Wikimedia Argentina hosts edit-a-thon, facilitates donation of high-quality images from museum

This past month, Argentina joined the Latin American “edit-a-thon” fever, together with Chile and Mexico.
On December 8th, nearly 20 Wikipedia volunteers participated in the first edit-a-thon organized in Buenos Aires. The event was hosted by Wikimedia Argentina and the Museum of the Bicentenary, which was also the venue for the activity.

After a tour in the museum, the Wikipedians edited and developed several articles on Spanish Wikipedia related to Argentine history and the articles of the museum’s collection. For this, the Museum of the Bicentenary released several high-quality images of objects currently on display, works of art from its collection and photographs of the museum itself. These 86 images were published under free licenses and can be used on Wikipedia and by anybody else, while attributing the author of the work and keeping the original license.
Among the published images are the official portrait of Juan Domingo Perón and his wife Eva, made by Numa Ayrinhac, the presidential sash and baton of Raúl Alfonsín and the first presidential chair, used by Santiago Derqui.
In only a few weeks, more than 40 images have already been used in more than 16 languages (from Spanish to Aragonese, Arabic and Ukrainian). It is estimated that over 2 million people per month will see the images of the Museum that are currently in use on Wikipedia, but that number could rise as volunteers illustrate new Wikipedia articles with these images.
The initiative was welcomed by Juan José Ganduglia, Director of the Museum, who was actively involved in the activity, supporting attendees and providing information about the museum and the history behind its exhibits. The success of this first edit-a-thon will make it possible to host new events for 2013 in the Museum and in other similar institutions within Argentina.
Osmar Valdebenito, Executive Director, Wikimedia Argentina