Where do the images on WIkipedia come from?

25 March 2024, Ali Smith.

Australian institutions contribute significantly to Wikimedia Commons, which is a valuable media resource for Wikipedia writers and the general public. By sharing images, sound and video from their heritage collections, these institutions increase the visibility and accessibility of Australian cultural heritage, and foster a global appreciation for Australia’s historical collections.

The GLAM reports below are a great example of how digital platforms can be used to preserve and promote cultural heritage on an international scale - so where on Wikipedia are images used?

Using the GLAMorousToHTML tool, Olaf Janssen, Wikimedia & open data at Koninklijke Bibliotheek, has shared some nifty reports to show just that! The GLAMorousToHTML tool can list Wikipedia articles that include images from a given Commons category. It creates a HTML page and Excel file that lists all Wikipedia articles in all languages.

GLAM Reports for Australia and New Zealand

Olaf has created concise overviews for 14 organisations as of March 2024. These numbers are quite impressive!

Australia

• Images from the Australian War Memorial are used in 12,007 Wikipedia articles in 173 languages. View the report.

• Images from the Pest and Disease Image Library (PaDIL) are used in 10,361 articles in 67 languages. View the report.

• Images from State Library of Queensland are used in 6,395 Wikipedia articles in 124 languages. View the report.

• Images from Paralympics Australia are used in 2,525 articles in 84 languages. View the report.

• Images from State Library of New South Wales are used in 1,825 articles in 96 languages. View the report.

• Photographs from State Library Victoria are used in 1,147 articles in 80 languages. View the report

• Files from State Library of South Australia are used in 695 Wikipedia articles in 54 languages. View the report.

• Images from NSW State Archives are used in 416 articles in 45 languages. View the report.

• Images from the New South Wales Heritage Database are used in 396 articles in 12 languages. View the report

• Images from Australian National Maritime Museum are used in 312 articles in 42 languages. View the report

New Zealand

• Images from Auckland War Memorial Museum are used in 8,014 articles in 136 languages. View the report

• Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga are used in 2,212 articles in 121 languages. View the report

• Photographs by New Zealand Defence Force are used in 389 articles in 66 languages. View the report

• Files from Tertiary Education Union Te Hautu Kahurangi o Aotearoa are used in 120 articles in 49 languages. View the report

Related Links

• GLAMorousToHTML - See GitHub for documentation how these overviews were created
• Public outreach and reuse of KB images via Wikipedia, 2014-2022
• Wikimedia Commons