I was recently in the Portsmouth natural history museum (or as the natives call it Cumberland House). When I was there I saw this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58992329@N03/5406060116/
If you look at the text in the right column (may need to view image at full size) you will find that it is not only dated (it's treating 1982 as recent) but is treating the [[Almas (cryptozoology)]] thing seriously. The museum doesn't really have any money so this isn't something that is likely to be fixed by them any time soon.
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
==Advantages==
*Museum gets a better sign *New way to spread wikipedia content *Gives us the chance to produce a real world example of the type of signs we would like to see (QR code and the like) *Helps draw attention to gaps in Wikipedia (in this case it failed to mention how much Neanderthals weigh) *It may get us some good will with the Portsmouth museum service which since they hold one of the larger collections of ship paintings could be kinda handy *May get us some new editors who are interested in working on such signs. *It's a concrete real world activity that we can point to as an example of what we are doing.
==Disadvantages==
*Might be more expensive than expected *Images are an issue in this case (need to check copyright status of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Homo_neanderthalensis_models ) *Scale we can do this on is limited both financially and finding people to write such signs
==Neutral==
*They might say no
Geni
This is an excelent idea - of course if we mounted a bar code as well and they had wi fi or internet phone carrying customers then we could use Google Goggles and supply it in different languages....
I tried suggesting this at one museum and I got the impression that they were worried about "doing their job" of course they can use our text and take nearly all the credit for just doing a print.
Roger
On 31 January 2011 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
I was recently in the Portsmouth natural history museum (or as the natives call it Cumberland House). When I was there I saw this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58992329@N03/5406060116/
If you look at the text in the right column (may need to view image at full size) you will find that it is not only dated (it's treating 1982 as recent) but is treating the [[Almas (cryptozoology)]] thing seriously. The museum doesn't really have any money so this isn't something that is likely to be fixed by them any time soon.
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
==Advantages==
*Museum gets a better sign *New way to spread wikipedia content *Gives us the chance to produce a real world example of the type of signs we would like to see (QR code and the like) *Helps draw attention to gaps in Wikipedia (in this case it failed to mention how much Neanderthals weigh) *It may get us some good will with the Portsmouth museum service which since they hold one of the larger collections of ship paintings could be kinda handy *May get us some new editors who are interested in working on such signs. *It's a concrete real world activity that we can point to as an example of what we are doing.
==Disadvantages==
*Might be more expensive than expected *Images are an issue in this case (need to check copyright status of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Homo_neanderthalensis_models ) *Scale we can do this on is limited both financially and finding people to write such signs
==Neutral==
*They might say no
-- geni
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I have always thought the most likely organization to be willing to let us put our texts on their walls (via a QR code most likely) would in actual fact be zoos. Think about it! :-)
But, for fine arts galleries or major museums the process and policies of label writing is a very complex thing. Lots of people/departments involved, lots of policies and style guides (which wikipedians can relate to!) and lots of discussions about how to fit accurate content into small spaces without either dumbing down nor filling up the wall with text. I once did a multi-week internship at the [[powerhouse museum]] in order to research and write *two* labels for a temporary display!
Suffice it to say that no museum is going to, at this stage, outsource their label writing to Wikipedians - it would be too much of a political decision within the organisation as you can imagine. [perhaps a small/volunteer organization might though...]
That's just my experience though... Others might find other, more amenable GLAMs!
-Liam
Wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On 01/02/2011, at 20:35, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
Geni
This is an excelent idea - of course if we mounted a bar code as well and they had wi fi or internet phone carrying customers then we could use Google Goggles and supply it in different languages....
I tried suggesting this at one museum and I got the impression that they were worried about "doing their job" of course they can use our text and take nearly all the credit for just doing a print.
Roger
On 31 January 2011 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote: I was recently in the Portsmouth natural history museum (or as the natives call it Cumberland House). When I was there I saw this:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/58992329@N03/5406060116/
If you look at the text in the right column (may need to view image at full size) you will find that it is not only dated (it's treating 1982 as recent) but is treating the [[Almas (cryptozoology)]] thing seriously. The museum doesn't really have any money so this isn't something that is likely to be fixed by them any time soon.
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
==Advantages==
*Museum gets a better sign *New way to spread wikipedia content *Gives us the chance to produce a real world example of the type of signs we would like to see (QR code and the like) *Helps draw attention to gaps in Wikipedia (in this case it failed to mention how much Neanderthals weigh) *It may get us some good will with the Portsmouth museum service which since they hold one of the larger collections of ship paintings could be kinda handy *May get us some new editors who are interested in working on such signs. *It's a concrete real world activity that we can point to as an example of what we are doing.
