Resources available: Global network on open access to documentary heritage

25 Jan 2021

Open access to documentary heritage is essential to preserve, promote and raise awareness about our past and how we came to be where we are today. At the same time, open access also must be promoted with a respect for and understanding of copyright issues.

From 25 September to 16 October 2020, in collaboration with Creative Commons, the global network on sharing cultural heritage OpenGLAM and the Memory of the World Regional Committee for Asia-Pacific (MOWCAP), UNESCO Bangkok organized a series of webinars on Universal Access to Documentary Heritage in Asia and the Pacific. In total, 140 participants joined the webinar series, most of whom are people who work in memory institutions in the Asia Pacific region.

The webinars brought together a diverse group of panelists and topics with the goal to raise awareness about the importance of looking into copyright issues and open access practices when digitizing collections. The panelists brought a wealth of knowledge to the conversation, sharing working definitions of open access, and strategies and tactics to implement open access at your institution.

The presentations also included best practices, case studies and general information on copyright law and how to deal with copyright clearance at your own institution. There was an important focus on Creative Commons licenses and tools and Rights Statements as part of the suite of tools that help institutions to implement open access policies.

The series of four webinars can be found in the playlist on UNESCO’s YouTube channel.

We want to thank all the panelists, moderators and participants for joining the series. We expect that this is just the beginning of a very fruitful conversation on Open Access to Documentary Heritage.

Useful links:

Webinars related files:
Pre-survey: Test your understanding: http://bit.ly/OpenGLAM2020survey
Roadmap/note sheet: http://bit.ly/OARoadmap
UNESCO Open GLAM Webinars Satisfaction Survey: https://bit.ly/OAExitSurvey

For those who want to open up their collections but do not know where to start and how to start, Evelin Heidel (OpenGLAM Platform Lead, Creative Commons), the moderator of the last session, shared useful links:

Guidelines and recommendations:
https://www.europeana.eu/es/rights/public-domain-usage-guidelines
https://www.si.edu/openaccess/faq
https://medium.com/open-glam/glam-collections-on-social-media-navigating-copyright-questions-7a4065332f39

Where to find resources to support your open access initiatives?
https://clir.org/
https://eap.bl.uk/
https://eap.bl.uk/resources-guides
http://diybookscanner.org/
http://www.digitizationguidelines.gov/
https://www.library.ucla.edu/partnerships/modern-endangered-archives-program
https://archive.org/
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project