Denmark’s National Museum releasing thousands of historic and free photos to the public
One of the largest cultural-historical image collections is heading out on the web. The vast majority of images can be used free of charge – also for commercial purposes.
A historic photo-tsunami will hit Denmark and the rest of the world when Denmark’s National Museum during the coming year makes available its unique collection of pictures and photographs under the name Collections Online. In the future, the images will all be completely free to download and use from the very large proportion of the 750,000 images that will eventually become available in the Digital National Museum.
“We are close to having published 50,000 pictures, but our goal is 750,000 pictures and the vast majority can be used exactly as the people themselves want,” says Jacob Riddersholm Wang, project manager and digital officer at the National Museum.
The National Museum has chosen Creative Commons license BY-SA for the photos and the museum owns the copyright. This means that you can share them on Facebook, use them in PowerPoint shows or use them for commercial projects, as long as you write the photographer’s name, and that the pictures are from the National Museum. Furthermore, some of the images are so old that the copyright has expired, and they can of course be used freely.
It is the National Museum’s goal to publish all images and photos in this way. The many images include photographs of museum objects, such as suits, antiquities, furniture, church furniture and musical instruments, as well as images from the National Museum’s many ethnographic expeditions and archaeological sites.
The collection also contains many pictures of people, cities and buildings that the country’s many genealogy and local history buffs will surely be able to enjoy. The pictures will use the highest resolution that the National Museum has, and they will often be in print quality.
Sets heritage free
The Digital National Museum is naturally linked to the National Museum’s mission is to ensure that everyone can gain insight into the cultural history.
“The National Museum doesn’t own the cultural heritage. We manage it, and we must do so in a way that as many as possible can use it on their own terms,” says Jacob Riddersholm Wang.
It is not new that a museum puts pictures on the web. But the number of photos, and the fact that there are “ungraded” images, is unusual. Jacob Riddersholm Wang sees it as a democratization of the image-borne heritage.
“It is a project of availability, not a classical communication project. Therefore, we don’t even sort the images we provide. We make no selection, thematic or otherwise. We provide only people access,” says Jacob Riddersholm Wang.
Find them on Google
The National Museum also has no specific target in mind, because people search and use images on the web in different contexts. It may be scientists, amateur archaeologists, hobby historians, designers, teachers, students, advertisers and writers. There are as many groups as there are reasons for seeking pictures on the net.
“Because we have based our project on the behavior that you are looking for images on the web, we don’t really imagine that users need to know in advance about our website and go there to search. We know very well that the vast majority of people search in Google, so it’s here that the entrance to the National Museum image collection can be found,” says Jacob Riddersholm Wang.
Collections Online’s database is open for Google and other search engines that can look for it, and therefore the images will show up when users search. Each image has its own master page with information about what it represents, and what the rules are for use. From here you can quickly share or download the photo you have found and would like to use.
Collections Online officially launches from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m. on October 8, 2014 at the National Museum.
View and download pictures from the National Museum of Collections Online at http://samlinger.natmus.dk.
FUN FACTS:
* The National Museum is Denmark’s largest museum of cultural history – and it is many museums under one roof.
* Every year over a million people visit one of the National Museum’s many departments.
* In 2013, the National Museum at the Prince’s Palace was Denmark’s most visited museum.
* The National Museum has free admission.
DANISH VERSION: Nationalmuseet frigiver tusindvis af historiske fotos
En af Danmarks største kulturhistoriske billedsamlinger er på vej ud på nettet. Langt de fleste billeder kan bruges gratis – også til kommercielle formål.
En historisk billede-tsunami rammer Danmark og resten af verden, når Nationalmuseet i løbet af de kommende år tilgængeliggør sin unikke samling af billeder og fotografier under navnet Samlinger Online. Fremover kan enhver kvit og frit hente og bruge en meget stor del af de 750.000 billeder, som med tiden bliver tilgængelige i Det Digitale Nationalmuseum.
