QRpedia is a

mobile Web The mobile web refers to mobile browser-based World Wide Web services accessed from handheld mobile devices, such as smartphones or feature phones, through a mobile or other wireless network. History and development Traditionally, the World ...

-based system which uses

QR code A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...

s to deliver

Wikipedia Wikipedia is a multilingual free online encyclopedia written and maintained by a community of volunteers, known as Wikipedians, through open collaboration and using a wiki-based editing system. Wikipedia is the largest and most-read refer ...

articles to users, in their preferred language. A typical use is on

museum label A museum label, also referred to as a caption or tombstone, is a label describing an object exhibited in a museum or one introducing a room or area.

s, 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 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 Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

, the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The project's source code is freely reusable under the

MIT License The MIT License is a permissive free software license originating at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1980s. As a permissive license, it puts only very limited restriction on reuse and has, therefore, high license comp ...

Process

When a user scans a QRpedia QR code on their

mobile device A mobile device (or handheld computer) is a computer small enough to hold and operate in the hand. Mobile devices typically have a flat LCD or OLED screen, a touchscreen interface, and digital or physical buttons. They may also have a physica ...

, the device decodes the QR code into a

Uniform Resource Locator A Uniform Resource Locator (URL), colloquially termed as a web address, is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it. A URL is a specific type of Uniform Resource Identifi ...

(URL) using the

domain name A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...

"''languagecode''.qrwp.org" and whose

path A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail. Path or PATH may also refer to: Physical paths of different types * Bicycle path * Bridle path, used by people on horseback * Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle * Desire p ...

(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. The QRpedia server then uses Wikipedia's

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how ...

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

Origins

QRpedia was conceived by Roger Bamkin, a Wikipedia volunteer, and Terence Eden, a mobile web consultant, and was unveiled on 9 April 2011 at Derby Museum and Art Gallery's ''Backstage Pass'' event, part of the "GLAM/Derby" collaboration between the museum and Wikipedia, during which over 1,200 Wikipedia articles, in several languages, were also created. The project's name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of words The project's source code is freely reusable under the MIT License.

Implementations

File:Orrey QR.jpg, Derby Museum's label for the painting " A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery" features a QRpedia code linking to the Wikipedia article about it which, as of February 2012, was available in 19 languages. File:TCMI Carousel QRpedia Label.jpg, A label in

The Children's Museum of Indianapolis The Children's Museum of Indianapolis is the world's largest children's museum. It is located at 3000 North Meridian Street, Indianapolis, Indiana in the United Northwest Area neighborhood of the city. The museum is accredited by the American Al ...

that uses a QRpedia code to direct visitors to the Wikipedia article " Broad Ripple Park Carousel" File:QRpedia plaque for Shire Hall, Monmouth.jpg, Ceramic plaque with QRpedia code for Shire Hall, as part of the

MonmouthpediA Monmouthpedia (styled as ) is a collaborative project linking the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia and the town of Monmouth in South Wales. The project uses QRpedia QR codes to provide multilingual smart phone access to Wikipedia articles coveri ...

project. File:QRpedia_in_Prague_10_2.JPG, Enamel sign with QRpedia code for Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Záběhlice, Prague, Czech Republic File:Vasamuseet, Samtidigt-Meanwhile Wikipedia touch table demo long.webm, Film showing the use of QRpedia codes in a touch table populated with Wikipedia articles related to the period 1600-1650 and with coordinates. The table is used in the exhibition Samtidigt/Meanwhile, at the

Vasa museum The Vasa Museum ( sv, Vasamuseet) is a maritime museum in Stockholm, Sweden. Located on the island of Djurgården, the museum displays the only almost fully intact 17th-century ship that has ever been salvaged, the 64-gun warship '' Vasa'' that sa ...

in Stockholm, Sweden. File:Hamadryas baboon - QRpedia at Skopje Zoo.JPG, A QRpedia plaque in Skopje Zoo,

, showing info on a hamadryas baboon (''Papio hamadryas'') using a mixed approach File:Викисело 2021 - Галичник (14).jpg, A plaque on its holder. Village of

Galičnik Galičnik ( mk, Галичник) is a mountain village in North Macedonia and along with Lazaropole is one of the two biggest and oldest Mijak villages in the region. Galičnik has well-preserved traditional architecture, including an amphithe ...

