Tunis, Tunisia — A one-month Wikipedian in Residence project at the National Documentation Center of Tunisia has resulted in the digitization of more than 3,000 historical documents, opening new opportunities for the preservation, dissemination, and reuse of Tunisia’s documentary heritage through Wikimedia projects.
The residency was carried out by three Wikipedians in Residence from Wikimedia Tunisia: Mounir Touzri, Houssem Eddin Boubakri, and Naim Garboussi. The team worked in collaboration with the National Documentation Center’s Sub-department of National Archives to identify, digitize, organize, and prepare historical materials for wider public access.
More than 3,000 historical documents digitized
A major part of the project focused on the digitization of magazines published between 1955 and 1983, together with other historical documents related to Tunisia’s history.
The main subjects represented in the digitized collection include sport, art, and cinema, as well as other aspects of Tunisia’s cultural and historical development. The materials contain photographs, articles, reports, and other documentary sources that can provide valuable information about different periods of Tunisian history.
Many of these resources were previously difficult to access online. Their digitization provides researchers, students, educators, journalists, Wikimedians, and the wider public with new opportunities to discover and use historical sources.
Supported by the Million Wiki Project
The residency was supported by the Million Wiki Project, an initiative that aims to create one million new contributions and content pieces on Wikimedia projects about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, in different languages, over a two-year period.
The project supports Wikimedians from diverse backgrounds and encourages collaboration to build a more diverse and inclusive knowledge platform reflecting the region’s rich cultural heritage and contemporary interests.
The digitization of more than 3,000 Tunisian historical documents represents an important contribution to this broader effort to bring MENA’s documentary heritage into the Wikimedia ecosystem.
From digitization to free knowledge
The project goes beyond the simple preservation of documents in digital form. The next objective is to make these resources actively useful across Wikimedia projects.
The digitized materials are being organized and prepared for reuse on platforms including Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikisource.
Photographs can enrich Wikipedia articles, historical information can be structured through Wikidata, and digitized publications can provide valuable material for Wikisource. This approach can transform archival collections into accessible and reusable sources of knowledge.
Wikimedia Tunisia is also preparing workshops with community members to introduce participants to the collection and help them use these documents to create and improve Wikimedia content.
A first step toward broader GLAM collaboration
The residency is also part of a broader strategy by Wikimedia Tunisia User Group to strengthen its capacity to develop and manage partnerships with galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM institutions) across Tunisia.
The longer-term objective is to increase the number and reach of contributors to Wikimedia projects while improving the availability, visibility, and use of Tunisian cultural and documentary heritage across the Wikimedia ecosystem.
The experience gained through the residency at the National Documentation Center provides an important practical foundation for developing these future partnerships.
A GLAM Day at the National Library of Tunisia
As a next step, Wikimedia Tunisia is preparing a GLAM Day at the National Library of Tunisia on 20 October 2026.
The event will bring together the Wikimedia Tunisia User Group, the National Library of Tunisia, the Higher Institute of Documentation at the University of Manouba, and other important cultural and academic institutions. Where relevant, representatives from UNESCO’s Maghreb Office may also participate.
The program is intended to introduce cultural and heritage institutions to Wikimedia projects and, more specifically, to demonstrate how GLAM partnerships can support the digitization, documentation, dissemination, and reuse of cultural heritage.
The event will also provide an opportunity to explore new partnerships between Wikimedia Tunisia and Tunisian institutions holding important documentary and cultural collections.
Connecting the project with UNESCO’s Memory of the World
The planned activities also complement a proposed collaboration between Wikimedia communities in the region and UNESCO’s Maghreb Office, focused on increasing the visibility and accessibility of documentary heritage recognized through UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme.
Tunisia currently has three inscriptions on the Memory of the World International Register, highlighting the country’s significant documentary heritage and the importance of improving public access to these collections.
The Wikimedia approach can contribute to this objective by connecting recognized documentary heritage with free knowledge platforms and enabling communities to document, contextualize, translate, and reuse historical resources.
Building a sustainable GLAM network in Tunisia
The National Documentation Center residency and the upcoming National Library GLAM Day are part of a broader effort to establish stronger and more sustainable relationships between Wikimedia Tunisia and Tunisia’s cultural, archival, library, and academic institutions.
The experience of the three Wikipedians in Residence — Mounir Touzri, Houssem Eddin Boubakri, and Naim Garboussi — demonstrates the potential of direct collaboration between Wikimedia contributors and heritage institutions.
The next phase will focus on expanding this model, involving more Wikimedians, organizing training and editing workshops, and developing new projects with institutions across Tunisia.
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