Catawiki

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Catawiki is a free-of-charge online wiki-based compendium of collector's catalogues which can be edited by every registered user with the edits subject to expert review. Originally in Dutch, an English-language version became available in 2011.

The aim is to replace paper catalogues for collectibles, which are not always easily available, not up to date, and created by a small number of writers, and to provide catalogues for collectibles for which no paper catalogues existed yet.[1] Editors can also maintain their own collection or create a free webshop where they can offer items for sale. The wiki also offers forums to discuss the categories.

The starting domain and currently the largest section is the comics section, with in April 2011 over 250,000 articles. In total, 67 collection domains had been defined by March 2011. Where in October 2009, just over half a million objects were available in the catalogue,[2] in April 2011 Catawiki succeeded in categorizing over 1,000,000 unique objects.

All functions of the site are free of charge, revenue is generated by ads and affiliated links.[3]

History

Catawiki is created by René Schoenmakers, a Dutch comics collector, and Marco Jansen, a Dutch ITC developer. It went online on September 10, 2008.[4] To give the site a kickstart, they purchased the rights to an existing Belgian comics database with 110,000 entries. During 2009, Erik Boeré, publisher of CD and DVD-ROM catalogues for postage stamps, coins and telephone cards, joined Catawiki and added its large databases to Catawiki, creating one of the biggest online stamp catalogues with a strong thematic index.

By December 2008, Catawiki reached some 50,000 pageviews per day.[3] This increased to 100,000 by October 2009[2] and to 200,000 by April 2011.

In October 2009, the site was nominated for but didn't win an Accenture Innovations Award as "Best Web Concept".[2] In November 2010, the site won the Accenture Innovations Award for "Best Web Concept" and the Audience Award.[5] The site also started offering original art by comics authors for sale, including artwork of Fokke & Sukke.[6] Collectors are also able to sell their items through the recently introduced marketplace.[3]

After being active in the Benelux since 2008, Catawiki introduced its website in the United Kingdom in 2011. It also has plans to launch its concept in Germany and France in the near future.

Layout

Every object gets one page per version, e.g. every edition of a comic gets a separate page. Indicated is which editors own the comic, who sells it, what it is worth in different conditions, and then a long list of identifying and cataloguing information. No free text with further info or background is available, everything is strictly organized.[4] Items are where possible illustrated by one or two pictures, e.g. for comics, the front and back cover is shown.

Internationalization

Until 2010 Catawiki was available in Dutch, accessible through Catawiki.nl and the Belgian mirror catawiki.be. Since March 2011 the website is also available in English through catawiki.co.uk and catawiki.com. It was translated from Dutch and optimized for the UK market. The creators are trying to develop a world standard for online cataloguing which would also be usable for museums and libraries. There are plans to further internationalize and launch the concept in countries including Germany and France in the near future.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Van Engelen, Leontien (13 December 2008). "Catawiki maakt het verzamelaars makkelijk" (in Dutch). Leiden: Leidsch Dagblad. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Catawiki genomineerd voor Accenture Innovations Awards" (in Dutch). blikopnieuws.nl. 29 October 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Boogert, Erwin (22 December 2008). "Internetondernemer vindt gat in verzamelaarsmarkt" (in Dutch). Emerce. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Gratis webcatalogus Catawiki van start gegaan" (in Dutch). Stripschrift. 10 September 2008. Retrieved 28 April 2009.
  5. ↑ "Catawiki wint Best Website Award en Publieksprijs" (in Dutch). NOM. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 8 November 2010.
  6. ↑ "Boekensnippers" (in Dutch). Knack. 8 November 2009. Retrieved 23 November 2009.

External links