We're currently working on a grant proposal that is related to the
usability for uploading and embedding media files to Wikimedia
Commons. (This is an area that we will likely not be able to address
in detail as part of the Stanton project, so we're trying to parcel it
into a separate project.) As part of this proposal, I would like to
make a compelling case that pictures and other media uploaded to
Commons benefit from strongly from the increased visibility,
especially through Wikipedia articles. I'd also like to demonstrate
that images get used in multiple languages and multiple projects.
The simplest research approach that any volunteer could take is to
take a sample (say 50 featured media and 50 random ones) and to
catalog in a spreadsheet usage across Wikimedia projects, using the
CheckUsage tool. But I'm sure there are other approaches - both
quantitative and qualitative - that might work as well, e.g. based on
Wikipedia article traffic statistics.
I'd love to see some volunteer input into this question, which
essentially boils down: Why is Wikimedia Commons awesome, and why is
it worth investing in to make it even better? I've started a page on
Meta here if you want to contribute ideas on-wiki:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Case_for_Commons
But feel free to e-mail me off-list as well. :-)
Thanks for any and all help,
Erik
--
Erik Möller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
After receiving a complaint in the office about our retaining an image on an
article which was causing great distress to the living survivors of the
depicted individuals, I noticed the relavent discussion at
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Three_Dead
_Navy_SEALs_in_Operation_Redwing.PNG>. I'm rather shocked and surprised
that our contributors can so callously treat the feelings of living
individuals just so that we can upload "free" photographs of dead people;
pictures which are certainly not necessary to our projects.
This is not the same thing as censorship...this involves close personal
connections between living and dead people.
We regularly delete photographs of individuals based on personality rights;
not because we're afraid of being sued but because it's the right thing to
do. The insistence that we undelete these photos simply because they're
free and that they're not against policy, without any consideration of the
living survivors casts a rather dim shadow on our underlying efforts, that
of sharing knowledge.
I sincerely hope some individuals with sympathetic concerns weigh in on the
discussion.
(My comment at
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Commons%3ADeletion_requests%
2FFile%3AThree_Dead_Navy_SEALs_in_Operation_Redwing.PNG&diff=17521626&oldid=
17519286>, for reference).
Cary Bass
[[User:Bastique]]
Delphine wrote on Mon, 8 Dec 2008 13:49:13 +0100
> I have a few ideas about making it easier for Commons admins to
> discuss with people:
> A) With SUL, it's probably easy enough to make sure that at least the
> "homewiki" of a user is prominently shown on their Commons user page.
> This would allow for:
> *Better communication (you'd know what language those people speak)
> *Better and more to the point warnings (you'd know if someone is a
> newbie or a long time contributor)
> B) Could the Commons talk page be embedded in the homewiki talk page
> somehow, allowing for people to get their message where they are at.
> Or at lest have a warning "your talk page on commons has a message!"
> C) If SUL does not allow link to homewiki, or if someone creates an
> account directly on Commons, maybe in the login page, they could be
> asked to link to their homewiki account.
>
> These are just ramblings. Commons is my project of choice, because I
> think it is one with the biggest potential, so I'm biased :)
Some years ago I created {{notify me}}. The idea was to make the bot
responsible for alerting local projects of deleted and altered pictures
(CommonsTicker?) notify people on their home wiki. Unfortunately that
function got never implemented.
The template is/was mentioned at every welcome page users see when they
register on Commons. The majoritiy of registration processes should be
obsolete with SUL, but maybe we can get Duesentrieb to implement the
feature ...
Best regards,
Flo