Ванилица, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Our next feature in the Meet the CC Summit Presenter’ series is Gorana Gomirac, GLAM Manager at Wikimedia Serbia. Gorana was born in 1996 in Belgrade, Serbia, but because of her roots, she always says she comes from Lika. Because of her origins, Gorana realized the importance of preserving culture, and the importance of its digitalization and proud presentation to the world. The GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) program is an important part of the Wikimedia movement, and an indispensable part of it is free content, as well as CC licenses, which we encounter every day. Through its GLAM program, a program of cooperation with cultural institutions, over 11 thousand files on Wikimedia Commons have been released. Cultural institutions have been given the opportunity to present the content they possess without fear that their copyright will be endangered, and at the same time the freedom to present that content to the whole world. In this way, their visibility and their possibilities in preserving the digital cultural heritage have been raised. Her wish is to work tirelessly on the digitization of cultural heritage. She is passionate about preserving culture, traditions and customs.

During her session, she will present the ways in which Wikipedia Serbia cooperates with cultural institutions, how they have established good relations, how they have educated them about the importance of CC licenses, but also their perspective before and after using CC licenses on the Internet. She hopes to see you in as many numbers as possible at her session!

Based in?: Belgrade, Serbia

Summit Session: CC as an indispensable part of the GLAM

How did you get involved with Creative Commons?

As part of Wikimedia Serbia.

How many times have you been to CC Global Summit?

This is my first time!

In the future, what is something you would like to see at the CC Summit?

The very concept of this year’s Summit is great. In the future, I would like to hear a lot of new people who will share their experiences with CC licenses, but also experienced licensees who will share their knowledge with newcomers.

Why are you an advocate for Open?

Because without Open knowledge, humanity would not be the same. Let’s share knowledge, experiences, contents, so that the whole world can get involved.

“Without Open knowledge, humanity would not be the same. Let’s share knowledge, experiences, contents, so that the whole world can get involved.“

What is your proudest achievement?

Educating employees in cultural institutions about the importance of free content, their willingness to participate in our projects, and to continue sharing content with the world when our activities are over. Pointing out how important it is to fulfill the mission of open knowledge, to present our activities and achievements with full enthusiasm, and thus motivate people to get involved.

What is the best part of what you do? What is the most difficult part of what you do?

The best part of my work is when I present to the community what we have achieved, what we have digitized, and when I see how many things have been improved on Wiki projects thanks to cooperation within the GLAM program. When I see how the articles have been improved, how many new articles have been written, but also how many people want to get involved in the improvement process, when we present our mission and activities to them. While the most difficult part of my job is when we fail to reach certain people or cultural institutions, when they are completely closed-minded and do not give us the opportunity to point out the importance of our activities.

What is your favorite GIF?

What tool/platform/app are you loving right now?

https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/ which makes life easier. 🙂

What’s one new trend that you think the CC community should look out for?

The readiness of cultural institutions to digitize their content because they have become aware of the importance of existence on the Internet due to the pandemic.

What is the biggest setback you have experienced? How did you overcome it?

Our biggest seatback was in March 2020, when the entire country (Serbia) closed. Curfew has been introduced, all institutions, except health, police, shops and pharmacies, have been closed. We had to quickly adapt to remote mode, completely online activities, and find a way to make it interesting to the community. Then, we had to adapt to the remote way of maintaining our projects. After a year and a half, we can say that good communication and understanding are the key to solving the problem. We listened well to what the community wants, what are the problems of cultural institutions with which we cooperate, how our Wikipedian in residence can perform its activities, what we can do in a situation if COVID-19 is infected… The key was good communication, readiness for adjustment, the desire to continue the activity, and that giving up was never an option for us.

If you could only leave people with one message from your summit presentation, what would it be?

Attend and you will hear about adaptation and survival skills! 🙂

What was the best career advice you ever received? What was the worst career advice you ever received?

The best was – love your job and you won’t have to work a single day, and the worst – it’s just a job, don’t bother.

What would you like to say to Creative Commons on our 20th anniversary?

Thank you for doing activities and fighting for free content around the world. 20 years of your existence have made huge changes!

What does ‘Better Sharing, Brighter Future’ mean to you?

It gives hope and confidence that over time, the content will be shared even more, and that cultural, religious, and prejudices of every other type will be broken.

Join us from wherever you are for the 2021 CC Global Summit, which takes place 20-24 September! Register here >>