Mar 23rd, 2008
To read: Indianapolis, Wikipedia and Getty Trust
Some interesting readings found on the Web:
* The Indianapolis Museum of Art had a great idea: what if the community created Web entries in Wikipedia for works in their collection?
In this era of user-generated content, it’s a neat idea! [ Read the museum’s blog entry ]
* The J. Paul Getty Trust built a thesaurus in art and architecture. The technical challenges that had to be solved are related in a Computer World article. [ Read the article ]
The database is available to the general public. Just enter a word and you’ll get synonyms, variations on spelling and sources. [ Access the thesaurus ]
The image is a detail from Girl reading a Letter at an Open Window, circa 1659, 83 x 64,5 cm Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden from Wikipedia.
Hey, thanks for noticing the post!
My guess is that no one will actually write an entry, but I’ll keep the hope alive.
Hi Richard,
It’s a great idea but I was wondering why none of the staff at the museum would begin the process. It would seem to me that they’d be the ones to provide the correct information in the first place.
Then, I would think, with ten or twenty entries in Wikipedia, members of the Museum would be probably motivated to fill in the gaps.
Just an idea to get the wheel in motion.
Marc
[…] Well, that went off with a resounding and hushed thud. I was sure my last blog entry would garner heaps of new Wikipedia entries, a personal lunch celebration from the IMA’s Director, and an interview on the Today Show; but instead I got some publicity from other bloggers. […]
Marc –
Yeah, I first thought about doing it myself because I wanted to make it really conservation focused, but I thought it might be cool to see if I can get others involved and see what happens.
Plus, I wanted to be sensitive to the problems of conflict of interest that were discussed in that NYT article.
But, I have negotiated a real incentive: lunch with the director of the IMA.
Check it out:
http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2008/03/26/wikipedia-entries-its-just-lunch/