Scaling GLAM partnerships with an open editorial toolkit: the “Sharing culture” path
Speakers
Wikimedian since 2007. Member of Wikimedia Italia staff, coordinator of Wiki Loves Monuments in Italy, and community manager.
Marco Chemello is a Wikimedian since 2004 and an administrator on Italian Wikipedia since 2005. He is the GLAM specialist and a trainer at Wikimedia Italia, where he designs capacity-building resources that help cultural institutions contribute to Wikimedia projects. As a Wikimedian in Residence he has led OpenGLAM collaborations with partners including BEIC, Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tecnologia “Leonardo da Vinci” (Milan), ICAR (Italian Ministry of Culture), Accademia delle Scienze di Torino and Archivio Storico Ricordi. He is currently migrating the Museo Egizio (Turin) digital collections to Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and Wikipedia. He is contributing to “Sharing culture”, an open editorial toolkit (CC BY-SA) that turns recurring GLAM needs into reusable guides, training materials and examples. He has delivered workshops and lectures for universities and cultural professionals, and co-developed three free MOOCs with the University of Padua to support students, teachers and GLAM staff in Wikimedia participation.
Abstract
GLAM partnerships often rely on 1:1 support that doesn’t scale. After engaging 284 museums in our previous national program (2022–2024), Wikimedia Italia launched 'Sharing culture' (2025-): a CC BY-SA editorial toolkit that turns recurring GLAM needs into reusable guides (open access onboarding, a grant-design guide for the MAB program, and a lawyer-informed checklist for releasing non-image materials). Paired with a free MOOC designed for cultural institutions, the toolkit helps under-resourced partners move toward autonomous, reliable contributions on Wikimedia projects. In 5 minutes we share the editorial workflow, a 4-step maturity ladder, and a replication recipe affiliates can translate and adapt.
Additional information
Freedom: We reduce dependency on proprietary platforms and on 1:1 consultancy by publishing reusable CC BY-SA resources that enable institutions to act independently. Equity: A modular toolkit + free MOOC provides 'fair means according to needs': small or under-resourced institutions can start with onboarding and funding guidance, then grow into more advanced steps at their own pace. Reliability: We strengthen reliability by combining licensing clarity (including a legal-based guide on CC tools and public domain markers) with a roadmap toward structured, interoperable data (Wikidata) and data management practices.
Affiliate staff and volunteers starting (or scaling) GLAM partnerships; Wikimedians designing capacity-building materials; and GLAM professionals looking for a practical entry point into Wikimedia participation.
Everyone can participate in this session