Tagged With: open collections data

Providing open access to digitised collections has spurred creativity and research worldwide – so why are the UK’s flagship museums so slow on the uptake?

Students from the Master of Science in Data Visualization program at Parsons' School of Art, Media, and Technology were assigned a challenging task: interpreting data from The Met's Open Access collection to design thoughtful, creative, and often eye-opening presentations.

Through the Museum’s Open Access program and the release of its public API, the Met collection is empowering users and data science in new and innovative ways.

On the third anniversary of the Met's Open Access program, this article reviews the significant impact the program has made.

A review of what happened in the six months after The Met launched its Open Access initiative, which made available all 375,000+ images of public-domain works in The Met collection under Creative Commons Zero (CC0).

Looking at the example of the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg (MKG), this article outlines the potential of open access for digitised museum collections. It also examines the challenges of the open access policy and the wider implications of openness for the museum, other cultural heritage institutions and society.

The Finnish National Gallery recently applies a CC0 copyright waiver to its digital reproductions of out-of-copyright works, joining leading institutions in the OpenGLAM movement to promote free and open access to digital cultural heritage. Riitta Ojanperä, PhD, Director of Collections Management, spoke to Douglas McCarthy about the Gallery’s policy.

The Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) is one of the United States’ largest art museums, with renowned artworks in its encyclopaedic collection. It has made images of its public-domain works available to use without restriction, bringing its mission to be 'for the benefit of all the people forever' firmly into the digital age. Jane Alexander, Chief Digital Information Officer at the CMA, gave Douglas McCarthy the inside story behind the announcement.

The Musée de Bretagne is an open access pioneer in the French museum sector, offering high-resolution public domain images free to download and use. Douglas McCarthy spoke with Céline Chanas and Fabienne Martin-Adam to learn about the genesis, impact and context of the museum’s open access policy.

In this interview, Michal Čudrnák describes how openly licensed collections and creative reuse help the Slovak National Gallery reach new audiences.