==Disadvantages==
*Might be more expensive than expected *Images are an issue in this case (need to check copyright status of http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Homo_neanderthalensis_models ) *Scale we can do this on is limited both financially and finding people to write such signs
==Neutral==
*They might say no
-- geni
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
-- Roger Bamkin (aka Victuallers)
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
WRT QR codes: I brought this up when chatting with the British Library. If it were part of a temporary exhibition (the BL has a funky new-media room in the foyer area, for example) then a demo using QR codes and a free smart phone app(*) would be an easy thing to show off and less controversial than sticking new labels all over a museum. As the QR codes can point to an official website (or database record for the item) this would not need to be a Wikipedia specific initiative.
If someone is into this technology, perhaps we can make such a demo part of an upcoming workshop/edit-a-thon event with a relevant GLAM (like Derby or the BL)?
(*) The BL recently made a great hoo-ha about their new smart phone app, see http://www.bl.uk/app/
Fæ
There are some museums that are already taking advantage of Wikipedia's content. Last weekend, I was at Fort Perch Rock [1], which is a small naval/RAF museum near Liverpool. The style of some of the content pinned to the wall was easily recognisable - it was straight from Wikipedia. E.g. the complete text of the article on HMS Thesis [2] was there, infobox and all. Although, there was a slight lack of attribution...
I would love to see this become more widespread. QR codes linked to Wikipedia content would be fantastic. If the museum has an international audience, then using the different language editions of Wikipedia would be great, if there's space on the paper (bear in mind that most people don't have smart phones, or if they do and they're international travellers then they probably won't want to use the expensive data roaming costs).
It very much depends on the museum's interest, and the level of the costs; it's worth talking to them about though. I think it would be a really interesting use of a microgrant, if the costs are sub-£100.
Mike
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Perch_Rock [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thetis_%28N25%29
On 1 Feb 2011, at 11:48, Fae wrote:
WRT QR codes: I brought this up when chatting with the British Library. If it were part of a temporary exhibition (the BL has a funky new-media room in the foyer area, for example) then a demo using QR codes and a free smart phone app(*) would be an easy thing to show off and less controversial than sticking new labels all over a museum. As the QR codes can point to an official website (or database record for the item) this would not need to be a Wikipedia specific initiative.
If someone is into this technology, perhaps we can make such a demo part of an upcoming workshop/edit-a-thon event with a relevant GLAM (like Derby or the BL)?
(*) The BL recently made a great hoo-ha about their new smart phone app, see http://www.bl.uk/app/
Fæ
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I feel the revolutionary in me. (Mike you were talking about a new wiki project....)
If we could arrange for these 2D QR Bar codes to be easily printed from GLAM pages then "enterprising" visitors might add a little sticker to GLAM labels. Its international travellors today who have access to Google Goggles.... but ? years ago it was only them who had a phone. If these labels became universal then the phone companies would fight each other to be the first to make it happen easily on their network.
If we get a developer then maybe we could see if we could add a "Print GLAM sticker" to the list of options on a Wiki page?
On 2 February 2011 09:49, Michael Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote:
There are some museums that are already taking advantage of Wikipedia's content. Last weekend, I was at Fort Perch Rock [1], which is a small naval/RAF museum near Liverpool. The style of some of the content pinned to the wall was easily recognisable - it was straight from Wikipedia. E.g. the complete text of the article on HMS Thesis [2] was there, infobox and all. Although, there was a slight lack of attribution...
I would love to see this become more widespread. QR codes linked to Wikipedia content would be fantastic. If the museum has an international audience, then using the different language editions of Wikipedia would be great, if there's space on the paper (bear in mind that most people don't have smart phones, or if they do and they're international travellers then they probably won't want to use the expensive data roaming costs).
It very much depends on the museum's interest, and the level of the costs; it's worth talking to them about though. I think it would be a really interesting use of a microgrant, if the costs are sub-£100.
Mike
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Perch_Rock [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thetis_%28N25%29
On 1 Feb 2011, at 11:48, Fae wrote:
WRT QR codes: I brought this up when chatting with the British Library. If it were part of a temporary exhibition (the BL has a funky new-media room in the foyer area, for example) then a demo using QR codes and a free smart phone app(*) would be an easy thing to show off and less controversial than sticking new labels all over a museum. As the QR codes can point to an official website (or database record for the item) this would not need to be a Wikipedia specific initiative.
