The Wikibase track of WikidataCon 2021 is starting, with a packed schedule over the course of the day:
https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/schedule/
This includes this month's user group meeting, at 16:30 UTC:
https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/talk/98YPGL/
If you missed it, the first day of the conference is available to stream on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn2BrQomvFU
Clickable timecodes have been added to the description to get you to the session you're interested in.
Links to notes for sessions on Day 2 are available via the schedule details when you select a session - recordings for most sessions should be made available after the event.
If you haven't signed up for the event, you can still do so:
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikidataCon_2021
You'll need to do so to access the live stream and chat, as well as the social room for one-to-one and group videoconferencing - an access link is provided in your sign-up email. All Wikibase track sessions are in Room 1 of Venueless.
Hope to see you at WikidataCon!
--
Laurence "GreenReaper" Parry
Hi everyone,
In 2019 we published strategy papers for Wikidata and the Wikibase
Ecosystem (https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikidata/Strategy/2019).
They have been very helpful for us to clarify where we see Wikidata
and the Wikibase Ecosystem going and have conversations about it with
editors, other chapters and user groups, outside organisations and
within our team.
Two years have passed since then and a lot has happened. Over the past
months we have therefore sat down again and taken the time to really
consider where we are and where we want to go based on everything we
have learned from conversations we have had with many of you, research
we have done and how we and the world have changed since the first
strategy papers were published. Today we are publishing the result of
all of that work and are inviting your feedback.
You can find the new strategies at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/LinkedOpenData/Strategy2021 and we
would love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the talk page at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:LinkedOpenData/Strategy2021.
Cheers
Sam, Lea, Manuel, Lydia for the development team
--
Lydia Pintscher - http://about.me/lydia.pintscher
Product Manager for Wikidata
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V.
Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24
10963 Berlin
www.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland - Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg
unter der Nummer 23855 Nz. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das
Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
Dear all,
Sorry to be spamming this list with more job postings, but we have a new
job opportunity at the Open Science Lab in TIB Hannover and it might be
relevant to people on this list (or your extended network).
Full details here:
https://www.tib.eu/en/tib/careers-and-apprenticeships/vacancies/details/ste…
*Unofficially, remote work is also OK. Any questions feel free to email me
directly.*
There will also be a presentation at WikidataCon
<https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/talk/XXSPCR/> on Sunday regarding the work
going on at TIB, so feel free to stop by and check out the session for
details. *(Note: final WDCon schedule will be released very soon and will
be shared in this mailing list)*
Many thanks,
Lozana
--
Lozana Rossenova (PhD, London South Bank University)
Digital Archives Designer and Researcher
Twelve days before the start of WikidataCon 2021, the Wikibase track on Sunday October 31 is shaping up; with fourteen sessions on the schedule already, including introduction to new community-developed extensions - some to be in Wikibase's Fall 2021 release - several examples of third-party implementations, and an introduction to WMDE's Wikikbase.Cloud initiative: https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/schedule/#2021-10-31
Don't miss the other days, though: on Friday and Saturday there's presentations on new features in Wikibase and panels on query service scaling, tutorials on OpenRefine, and discussion of features such as Wikidata Bridge which might be adapted by third-party deployments. Learn more and sign up to attend at https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikidataCon_2021
We're still looking for proposals to fill a few lightning talk sessions or a short presentation slot - so if you have a topic you want to share or talk about, please get in touch - or submit directly via https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/submit/GAqG7O/info/
With four days left to submit new proposals and limited space, the sooner you submit, the better! We particularly hope to hear from those who may not have presented at WDC before; on inspiring uses of Wikibase, or tools and techniques you find useful.
--
September 30 also saw the most recent meeting of the Wikibase Community User Group:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikibase_Community_User_Group/Meetings/2021…
Topics included updated tooling for backups in WBStack (and in general, third-party Wikibases), OpenRefine workflow for structured data on Commons (SDC), and holding our October meeting at WikidataCon itself.
This has now been tentatively scheduled for an hour-long slot at 17:00 UTC October 31 - be sure to check beforehand, as it's subject to change. We'll be discussing the day's sessions, and - if there's time - reflecting on what's happened over the past year, and what we might be able to do in the future. It'll also be an opportunity to introduce the group to a wider community.
The need for a second official contact to WMF was also discussed. I proposed Lozana Rossenova (Loz.Ross) act as a functionary for that role and as an administrator of this mailing list, since only one contact was elected. As many of you will be aware, she has been very active here and on Telegram, not to mention organization of the WDC track; I believe she'll fulfil this role well.
Having heard no objections to this, two weeks after proposing it the meeting and on Telegram, and with an urgent need to resolve the situation to maintain our affiliate status, we intend to move forwards. There should be an opportunity for further elections next year in combination with those for affiliate WMF board members, if there's any desire for change later on.
--
With a new release, features and services, it's an exciting time for Wikibase. I hope to see as many of you as possible at WikidataCon, where there should be ample opportunity to discuss the community's plans, needs and hopes for the future.
--
Laurence "GreenReaper" Parry
greenreaper.co.uk - wikifur.com
Dear Wikibase community members,
As co-curators of the Wikibase track at WikidataCon 2021, we (Lozana and Laurence) would like to extend a warm invitation to those working on related projects to propose sessions you'd like to present or participate in, either during Wikibase's track - 11:00-18:00 UTC Sunday October 31<https://tinyurl.com/WDC21CT> - or at the conference in general.
