Commons-l November 2009

commons-l@lists.wikimedia.org

26 participants
12 discussions

Usability initiative for Commons
by Daniel Kinzler 02 Dec '09

02 Dec '09

Hi all I don't know about you, but I didn't know about <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Usability_issues_and_ideas>. Seems like a good place to raise issues that the upcoming multimedia usability project could have a look at. I for one would like to finally see the Galleries vs. Categories issue resolved... <http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Usability_issues_and_ideas#Abolis…>. Cheers Daniel

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External click logging
by Magnus Manske 19 Nov '09

19 Nov '09

Hi all, as promised on the meeting, I wrote a small JavaScript/Toolserver setup that can log clicks on Commons leading to external pages. This requires JavaScript to be active, but that should be the case with the "normal" (read: not-geek) population. If JavaScript is turned off or not available, it degrades gracefully (it just won't count the click). JavaScript : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Magnus_Manske/log_external_link_clic… To activate : addOnloadHook ( log_external_link_clicks ) ; The latter could go into the main Commons javascript page. No further setup is required. This will "capture" all external link clicks within the page content, tell the toolserver about it, and then load the intended page. A logfile will be generated on the toolserver, containing anonymized data like the Commons page and namespace, target URL, link text, timestamp etc. It also records content and user language, as well as the information if the user was logged in or not (but no user name or IP!). Log files will be visible on the toolserver in /mnt/user-store/mm6_logs (1 file per month; can switch to 1 per day if volume is too large). That should give us some nice statistics about how many people follow which link from where, which will be useful as an argument on GLAMs. Note that with the same mechanism, I could log other events as well, e.g., clicks on an image on the image page (to see the full-size version). However, it would be overkill to use it for "image pages viewed" in general, IMHO. Cheers, Magnus

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Talking about Bert Roberts, Commons, and Wikipedia on ABC Radio in Queensland
by Craig Franklin 19 Nov '09

19 Nov '09

Hi all, Just a heads-up that yesterday I recorded an interview with Scott Mayman of ABC Radio, where we talked about the Bert Roberts photo collection, free licensing, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikipedia. The interview will be broadcast on Scott's "Afternoon Chillout" programme next week, most probably on Friday. People on the Gold Coast can listen on 91.7FM, and on the Sunshine Coast can listen on 90.3FM. We spoke for fifteen minutes about various things, but the interview will be edited down to around five minutes for actual broadcast, so I don't know what topics will actually make it onto the air. Nevertheless, if you're in the area, and want to hear me talk about Edwardian-era Ipswich, flagged revisions, and the free culture movement in general, please tune in! Cheers, Craig (who is glad that his first on air radio experience is over with!)

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Fwd: [Wikimediauk-l] Wiki Loves Art at the V&A - photos now on Commons
by David Gerard 14 Nov '09

14 Nov '09

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Michael Peel <email(a)mikepeel.net> Date: 2009/11/14 Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] Wiki Loves Art at the V&A - photos now on Commons To: wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org Hi all, Thanks to Kaldari, the photos from the Wiki Loves Art event at the Victoria and Albert Museum last February are now (finally) online! You can find them at: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikipedia_Loves_Art_at_the_Victo… Please help categorize them and add them to articles - the more these images are used, the stronger our argument to museums in the future to get them to participate in this sort of event, so we can get even more photos etc... Planning for the Britain Loves Wikipedia event next February is ongoing; we have several museums involved already, and a number of others that are interested. Please help develop the event on the wiki: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives/Britain_Loves_Wikipedia Thanks, Mike

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Growth of Commons traffic
by Gerard Meijssen 11 Nov '09

11 Nov '09

Hoi, According to the statistics, the traffic of Commons grew last month by 35% to 268 M. This makes it in traffic bigger then the German Wikipedia.. The German Wikipedia is our third biggest Wikipedai... Does anybody have a clue what is happening. Is there a potential for a similar sized growth next month ?? Given that we are getting to the stage where we will support video, Commons may become bigger then the English Wikipedia in traffic Thanks, GerardM

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museums that donate pictures to Wikimedia or Flickr Commons
by David Monniaux 09 Nov '09

09 Nov '09

For the purpose of meeting officials and attempting to convince them to donate pictures to Flickr Commons or Wikimedia Commons, I'd need statistics about museums that already do so. Do we have that available somewhere? (Numbers of pictures, how they are used on various project, how prevalent they are and so on.)

