[Foundation-l] Commons and The Year of the Picture

[Pharos]

On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 2:05 AM, Michael Snow <wikipedia at verizon.net> wrote:
> This isn't directly related to the board meeting, but I want to pause
> for a moment to share some ideas. Not all of them are mine, quite a bit
> of this is directly from the chapters.
>
> The Swedish chapter had the idea to declare 2009 The Year of the
> Picture, to put a concerted effort into adding images to the Wikimedia
> Commons, along with using more illustrations in Wikipedia and elsewhere.
> I think this is absolutely a great idea. Making better use of visual
> material in our projects also fits in with the ongoing effort to improve
> quality.
>
> I applaud the efforts of all the chapters in this area, and I encourage
> anyone who can to join in. You may recall that the German chapter
> recently secured the release of a large number of images from their
> federal archive, and several other chapters are also working on free
> image collection projects. Hopefully our April meetings of chapter
> representatives, in conjunction with the board, will be an opportunity
> to develop more ideas and strategies. And of course, you don't even need
> to have a recognized chapter to get a group together and organize photo
> expeditions, as for example some of the people in the now-approved New
> York chapter have done.

Hurrah for the The Year of the Picture!

In New York City, it feels like 2008 was our Year of the Picture with
our "Wikipedia Takes Manhattan" photo scavenger hunts, and I encourage
folks to look at stuff that has been done in other places as well:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Takes_The_City

I hope "Wikipedia Loves Art" can be a great kick-off to The Year of
the Picture, with maybe a dozen museums and cultural institutions
around the globe who will be participating next month.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Loves_Art

Thanks,
Pharos