Macrogrants/The Open Digitisation Project
- Objective
The Open Digitisation Project aims to provide a sustainable alternative to commercial models for the digitisation of cultural materials, based on open architectures and community-led solutions that contribute to the public domain. Wikimedia's help will provide matched co-funding to free up a project developer for three months to prepare the next stage.
Currently, when a GLAM is considering a digitisation project, it has two options. The institution could secure funding and commission the work either fully in-house or through a service provider. Alternatively, it could enter into a Public/Private Partnership (PPP).
In the current environment, commissioning is increasingly constrained, and PPP is generally only viable to larger institutions with a critical mass of high-value content. Due in part to these pressures, most digitised content is likely to be published under restrictive licensing terms and narrow channels, where its audience will be limited.
The concept of an Open Digitisation Project is to provide a cost-effective alternative which leverages the power of wiki, crowdsourcing and open content licensing to create digital assets that are inherently open, shareable and capable of being repurposed across multiple platforms.
- Goals
The table below shows the goals of the different stages of the project. The current micro-grant application aims to deliver the goals in the second column [Seed stage].
| Concept (current) | Seed stage (3 months) | Pilot project (1- 2 years) | Programme (3 years from now) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Build core coalition | Formalise a steering group. Engage with existing communities, such as GLAMwiki and OpenGLAM. | Leading organisation to carry out project. Partners formally involved with specific roles and also in advisory board | Form a new organisation governed by partners' board representatives. |
| Consultation on concept | Convert concept into a complete project plan. Turn into funding applications. | Delivery. Project management and planning next stage | Support independent initiatives, organisational capacity to bid on digitisation tenders. |
| Map potential funders | Identify 3 likely funders and start application process | Build grant portfolio. | Direct and indirect grants. Alternative funding sources (sponsorship, etc.) |
| Map institutional partners | Selection of two medium size partners: archive/library and gallery/museum | Carry out project with two partners and build network for future collaboration | Large high profile partnership with major institutions. Ongoing projects. International presence. |
| ID building blocks of open digitisation processes and techniques | Scope solutions for key steps (imaging, data, storge, transcription, etc.) | Project plan. Expert input from independent digitisation consultants. | In house capacity and training. Methodology and toolkit. Test and refine. |
| Wikimedia participates in meetings and discussions. | Define role for Wikimedia in project. Commons to be used as repository. But also consider involvement of wider community, liking up with existing GLAM partnerships, etc. | TBC | TBC |
| Ad hoc communications | Prepare communications plan. Blogging by partners. No dedicated social media accounts yet. | Institutional blogs and sector press. Mainstream news presence. Build social media presence. | International coverage. Professional media strategy. |
- Resources
We are applying for £2,000 to cover the salary (pro-rata) and associated costs of a project developer. This will be complemented by extra funding from FreeBMD and contribution in kind of paid staff time from the Open Knowledge Foundation. The total cost of this stage of the project will be £6,000.
- Constraints
Given the short time frame of this stage of the project we do not expect to encounter severe constrains. There could be some issues however could delay the successful progression to the next stage and these are discussed in the risks section.
- Outcomes
| Goal | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Formalise a steering group. Engage with existing communities, such as GLAMwiki and OpenGLAM. | Recruit a representative of each partner organisation. Organise meetings, follow up key decisions and distribute minutes. |
| Convert concept into a complete project plan. | Project plan for 2 pilot digitisation projects (archive and gallery) including the following:
|
| Turn into funding applications. | Finished stage 2 applications ready to be sent as needed. These will be tailored to the format required by funders if available or a generic format otherwise, such as:
|
| Identify 3 likely funders and start application process | Build a relationship with grant manager and sent stage 1 applications. |
| Selection of two medium size partners: archive/library and gallery/museum | Incorporated in project plan and applications. |
| Scope solutions for key steps (imaging, data, storage, transcription, etc.) | Incorporated in project plan and applications. |
| Define role for Wikimedia in project. Commons to be used as repository. But also consider involvement of wider community, liking up with existing GLAM partnerships, etc. | Agreed targets for digital objects into Wikimedia Commons. Other deliverables depending on desired Wikimedia involvement TBC. |
| Prepare communications plan. Blogging by partners. No dedicated social media accounts yet. | Communications strategy as part of the project plan. Guest blogs |
- Risks
| Risk | Prob | Impact | Mitigation |
|---|---|---|---|
| There will be limited availability to get the project steering group together. | low | low | Project developer will make sure meetings are scheduled well in advance and maintains regular communications. |
| Some of the funders may have fixed windows for their applications. It may not be possible for our project developer to submit the applications within the time of employment. | med | low | Project developer to ensure that applications are finished in time and the project sponsor will complete the submissions process. |
| Matched funding not available. | low | high | Recruitment will only start when all the funding has been cleared. But if co-funding was not available at all Open Rights Group will source other funding first and resubmit this application at a later stage. |
| Institutional partners not available. | med | high | There have been preliminary conversations with a broad range on institutions so back ups will be prepared early in the process. |
| Difficulty recruiting a project developer | low | low | If there was a slight delay in starting due to recruitment issues, the project can be forwarded without impacting delivery. Very unlikely. |
| Project developer does not complete tasks in timely or structured format. | low | high | Work plan and close supervision by expert line manager. |
Approval
- This has been approved by the Chief Executive. -- Katie Chan (WMUK) (talk) 13:36, 18 September 2013 (UTC)