– Vi er tæt på at have offentliggjort 50.000 billeder, men vores mål er 750.000 billeder, som for langt de flestes vedkommende kan bruges helt, som folk selv vil, siger Jacob Riddersholm Wang, projektleder og digitaliseringsansvarlig på Nationalmuseet.
Nationalmuseet har valgt Creative Commons-licensen BY-SA til de fotos, som museet har ophavsretten til. Det betyder, at man kan dele dem på Facebook, bruge dem i powerpoint-shows eller anvende dem til kommercielle projekter, når blot man skriver fotografens navn, og at billederne stammer fra Nationalmuseet. Desuden er der også en del af billederne, der er så gamle, at ophavsretten er bortfaldet, og de kan selvfølgelig bruges frit.
Det er Nationalmuseets mål at publicere samtlige billeder og fotos på denne måde. De mange billeder omfatter fotografier af museets genstande, såsom dragter, oldsager, møbler, kirkeinventar og musikinstrumenter, samt billeder fra Nationalmuseets mange etnografiske ekspeditioner og arkæologiske udgravninger.
Samlingen rummer også mange billeder af personer, byer og bygninger, som landets mange slægts- og lokalhistorisk interesserede sikkert vil kunne få glæde af. Billederne lægges op den højeste opløsning, Nationalmuseet har, og de vil ofte være i trykkvalitet.
Sætter kulturarven fri
Det Digitale Nationalmuseum hænger naturligt sammen med Nationalmuseets mission, som skal sikre, at alle kan få indsigt i kulturhistorien.
– Nationalmuseet ejer jo ikke kulturarven. Vi forvalter den, og det skal vi gøre på en måde, så flest muligt kan bruge den på deres egne præmisser, siger Jacob Riddersholm Wang
Det er ikke nyt, at et museum lægger billeder på nettet. Men antallet af fotos, og dét, at der er tale om ”usorterede” billeder, er usædvanligt. Jacob Riddersholm Wang ser det som en demokratisering af den billedbårne kulturarv.
– Det er et tilgængeliggørelsesprojekt, ikke et klassisk formidlingsprojekt. Derfor sorterer vi heller ikke i, hvilke billeder vi gør tilgængelige. Vi foretager ingen udvælgelse, tematisering eller lignende. Vi giver alene folk adgang, slår Jacob Riddersholm Wang fast.
Find dem på Google
Nationalmuseet har heller ingen særlig målgruppe i tankerne, men mere en bestemt adfærd: At folk søger og bruger billeder på nettet i forskellige sammenhænge. Det kan være forskere, amatørarkæologer, hobbyhistorikere, designere, lærere, elever, reklamefolk og skribenter. Der er lige så mange målgrupper, som der er motiver til at søge billeder på nettet.
– Fordi vi har taget udgangspunkt i den adfærd, at man søger billeder på nettet, forestiller vi os egentlig ikke, at brugerne på forhånd behøver at kende vores website og gå derhen for at søge. Vi ved jo godt, at langt de fleste søger i Google, så derfor er det her, indgangen til Nationalmuseets billedsamling findes, siger Jacob Riddersholm Wang.
Samlinger Onlines billeddatabase er åben for Google og andre søgemaskiner, som kan kigge ned i den, og derfor vil billederne dukke op, når brugerne søger. Hvert billede har sin egen stamside med oplysninger om, hvad det forestiller, og hvad reglerne er for brug. Herfra kan man hurtigt dele eller downloade det foto, man har fundet og gerne vil bruge.
Samlinger Online lanceres officielt kl. 15.00-17.00 d. 8. oktober 2014 på Nationalmuseet.
Se, og download billeder fra Nationalmuseet på Samlinger Online her: http://samlinger.natmus.dk
MERE OM NATIONALMUSEET
* Nationalmuseet er Danmarks største kulturhistoriske museum – og vi er mange museer i ét.
* Hvert år besøger over en million mennesker en af Nationalmuseets mange afdelinger
* I 2013 var Nationalmuseet i Prinsens Palæ Danmarks mest besøgte museum
* Nationalmuseet har gratis adgang
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