(Photograph courtesy/Dan Smith)

The National Archives has hired its first Wikipedian in Residence and so far the results have been impressive.  I was saying to someone just yesterday that the institutionalization of Wikipedia is all but complete.  Be honest.  Who among us does not use Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, at least for a quick overview of the subject at hand?  Obviously there will always be legitimate copyright issues to consider, but I can’t see the Open Access of historical photographs and documents as anything but a good thing.  After all, where do you think the above photo came from?