Press releases/Wikimedia Commons 20 million files

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Wikipedia's media library tops 20,000,000 media files

United Kingdom, ??th February 2014: Wikipedia’s sister site, Wikimedia Commons (Commons), the library of images, sound files, and videos that constitutes an integral component of Wikipedia’s user experience, has hit the 20 million media files milestone. The twenty millionth file uploaded to Commons is TBA. It was uploaded by TBA.

With today’s milestone the number of files on Wikimedia Commons has doubled in less than three years. This is in part thanks to Wikimedia’s global community of volunteers building more and more relationships with cultural institutions and collection holders around the world, receiving and uploading large treasures of photographs, video and other content.

Michael Maggs, a trustee of Wikimedia UK and a leading figure in the volunteer community on Wikimedia Commons comments: “Wikimedia Commons is a great resource for individuals, bloggers, news outlets and any other organisation wanting to illustrate their story with quality media. All files on Wikimedia Commons can be used for any purpose, including commercial use, under terms consistent with the Definition of Free Cultural Works. We would like to encourage galleries, libraries, museums and all those working in the arts or in public archives to consider sharing images with Wikimedia Commons. With Wikimedia sites now receiving over 500 million unique visitors per month, it is a great way for these organisations to reach out to a wider audience."

Wikimedia Foundation and its affiliate UK chapter would like to thank the tens of thousands of individuals whose contributions to Wikimedia Commons have helped bring the project to this milestone.

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EDITORS' NOTES About Wikimedia Commons: Wikimedia Commons is a free image and media file repository, and is a sister project to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. It was started on 7 September 2004, and is operated by the Wikimedia Foundation.

About Wikimedia UK: Wikimedia UK is the local Wikimedia chapter covering the United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is a registered UK charity, independent of the Wikimedia foundation but with similar aims in that it supports free and open knowledge throughout the United Kingdom, including promoting and supporting the projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

About the Wikimedia Foundation: The Wikimedia Foundation Inc. is the US-based non-profit organisation that operates some of the largest collaboratively-edited reference projects in the world. These include Wikipedia, one of the world's 10 most-visited websites, and Wikimedia Commons.

Further information: • Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ • Featured pictures on Wikimedia Commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Featured_pictures.

For further information, please contact: Stevie Benton, Communications Organiser, Wikimedia UK Tel: +44 (0)7803 505 173

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