If someone is into this technology, perhaps we can make such a demo part of an upcoming workshop/edit-a-thon event with a relevant GLAM (like Derby or the BL)?
(*) The BL recently made a great hoo-ha about their new smart phone app, see http://www.bl.uk/app/
Fæ
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Interesting idea. Might be better branded as 'print a QR code linking to this page', which might be more generally useful. Similar to the permanent link option currently available.
Mike
On 2 Feb 2011, at 19:34, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
I feel the revolutionary in me. (Mike you were talking about a new wiki project....)
If we could arrange for these 2D QR Bar codes to be easily printed from GLAM pages then "enterprising" visitors might add a little sticker to GLAM labels. Its international travellors today who have access to Google Goggles.... but ? years ago it was only them who had a phone. If these labels became universal then the phone companies would fight each other to be the first to make it happen easily on their network.
If we get a developer then maybe we could see if we could add a "Print GLAM sticker" to the list of options on a Wiki page?
On 2 February 2011 09:49, Michael Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote: There are some museums that are already taking advantage of Wikipedia's content. Last weekend, I was at Fort Perch Rock [1], which is a small naval/RAF museum near Liverpool. The style of some of the content pinned to the wall was easily recognisable - it was straight from Wikipedia. E.g. the complete text of the article on HMS Thesis [2] was there, infobox and all. Although, there was a slight lack of attribution...
I would love to see this become more widespread. QR codes linked to Wikipedia content would be fantastic. If the museum has an international audience, then using the different language editions of Wikipedia would be great, if there's space on the paper (bear in mind that most people don't have smart phones, or if they do and they're international travellers then they probably won't want to use the expensive data roaming costs).
It very much depends on the museum's interest, and the level of the costs; it's worth talking to them about though. I think it would be a really interesting use of a microgrant, if the costs are sub-£100.
Mike
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Perch_Rock [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Thetis_%28N25%29
On 1 Feb 2011, at 11:48, Fae wrote:
WRT QR codes: I brought this up when chatting with the British Library. If it were part of a temporary exhibition (the BL has a funky new-media room in the foyer area, for example) then a demo using QR codes and a free smart phone app(*) would be an easy thing to show off and less controversial than sticking new labels all over a museum. As the QR codes can point to an official website (or database record for the item) this would not need to be a Wikipedia specific initiative.
If someone is into this technology, perhaps we can make such a demo part of an upcoming workshop/edit-a-thon event with a relevant GLAM (like Derby or the BL)?
(*) The BL recently made a great hoo-ha about their new smart phone app, see http://www.bl.uk/app/
Fæ
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
-- Roger Bamkin (aka Victuallers)
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Sorry to be a smart-pants but I just cobbled a userscript to add the QR code generation as a Wikipedia toolbox function. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/QRcode.js
In the usual way add:
importScript('User:Fæ/QRcode.js'); //QRcode on toolbar
to your vector.js or other preferred skin file.
Cheers, Fæ
My God you are smart Fæ Next prize is for the first person to show a museum sign with a sticker that was made from this script. Photo that shows another mobile phone with the coreect article wins the king of kudos award
BRILLIANT!
Which Museum or gallery will it be?
On 2 February 2011 21:08, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
Sorry to be a smart-pants but I just cobbled a userscript to add the QR code generation as a Wikipedia toolbox function. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/QRcode.jshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/QRcode.js
In the usual way add:
importScript('User:Fæ/QRcode.js'); //QRcode on toolbar
to your vector.js or other preferred skin file.
Cheers, Fæ
-- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I have an email from Nick Moyes who is very enthuiasrtic and suggests we can sticker part of the museum this weekend with QR Codes. I think this would be a nice demonstration of what we can do. Fae, I have tried to install your script. Could you look and see if it installed OK? I have several dozen (of Derby Museums) suggestions of stickers we can add.
.... and you will be please Geni that your suggestion appears to be growing legs .... and we are being low level vandals (but only at a museums invitation)
Roger aka Victuallers
On 2 February 2011 23:44, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
My God you are smart Fæ Next prize is for the first person to show a museum sign with a sticker that was made from this script. Photo that shows another mobile phone with the coreect article wins the king of kudos award
BRILLIANT!
