QRpedia

QRpedia is a mobile Web-based system which uses QR codes to deliver Wikipedia articles to users, in their preferred language.[1][2][3] A typical use is on museum labels, linking to Wikipedia articles about the exhibited object. QR codes can easily be generated to link directly to any Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), but the QRpedia system adds further functionality. It is owned and operated by a subsidiary of Wikimedia UK (WMUK).

QRpedia
A QRpedia code which resolves as the URL http://en.qrwp.org/QRpedia, used widely as the logo
Screenshot
The QRpedia website, showing a QR code, which decodes as the URL http://en.qrwp.org/QRpedia
Available inMultilingual
Created by
  • Terence Eden
  • Roger Bamkin
URLqrpedia.org
CommercialNo
RegistrationNone
Launched9 April 2011 (2011-04-09)
Current statusOnline
Content license
MIT License

QRpedia was conceived by Roger Bamkin, a Wikipedia volunteer, coded by Terence Eden, and unveiled in April 2011. It is in use at museums and other institutions in countries including Australia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, North Macedonia, Spain, India, the United Kingdom, Germany, Ukraine[4] and the United States. The project's source code is freely reusable under the MIT License.

Process
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 "languagecode.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.[5]

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.[5] 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,[5] even when the museum is unable to make its own translations. QRpedia also records usage statistics.[5][6]

Origins

QRpedia was conceived by Roger Bamkin,[1][7] a Wikipedia volunteer, 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 several 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

Though created in the United Kingdom, QRpedia can be used in any location where the user's phone or tablet has a data signal (or remembers URLs until a signal is available) and is or has been in use at venues including:

QRpedia also has uses outside of such institutions. For example, the Occupy movement have used it on campaign posters.[24]

Award

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.[20] The criteria were "to be effective, easy to understand and with global potential and impact".[25]

Wikimedia UK dispute

A conflict of interest case involving QRpedia was identified as one of the "main incidents" leading to a 2012 review of the governance of Wikimedia UK (WMUK). 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 on projects (jointly funded by WMUK) involving QRpedia provided an opportunity for damage to the reputation of WMUK. This conflict of interest led to the resignation of WMUK trustee Joscelyn Upendran.[26] Shortly before her resignation on 31 August 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".[27] On 9 February 2013, WMUK 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.[28] On 12 February 2013, two QRpedia related domain names were registered on behalf of WMUK.[29] On 2 April 2013, WMUK announced that Roger Bamkin and Terence Eden were transferring ownership of QRpedia to Wikimedia UK.[30] On 16 November 2013, WMUK announced that the agreement for the transfer had been signed and the IP rights in QRpedia were held by Cultural Outreach Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of WMUK, and that following the agreement, the transfer of the domain names was an administrative process that could begin immediately.[31]

At least one Wikimedia chapter has received letters alleging that QRpedia infringes various patents.[32] Though WMUK believes that this is not the case and that the risk of litigation is not high, Cultural Outreach Limited has been set up to hold QRpedia, in order to shield WMUK should such a challenge arise.[33]

See also

References
  1. Eden, Terence (2011-04-03). "Introducing QRpedia". Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  2. Anon (2011-08-19). "The Children's Museum of Indianapolis Creates New Learning Opportunities through Wikipedian-in-Residence". The Children's Museum of Indianapolis. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  3. Johnson, L.; Adams, S. (2011). The Technology Outlook for UK Tertiary Education 2011-201 (PDF). NMC Horizon Report Regional Analyses. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium. ISBN 978-0-615-38209-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-05.
  4. Першим в Україні Wiki-містом стала Одеса, Укрінформ, 27.09.2013
  5. Byrd Phillips, Lori (2011-06-15). "Going Multilingual with QRpedia". Marcus Institute for Digital Education in the Arts. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  6. "QRpedia Statistics (example)". Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  7. Bamkin, Roger. "Three days of Action - QR codes at Derby Museum and Art Gallery". Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  8. Anon (2011-05-21). "Quiet Realities". Imperica. Archived from the original on 2012-08-26. 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. The 'QR', of course, standing for 'Quick Response'; The 'pedia' comes from 'Wikipedia' - which, itself, derives from Encyclopedia.
  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. Archived from the original on 26 September 2011. 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. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
  17. "Monmouth to be Wales' first WiFi town". Monmouth Today. 2012-02-29. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  18. "New collaboration between Wikimedia UK and The National Archives". The National Archives (United Kingdom). 2011-09-15. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
  19. Eden, Terence (2011-09-18). "National Archives and QRpedia". Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  20. "Become an instant expert with a little help from your mobile". Smart UK Project. 2012-02-02. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  21. "QRpedia a Praha 10: QR kód na každé památce". mobilmania.cz. 2012-09-30. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
  22. Shared Knowledge projects: Skopje Zoo, Meta
  23. Одесса стала первым вики-городом Украины, Мир Энциклопедий, 28 сентября 2013
  24. "We Don't Make Demands: Posters". 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  25. "Smart UK Project – the final four". Smart UK Project. Archived from the original on 18 June 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  26. Young, Niki May (8 February 2013). "Wikimedia UK trustees have been 'too involved' to effectively govern charity". Archived from the original on February 11, 2013. Retrieved 2013-02-09.
  27. "Review finds Wikipedia UK board needs major leadership overhaul".
  28. Keating, Chris (2013-02-09). "QRpedia". Wikimedia UK. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
  29. "User:Mike Peel/Wikimedia compensation".
  30. "Announcement – QRpedia donated to Wikimedia UK - Wikimedia UK Blog".
  31. "Difference between revisions of "Water cooler"". Archived from the original on 2013-11-19.
  32. Chris Keating (7 June 2013). "QRpedia". Wikimediauk-l Archives. At least one Wikimedia chapter has received letters from people who purport that QRpedia infringes on various patents.
  33. "[Wikimediauk-l] QRpedia".
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