Hi all! I have a new announcement to make, this time regarding
MediaSearch:[1] research with the new engine will now be easier, since
now also English synonyms can be used to find results.[2]
MediaSearch already leverages Wikidata items to find images that
depict entities that match the search criteria. Now, MediaSearch will
make another step forward, by including also those items that match
English labels or aliases on Wikidata for the original search term. We
expect this to be helpful in discovering media for subjects known
under multiple names (for example, scientific and common names), as
well as in other languages where we often don’t even have
descriptions.
Just to make an example: when a user searches for “bat”, MediaSearch
will also show media where searchable text includes the word
“Chiroptera” (their scientific name, and also an alias on
{{Q|28425}})[3] - and this even if the text doesn’t include “bat”.
Another example would be a Somali user searching for “fiidmeer” (the
Somali word for “bat”) that will get media, through {{Q|28425}},[2]
that include either “bat” or “Chiroptera” - again, even if the text
doesn’t include “fiidmeer”.
For the time being, the feature will include only English labels and
aliases, because of the possible clash in meanings between words
across languages, increasing the odds of false positives. For the same
reason, the current implementation will be very conservative in its
searches, when using aliases.
I am here in case you have any questions or requests for more information.
[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MediaSearch
[2] Phabricator ticket for reference: https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T290652
[3] https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28425
--
Luca Martinelli [Sannita] (he/him)
Community Relation Specialist
Hello everyone,
Reminder: tomorrow (Tuesday, February 22 at 15.00 UTC) you are all welcome
at the online community meetup about OpenRefine's work on Structured Data
on Commons. No need to sign up, you find the Zoom link here:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OpenRefine/Community_meetup_22_F…
Looking forward!
Sandra (User:Spinster / User:SFauconnier)
Hello everyone!
Over 2021-22, OpenRefine is being extended with Structured Data on
Wikimedia Commons (SDC) support. This project is funded by a Wikimedia
Foundation Project Grant [1].
The OpenRefine team has made quite a bit of progress in the past months. We
warmly invite you to a community meetup [2] with updates and a first demo
of the newly developed SDC editing functionalities in OpenRefine. Bring
your questions!
** When? *Tuesday, February 22, at 15:00-17:00 UTC (check the time in your
timezone) [3].
** For whom?* For anyone who is curious about the current status of SDC
support in OpenRefine!
** Where?* Online, via Zoom. The event's info page [2] has the link.
* The meeting will be recorded and the recording will be published to
Wikimedia Commons afterwards.
Check the event page [2] for more info. We hope to see you there!
Sandra (User:Spinster / User:SFauconnier)
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/CS&S/Structured_Data_on_Wiki…
[2]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:OpenRefine/Community_meetup_22_F…
[3] https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1645542013
Hello everyone,
Since 2019, it is possible to add structured data to files on Wikimedia Commons [1] (SDC = Structured Data on Commons), but adding structured 'depicts' annotations remains a challenging task, particularly since there is no strong guidance on use of standard controlled vocabularies. Also such vocabularies can't always meet the needs of highly diverse media collections and multi-lingual & multi-cultural contexts.
But there are possible pathways to create more structured and user-friendly workflows for the application of specialist vocabularies, such as Iconclass [2], when it comes to images of fine art in particular.
Myself (a UX designer & experienced Wikidata / Wikibase user), an art historian and DH researcher - Dr Karin de Wild, and the developer of the Iconclass Browser - Etienne Posthumus, have proposed a small new research grant to Wikimedia [3]. Our goal is to research and prototype several routes to make the addition of standard Iconclass terms as structured data on Commons, as well as the reuse of these data statements, an easier and more intuitive task for users of Commons services, GLAM professionals who may have collections described with Iconclass codes already, or DH researchers who want to run queries against the Wiki Commons query service and discover interesting data correlations across works from multiple collections. This is framed as a research endeavor, rather than just a technical project, because we are aware Iconclass is not a perfect vocabulary, but working closely with the Iconclass community, and the international communities of Wikidata / Wiki Commons users, we will research how the vocabulary can better meet the needs of diverse use-cases, rather than just implementing it without effort to respond to justified critiques.
If this is something of interest to you, please review our application and consider leaving some feedback via the form [4]. All feedback is much appreciated and will help us refine our proposal if we get to Stage II of the process, or help us apply for further funding opportunities in the future.
Many thanks and kind regards,
Lozana
(User: Loz.ross<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Loz.ross>)
[1] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data
[2] https://test.iconclass.org/
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Research_Fund/Ima…
[4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:Programs/Wikimedia_Research_Fun…
---
Dr. Lozana Rossenova
Researcher @ Open Science Lab, TIB Hannover
Wikibase Community Manager @ NFDI4Culture
ORCID: 0000-0002-5190-1867
Kaya
I have created a wishlist for Commons to have all the phabricator
tickets(approximately 900) fixed, the video upload issues to be fixed, tfa
to be added to existing tools. Via a team of Staff and volunteers being
created to focus on Commons.