Which Museum or gallery will it be?
On 2 February 2011 21:08, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
Sorry to be a smart-pants but I just cobbled a userscript to add the QR code generation as a Wikipedia toolbox function. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/QRcode.jshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/QRcode.js
In the usual way add:
importScript('User:Fæ/QRcode.js'); //QRcode on toolbar
to your vector.js or other preferred skin file.
Cheers, Fæ
-- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
-- Roger Bamkin (aka Victuallers)
On 2 February 2011 19:34, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
I feel the revolutionary in me. (Mike you were talking about a new wiki project....)
If we could arrange for these 2D QR Bar codes to be easily printed from GLAM pages then "enterprising" visitors might add a little sticker to GLAM labels. Its international travellors today who have access to Google Goggles.... but ? years ago it was only them who had a phone. If these labels became universal then the phone companies would fight each other to be the first to make it happen easily on their network.
If we get a developer then maybe we could see if we could add a "Print GLAM sticker" to the list of options on a Wiki page?
I'm not sure we want to be encouraging what is in principle low level vandalism.
On 01/02/2011 11:48, Fae wrote:
(*) The BL recently made a great hoo-ha about their new smart phone app, seehttp://www.bl.uk/app/
Fæ
Does it link with http://www.googleartproject.com/ ?
Gordo
On 2 February 2011 10:57, Liam Wyatt liamwyatt@gmail.com wrote:
But, for fine arts galleries or major museums the process and policies of label writing is a very complex thing. Lots of people/departments involved, lots of policies and style guides (which wikipedians can relate to!) and lots of discussions about how to fit accurate content into small spaces without either dumbing down nor filling up the wall with text. I once did a multi-week internship at the [[powerhouse museum]] in order to research and write *two* labels for a temporary display! Suffice it to say that no museum is going to, at this stage, outsource their label writing to Wikipedians - it would be too much of a political decision within the organisation as you can imagine. [perhaps a small/volunteer organization might though...]
Portsmouth natural history museum is on the opposite end of the scale compared to the likes of the powerhouse museum.
I'll dig out contact details and a suggested draft email this weekend.
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
One thing we* could potentially do for the GLAM sector that could be quite helpful is to have a very simple service where they could log in to a website with a nice shortish URL (the sort of length that could be posted on Twitter or printed onto museum signs). They could basically then have some information on the page - a short description, a photo (which would get uploaded on to Commons) etc. They would be encouraged to put up a description that is the same as it is on the physical sign and optionally a photo. They would be strongly encouraged to make both the text CC-BY-SA and to get a photo up it would have to go on Commons.
Imagine it as a sort of 'Open Museum Signs' site. Providing it as a free service would mean that smaller museums could document their stuff online, and it could do QR codes and maybe someone could build a smartphone app (so you could wander around the museum looking at objects and then sharing them with your friends or whatnot).
I sketched something very crappily in Adobe Ideas:
Something like that is all there would be on the page. You scan the QR code, you see the object, and you can choose to read more on Wikipedia.
The point about it is that it would be a nice simple thing the GLAM institutions could control, but the rights for the text would be assigned in such a way that it could be reused on Wikimedia projects and any photos they upload would be put onto Commons. And because there is a link from the object to the article(s) on WP, as they start doing more and more signs, they have a motivation to keep an eye on the articles. For smaller museums, it would be a way for them to start producing structured data (which publicly funded bodies are trying to do more and more) but also be a feeder for Wikipedia.
Providing free tools for museums and other GLAMs might be a good way of getting initial buy-in to the whole collaborating-with-Wikimedia thing during a recession.
* And by 'we', I mean 'hopefully not me'. Well, not yet anyway. I'm off to the Dev8D conference soon and some museum people go to that, so I may be able to find some people to get the ball rolling. I've also thought of a domain, which I won't share or register if there isn't any interest.
Derby Museums Very keen. Now got technology working. Hope to have picture tomorrow of Museum exhibit with QR code and phone that has read the code and displayed the items label from the Spanish (say) wikipedia
Have to go out, See you tomorrow
Roger aka victuallers
On 3 February 2011 17:59, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
One thing we* could potentially do for the GLAM sector that could be quite helpful is to have a very simple service where they could log in to a website with a nice shortish URL (the sort of length that could be posted on Twitter or printed onto museum signs). They could basically then have some information on the page - a short description, a photo (which would get uploaded on to Commons) etc. They would be encouraged to put up a description that is the same as it is on the physical sign and optionally a photo. They would be strongly encouraged to make both the text CC-BY-SA and to get a photo up it would have to go on Commons.
