Digitising Queensland’s historic photographs at Queensland University of Technology

{{blog post
| date = 2023-08-11
| image = Signpost, Cook Highway QUT-7325.jpg
| hide_banner = yes
| author = James Gaunt
| mode = <!-- draft, featured, or hidden -->
| keywords = <!-- comma-separated list -->
| description = Part of our Partner Projects
}}As part of Wikimedia Australia’s [[Wikimedia Australia 2023 Partners Focus On Diverse Content and Building Skills|Partner Projects]], Jill Rogers, Digital Collections

Librarian, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) has been leading a project to upload and describe historic photographic material relating to rural Queensland.

[https://digitalcollections.qut.edu.au/ QUT Digital Collections] began in 2012 and includes photographs taken in Australia and across the world, donated by QUT Alumni and others.

As part of the project with Wikimedia Australia, QUT has been adding images to Wikimedia Commons, the media file repository making freely licensed images available to everyone.

So far, Jill and her team have uploaded 446 images that are now available under an open licence so they can be included on relevant Wikipedia articles and elsewhere.

These images have a focus on rural and regional Queensland, such as [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cathedral_Hill,_Alexandra_Headland_QUT-7033-1.jpg Cathedral Hill at Alexandra Headland], [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seal_Park,_Buderim,_Queensland_QUT-7159-2.jpg Seal Park in Buderim], and the [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Pineapple_tourist_train,_Woombye,_Queensland_QUT-6726-5.jpg Big Pineapple tourist train in Woombye].

To do this, they are using [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Pattypan Pattypan], a tool to upload multiple files to Commons at once along with their metadata, with the guidance of Kerry Raymond who has provided invaluable assistance along the way.

One of the additional outcomes of this project will be documenting their process of digitising collections, and the many steps included before they’re available on Wikimedia Commons.

This has included removing dust and mould for slides, scanning images, restoring them with minor edits in Photoshop, and adding metadata, before they are ready to be added to the digital collections.

The project is due to be completed later this year, and we look forward to sharing the full outcomes from the fantastic work being done by Jill and the team at QUT’s Digital Collections.<gallery>
File:Green Island Underwater Observatory QUT-7040-1.jpg|Green Island Underwater Observatory  1964
File:Mulgrave Valley From Gillies Highway QUT-7316.jpg|Mulgrave Valley From Gillies Highway 1964
File:Tinaroo Dam Discharge QUT-7334-2.jpg|Tinaroo Dam Discharge 1964
File:Spence Street, Cairns QUT-7327.jpg|Spence Street, Cairns 1964
File:Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland QUT-7233.jpg|Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland 1972
</gallery>

==External links==
* [https://digitalcollections.qut.edu.au/ QUT Digital Collections]
*[https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/QUT/QUT_Wikimedia_Australia_Partner_Project QUT Project Dashboard]
*''[https://www.qut.edu.au/engage/alumni/news-and-stories?id=181448 Explore Queensland’s history through the QUT Digital Collections]'' (June 2022)

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