Wikidata January 2026

wikidata@lists.wikimedia.org

9 participants
12 discussions

Weekly Summary #713
by josef anthony 05 Jan '26

05 Jan '26

*Here's your quick overview of what has been happening around Wikidata in theweek leading up to 2026-01-05. Missed the previous one? See issue #712 <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:Status_updates/Pr…>.* *Discussions* - Open request for adminship: Morne06 <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Requests_for_permissions/Administrat…> - RfP scheduled to end after 8 January 2026 20:35 (UTC) - Closed request for adminship: Ppolar bear <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Requests_for_permissions/Administrat…> - general consensus is to reapply after gaining more experience. - New request for comments: Notability policy reform <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Requests_for_comment/Notability_poli…>: first drafted in 2013, Wikidata has grown vastly since the original Notability policy was created. This first-round discussion is intended to collect ideas, comments, and reflections on how to improve the Notability Policy for what Wikidata currently is and will become. *Events* - Upcoming events <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:Events>: - OpenStreetMap X Wikidata Meetup #84 January 12 Time: 19:30-21:00 UTC+8 at Mozilla Community Space Taipei (Q61752245) <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q61752245>. - Wikimedia Hackathon Northwestern Europe 2026 <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_Northwestern_Europe_2026>: a two-day event that will take place from 13 to 14 March 2026 in Arnhem, the Netherlands. Apply <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdYOnOg1iq-8M4xWw8foHUw_7fReWTKtVH…> for a grant and join the event. - The next Wikidata+Wikibase office hours <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Events#Office_hours> will take place on Wednesday, 18:00 CEST <https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1768410000>, 14th January 2026 in the Wikidata Telegram group <https://t.me/joinchat/IeCRo0j5Uag1qR4Tk8Ftsg>. The Wikidata and Wikibase office hours are online events where the development team presents what they have been working on over the past quarter, and the community is welcome to ask questions and discuss important issues related to the development of Wikidata and Wikibase. *Press, articles, blog posts, videos* - Blogs: - Rescuing Scholia #2: getting closer <https://doi.org/10.59350/6t2qh-2f839> - African Literary Metadata (ALMEDA) <https://almedaresearch.org/about-almeda/> - Wikontic: Ontology-Aware KG Pipeline <https://www.emergentmind.com/topics/wikontic-framework> - this article introduces Wikontic, a pipeline that builds knowledge graphs from text by enforcing Wikidata's ontological rules and merging duplicate entities. - Papers: - Using Wikidata’s Ontology in Practice: A Neuro-Symbolic, Community-Centred Workflow for Integrating and Reusing Humanities Datasets <https://www.researchgate.net/publication/399200580_Using_Wikidata's_Ontology_in_Practice_A_Neuro-Symbolic_Community-Centred_Workflow_for_Integrating_and_Reusing_Humanities_Datasets> - This article introduces an ontology-first, community-driven workflow that aligns humanities datasets with Wikidata to address data silos and gender inequities, offering reusable modelling patterns, SPARQL-based analysis, and a neuro-symbolic AI framework that reduces bias and supports reproducible, ontology-backed knowledge graph practices. By Velilla & Ferran-Ferrer (2025). - A Semantic Wiki for Language Learning: The Case of the Baoulé Language <https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=148575> - The BAOULE-WIKI project introduces a semantic wiki and homograph-detection model to preserve and teach the endangered Baoulé language, achieving high accuracy while paving the way for broader digital preservation of African languages through community collaboration and integration with knowledge bases like Wikidata and DBpedia. By Kra et al., (2026). - Transforming the Digital Landscape: Towards a Medieval Knowledge Graph <https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/738255> - Digitization has transformed medieval studies by expanding access and enabling new research methods, with future progress hinging on Linked Open Data, shareable identifiers, and collaborative knowledge graphs to truly democratize and enrich scholarship. By Burrows, (2026). - Towards a Linked Open Index: Reconciling Museum Records to Wikidata for Index of American Design Constituents <https://openhumanitiesdata.metajnl.com/articles/10.5334/johd.426> - The Index of American Design project’s reconciliation of thousands of records with Wikidata reveals both challenges and strategies for improving data alignment, while a linked Power BI tool supports ongoing monitoring of quality, access, and representation in humanities research. By Foster et al., (2026). - The “Dizionario Degli Scrittori Italiani Contemporanei Pseudonimi” in Wikidata. Pseudonymous Authors in Wikidata: Dataset and Queries <https://openhumanitiesdata.metajnl.com/articles/10.5334/johd.441> - The dataset from the MA thesis structures biographical data on 19th–20th century pseudonymous Italian authors in Wikidata, including corpus items, SPARQL queries, and analysis documents, and is reusable for further research or case studies. By De Monaco, (2025). *Tool of the week* - Broomstick <https://broomstick.toolforge.org/> is a tool by Wikicollabs it uncover Lexemes that can be improved on Wikidata. - Explore your Wikimedia activity year in review with Wiki Year in Review <https://affandymurad.github.io/wiki/> - Wikilokal (Android version): explore the world within a 3 km radius by Affandy Murad <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Affandy_Murad> *Other Noteworthy Stuff* - New project: Dissemination of polymer science through Wikipedia and Wikidata <https://iupac.org/project/2025-016-3-400/> (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (Q33438) <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q33438>) *Newest properties <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:ListProperties> and property proposals <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:Property_proposal> to review* - Newest General datatypes: - crowdfunding target <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14047> (target goal of this crowdfunding campaign) - free height <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14052> (vertical distance from the floor level to the lowest obstruction in the ceiling of an indoor or outdoor space) - Newest External identifiers: ‎PixelatedArcade genre ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14048>, ‎Game Boy Database game ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14049>, ‎RetroCollect games ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14050>, MyWaifuList work ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14051>, Nonbinary Wiki ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14053>, Diccionari de la llengua catalana entry ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14054> , DVIDS video ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14055>, FIP.IT basketball player ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14056>, Card Player ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14057>, Télérama film ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14058>, Boosty author ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14059>, ‎Before I Play game ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P14060> - New General datatypes property proposals to review: - Fungal Names taxon ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Fungal_Names_taxon…> (ID number in the [[:w:Fungal Names]] database.) - Braille transcription <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Braille_transcript…> (transcription in Braille) - Braille represents <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Braille_represents> (graphene or phone that the Braille cell represents) - New External identifier property proposals to review: CNVD-ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/CNVD-ID>, Trismegistos editor ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Trismegistos_edito…> , woordenlijst lemma ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/woordenlijst_lemma…> , European Vehicle Number <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/European_Vehicle_N…> , CourtListener person ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/CourtListener_pers…> , Norwegian railway station code <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Norwegian_railway_…> , Australian National Kennel Council ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Australian_Nationa…> , Museo del Marchio Italiano ID <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Museo_del_Marchio_…> You can comment on all open property proposals <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Overview>! *Did you know?* - Schema examples: (E498) district electoral division <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/EntitySchema:E498>: Schema to describe an electoral division (small political division of Ireland). - Newest WikiProjects <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:WikiProjects>: - Project IrishForges <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_IrishForges>: Describing forges and forge buildings of Ireland using Wikidata, Wikimedia and other sources. - Project Ireland <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Ireland>: A hub for all Ireland-related Wikidata activities including cross-Wikiproject tasks. - Project Historic Irish Placenames <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_HistoricIrishPlacenames>: focusing on County Kilkenny, connect historic placenames with their modern counterparts or create new items for *"lost places"*. - Svenska psalmodikon <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Sweden/Svenska_psalmodik…>: A sub-project for the psalmodikon (Q3354977) <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3354977>, a stringed-instrument popular in Sweden. - WikiProject Highlights: WikiPojects as decentralized governance <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Limits_of_Wikidata/WikiP…> - this sub-page of the Limits of Wikidata project <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:WikiProject_Limits_of_Wikidata> proposes WikiProjects become caretakers of collections or subgraphs of relevant items. - Showcase Items <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Showcase_items> : Venezuela (Q717) <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q717> - country in South America - Showcase Lexemes <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Showcase_lexemes>: размах (L155644) <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Lexeme:L155644> - Russian noun (rɐzˈmax) meaning "amplitude (of a swing)", "physical span or width", or "scale/scope (of an activity)" *Development* - No development happened in the past week as the team are just returning from the holidays. You can see all open tickets related to Wikidata here <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/maniphest/query/4RotIcw5oINo/#R>. If you want to help, you can also have a look at the tasks needing a volunteer <https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/board/71/query/zfiRgTnZF7zu/?filt…> . *Weekly Tasks* - Add labels, in your own language(s), for the new properties listed above <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Status_updates/Next#Newest_propertie…> . - Contribute to the showcase Item and Lexeme above <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Status_updates/Next#Did_you_know?> . - Govdirectory weekly focus country: - Summarize your WikiProject's ongoing activities <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Status_updates/Next#Did_you_know?> in one or two sentences. - Help translate <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:LanguageStats> or proofread the interface and documentation pages, in your own language! - Help merge identical items <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:Pasleim/projectmerge> across Wikimedia projects. - Help write the next summary! <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Status_updates/Next> *· Previous issue <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Wikidata:Status_updates/Pr…> · JosefAnthony <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User:JosefAnthony> talk <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/User_talk:JosefAnthony> ·* Idoko Joseph (JosefAnthony) Wikimedia Volunteer | Open Knowledge Advocate *View my contributions <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:JosefAnthony/Contributions>*