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Update from Paris
by Gerard Meijssen 09 Nov '09

09 Nov '09

Hoi. The French chapter did a wonderful job organising some of the brightest lights that deal with Commons in one place. Many subjects were discussed and some things were achieved. The two (technical) things that stand out on the achieving part.. - there is now global usage for images from within MediaWiki itself.. so no need for using the toolserver... The process of gathering all the necessary data may now have ended.. - a first stab has been made at subtitles for video - In the discussion there were many things I found absolutely wonderful: - the workflow of uploads will be reconsidered; this means that a "working area" will exists where pictures can have a temporary home. This will allow to upload a batch of images and tag them all with shared attributes.. It will also allow for the checking of known issues BEFORE they go live - This working or staging area would also exist for GLAMs or competitions - A demo was given for what a competion workflow might look like - Pictures are now deleted when certain attributes are wrong or missing.. When they are pushed back into the staging area, we are less nasty and allow for cooperation - Social networking tools help us support newbies, resolve issues in a quiet way.. This helps us realise our objectives; write an encyclopaedia, build a kick arse freely licensed resource of multi media - there is a mailing list for people involved in GLAM and the outreach to GLAM, many people subscribed and hopefully this will lead to better coordination and in shared lessons learned It was a great meeting.. There were a few critical issues as far as I am concerned: - several relevant people refuse to post / answer on the foundation-l. The list proves to be irrelevant because this list does not get that message - currently there is no alternative... LiquidThreads may help as it is a pull not a push mechanism ... - some people I missed at the meeting, Durova being the most notable - our focus was about improving Commons for the people that use it particuarly as contributors.. The success of our project is however the result of use and reuse. \ - subtitles was one of the more important novelties, we need to make the reuse in WordPress, Drupal .... as easy as the reuse of Commons in MediaWiki !! The API is getting to the stage where that is doable Thanks, GerardM

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FYI: The A E "Bert" Roberts photograph collection
by Gnangarra 08 Nov '09

08 Nov '09

A collection that is now being added to commons, ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Craig Franklin <craig(a)halo-17.net> Date: 2009/11/6 Subject: [Wikimediaau-l] The A E "Bert" Roberts photograph collection To: Wikimedia-au <wikimediaau-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, members(a)lists.wikimedia.org.au Hi All, I’m pleased to announce that based on some contacts that I made at the GLAM-WIKI conference back in August, and some onsite work that the Brisbane Wikimedia community has been doing at the Queensland Museum (QM), the Museum has commenced uploading digitized images from their “A E (Bert) Roberts” photograph collection to Commons. Bert Roberts was a coachbuilder from Ipswich in the early 1900s , but also enjoyed photography and took photographs of a wide variety of subjects, chiefly scenes of everyday life in Queensland from the time. While not famous for his photography during his lifetime, after his death his collection of images came to be recognised as providing a unique view into the society of the time. His photographs are the subject of a Queensland Museum exhibition, which chiefly resides at their Toowoomba campus (the Cobb & Co Museum), but which presently has travelled to Ipswich for a limited time. So far, 21 images have been uploaded to Commons, but there are over a thousand glass plate negatives in total that the Museum has. You can see what’s been uploaded so far here: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:A_E_%22Bert%22_Roberts_plate_gla… My request to all of you, basically, is to: · Categorise, enhance, and basically edit the file pages as much as possible. · Look for appropriate pages on Wikipedia and other places where this content can be used, and use it. · Spread the word that GLAM institutions are seeing the benefits of making their collections available through Commons and other free media repositories! · Watch out and make sure the pages aren’t vandalised, and any problems that crop up are dealt with quickly so that QM can concentrate on providing us with free content, and not learning arcane points of Wiki-law. Many of the original plate glass negatives held by the museum have not been digitised yet, but if there is anyone who would be interested in volunteering some of their time to learn how to do, and then actually **do** the digitisation, there may be an opportunity to get in and do that. If you’re interested (and preferably have some “serious” photography experience), let me know and I’ll pass your details on. It’s my hope that this will be but the first of many successful collaborations between WMAU people and GLAM institutions throughout the country. I already have a couple of other collaborations cooking away here in Queensland that will hopefully result in a win not only for the WM projects, but also open access to cultural and heritage material in general. If anyone has any questions regarding these particular images, please feel free to ask me! Cheers, Craig Franklin _______________________________________________ Wikimediaau-l mailing list Wikimediaau-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l -- GN. http://gnangarra.redbubble.com/

