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Public Museum makes collections images free to download

3-bottom, Citizen Journalism,
Mr. Kjillstrom (grandfather), Oscar Kjillstrom (son), and Clifford Kjillstrom (grandson), all cabinetmakers at Union Furniture Company. The Union Furniture Company was destroyed by fire in 1886. (Grand Rapids Public Museum)

By Kate Kocienski
Grand Rapids Public Museum

The Grand Rapids Public Museum (GRPM) announced today that it recently published all of its Collections records and the vast majority of its 150,000+ digital images under a Creative Commons Zero License. This license denotes that the GRPM has dedicated the images – photographs of artifacts, specimens, scans of photographs, catalogs, etc. – to the Public Domain so that they can be downloaded directly and used freely by anyone, anywhere, at any time. 

“This is part of GRPM’s vision of broad accessibility, including accessible Collections and sharing knowledge for all,” said the Museum’s President and CEO Dale Robertson. “Through this Creative Commons licensing, anyone who finds one of our resources can download and use it for no charge, without having to get special permission. This is especially nice for our educational K-12 partners, students, teachers, researchers, authors, media creators and anyone with interest.”

The GRPM’s Collections can be explored at grpmcollections.org. Images can be downloaded for educational and personal use by using the “Download Media” button associated with that image on the GRPM’s Collections Database.

Rectangular iron, tin and wood case has stepped sides. Four rubber-covered wheels. Friction rotation. Two hinged dustpans; one lever. Single brush. Plain brackets; nickel and enamel trim. Handpainted floral motif in orange, green, yellow and gold. Stencil: ‘Bissell’s Grand Rapids.’ Previous # X120.;Collected by Bissell in or before February 1894..;Collected by Bissell in or before February 1894.. Collected by Bissell in or before February 1894. (Grand Rapids Public Museum)

“It is our belief that as a public institution, dedicated to the stewardship of these Collections, we have a duty to make them as accessible as possible,” said the Museum’s Chief Curator Alex Forist. “Publishing our Collections data and images under a Creative Commons Zero license removes so many barriers like fees, permissions, and citation requirements. We have been working hard for years to create this content, and we want to make it as simple as possible for anyone to find and use.”

There are a few exceptions to the new policy and a small number of images are classified as either “Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommericial-NoDerivitaves” or “Restricted”  when the GRPM does not have the rights to place the image in the Public Domain. Full rights information can be found at: https://www.grpmcollections.org/About/Terms

Creative Commons

Creative Commons is a nonprofit organization that helps overcome legal obstacles to the sharing of knowledge and creativity. In order to fulfill their mission, Creative Commons provides Creative Commons licenses and public domain tools that give every person and organization in the world a free, simple, and standardized way to grant copyright permissions for creative and academic works; ensure proper attribution; and allow others to copy, distribute, and make use of those works. Creative Commons works closely with major institutions and governments to create, adopt and implement open licensing and ensure the correct use of CC licenses and CC-licensed content. Additional information can be found at