Andrea Wallace

“ For example, Art UK limits images to 1200 pixels on the longest side.
The higher-level data collected by this study remains useful for comparing how GLAMs publish collections, interpret national law and enable reuse, and for identifying gaps.
For example, a glaring gap revealed in the map (see Section 3.2.) is where open access is occurring. Regions with aggregators have higher representation for many reasons, some of which are discussed immediately below. But the data shows GLAMs in the majority of the world (and their publics) are under-represented. ”

“ Participants noted the complexity of these systems (including the institution itself as a system) makes change slow. Some participants noted seeking funding for GLAM-specific projects to resolve or improve issues, but raised they also can introduce legacy issues, be designed for limited application or, where transferable, be difficult to scale and implement for the vast majority of GLAMs.
By contrast, aggregators and platforms can offer flexibility. Many also have advantages and perks. They can provide greater publication sustainability and human-facing support. ”

“ Some of these organisations charge service fees for new image creation or delivery and/or continue commercialising high resolution versions. However, they also publish collections online for any reuse purpose, including commercial reuse.
Data is limited to the fee charged, rather than actual fees received or income generated from visitors onsite. It suggests the ability to charge for admission is neither a driver for adopting open access, nor a source of revenue that offsets any loss of income previously generated by exclusive control and licensing. ”

“ Aggregators and platforms offer solutions to institutional barriers and challenges faced by GLAM staff and GLAMs themselves. Some participants mentioned that their organisation’s website lacked the technical capacity to publish or release high quality images due to bandwidth, storage infrastructure and systems within the institution. A website’s interface can be complicated to update and is often bespoke to a GLAM. Layers for rights statements must be maintained internally and built into the interface logic to display on the front-end. ”

“ In EU Member States alone, new survey entries and the volume of public domain compliant assets are expected to skyrocket as GLAMs align policies with Article 14 of 2019 Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive and release all eligible data for any reuse. [12]
United Kingdom. Of the total 80 UK GLAMs, 49 (or 61.3%) claim new rights and use open licences to publish assets generated around public domain works. Based on the data immediately above, the UK is the inverse of the global position. ”

“ Use of open licences and public domain statements are a condition of entry for many. Wikimedia platforms require uploaders to apply CC BY-SA or more permissive statements to content. Wikimedia may condition digitisation funding upon publishing eligible assets to the public domain.
Douglas McCarthy (Europeana) offered insight explaining:
As seen in Europe, aggregators play an important role in publishing digital collections from small organisations. ”

“ These and other examples provided by participants reveal assets are being removed to bolster exclusivity and commercialisation goals. GLAMS are aware they cannot revoke open licences and tools, like Creative Commons. Instead, removing access to the asset re-secures the exclusivity perceived to be necessary for commercialisation. ”

“ Some display a copyright notice near an image or in a footer. Others use watermarks on digital assets. 99 publish assets on Art UK. 35 GLAMs publish open assets. The platform spread is more diverse, including their own website, Flickr Commons, Sketchfab, Art UK, Europeana, and Wikimedia Commons. Many publish on more than one platform. ”

“ Open GLAM participation in top 10 countries
For comparison, the top 10 countries with high open GLAM instances and their volume are discussed in detail in Appendix 3: Top 10 countries with open GLAM participation. ”