Two fold fix the existing problems, and then make it possible to bring new
multimedia content to the projects.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2022/Multimedia_a…
Its in your hands now.
--
GN.
Hello, I'd like to refer to the original subject of the discussion -
tomorrow is the last day for submitting proposals for the Community
Wishlist Survey 2022.
Apart from that, everyone is welcome to translate, promote, and discuss
proposals:
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/01/10/what-improvements-in-wikimedia-platfo…
Best wishes,
Szymon Grabarczuk (he/him)
Community Relations Specialist
Wikimedia Foundation
On Wed, Jan 12, 2022 at 2:43 PM Strainu <strainu10(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> În mar., 11 ian. 2022 la 08:01, Kunal Mehta <legoktm(a)debian.org> a scris:
> >
> > So I think the status quo can be changed by just about anyone who is
> > motivated to do so, not by trying to convince the WMF to change its
> > prioritization, but just by doing the work. We should be empowering
> > those people rather than continuing to further entrench a WMF technical
> > monopoly.
> >
>
> Counterexample:
>
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/…
> (this was the situation that I quoted in my first email on this thread
> as the WMF refusing to even do reviews).
>
> Maybe it's just the multimedia part that it's in this desperate
> situation, but I can totally see volunteer developers getting
> discouraged quickly if their patches are outright ignored.
>
> Strainu
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines
> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
> Public archives at
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org…
> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Dear All,
Wiki Loves Folklore is back this year on Wikimedia commons to be held from
1st of February till the 28th of February 2022. We need your support in
participation and translation of project pages to share a word in your
native language.
Concurrently with the photo contest we will be having a writing competition
called Feminism and Folklore. It will be held from 1st of February till the
31st of March 2022. We would like various Wikimedia communities to take
part in it.
Feel free to organise both the contest locally
We look forward for your immense participation in both the projects.
Warm regards,
Tiven Gonsalves (User:Tiven2240)
Coordinator WLF & FNF
*https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore_2022
*
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore_2022/Organize
*
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Folklore_2022/Transla…
*https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Feminism_and_Folklore_2022
*https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Feminism_and_Folklore_2022/Project_Page
*
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Wiki_Loves_Folklore_20…
Hello everybody! A small, yet important change is coming to Structured
Data on Commons: users are now able to add references to a file’s
metadata.[1]
References were always a part of SDC, but until now they weren’t
visible to end users, nor was there an interface to add them. This has
been fixed with the current update.
References for SDC will work exactly like they work on Wikidata: you
can use URLs or items for reference; adding, removing and changing
references will share the same experience of doing it on Wikidata; and
there will be no limit to the number of references that can be added.
I am here in case you have any questions or requests for more information.
Cheers,
Luca / Sannita@WMF
[1] For more info, this is the Phabricator ticket covering this issue:
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T230315
Hi,
On 1/1/22 12:10, Asaf Bartov wrote:
> It seems to me there are *very few* people who could change status quo,
> not much more than a handful: the Foundation's executive leadership (in
> its annual planning work, coming up this first quarter of 2022), and the
> Board of Trustees.
If the goal is to get paid WMF staff to fix the issues, then you're
correct. However, I do not believe that as a solution is healthy
long-term. The WMF isn't perfect and I don't think it's desirable to
have a huge WMF that tries to do everything and has a monopoly on
technical prioritization.
The technical stack must be co-owned by volunteers and paid staff from
different orgs at all levels. It's significantly more straightforward
now for trusted volunteers to get NDA/deployment access than it used to
be, there are dedicated training sessions, etc.
Given that the multimedia stack is neglected and the WMF has given no
indication it intends to work on/fix the problem, we should be
recruiting people outside the WMF's paid staff who are interested in
working on this and give them the necessary access/mentorship to get it
done. Given the amount of work on e.g. T40010[1] to develop an
alternative SVG renderer, I'm sure those people exist.
Take moving Thumbor to Buster[2] for example. That requires
forward-porting some Debian packages written Python, and then testing in
WMCS that there's no horrible regressions in newer imagemagick, librsvg,
etc. I'm always happy to mentor people w/r to Debian packaging (and have
done so in the past), and there are a decent amount of people in our
community who know Python, and likely others from the Commons community
who would be willing to help with testing and dealing with whatever fallout.
So I think the status quo can be changed by just about anyone who is
motivated to do so, not by trying to convince the WMF to change its
prioritization, but just by doing the work. We should be empowering
those people rather than continuing to further entrench a WMF technical
monopoly.
[1] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T40010
[2] https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T216815
-- Legoktm