

Possibilities, opportunities and advantages for scholars and museums

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 2

Museum and Wikipedia

It’s a museum, what’s to know? You bang in a nail, you hang up a picture. Any idiot could do that.

– Sophia Petrillo

Wikipedia generates noise, not knowledge. Previous encyclopedias were well-researched and

contained precise information that could be trusted to be correct.

Wikipedia, on the other hand, contains a large amount of errors, omissions and superfluous trivia.– Prillinger, 2004

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 3

Museum and WikipediaDifferent worlds?

Scholars

Reference sources

Libraries

General Public

Authors

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 4

Museum and WikipediaFrom idea to publication

Wikipedia

Single use of resources and

referencesStart-End process

IdeaPublication

(Book, Catalogue, Website)

Research (Scholar)

DatabasesWeb Resources

ArticlesBooks

ConferencesColleagues

Multiple use of resources and referencesScholar as part of Community (Publication, Structures, Ideas, Developments)

Network process

Research (Scholar)Publication

(Book, Catalogue, Website)

Idea

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 5

Collaborative Communities

collecting objects providing documentation creating knowledge

about objects and the representing fields of expertise

presenting objects and information to the public

collecting data and information pieces

documenting discussions, citations and sources

generating articles, assembling categories, building portals

MuseumWikipedia

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 6

Collaborative Communities

Methods Practical Experience Content Contributors

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 7

Collaborative CommunitiesMethods Discussion page Conventions, manuals, standards

– community process Methodic instruments

– creating– changing– discussing

Keywords– collaborative– colleagues– communication– community

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 8

Collaborative CommunitiesPractical experience Knowledge and interaction Neutral Point of View (NPOV) Scholars, knowledge and community

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 9

Collaborative CommunitiesSubjective information

Scholar

Information sources

Libraries

Colleagues

Wikipedia

subjectfieldexperience

ORIENTED

MULTIPLEsubjectsfieldsexperiences

specific channels

unspecific sectors

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 10

Collaborative CommunitiesNPOV

Neutral POV

Community(University, specific field, Wikipedia)

My Point Of View

POV

POV

sources of informatio

nPOV

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 11

Collaborative CommunitiesScholars, knowledge and community public access to

– knowledge– expert’s

knowledgespecific field

Expert

Expert

field of expertise

Generalist

general knowledgeaccessibility

specialization

Wikipedia

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 12

Collaborative CommunitiesContent Metadata

– SWD (Subject Headings Authority File)– PND (Name Authority File)

Articles, templates and categories– categories– lists and reference tables– portals– awards (German: excellent, worth reading)

Quality management– quality assurance (German)– Peer review– WikiProject

Commons Languages

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 13

Collaborative CommunitiesContributors Contributors and interactivity

– scholars– other museum staff– visitors– students

Potential visitors Participatory culture

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 14

Museums • Scholars • Wikipedia

Data, information, knowledge, wisdom Access points Museum activities Tools for museums

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 15

Museums • Scholars • WikipediaDIKW Which parts of the DataInformationKnowledgeWisdom chain provide the most efficient connections between museums and the Wikipedia?– Individual scholar

• Articles, Data & Information– Community of scholars

• Portal

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 16

Museums • Scholars • WikipediaAccess points Where are the easiest

access points for scholars, and how can connections been built?– Articles– Documentation– Search & Find– Documentation & Public– CIDOC CRM &

Vocabularies– Technology

• database links• templates• tools• projects

See also:– Commons– Wiktionary– Wikisource– Wikibooks– Wikiquote– Wikinews– Wikiversity– Wikispecies

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 17

Museums • Scholars • WikipediaMuseum activities Which museum activities

can be seen as related to Wikipedia with mutual benefits for both communities?

How can scholars be part of these activities?

museum documentation (e.g. objects, controlled vocabulary, exhibitions)

research public access (exhibitions,

visitor information, …) publications (catalogues,

websites, …) educational material Scholars (academic activities)

– ontologies and reference techniques

– methods to verify information in museum documentation

– critical use of sources

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 18

Museums • Scholars • WikipediaAdditional benefits Information for Wikipedia

– Content for articles– Links

…

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 19

Museums • Scholars • WikipediaTools What are possible tools

that would enable the use of Wikipedia, and which tools are missing?

Museums Wiki

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 20

What’s next?

Maybe next time we meet in a new portal for museums in Wikipedia?

Don’t worry, nobody has to bang in a nail or hang up a picture there ….

April 13, 2007 Museums and the Web 2007 21

Content

Museum and Wikipedia – Different worlds?– From idea to publication*

Collaborative Communities– Collaborative

Communities– Methods– Practical experience– Subjective information– NPOV– Scholars, knowledge and

community– Content– Contributors*

Museums, Scholars and Wikipedia– DIKW– Access points– Museum activities– Additional benefits*

– Tools What’s next?

* not in introduction

Thomas Tunsch

See also

Museum Documentation and Wikipedia.de