Dear all,
The next WMF metrics and activities will take place on Thursday,
December 6, 2012 at 6:30 PM UTC (10:30 AM PST). The IRC channel is
#wikimedia-metrics-meetings on irc.freenode.net and the meeting will
be broadcast as a live YouTube stream.
The current structure of the meeting is:
* Review of key metrics including the monthly report card, but also
specialized reports and analytics* Review of financials* Welcoming
recent hires* Brief presentations on recent projects, with a focus on
highest priority initiatives* Update and Q&A with the Executive
Director, if available
Please review https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Metrics_and_activities_meetings
for further information about how to participate.
We'll post IRC logs and the video recording publicly after the meeting.
Thank you,
Praveena
--
Praveena Maharaj
Executive Assistant to the VP of Engineering and Product Development
+1 (415) 839 6885 ext. 6689
www.wikimedia.org
Hi all, I'm sharing a blog post on behalf of Wikimedia Foundation General
Counsel Geoff Brigham with an update about the Internet Brands travel site
lawsuit. This update can be found online here:
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/11/28/update-to-internet-brands-travel-site-…
The federal district court in Los Angeles has now issued its written order
on volunteer Ryan Holliday’s anti-SLAPP motion and motion to
dismiss<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:2012-09-26_Notice_of_Defendants%27…>.
A copy of the order is available
here<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:2012-11-19_D18_Order_re_Special_Mt…>.
The order is consistent with our prior
report<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/11/19/update-on-internet-brands-v-holliday/>
following
the hearing on November 19. In the order, the court noted that Internet
Brands abandoned its federal Lanham Act claim. That claim was based on the
factual allegation that the Foundation was operating a new travel wiki
called “Wiki Travel Guide,” which Ryan showed to be incorrect. After being
required to respond to Ryan’s motion, Internet Brands was forced to admit
that the basis of its claim was primarily predicated on an assumption.
Noting that this Lanham Act claim was the only claim supporting federal
jurisdiction, the court dismissed the remainder of Internet Brands’ case
and found Ryan’s anti-SLAPP motion to be moot.
While we had hoped that the court would reach the merits of Ryan’s
anti-SLAPP motion, the dismissal of the entire suit nonetheless represents
a victory for Ryan and volunteer James Heilman (who was also named in the
suit). We congratulate both of them on this result.
Meanwhile, the Wikimedia Foundation is proceeding forward with its lawsuit
against Internet Brands in San Francisco. Internet Brands has filed a
demurrer (motion to dismiss), the hearing for which has been postponed to
December 14. The court has issued a tentative ruling on that motion, which
is available here<http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Minutes_-_Demurrer_11-19-12.pdf>.
In the tentative ruling, the court indicates that it is inclined to rule
against Internet Brands. We will update you further after the hearing.
*Geoff Brigham, General Counsel*
*
*
*
*
--
Matthew Roth
Global Communications Manager
Wikimedia Foundation
+1.415.839.6885 ext 6635
www.wikimediafoundation.org
*https://donate.wikimedia.org*
_______________________________________________
Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
_______________________________________________
WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list
WikimediaAnnounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l
Hi all,
As you might have noticed, especially if you're an English Wikipedian, the
Editor Engagement Experiments team has been working on redesigning the
user experience of account creation, A/B testing new designs and
functionality for the past couple months.
We finished our final A/B test last week,[1] and we're now moving on to
make the features which tested well permanent.[2] In order to make sure
that the experience of signup and login are consistent, we also plan to
make some changes to the design of login.[3]
In order to answer any questions people might have and gather feedback,
we're holding the first office hours about our redesign work. We also plan
to enable the test version of the new account creation experience at 100%
(rather than 50/50, as previously) so that people can give it a try.
When: Saturday December 1, 2012. 19:00-20:00 UTC. Time conversion links
etc. are on Meta.[4]
Where: #wikimedia-office
--
Steven Walling
https://wikimediafoundation.org/
1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Account_creation_UX
2. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Account_creation_user_experience
3. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Design/Login
4. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours
There are a number of interesting topics in this month's Recent Research report. The detailed list of contents for the Research Report may intrigue some readers of Wikimedia-l and Research-l. The report is at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2012-11-26/Recen…. More information about the report is available at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Newsletter.