, North Macedonia. File:Изложба „Јапонија низ фотографии“ (06).jpg, Scaning process in Skopje. File:Satyagraha-House-1.jpg, A QRpedia plaque in Satyagraha House, Johannesburg South Africa File:QRpedia - East Window 2 - St Pauls Birmingham.JPG, Before the East window of St Paul's Church, Birmingham Mauritanian arch 05.JPG, Mauritanian arch in Odesa, Ukraine, 2014 QRpedia code in Odessa - Bristol Hotel - 1.jpg, Bristol Hotel in Odesa, 2014 QRpedia code in Odessa - Potocki Palace - 2.jpg,

Odessa Art Museum Odesa National Fine Arts Museum or Odesa National Art Museum ( uk, Одеський національний художній музей) is one of the principal art galleries of the city of Odesa. Founded in 1899, it occupies the Potocki Palace ( ...

(ex-Potocki Palace) in Odesa File:QRpedia Banbu.jpg, Information on the bamboo plant in San Sebastian's Ulia park Though created in the United Kingdom, QRpedia can be used in any location as long as 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: * Children's Chapel, St James' Church, Sydney *

, United States *

Congressional Cemetery The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, SE, in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national m ...

* Derby Museum and Art Gallery, England *

Estonian Sports Museum The Estonian Sports and Olympic Museum (Estonian: ''Eesti Spordi- ja Olümpiamuuseum''), founded in 1963 and modernized in 2020, is the largest sports museum in the Baltic states. The museum is located on Rüütli street in Tartu, Estonia. Befor ...

Galleries of Justice Museum The National Justice Museum (formerly known as the Galleries of Justice Museum and, historically, the Shire Hall and County Gaol) is an independent museum on High Pavement in the Lace Market area of Nottingham, England. The museum is housed i ...

Fundació Joan Miró The Fundació Joan Miró ( ; "Joan Miró Foundation, Centre of Studies of Contemporary Art") is a museum of modern art honoring Joan Miró located on the hill called Montjuïc in Barcelona, Catalonia (Spain). History The idea for the foundation ...

, Spain including a travelling exhibit shown at The Tate * The Welsh town of Monmouth, as part of Wikipedia's

project. *

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

, United Kingdom * The National Museum of Computing (UK) *

The New Art Gallery Walsall The New Art Gallery Walsall is a modern and contemporary art gallery sited in the centre of the West Midlands town of Walsall, England. It was built with £21 million of public funding, including £15.75 million from the UK National Lottery an ...

* Different monuments in

Prague 10 Prague 10 is both a municipal and administrative district in Prague, Czech Republic with more than 100,000 inhabitants. Twin towns *Ballerup, Denmark *Prešov, Slovakia *Nyíregyháza, Hungary *Jasło, Poland Neighbourhood ( cadastral communities ...

* Skopje Zoo, Macedonia, using a mixed approach of ordinary QR-codes and QRpedia codes * St Paul's Church, Birmingham * QRpedia codes in Odessa,

Першим в Україні Wiki-містом стала Одеса
Укрінформ, 27.09.2013 QRpedia also has uses outside of such institutions. For example, the

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist socio-political movement that expressed opposition to social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of "real democracy" around the world. It aimed primarily to advance social and econo ...

have used it on campaign posters.

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

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. 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". 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. On 12 February 2013, two QRpedia related domain names were registered on behalf of WMUK. On 2 April 2013, WMUK announced that Roger Bamkin and Terence Eden were transferring ownership of QRpedia to Wikimedia UK. 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. At least one Wikimedia chapter received letters alleging that QRpedia infringes various patents. Though WMUK believes that this is not the case and that the risk of litigation is not high, Cultural Outreach Limited was set up to hold QRpedia, in order to shield WMUK should such a challenge arise.

References

External links

* *

Source code In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the w ...

Source code on GitHub

QRpedia project on GoogleCode (archived)

QRpedia statistics
hange stem for other articles* {{Derby Museum Wikipedia Barcodes Free software Mobile web Museum informatics Computer-related introductions in 2011 Articles containing video clips