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At the end of 2021 the Estonian War Museum won an Europeana Research Grant for the project aimed at improving and popularizing the use of crowdsourcing in Estonian museums.

It is now easier than ever for individuals to contribute collectively through different web-based solutions, if such opportunities are provided. However museums are often cautious about starting crowdsourcing projects as they may not be familiar with how to run them, or be concerned that the ‘crowd’ does not have the appropriate skills. The project by the Estonian War Museum seeks to addresses these concerns.

During the first part of the project museums were asked to answer questionnaire about if and how they have already implemented crowdsourcing.

The next step is a workshop held online on March 16-17. It is led by Dr. Mia Ridge, British Library's Digital Curator for Western Heritage Collections and a world-known expert of the field.

On the first day of the workshop the discussions revolve around questions what crowdsourcing really is, how have Estonian museums used it so far and how to set goals for a successful crowdsourcing project.

The second day focuses on actually setting up a crowdsourcing project regarding everything from involving the right people to choosing technological solutions.

By June 2022 all participating museums should present their crowdsourcing plan. The Estonian War Museum itself plans to focus on how to use crowdsourcing to describe the photo collection of the Estonian Defence League (Kaitseliit).

The project „Crowdsourcing for military heritage in Estonia“ is funded by 9925 Euros on a period of January to June 2022. Other institutions awarded the resarch grant were the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and the University of Warsaw.

Europeana is Europe's digital platform for cultural heritage, providing access to over 50 million items from approximately 4,000 institutions.

The news about the winners of the Europeana research grants 2021.