Digitising Queensland’s historic photographs at Queensland University of Technology

Revision as of 02:49, 4 August 2023

Part of our Partner Projects

11 August 2023, James Gaunt.

As part of Wikimedia Australia’s 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.

QUT Digital Collections began in 2012 and include 15 collections of photographs taken in Australia and across the world.

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 153 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 Cathedral Hill at Alexandra Headland, Seal Park in Buderim, and the Big Pineapple tourist train in Woombye.

To do this, they are using 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.

Green Island Underwater Observatory 1964
Mulgrave Valley From Gillies Highway 1964
Tinaroo Dam Discharge 1964
Spence Street, Cairns 1964
Mt Coonowrin, Glasshouse Mountains, Queensland 1972

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 {{blog post
 | date = 2023-08-11
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+| image = Signpost, Cook Highway QUT-7325.jpg
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 | author = James Gaunt
-| mode = <!-- draft, featured, or hidden -->draft
+| mode = <!-- draft, featured, or hidden -->
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-| description =  Part of our Partner Projects
+| 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
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 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.
+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
-'''[Gallery of four images]'''
+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
-External links
+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)