Personally, I was most appreciative of the information under "Being Wikipedian is more important than the political affiliation". Quoting from the report: "Based on an analysis of a sample of 1390 editors with known political affiliation – either US Democrat or Republican – (the authors) conclude that although the social identity of editors is strongly reflected in their editorial interests – that is, the topics on which they are more active – but that being "Wikipedian" dominates the political affiliation when it comes to user pages. In contrast with other social media e.g., blogosphere, where cross-party interactions are very much underrepresented, it appears that Wikipedian dialogues between editors from opposing parties are relatively profound and notable. On the day before the US presidential election, the paper's results were highlighted on the Wikimedia blog under the headline "In divisive times, Wikipedia brings political opponents together".
Recent Research report topics for November 2012:
"Early prediction of movie box-office revenues with Wikipedia data"
"Readability of the English Wikipedia, Simple Wikipedia, and Britannica compared"
"Wikipedia favors established views and scientifically backed knowledge"
"Trust, authority and credentials on Wikipedia: The case of the Essjay controversy"
"Being Wikipedian is more important than the political affiliation"
"Eye-tracking study: Readers look at TOC first, then infobox"
"Edit categories in featured and non-featured articles"
"How the TV schedule influences Wikipedia pageviews"
"A truthfulness verification system based on Wikipedia"
"Characterizing Wikipedia traffic"
"One-year article ratings dump released"
"Measuring countries' visibility on Wikipedia"
"Ratio of African Wikipedia readers rising, but still low"
--Pine
I'm seeing a significant number of OTRS tickets along the lines of:
I was looking at Wikipedia and a big orange banner popped up
asking for donation> Is this for real, or is it a scam?
Can anything be done about this?
--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
Hi all,
I wanted to share with you a press release we issued earlier:
---
More than a hundred articles in Hungarian Wikipedia's literature contest
Press release, 28 November 2012
http://wikimedia.hu/wiki/IRODALOM12END
Wikimedia Hungary's literature themed article writing contest held between
5 October and 20 November 2012 with an Amazon Kindle and other valuable
prizes was a resounding success. The 47 participating editors wrote nearly
130 new articles, including articles about contemporary works (such as Parallel
Stories by Péter Nádas, or The Museum of Innocence by Orphan Pamuk) and
significant works of literary history (for instance Jin Ping Mei or the
Osiris myth), as well as about authors from Nossis to Imants Ziedonis.
The full list of articles is available at bit.ly/wpirodalomverseny, the
results of the contest will be announced at the Wikipedian meetup held on 1
December.
The contest was not only a success in expanding literary knowledge on
Wikipedia but also in attracting new editors as a quarter of the
contestants began editing Wikipedia during the contest. Wikimedia Hungary
is grateful for everyone who participated in expanding Wikipedia and
consequently free knowledge. The association is planning a number of new
contest for the year 2013.
---
Best regards,
Bence Damokos,
Wikimedia Hungary
Dear all,
On Saturday, 24 November 2012, Wikimedia Germany held its eleventh
general assembly in Berlin. Our main topics were the presentation and
discussion of the annual plan[1] as well as the election of the board.
The assembly agreed upon the annual plan and elected the following
members to its board[2]:
Ralf Liebau (President)
Anja Ebersbach (Vice President)
Delphine Ménard (Vice President)
Steffen Prößdorf (Treasurer)
Nikolas Becker
Jens Best
Manuela Kanneberg
Martin Rulsch
Sebastian Wallroth
We also elected Daniel Baur and Olaf Kosinsky as auditors, as well as
Thomas Goldammer and Holger Motzkau as deputy auditors. All terms are
for one year.
Some time ago, Sebastian Moleski, Wikimedia Deutschland’s long-time
chair and president, has announced not running for the board again.
With his personal dedication and professional knowledge, Sebastian has
driven the chapter’s strategic development forward. All of Wikimedia
Germany – the board, the association and the staff – thank Sebastian
very much for his tremendous work and support.
