AvoinGLAM is a Finnish network of people and institutions interested in and working among open culture and cultural materials. It is part of an international OpenGLAM network. The aim is to support new collaborations between Finnish* GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives & Museums), help institutions open cultural content and data and promote the creative reuse of these materials.
AvoinGLAM organises events such as seminars, workshops and hackathons. We educate institutions on how to open institutional practices and cultural content and data. To support this we produce educational and informational materials and communicate current issues and news on open culture. We work in collaboration with cultural institutions and the maker community bringing together professionals from various fields and facilitating the production of new services and concepts based on open culture.
Projects
AvoinGLAM is also a thematic working group of Open Knowledge Finland which promotes open knowledge and openness in general within the Finnish society. The working group has received funding from the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture between 2013-2016 for the following projects:
2013-2014: Kohti avointa kulttuuria (”Towards open culture”). The aim of the project was to support Finnish cultural heritage institutions in opening cultural materials. An open cultural data master class was organised in spring 2014 with over 20 institutions taking part and opening content and data as a result. The materials of the master class and experiences of AvoinGLAM activities were curated into a guidebook (Kohti avointa kulttuuria) providing an introduction to open culture as well as support and practical guidelines for institutions attempting to open up.
2014-2015: AvoinGLAM. The purpose of AvoinGLAM project was to facilitate the creative reuse of already opened Finnish cultural heritage materials and the creation of new services. The first Hack4FI – Hack your heritage! cultural hackathon was organised in February 2015 with nearly 20 new projects and concepts. The working group also took part in an international OpenGLAM Benchmark Study that lead to a report on the current situation and practices of open culture within Finnish cultural heritage institutions (Perässä luovijoita vai avoimuuden airueita?).
2015-2016: Hack4FI – Hack your heritage. The project continued promoting and facilitating the creative reuse of open cultural materials. Hack4FI – Hack your heritage! hackathon was organised for the second time in February 2016 with even more participants, datasets and new cultural works and concepts. The project had an emphasis on the educational uses and possibilities of open cultural materials and a media education workshop model called Kuvatus was developed for schools, museums and libraries.
More information:
Sanna Marttila / sanna.marttila[a]okf.fi
Laura Sillanpaa / laura.sillanpaa[a]okf.fi
You can also send comments and questions to: avoinglam[a]gmail.com
* “Avoin” means open in Finnish.