1 0

Join us for the GLAM Community Call on January 27! 🎨📚
by Connor Benedict 05 Jan '26

05 Jan '26

Dear GLAM Community, Happy 2026! We're excited to share that our GLAM Community Calls will be happening on the fourth Tuesday of each month throughout 2026. Mark your calendars for this month's call on January 27 at 13:30 UTC – you can register now on the event page. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_GLAM_calls The calls will continue alternating between 8:00 UTC and 13:30 UTC to accommodate community members across different time zones, with ongoing support from the Content Partnerships Hub and the Content Enablement Team at the Wikimedia Foundation. We want to hear from you! We're inviting everyone in the Global GLAM Community to submit your topic requests and proposals. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeX0hCAnZzbUdTLY2ncYBuFj0sn7aTw8Jf… We're building our upcoming agendas around the five strategic pillars that were developed at GLAM Wiki last year, which form the foundation for GLAM activities in 2026 and beyond. By centering these pillars in our calls, we hope to help affiliates and contributors prioritize these themes in their own work and collaborate across time zones, countries, and languages to advance GLAM Wiki activities together. We are also welcoming new hosts for the calls! If you are interested in getting involved as an organizer please use the form above as well. Looking forward to seeing you at the call! All the best, GLAM Community Call Organizers

1 0

2026

2025

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

Wikidata January 2026