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"no copyright restrictions" - LSE Library & flickr
by Caroline Ford 08 Nov '09

08 Nov '09

Hi With some fanfare the LSE library have added some images from their collection to flickr commons. As per the rules of flickr commons these are listed as "no copyright restrictions". If you click on the LSE's interpretation of "no copyright restrictions" they link to a very non-free, personal, non-commercial licence. Flickr's understanding of no copyright restrictions: http://www.flickr.com/commons/usage/ BY ASSERTING "NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS," PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS ARE SHARING THE BENEFIT OF THEIR RESEARCH WITHOUT PROVIDING AN EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED WARRANTY TO OTHERS WHO WOULD LIKE TO USE OR REPRODUCE THE PHOTOGRAPH. IF YOU MAKE USE OF A PHOTO FROM THE COMMONS, YOU ARE REMINDED TO CONDUCT AN INDEPENDENT ANALYSIS OF APPLICABLE LAW BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH A PARTICULAR NEW USE. The LSE Library's understanding of no copyright restrictions: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/library/archive/flickr_rights_statement.aspx "The images published on our Flickr Commons photostream are all marked as having ‘no known copyright restrictions’ attached to them. This means that we are unaware of any current copyright restrictions for displaying this selection of photographs from our collection within the Flickr website, either because LSE owns the copyright, or the term of copyright has expired, or because no evidence has been found that copyright restrictions apply. The images on our photostream are meant to be used for personal, educational or research purposes. To obtain high quality digital copies, or to find out more about copyright terms for the reproduction of specific works in our collection, please contact the Library's Archives and Rare Books Division. Please note that it is our policy to charge licensing fees for commercial use. " I've complained here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lselibrary/3274389894/ The LSE replied: Just to clarify on the copyright point. Copyright in ‘No known copyright restrictions’ refers to the rights of the photographer. In the case of all the images we have put on Flickr as far as we have been able to establish copyright has either expired or belongs to LSE. Licensing is different, this applies to permission to reproduce images. We have placed these images under a ‘non-commercial licence’ which means that they can be used freely for personal and academic use. Charges only apply if someone wanted to use the images for commercial publications when we would have to supply higher resolution images. This is standard practice for commercial publications. Flickr Commons has a code of practice dictating what can be displayed on the site and LSE adheres to this in all respects. Can they really claim copyright and licensing are different like this? I know library thing had people upload images from this collection believing "no copyright restrictions" meant PD. I expect some will end up on Commons too. Caroline

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FYI: The A E "Bert" Roberts photograph collection
by Craig Franklin 07 Nov '09

07 Nov '09

Hi Liam and list, Thanks again. As I said in the original post, if there is anyone who is interested in photography, located in or willing to travel to Brisbane, and is happy to spend some time learning how to digitize plate glass negatives (which I believe is a rather specialised skill), let me know and I'll pass your details on with an eye to getting the rest of the collection digitised. Unfortunately only a portion of the possible images have actually been copied to digital media; a problem more based in lack of manpower and time than lack of will on QM's part. Not only are there obvious benefits to Commons if we can get someone to do this, but it's a rather specialised skill and could look good on one's CV if they're looking to get into curating and the like. Cheers, Craig F. Liam Wyatt (liamwyatt at gmail.com) Sat Nov 7 15:53:35 UTC 2009 I just announced this to the group assembled here in Paris for the Multimedia Usability meeting<http://usability.wikimedia.org/wiki/Multimedia:Meeting_in_Paris>- applause and congratulations all around. We have spent the last two days in intense discussion about "GLAM collaboration" and there are many amazing technical/community/process projects that are being looked at. There are an increasing number and increasing quality of these kinds of collaborations, so, to be able to look at a new collaboration appear right in the middle of high-level discussions about how to improve these collaborations is just fantastic. It really reminds us why we are here and what can be achieved. Once again, Congratulations and please let me know personally or us know as a community if you need any assistance on this project. I hope that as a few more get uploaded and incorporated into articles we can announce this collaboration a bit more widely e.g. through the Wikipedia Signpost and maybe the Frontpage of Commons news announcement. Sincerely, -Liam wittylama.com/blog Peace, love & metadata

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Commons-l November 2009