Imagine it as a sort of 'Open Museum Signs' site. Providing it as a free service would mean that smaller museums could document their stuff online, and it could do QR codes and maybe someone could build a smartphone app (so you could wander around the museum looking at objects and then sharing them with your friends or whatnot).
I sketched something very crappily in Adobe Ideas:
Something like that is all there would be on the page. You scan the QR code, you see the object, and you can choose to read more on Wikipedia.
The point about it is that it would be a nice simple thing the GLAM institutions could control, but the rights for the text would be assigned in such a way that it could be reused on Wikimedia projects and any photos they upload would be put onto Commons. And because there is a link from the object to the article(s) on WP, as they start doing more and more signs, they have a motivation to keep an eye on the articles. For smaller museums, it would be a way for them to start producing structured data (which publicly funded bodies are trying to do more and more) but also be a feeder for Wikipedia.
Providing free tools for museums and other GLAMs might be a good way of getting initial buy-in to the whole collaborating-with-Wikimedia thing during a recession.
- And by 'we', I mean 'hopefully not me'. Well, not yet anyway. I'm
off to the Dev8D conference soon and some museum people go to that, so I may be able to find some people to get the ball rolling. I've also thought of a domain, which I won't share or register if there isn't any interest.
-- Tom Morris http://tommorris.org/
Please don't print this e-mail out unless you want a hard copy of it. If you do, go ahead. I won't stop you.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I have updated the template {{QR code}} which should make it easy to include a QR link on any Wikipedia talk page and avoid installing scripts. * http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template:QR_code
Fæ
That's absolutely amazing. :-) Really nice work.
Is there an open source QR code generator that could be used, rather than using Google or Kaywa? If there is, then that makes it a lot easier to persuade the community to adopt this as standard.
Roger: it's also fantastic that Derby Museums will be making use of this. Well done!
Sticking QR codes on things without permission is definitely vandalism, and not something we should be encouraging - but making QR codes available for people to use isn't necessarily supporting vandalism, as there's so many non-vandalistic uses that they can be put to.
Thanks, Mike
On 3 Feb 2011, at 19:41, Fae wrote:
I have updated the template {{QR code}} which should make it easy to include a QR link on any Wikipedia talk page and avoid installing scripts.
Fæ
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 21:00, Michael Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote:
That's absolutely amazing. :-) Really nice work.
Is there an open source QR code generator that could be used, rather than using Google or Kaywa? If there is, then that makes it a lot easier to persuade the community to adopt this as standard.
Yes, there are plenty. I was going to suggest that instead of using Google we could have one put up on Toolserver.org, but it looks like you can't hotlink images from wikipedia to toolserver. We could still put it up on Toolserver so Wikimedia projects can use it.
Programming libraries:
C++ (LGPL) http://fukuchi.org/works/qrencode/index.en.html Has bindings for Python, Ruby, Haskell and PHP.
Java (Apache License) http://code.google.com/p/zxing/
I've updated my user page to have a QR code: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Tom_Morris
If you want to test your QR code on your computer, there's an AIR app which uses the webcam on your laptop: http://www.dansl.net/blog/?p=256 (Beware Mac users: AIR == Flash, it completely eats your CPU.)
On 3 February 2011 21:32, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 21:00, Michael Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote:
That's absolutely amazing. :-) Really nice work.
Is there an open source QR code generator that could be used, rather than using Google or Kaywa? If there is, then that makes it a lot easier to persuade the community to adopt this as standard.
Yes, there are plenty. I was going to suggest that instead of using Google we could have one put up on Toolserver.org, but it looks like you can't hotlink images from wikipedia to toolserver. We could still put it up on Toolserver so Wikimedia projects can use it.
Well ideally it would be built into http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Special:Cite.php
On 3 Feb 2011, at 21:37, geni wrote:
On 3 February 2011 21:32, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
On Thu, Feb 3, 2011 at 21:00, Michael Peel email@mikepeel.net wrote:
That's absolutely amazing. :-) Really nice work.
Is there an open source QR code generator that could be used, rather than using Google or Kaywa? If there is, then that makes it a lot easier to persuade the community to adopt this as standard.
Yes, there are plenty. I was going to suggest that instead of using Google we could have one put up on Toolserver.org, but it looks like you can't hotlink images from wikipedia to toolserver. We could still put it up on Toolserver so Wikimedia projects can use it.
