Press releases/Britain Loves Wikipedia

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Britain Loves Wikipedia

Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, Culture 24 and The Collections Trust join Wikipedia in celebrating Britain's cultural heritage

24 January 2010, UK: 'Britain Loves Wikipedia' is a month-long series of events and competitions to create the best photographs with participating museums. It is designed draw more people from all ages, all backgrounds and all communities into understanding and appreciating the nation's cultural heritage. It encourages active involvement, and promotes the value of the nation's cultural treasures through interaction with them in our country's superb museums and galleries.

The month-long celebration begins at the Victoria and Albert museum in London on the 31st January, and is followed by further events across the UK throughout February.

Britain Loves Wikipedia then continues with:

• On the 5th/6th February, the Museum of Army Flying in Hampshire will be offering free entry to photographers as well as free tea or coffee, and will be allowing flash and tripod photography.
• John Muir's Birthplace and Preston Grange Museum strike a romantic note for Valentines Day, hosting "East Lothian Photographers LOVE Wikipedia!" These host museums are providing a warm Scottish welcome providing free tea and coffee to all participants and offering tours and guides to the museums
• On the 20th February, the British Postal Museum Store in Loughton, Essex, will open its doors and let photographers into its archives

Other participating museums include:

• Victoria and Albert Museum, London
• Royal Air Force Museum, London and Cosford.
• British Postal Museum Store, Loughton, Essex
• John Muir's Birthplace and Prestongrange Museum, East Lothian, Scotland
• Museum of Army Flying, Hampshire

'Britain Loves Wikipedia' is a competition to create the best photographs within participating museums, and to make them available under a free license to illustrate Wikipedia articles. Prizes include a Wikireader - a copy of the entire English Wikipedia in your pocket. The best photograph from each RAF Museum site will receive £100.00 of goods from the Museum's shop and more will be announced soon.

Britain Loves Wikipedia is organized by Wikimedia UK in collaboration with the MLA, Collections Trust and Culture 24. A trial event in February 2009 at the Victoria and Albert created over 300 photographs now available on Wikipedia. In June 2009, Wiki Loves Art in The Netherlands created over 10,000 photographs taken at 46 Dutch museums.

EDITORS' NOTES

About Wikimedia UK:

Wikimedia UK is an independent organisation that supports free and open knowledge throughout the United Kingdom, including promoting and supporting the projects of the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.

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. It currently contains over 5.5 million freely licensed images and media files.

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/

Contact details:

Michael Peel, Chair, Wikimedia UK

• Email: michael.peel@wikimedia.org.uk
• Phone: +44 (0)7988 013 646