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Wikipedia in Residence in the Chateau de Versailles
VERSAILLES, France, February 25, 2011/PRNewswire/ -- The public establishment of the Chateau, Museum and National Estate of
Versailles and Wikimedia France, an association for the free sharing of
knowledge, have today signed a partnership to allow a wider dissemination of
the historical, architectural and artistic riches of the Chateau and Estate
of Versailles.
Wikimedia France promotes in France the famous on-line encyclopaedia
Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. For several years now, the
Chateau de Versailles has been involved on a large scale in the digital
dissemination of its heritage, history and collections on its website as well
as on file sharing websites and the social networks.
For the first time in France, a "resident Wikipedian", Benoit Evellin,
will spend six months in the Chateau de Versailles. This member of Wikimedia
France, a specialist in cultural mediation, will be working to facilitate
contacts between the contributors to Wikipedia and the teams of the Chateau
de Versailles. His assignment is to set up efficient channels for
transmitting the cultural and scientific contents of the Chateau de
Versailles on the Wikimedia projects, in French as well as in several other
languages, and on Wikimedia Commons, the central media library of the
Wikimedia projects, notably via photographs.
Benoit is enthusiastic: "It's a great honour for me to be received in
this symbol of the history of France. Versailles has always been a place of
innovation: so it's normal that it remains so in the digital age."
Jean-Jacques Aillagon, President of the Public Establishment of the
Chateau, Museum and National Estate of Versailles, states: "Wikipedia is a
major source of information on the Chateau de Versailles, circulated
worldwide. Some conservators and scientific specialists of the Establishment
already contribute spontaneously to enrich some articles. The purpose of this
residence is to enable us to go further and pursue our reflection on the
widest possible sharing of the heritage of Versailles."
Looking beyond this pioneering project, this partnership is intended to
build the framework of a longer lasting collaboration between Wikimedia
France and the Chateau de Versailles. Inspired by the Wikimedia Conference
2010, this partnership is one of the first visible fruits of a new way of
approaching culture and its free dissemination in the Internet age.
"We are delighted to see that in just a few weeks an original, fruitful
and innovative collaboration can be set up," says Adrienne Alix, president of
Wikimedia France. "The dynamism of the Chateau de Versailles and its desire
to share its heritage is very appreciable, and we are sure that this will
open the way to other projects with other institutions, as we have already
done with the City of Toulouse and the BNF and in our experiments with
Versailles."
Source: Chateau de Versailles
Press contact: Chateau de Versailles, Helene Dalifard, +33(0)1-30-83-77-01; Aurelie Gevrey, +33(0)1-30-83-77-03; Violaine Solari, +33(0)1-30-83-77-14, presse@chateauversailles.fr; Wikimedia: Adrienne Alix, adrienne.alix@wikimedia.fr, +33(0)6-33-40-70-80
Wikipedia in Residence in the Chateau de Versailles
VERSAILLES, France, February 25, 2011/PRNewswire/ -- The public establishment of the Chateau, Museum and National Estate of
Versailles and Wikimedia France, an association for the free sharing of
knowledge, have today signed a partnership to allow a wider dissemination of
the historical, architectural and artistic riches of the Chateau and Estate
of Versailles.
Wikimedia France promotes in France the famous on-line encyclopaedia
Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. For several years now, the
Chateau de Versailles has been involved on a large scale in the digital
dissemination of its heritage, history and collections on its website as well
as on file sharing websites and the social networks.
For the first time in France, a "resident Wikipedian", Benoit Evellin,
will spend six months in the Chateau de Versailles. This member of Wikimedia
France, a specialist in cultural mediation, will be working to facilitate
contacts between the contributors to Wikipedia and the teams of the Chateau
de Versailles. His assignment is to set up efficient channels for
transmitting the cultural and scientific contents of the Chateau de
Versailles on the Wikimedia projects, in French as well as in several other
languages, and on Wikimedia Commons, the central media library of the
Wikimedia projects, notably via photographs.
Benoit is enthusiastic: "It's a great honour for me to be received in
this symbol of the history of France. Versailles has always been a place of
innovation: so it's normal that it remains so in the digital age."
Jean-Jacques Aillagon, President of the Public Establishment of the
Chateau, Museum and National Estate of Versailles, states: "Wikipedia is a
major source of information on the Chateau de Versailles, circulated
worldwide. Some conservators and scientific specialists of the Establishment
already contribute spontaneously to enrich some articles. The purpose of this
residence is to enable us to go further and pursue our reflection on the
widest possible sharing of the heritage of Versailles."
Looking beyond this pioneering project, this partnership is intended to
build the framework of a longer lasting collaboration between Wikimedia
France and the Chateau de Versailles. Inspired by the Wikimedia Conference
2010, this partnership is one of the first visible fruits of a new way of
approaching culture and its free dissemination in the Internet age.
"We are delighted to see that in just a few weeks an original, fruitful
and innovative collaboration can be set up," says Adrienne Alix, president of
Wikimedia France. "The dynamism of the Chateau de Versailles and its desire
to share its heritage is very appreciable, and we are sure that this will
open the way to other projects with other institutions, as we have already
done with the City of Toulouse and the BNF and in our experiments with
Versailles."
Source: Chateau de Versailles
Press contact: Chateau de Versailles, Helene Dalifard, +33(0)1-30-83-77-01; Aurelie Gevrey, +33(0)1-30-83-77-03; Violaine Solari, +33(0)1-30-83-77-14, presse@chateauversailles.fr; Wikimedia: Adrienne Alix, adrienne.alix@wikimedia.fr, +33(0)6-33-40-70-80