Well ideally it would be built into http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Cite/Special:Cite.php
Indeed it would - but I think having it on the toolserver is a step in the right direction.
Mike
On 3 February 2011 17:59, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
One thing we* could potentially do for the GLAM sector that could be quite helpful is to have a very simple service where they could log in to a website with a nice shortish URL (the sort of length that could be posted on Twitter or printed onto museum signs). They could basically then have some information on the page - a short description, a photo (which would get uploaded on to Commons) etc. They would be encouraged to put up a description that is the same as it is on the physical sign and optionally a photo. They would be strongly encouraged to make both the text CC-BY-SA and to get a photo up it would have to go on Commons.
Imagine it as a sort of 'Open Museum Signs' site. Providing it as a free service would mean that smaller museums could document their stuff online, and it could do QR codes and maybe someone could build a smartphone app (so you could wander around the museum looking at objects and then sharing them with your friends or whatnot).
I sketched something very crappily in Adobe Ideas:
Something like that is all there would be on the page. You scan the QR code, you see the object, and you can choose to read more on Wikipedia.
The point about it is that it would be a nice simple thing the GLAM institutions could control, but the rights for the text would be assigned in such a way that it could be reused on Wikimedia projects and any photos they upload would be put onto Commons. And because there is a link from the object to the article(s) on WP, as they start doing more and more signs, they have a motivation to keep an eye on the articles. For smaller museums, it would be a way for them to start producing structured data (which publicly funded bodies are trying to do more and more) but also be a feeder for Wikipedia.
Providing free tools for museums and other GLAMs might be a good way of getting initial buy-in to the whole collaborating-with-Wikimedia thing during a recession.
- And by 'we', I mean 'hopefully not me'. Well, not yet anyway. I'm
off to the Dev8D conference soon and some museum people go to that, so I may be able to find some people to get the ball rolling. I've also thought of a domain, which I won't share or register if there isn't any interest.
-- Tom Morris http://tommorris.org/
I put together a suggestion similar to this about a year back although I based it around having a new name space rather than a separate project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Geni/2D_barcodes_and_museums
Geni, looks useful. It may be premature but being as nobody has stopped me (yet) I'm moving quickly. Do you fancy moving your page to main space? .... and maybe even customising it?
I'm thinking that maybe I will soon have a demo section in Derby Museums working - I'm going there in next few hours.
Assuming that is working then we need (I think) a large QR Code in the museum reception which the receptionist or a customer could click on to find out what is happening. (I'm trying to get a "free" phone for him/her). This code would link to a page. That page could be based on your guide to the technology and would explain what is happening (fine detain of what we will have working when follows - its initially going to be just some of the natural history and minerals). Anyone intrigued enough to have a go?
cheers Roger
PS: Isnt it great when no one finds a reason why we can't just do it!
On 4 February 2011 01:09, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
On 3 February 2011 17:59, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
On Mon, Jan 31, 2011 at 23:39, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
I think offering to replace it with wikipedia based text along the lines of say [[User:Geni/museum_sign]] would fall within 7-8 of:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Business_Plan#Mission_and_Objectives
I don't know how much doing such a replacement would cost but I would be surprised if it passed the limit of our micro grant program. Wikimedia-UK would need to be involved to cover use of the logo and the like.
One thing we* could potentially do for the GLAM sector that could be quite helpful is to have a very simple service where they could log in to a website with a nice shortish URL (the sort of length that could be posted on Twitter or printed onto museum signs). They could basically then have some information on the page - a short description, a photo (which would get uploaded on to Commons) etc. They would be encouraged to put up a description that is the same as it is on the physical sign and optionally a photo. They would be strongly encouraged to make both the text CC-BY-SA and to get a photo up it would have to go on Commons.
Imagine it as a sort of 'Open Museum Signs' site. Providing it as a free service would mean that smaller museums could document their stuff online, and it could do QR codes and maybe someone could build a smartphone app (so you could wander around the museum looking at objects and then sharing them with your friends or whatnot).
I sketched something very crappily in Adobe Ideas:
Something like that is all there would be on the page. You scan the QR code, you see the object, and you can choose to read more on Wikipedia.