Like in the previous years, the board of Wikimedia Germany is looking
forward to working with the Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia
Chapters on a trustful and partnership basis. Also, we are happy to
support our chapter friends wherever needed. Feel free to get in touch
any time, either via mail to single board members[2] or to the whole
board via praesidium(a)wikimedia.de.
Best regards from Berlin,
Nicole Ebber
International affairs
[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Deutschland/2013_annual_plan_draft…
[2] http://www.wikimedia.de/wiki/Pr%C3%A4sidium
--
Nicole Ebber
Projektmanagerin
Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Obentrautstr. 72 | 10963 Berlin
Tel. +49 30 219158 26-0
http://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 27/681/51985.
Hello everyone,
Please find below Wikimedia UK's monthly report for October 2012. As well
as the usual updates on GLAM, outreach, communications, fundraising and
other activities, it also includes the results of our membership survey.
You can find the report online at
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2012/October but plain text is below
for those who prefer to read the report in an email.
Thanks and regards,
Stevie
GLAM activities
-
*14* - Andy Mabbett addressed the *Central and Eastern Europe Wikimedia
conference* <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2012>
about
recent developments in UK and international GLAM collaboration.
-
*19* - Andy Mabbett spoke to the *CityCamp
Coventry*<http://citycampcov.org.uk/> event,
about Wikimedia and GLAM.
-
*22* - Andy Mabbett delivered a training session on Wikipedia editing to
history students at the University of Birmingham, as part of the
*International
Dunhuang Project* <http://en.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM/BL/IDP>.
Expert outreach
The London School of Economics' *Impact of Social Sciences blog* ran a
guest post by Martin Poulter, *"Writing for Wikipedia has forced me into
good scholarly habits and accessible
writing"*<http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2012/10/04/poulter-writing-wi…>.
This asks academics to view Wikipedia as an opportunity to write about
their own fields and as an opportunity for educational assignments.
Martin Poulter, Charles Matthews, Tom Morris and Edward Harding delivered a
*day workshop at for the JISC Digital Infrastructure
team*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/JISC_DI_team_training_workshop> at
the JISC headquarters in London. Many of the trainees had managerial or
leadership roles in elearning, research infrastructure or digital
humanities. As well as basic editing, the workshop looked at different
kinds of effort to improve Wikipedia, and how the different Wikimedia
Projects work together to provide a "digital infrastructure" for each other
and the wider web.
Other activities
-
*13* - Fæ addressed the *Central and Eastern Europe Wikimedia
conference*<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2012>,
about the Chapters Association.
-
*WereSpielChequers* <http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:WereSpielChequers>
and *Leutha* <http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Leutha> ran a
categorisation workshop for donors who were also willing to donate some
time to Wikimedia.
-
The second "train the trainers" session took place in London
Microgrants
Two microgrants have been approved this month.
-
*Microgrants/Birthday
2012<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Birthday_2012>
*is for supplies for WMUK's birthday party celebrating the 4th
anniversary of the chapter and the 1st anniversary of us achieving charity
status - the party will take place at the *London wikimeet on 11 November
* <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/63>, to which all are
welcome. The application was submitted by WMUK's intern, Hasina Khatun.
-
*Microgrants/32GB usb stick for Commons
dump*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/32GB_usb_stick_for_Commons_dump>
is
for a 32GB memory stick to support the operations of
*Commons:User:Faebot<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Faebot>
*without wearing out the operator's computer. The bot is currently
working on categorising the Geograph images on Commons, as well as doing
other similar tasks. The application was submitted by Fæ.
A number of microgrants were marked as completed this month, including:
-
*Microgrants/Cambridge University Wikipedia
Society*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Cambridge_University_Wikipedia_Soc…>
provided
funding to get the Cambridge University Wikipedia Society started via a
stall at their fresher's fair, with freebies to give away. The report for
the microgrant, which was submitted by*User:Deryck
Chan*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Deryck_Chan>,
said "We now have a mailing list, with 237 members on it, a huge jump from
only 10 wiki-page members and volunteers prior to the fair. Volunteers at
the stall included Charles Matthews, Daniel Thomas, and myself. We've also
received great support from SRCF. Almost all freebies were given out; the
T-shirts and pens for volunteers of our stall created a particularly
professional image by making everything in the stall Wikimedia-branded.
