QRpedia

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QRpedia
QR code for QRpedia.png
A QRpedia code which decodes as the URL http://en.qrwp.org/QRpedia, used widely as the logo.
URL qrpedia.org
Commercial? No
Registration None
Available language(s) Multilingual
Content license MIT License
Created by Terence Eden
Roger Bamkin
Launched 9 April 2011; 2 years ago (2011-04-09)
Current status Online

QRpedia is a mobile Web based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language.[1][2][3] QR codes can easily be generated to link directly to any Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), but the QRpedia system adds further functionality.

QRpedia was conceived by Roger Bamkin, then chair of Wikimedia UK, coded by Terence Eden, and unveiled in April 2011. It is currently in use at museums and other institutions in countries including Australia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. The project's source code is freely reusable under the MIT License.

Contents

Process [edit]

Visitors to Derby Museum using a mobile phone to scan a QRpedia QR code

When a user scans a QRpedia QR code on their mobile device, the device decodes the QR code into a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) using the domain name "qrwp.org" and whose path (final part) is the title of a Wikipedia article, and sends a request for the article specified in the URL to the QRpedia web server. It also transmits the language setting of the device.[4]

The QRpedia server then uses Wikipedia's API[1] to determine whether there is a version of the specified Wikipedia article in the language used by the device, and if so, returns it in a mobile-friendly format.[4] If there is no version of the article available in the preferred language, then the QRpedia server offers a choice of the available languages, or a Google translation.

In this way, one QRcode can deliver the same article in many languages,[4] even when the museum is unable to make its own translations. QRpedia also records usage statistics.[4][5]

Origins [edit]

QRpedia was conceived by Roger Bamkin,[1][6] then chair of Wikimedia UK,[7] and Terence Eden,[1] a mobile web consultant,[8] and was unveiled on 9 April 2011[1][9] at Derby Museum and Art Gallery's Backstage Pass event,[1][8] part of the "GLAM/Derby" collaboration between the museum and Wikipedia,[10] during which over 1,200 Wikipedia articles, in a number of languages, were also created.[11] The project's name is a portmanteau word, combining the initials "QR" from "QR (Quick Response) code" and "pedia" from "Wikipedia".[12]

The project's source code is freely reusable under the MIT License.[13]

Implementations [edit]

Though created in the United Kingdom, QRpedia can be used in any location where the user's phone has a data signal (or with a scanner that remembers URLs until a signal is available) and, as of September 2012, is in use at:

QRpedia also has uses outside of such institutions. For example, the Occupy movement uses it on campaign posters.[23]

Award [edit]

In January 2012, QRpedia was one of four projects (from 79 entrants) declared the most innovative mobile companies in the UK of 2011 by the Smart UK Project, and thus chosen to compete at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, on 29 February 2012.[19] The criteria were "to be effective, easy to understand and with global potential and impact".[19][not in citation given]

Wikimedia UK dispute [edit]

A dispute relating to the intellectual property of QRpedia was identified as one of the "main incidents" leading to a review of the governance of Wikimedia UK. The review found that the amount of time taken to resolve ownership caused the risk of outsiders perceiving a potential conflict of interest, and that Bamkin's acceptance of consultancy fees provided an opportunity for damage to the reputation of WMUK. The dispute over ownership of QRpedia led to the resignation of WMUK trustee Joscelyn Upendran.[24] Shortly before her resignation on August 31, 2012, Upendran stated that "the charity has in effect agreed to take on responsibility [...] for a service that is 'co-owned' by a trustee", and suggested that "the conflict of interest may present a legal risk under charity and corporate law".[25] On 9 February 2013, Wikimedia UK announced that the intellectual property in QRpedia, and the qrpedia.org and qrwp.org domains, were to be transferred to the chapter at no cost.[26]

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f Eden, Terence (2011-04-03). "Introducing QRpedia". Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  2. ^ a b Anon (2011-08-19). "The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Creates New Learning Opportunities through Wikipedian-in-Residence". The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  3. ^ Johnson, L.; Adams, S. (2011). The Technology Outlook for UK Tertiary Education 2011-201. NMC Horizon Report Regional Analyses. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. ISBN 978-0-615-38209-8. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Byrd Phillips, Lori (2011-06-15). "Going Multilingual with QRpedia". Marcus Institute for Digital Education in the Arts. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  5. ^ "QRpedia Statistics (example)". Retrieved 12 December 2011. 
  6. ^ Bamkin, Roger. "Three days of Action - QR codes at Derby Museum and Art Gallery". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 17 February 2012. 
  7. ^ "Board". Wikimedia UK. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  8. ^ a b Anon (2011-05-21). "Quiet Realities". Imperica. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  9. ^ Various. "Wikipedia:GLAM/Derby/QR code experiment". Wikipedia. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  10. ^ Various. "Derby Backstage Pass". Wikimedia UK. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  11. ^ Roger Bamkin, interviewed on BBC Radio Derby by Phil Trow, 2011-08-30
  12. ^ Eden, Terence (2011-11-03). "QRpedia in Russia". Retrieved 25 November 2011. 
  13. ^ "qrwp — QR Redirection to Wikipedia". Google Project Hosting. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  14. ^ Byrd Phillips, Lori (2011-07-29). "QR codes + Wikipedia = QRpedia". The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  15. ^ Greta Kreuz (17 July 2012). "Historic Congressional Cemetery Program to get Wikipedia boost". WLJA. Retrieved 21 July 2012. 
  16. ^ Hinojo, Alex (2011-05-11). "QRpedia Codes at Fundació Joan Miró". The GLAM-Wiki Experience. Retrieved 25 August 2011. 
  17. ^ "New collaboration between Wikimedia UK and The National Archives". The National Archives (United Kingdom). 2011-09-15. Retrieved 16 September 2011. 
  18. ^ Eden, Terence (2011-09-18). "National Archives and QRpedia". Retrieved 18 September 2011. 
  19. ^ a b c "Become an instant expert with a little help from your mobile". Smart UK Project. 2012-02-02. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  20. ^ "Уикипедия:Сътрудничество/Софийски зоопарк". Wikipedia (in bg). Retrieved 14 February 2012. 
  21. ^ "Monmouth to be Wales' first WiFi town". Monmouth Today. 2012-02-29. Retrieved 1 March 2012. 
  22. ^ "QRpedia a Praha 10: QR kód na každé památce". http://www.mobilmania.cz. 2012-09-30. Retrieved 1 October 2012. 
  23. ^ "We Don't Make Demands: Posters". 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2 December 2011. 
  24. ^ Young, Niki May (8 February 2013). "Wikimedia UK trustees have been 'too involved' to effectively govern charity". Retrieved 2013-02-09. 
  25. ^ http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/13/wikimedia_uk_shape_up/
  26. ^ Keating, Chris (2013-02-09). "QRpedia". Wikimedia UK. Retrieved 9 February 2013. 

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: QRpedia


Overview
Community
History
References
and analysis
Mobile access
Usage of content
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