The point about it is that it would be a nice simple thing the GLAM institutions could control, but the rights for the text would be assigned in such a way that it could be reused on Wikimedia projects and any photos they upload would be put onto Commons. And because there is a link from the object to the article(s) on WP, as they start doing more and more signs, they have a motivation to keep an eye on the articles. For smaller museums, it would be a way for them to start producing structured data (which publicly funded bodies are trying to do more and more) but also be a feeder for Wikipedia.
Providing free tools for museums and other GLAMs might be a good way of getting initial buy-in to the whole collaborating-with-Wikimedia thing during a recession.
- And by 'we', I mean 'hopefully not me'. Well, not yet anyway. I'm
off to the Dev8D conference soon and some museum people go to that, so I may be able to find some people to get the ball rolling. I've also thought of a domain, which I won't share or register if there isn't any interest.
-- Tom Morris http://tommorris.org/
I put together a suggestion similar to this about a year back although I based it around having a new name space rather than a separate project:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Geni/2D_barcodes_and_museums
-- geni
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I told a mate of mine, Terence Eden, a mobile technologist who writes frequently on his blog about how to do QR codes properly, about this thread.
He's put up a post on his blog with some advice that could help Wikimedia do QR codes properly.
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=3586
His previous entries on how companies do QR codes wrong are worth reading through:
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/tag/qr-codes/
Tom, * Update at Derby*
Terence's blog looks very useful. If anyone is in travelling distance of Derby main museum then there are now some demo QR codes in their geology and natural history section. Comments welcomed. Bravely they agreed to "just do it". Help from Fae and JamesB enabled us to laminate some codes and get them mounted. Assuming we clear out teething problems then wikipedians can write an article on (say) a Joseph Wright Painting and have it available on Wikipedia but they can also have that article available to the museums customers. This will supplement the existing labels.
The demo session should allow the museum to find out what size works and whether low-light or being behing glass hinders readability. Anyone got real experience of minimum size to allow 99% of phones to be able to scan it?
Wikipedia issues so far
- We could do with a tool that allows a lot of Wikipedia articles to be droppin and it then creates nice A4 pages of QRCodes that are annotated with the url and the articles title. It is possible to use scissors and a laminator for a dozen labels but museums will need 100s. - Language is an issue. Its never occured to me, but its odd that I log on to wikipedia using the en: main page. I deally I should just log in to wikipedia.org and my computer tells the site that I normally use English to view articles. - Most museum staff are not equipped with smart phones to demonstrate how this works to visitors
This looks like it will be a feature of our collaboration with Derby Museums. Do sign up if you have helped or hope to attend in April.
Oh and there are pictures on Flickr .... I'll move them to commons
cheers Victuallers
On 4 February 2011 12:36, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
I told a mate of mine, Terence Eden, a mobile technologist who writes frequently on his blog about how to do QR codes properly, about this thread.
He's put up a post on his blog with some advice that could help Wikimedia do QR codes properly.
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/?p=3586
His previous entries on how companies do QR codes wrong are worth reading through:
http://shkspr.mobi/blog/index.php/tag/qr-codes/
-- Tom Morris http://tommorris.org/
Please don't print this e-mail out unless you want a hard copy of it. If you do, go ahead. I won't stop you.
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
I'm thoroughly impressed that we went from my vague mention of QR codes to a live public exhibition within 3 days. Victuallers, you deserve a great big "Making things happen" barn star.
Cheers, Fæ
+1! Got any pictures of the installation processes or labels in-situ? This deserves a mention in the Signpost and if you could also add it to the "this month in GLAM" report for Feb that's being compiled here http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter
Agreed with Roger too, if we could generate labels that not only show the QRcode but also the article title, and maybe something like "read about me on Wikipedia..." to give some context. Roger, would you mind giving a report of what you've achieved to the cultural-partners mailing list and requesting assistance to bring this to v.2?
-Liam
Wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On 05/02/2011, at 10:06, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
I'm thoroughly impressed that we went from my vague mention of QR codes to a live public exhibition within 3 days. Victuallers, you deserve a great big "Making things happen" barn star.
Cheers, Fæ -- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Hi Liam, pleased to see that others agree on you being a fine fellow. Congratulations.
There are some pics in this category which show the cutting out, the mounting, some example locations of the codes and a lady using her phone to access stuff about geology. I'm going to be busy this weekend on other wiki stuff - are there any budding journalists reading this? I can write some stuff but I may not have time to polish it.