Additionally, the nearby stalls, all science and technology related, were
also predominantly using Wikipedia pens for their sign-up sheets!"
-
*Microgrants/Imperial College Wikipedia
Society*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Imperial_College_Wikipedia_Society>
Information about microgrants that are currently running, and how to submit
a microgrant application of your own, are at
*Microgrants/Applications*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Microgrants/Applications>
.
UK press coverage (and coverage of UK projects & activities)
*A list of recent press coverage can be seen
here*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Media_coverage_summary_August_-_October_2…>
.
Upcoming activities in November
For events in December and onwards, please see
*Events*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Events>
.
- *01* - *Ethical Properties Wikipedia Workshop/November
event<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ethical_Properties_Wikipedia_Workshop/November…>
*
- *03* - *Robin Owain addresses The Welsh Academy Writers' Fair,
Cardiff<http://www.llenyddiaethcymru.org/newyddion/i/141841/>
*
- *04* - *RBSA Backstage
Pass*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/RBSA_Backstage_Pass> in
Birmingham
- *04* - *Oxford meetup*
<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Oxford/1> 1st
ever Oxford meetup
- *04* - *Royal Birmingham Society of Artists
editathon<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/RBSA_Backstage_Pass>
*
- *06* - Training at De Montfort University
- *06* - Workshop at the National Library of Scotland
- *07* - Workshop at the National Library of Scotland
- *08* - Workshop at Edinburgh University
- *09* - Workshop at EDINA, Edinburgh
- *11* - *London meetup <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/London/63>
*
- *17–18* - Board meeting (TBC) - in person
- *18* - *Reading
meetup*<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Reading/2> 2nd
Reading meetup
- *20* - Training at De Montfort University
- *24* - *Liverpool meetup<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Liverpool/6>
*
- *25* - *Manchester Girl Geeks editing
day<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Girl_Geek_Dinner/Manchester_November…>
*
- *25* - *Cambridge University Wikipedia Society gathering and editing
workshop*<http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Wikipedia:Cambridge_University_Wikipedia_So…>
Administrative activities
Finances
-
The current state of each of our budgets is *outlined in a Google
Spreadsheet*<https://docs.google.com/a/wikimedia.org.uk/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkP38YPQ7Tg…>.
This details spend to date, and a rough estimate of future spending. This
spreadsheet is too complex to be placed directly on a wiki. Our yearly
spend is heavily 'end-loaded', partially due to the rapid growth of
Wikimedia UK.
-
Q3's Management Accounts (covering August, September, October) are
at *File:Wikimedia
UK Management Accounts Q3
2012.pdf*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_UK_Management_Accounts_Q3_2012.…>.
These are also available in spreadsheet format for those interested -
contact richard.symondswikimedia.org.uk
Board activities
The Board's main activity during October was the appointment (jointly with
the Wikimedia Foundation) of Mike Hudson and Compass Partnership to conduct
an independent review of our governance arrangements. This was the
principal topic of discussion at our Board phone call on 9 October (*minutes
* <http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes_9Oct12>), and by the end of October
the review was under way.
On 10 October we received the conclusions from a financial review from
Garfield Byrd, the Wikimedia Foundation's Chief of Finance and
Administration. These have now been
*published*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Governance/2012_Financial_review_by_Garfield_B…>
along
with a *plan* <http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Finance_Action_Plan_2012/13>
setting
out our plans to address the issues raised in both Garfield's report and
that of our auditors.
News from the Chief Exec *For information on Jon's activities this month,
see **News from the
Office*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/News_from_the_Office/Posts>
*.* The updates about the Wikimedia UK Interns can be found there too,
together with *here* <http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/09/intern/>.
Communications
October was a month for repositioning our communications. The discussions
around governance continued, culminating in the appointment of Compass
Partnership to conduct the WMUK / WMF commissioned independent governance
review. The biggest communications success this month was *Ada
Lovelace Day*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace_Day_2012>.
