*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/Previous.*
*Discussions*
- Open request for adminship: Morne06 https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Requests_for_permissions/Administrator/Morneo06 - 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/Administrator/Ppolar_bear - 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_policy_reform: 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_GHzGI2_ozWww9Q/viewform?pli=1 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 (ID number in the [[:w:Fungal Names]] database.) - Braille transcription https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Braille_transcription (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_editor_ID , woordenlijst lemma ID https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/woordenlijst_lemma_ID , European Vehicle Number https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/European_Vehicle_Number , CourtListener person ID https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/CourtListener_person_ID , Norwegian railway station code https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Norwegian_railway_station_code , Australian National Kennel Council ID https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Australian_National_Kennel_Council_ID , Museo del Marchio Italiano ID https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Property_proposal/Museo_del_Marchio_Italiano_ID
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_psalmodikon: 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/WikiProjects_as_decentralized_governance - 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/?filter=zfiRgTnZF7zu&order=priority .
*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_properties_and_property_proposals_to_review . - 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/Previous · 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*