Wikidata:WikidataCon 2017/Notes/Documenting Philippine heritage through Wikidata
Abstract edit
Wikimedia Philippines (former chapter) has an ongoing program called the Encyclopedia of Philippine Heritage which aims to document the country's cultural and natural heritage in Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. For the Wikidata component of the program, volunteers are currently inputting data about the historical markers installed by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (Q2652138). The current data can be explored on the Historical Markers Map, a simple app that we developed. In the next few months, we will be expanding the effort to include designated cultural and natural heritage sites in the country, such as the Tubbataha Reef (Q927108), which is a World Heritage Site. We will also be developing a similar app to explore these heritage sites.
Unfortunately, our heritage-related government agencies do not have a complete and accurate database of historical markers and heritage sites as mandated in the National Cultural Heritage Act, unlike in the United States or Europe. And due to the not-so-stable political environment, it is not guaranteed that any such databases that the government agencies maintain will be freely available to the public indefinitely. We hope that inputting the data into Wikidata, we can provide an alternate avenue for the public to access information about the country's heritage. We also hope that by developing useful tools and apps powered by Wikidata and the other Wikimedia projects, we can demonstrate to the government the value of open data and hope to initiate deeper collaborations between the Wikimedia community and the government agencies, similar to what is already being done in some European countries and the United States.