This was the result of much excellent work by Daria and the team at the
Royal Society. The event gained widespread media coverage and received an
excellent reception on social media. You can see a comprehensive list of
coverage on the event's page. October's press coverage is *recorded in the
attached document*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Media_coverage_summary_August_-_October_2…>,
along with coverage from September. In other news, discussions have begun
on how we can improve the monthly reports. Suggestions include developing a
Signpost-style newsletter, featuring content created by WMUK members,
volunteers and UK-based editors. *Get involved in the discussion
here*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/What_would_a_WMUK_Signpost-style_newsletter_lo…>.
Blog posts in October:
- 9 October - *One year on: 12 months working with the Herbert Art
Gallery and Museum<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/one-year-on-12-months-working-with-the…>
*
- 13 October - *A message form the Wikimedia UK
Board<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/a-message-from-the-wikimedia-uk-board/>
*
- 19 October - *Bringing evidence based medicine to the
world<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/bringing-evidence-based-medicine-to-th…>
*
- 24 October - *Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia Foundation appoint
independent reviewer<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/wikimedia-uk-and-wikimedia-foundation-…>
*
- 25 October - *Hasina says goodbye to Wikimedia
UK<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/goodbye-wikimedia-uk/>
*
- 26 October - *The story of Ada Lovelace, the Royal Society and
Wikimedia UK*<http://blog.wikimedia.org.uk/2012/10/the-story-of-ada-lovelace-the-royal-so…>
Fundraising and Membership *Fundraising*
This month, we received £443.26 in one-off donations, with 13 individual
donations. The average donation amount was £34.09 - 62% of these donors
have had Gift Aid Declarations made and matched with their records. If
anyone would like a full (but anonymised) csv file with more information,
please get in touch with katherine.bavagewikimedia.org.uk and let her know
your requirements.
As for direct debit donations, there were 5349 successful direct debits
this month, bringing in a total of £20,917.12.
*Membership*
Up to 31st October 2012:
-
198 new (membership commenced in preceding three months) and current
members
-
51 'grace' members (membership within six months after date membership
should be renewed)
This adds up to 249 members who are eligible to vote
-
155 Expired members
A membership survey was distributed on 30th October 2012 , the results were
made public as part of the reports to the Board meeting of 17th November
2012. You can view them
*here*<http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMUKMemSurveySummaryNov12.pdf>
(pdf)
--
Stevie Benton
Communications Organiser
Wikimedia UK+44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173
@StevieBenton
Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England
and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513.
Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street,
London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a
global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the
Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects).
*Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal
control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*
_______________________________________________
Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
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Hello, I just added this proposition :
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikikultur
Here is the summary :
Currently there are still some digital works which can not be published
on a wikimedia projects, because none of them have the right editorial
guideline to host them. Things like original poetry, songs, essays,
theses, novels, etc., wether they were already previously published or
not.
It would be great to see wikimedia launch a project to host this kind
of works.
The no original research for wikipedia is understable and very
important of course. Now what's relevant for an encyclopedia may not fit
others projects which need different editorial guidelines. In existing
projects Wikibooks is too pedagogic works oriented, and wikisource won't
accept works which were not previously published elsewhere.
Moreover, one may argue that it would be a good way to softly evacuate
originals works from wikipedia, with a message like "your contribution
contains original claims, wikipedia is not the place to publish this
kind of content, but you could share your original work on wikikultur".
Then eventualy, the wikipedia article could use wikikultur arcticles as
references. This would give access to authoring information (eventually
anonymous/IP claims), and all avantages of a free/libre work on a wiki.
For example, we may have statistics on articles, so we can check if it's
not used as a reference of an over represented point of view in an
wikipedia article.
On artistics topics, I think it would really help to boost the
free-libre culture movement to have a place where every artists can
directly experiment what it means to share and build together, with an
audience intertwinned with other mediawiki projects.
----
It looks like other proposed projects would be included in such a
project, like Wikiessay (I just discovered and I'm gonna read others
projects description, sorry), but others aspect don't seem - at first
glance - to be covered, like artistics topics.
Kind regards,
mathieu
--
Association Culture-Libre
http://www.culture-libre.org/