WikidataCon is held every two years, coinciding with Wikidata’s birthday. This year it'll be held virtually over October 29-31. You can read about WikidataCon 2021<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikidataCon_2021>, and submit proposals here<https://pretalx.com/wdcon21/submit/GAqG7O/info/> -- we're planning a session of lightning talks, so if you have an idea that might not fit a standard 25- or 55-minute session, feel free to put it forward!
Submissions are open through October 20th; though the sooner you submit, the easier it'll be to fit you in. Each proposal undergoes an internal review process, and the schedule will be gradually released over the coming weeks, starting with an initial version on October 5th.
If you have any questions, ideas, or suggestions, don't hesitate to get in touch!
--
Lozana Rossenova<https://wikidata.org/wiki/User:Loz.ross>, Laurence 'GreenReaper' Parry<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:GreenReaper>
Wikibase Community User Group
Hi everyone,
We have our next Wikibase Live Session on Thursday, September 30th at 1600
UTC <https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1633017642> (18:00 Berlin).
What are you working on around Wikibase? You're welcome to come and share
with the Wikibase community.
*Details about how to participate are below:*
Time: 16:00 UTC (18:00 Berlin), 1 hour, Thursday 30th September 2021
Jitsi: https://meet.jit.si/WikibaseLiveSession
Notes: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/WBUG_2021.09.30
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
Talk to you soon!
--
Mohammed Sadat
*Community Communications Manager for Wikidata/Wikibase*
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de
Keep up to date! Current news and exciting stories about Wikimedia,
Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our newsletter (in German): Subscribe now
<https://www.wikimedia.de/newsletter/>.
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision!
https://spenden.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland – Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
Hello,
In July, many of you participated in our Wikibase Installation & Updating
surveys (see announcement
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikibaseug@lists.wikimedia.org/…>).
We compiled the results – you can have a look on Meta
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikibase/Wikibase_Installation_%26_Updating…>
.
Many thanks to all those who participated in the survey. Your answers will
help us find ways to improve the installation & updating process for users.
If you have any questions or additional feedback, please feel free to let
us know in this discussion page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikibase/Wikibase_Installation_%26_Upd…>
or write to me privately.
Cheers,
--
Mohammed Sadat
*Community Communications Manager for Wikidata/Wikibase*
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de
Keep up to date! Current news and exciting stories about Wikimedia,
Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our newsletter (in German): Subscribe now
<https://www.wikimedia.de/newsletter/>.
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision!
https://spenden.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland – Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
Dear all,
I'm posting here because there is an open devOps position at the Lab where
I work.
>>
https://www.tib.eu/en/tib/careers-and-apprenticeships/vacancies/details/job…
We are looking for someone with experience in OSS / Mediawiki / Wikibase
software (ideally) hence I'm posting here. Please feel free to spread the
word if you know anyone who might be interested and feel free to reach out
to me directly at lozana.rossenova(a)tib.eu if you have any questions and
want to learn more.
Cheers,
Lozana
--
Lozana Rossenova (PhD, London South Bank University)
Digital Archives Designer and Researcher
Hello everyone,
The Wikibase development team is excited to see the emergence of
community-created import tooling such as RaiseWikibase and wikibase-insert,
particularly because Wikibase does not yet come equipped with its own
import mechanism “out of the box”. To help better support the community, we
would like to offer some advice to toolmakers and provide some insight into
our planned explorations into making API-based importing better and faster.
We anticipate an inherent issue with tools that directly inject information
into the Wikibase database tables. Namely, that the schemas that such tools
rely on are subject to change. Normal development processes across
Wikimedia can (and likely will) endanger the long-term health and stability
of these tools, an outcome we would like to avoid as much as possible.
Specifically, we can’t guarantee that the layout or content of the tables
that these tools write to will not change. Although Wikibase does not have
its own public stable interface policy, we work with an eye on Wikidata's
policy
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Stable_Interface_Policy#Unstable_Int…>
.
We would like to offer the following advice to tool developers:
1.
Wherever possible, use the HTTP APIs.
2.
When using them, make sure to batch requests when possible.
3.
Understand that by reading or writing directly to DB tables, Wikibase
behavior may end up broken in subtle ways.
4.
Understand that tools which read or write from the DB on today’s
Wikibase may not still work on tomorrow’s Wikibase.
The Wikibase development roadmap
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Development_plan#Wikibase_ecosystem>
for the year is already tightly booked. However, Wikimedia Germany intends
to dedicate some resources during our next 2021 prototyping effort towards
exploring ways to optimize our API -- specifically, a solution approaching
something like an "import mode" which would bypass unnecessary actions when
inserting a body of previously vetted information. This might, for example,
include ignoring checks on the uniqueness of labels or user permissions. In
addition, we plan to dedicate time toward evaluating OpenRefine’s new Wikibase
reconciliation functionality
<https://docs.openrefine.org/next/manual/wikibase/overview> on behalf of
the community. We will keep you updated on our efforts related to these
topics.
If you are interested, we welcome you to watch the progress of these
related Phabricator tickets as well:
-
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T287164 -- Improve bulk import via API
-
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T285987 -- Do not generate full html
parser output at the end of Wikibase edit requests
Cheers,
--
Mohammed Sadat
*Community Communications Manager for Wikidata/Wikibase*
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de
Keep up to date! Current news and exciting stories about Wikimedia,
Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our newsletter (in German): Subscribe now
<https://www.wikimedia.de/newsletter/>.
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision!
https://spenden.wikimedia.de
Wikimedia Deutschland – Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V.
Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter
der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für
Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.