Give it Away to Get Rich: The Virtuous Cycle of Open Cultural Heritage

Lightning Talk
Effie Kapsalis, Smithsonian Institution Archives, USA, Shana Kimball, The New York Public Library, USA

Over the last decade, more than 50 GLAM organizations have pursued open access removing technical and copyright barriers to their public domain collections. While the reasons for pursuing open access were varied, most of the institutions have felt a positive impact on their brand, mission, organizational culture and relevance, public engagement, and even the increased capacity to raise funds for digitization. However, it doesn’t stop there. When organizations have gone a step further to make collections and data accessible and position them for reuse, they are contributing to a virtuous cycle of innovation and creativity. Come hear what’s happening!

Bibliography:
- Kapsalis, Effie, "The Impact of Open Access on Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums," March 2016, http://siarchives.si.edu/sites/default/files/pdfs/2016_03_10_OpenCollections_Public.pdf.
- SXSW 2016 Trailer, "Give It Away to Get Rich: Open Cultural Heritage," https://vimeo.com/158730415.
- Kapsalis, Effie and Kimball, Shana and Oberoi, Shyam, "Give It Away to Get Rich: Open Cultural Heritage," SXSW Interactive, March 2016, http://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/events/event_PP53198.
- Kelly, Kristin, “Images of Works of Art in Museum Collections: The Experience of Open Access, a Study of 11 Museums,” p. 24. Prepared for The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Council on Library and Information Resources, June 2013. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub157/pub157.pdf, accessed 7/8/2015.
- Tanner, Simon, “Reproduction charging models & rights policy for digital images in American art museums.” An Andrew W. Mellon Foundation study. King’s Digital Consultancy Services, August 2004. http://www.kdcs.kcl.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/pubs/USMuseum_SimonTanner.pdf, accessed 7/8/2015.