Getting to v.2 sounds fun
cheers Roger
On 5 February 2011 23:32, Liam Wyatt liamwyatt@gmail.com wrote:
+1! Got any pictures of the installation processes or labels in-situ? This deserves a mention in the Signpost and if you could also add it to the "this month in GLAM" report for Feb that's being compiled here http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter
Agreed with Roger too, if we could generate labels that not only show the QRcode but also the article title, and maybe something like "read about me on Wikipedia..." to give some context. Roger, would you mind giving a report of what you've achieved to the cultural-partners mailing list and requesting assistance to bring this to v.2?
-Liam
Wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On 05/02/2011, at 10:06, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
I'm thoroughly impressed that we went from my vague mention of QR codes to a live public exhibition within 3 days. Victuallers, you deserve a great big "Making things happen" barn star.
Cheers, Fæ -- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Opps the pictures are in [ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Quick_Response_Codes here] although they are mixed up with other QR stuff...
Victuallers
On 5 February 2011 23:32, Liam Wyatt liamwyatt@gmail.com wrote:
+1! Got any pictures of the installation processes or labels in-situ? This deserves a mention in the Signpost and if you could also add it to the "this month in GLAM" report for Feb that's being compiled here http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter
Agreed with Roger too, if we could generate labels that not only show the QRcode but also the article title, and maybe something like "read about me on Wikipedia..." to give some context. Roger, would you mind giving a report of what you've achieved to the cultural-partners mailing list and requesting assistance to bring this to v.2?
-Liam
Wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On 05/02/2011, at 10:06, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
I'm thoroughly impressed that we went from my vague mention of QR codes to a live public exhibition within 3 days. Victuallers, you deserve a great big "Making things happen" barn star.
Cheers, Fæ -- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 5 February 2011 00:36, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
Opps the pictures are in [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Quick_Response_Codes here] although they are mixed up with other QR stuff...
Victuallers
I've moved all the ones I can find to the http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Quick_Response_Codes_at_Derby_Mus... subcat.
I like the idea of mentioning that the QR code links to Wikipedia. I worry, though, that some GLAMs may not want their collections to link their. Perhaps if there was another QR code by the Wikipedia one that linked to the object's page on the museum's website, the GLAM might be more interested, and most people would probably scan both if they were there anyway.
Regards, Rock drum
From: liamwyatt@gmail.com Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2011 10:32:15 +1100 To: wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Helping with museum signs
+1! Got any pictures of the installation processes or labels in-situ? This deserves a mention in the Signpost and if you could also add it to the "this month in GLAM" report for Feb that's being compiled here http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter
Agreed with Roger too, if we could generate labels that not only show the QRcode but also the article title, and maybe something like "read about me on Wikipedia..." to give some context. Roger, would you mind giving a report of what you've achieved to the cultural-partners mailing list and requesting assistance to bring this to v.2?
-Liam
Wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata
On 05/02/2011, at 10:06, Fae faenwp@gmail.com wrote:
I'm thoroughly impressed that we went from my vague mention of QR codes to a live public exhibition within 3 days. Victuallers, you deserve a great big "Making things happen" barn star.
Cheers, Fæ -- http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
On 4 February 2011 12:36, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
I told a mate of mine, Terence Eden, a mobile technologist who writes frequently on his blog about how to do QR codes properly, about this thread.
He's put up a post on his blog with some advice that could help Wikimedia do QR codes properly.
Well 1 and 4 are doable
5 could be done but not in a very user friendly manner (have each QR code coming in by a unique redirect)
The others unfortunately require developer work.
One thing I think we do need is a way to document on wikipedia that such incoming links exist. I've started to put together an implementation although it needs further work. The idea is that it would be used in the form of a talk page header. The various bits can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:QR_location http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:QR_target
And an Implementation at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Geni/QR_header_test
On Sat, Feb 5, 2011 at 12:57 AM, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
On 4 February 2011 12:36, Tom Morris tom@tommorris.org wrote:
I told a mate of mine, Terence Eden, a mobile technologist who writes frequently on his blog about how to do QR codes properly, about this thread.
He's put up a post on his blog with some advice that could help Wikimedia do QR codes properly.
Well 1 and 4 are doable
5 could be done but not in a very user friendly manner (have each QR code coming in by a unique redirect)
Maybe propose a QR space that displays the mobile friendly list of the interwiki links of the corresponding page? That would be easy to count use, and you could also solve 2 (sortof). You could even shorten articles names by using some sort of Serial number only in that space.
Alex (not a developer, so don't know if that makes sense).
wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org