These are fascinating experiments, I hope that the Waray-waray and Cebuano
communities will at some point report back to the wider community as to how
this worked out. My fear is that too fast a growth rate could overwhelm
whatever community we have in those languages leading to burn out of
existing editors dealing with too many newbies at once, my suspicion is
that this will vary by language depending on such variables as the ratio of
PC users to smartphone users, and the ease with which editors can access
the necessary character sets.
We have long known that bot creation of stubs that are of interest to
speakers of a language is a way to recruit readers, and that some readers
become editors. What I think we don't yet know is the maximum growth rate
that a wiki community can cope with.
There is also a sustainability angle, though hopefully we can mitigate that
by bot replacing of articles where the source has changed but they haven't
been edited on the Cebuano or Waray-waray Wikipedias. Otherwise within a
decade we could have pedias that look very dated, for example various
record holders whose articles in other languages show their records have
been surpassed, and villages
WereSpielChequers
Let's continue with a clearer subject, then. :)
On Sat, Jul 4, 2015 at 6:06 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> 1. Prioritize work on the open badges system.
>
There is https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/profile/916/, which has
seen recent activity thanks to Lokal_Profil
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/p/Lokal_Profil/> (and Wikimedia Sweden?)
https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T62064
Still, as much as I have pushed Open Badges in the past, I feel hard to
prioritize this work when Mozilla (their initial maintainers) just
de-prioritized the whole framework. I'm happy to be convinced, and I agree
that the idea is good.
> 2. Make information about WMF contract positions more public. Currently,
> the system for hiring contractors seems to be opaque and largely at the
> discretion of the C staff. The discretion is fine, but some additional
> openness could be beneficial here, for recruiting purposes and for
> financial & programmatic transparency.
This is a topic more for Legal & HR. Since your interest is based on giving
more chances for volunteers to access to contract work, feel free creating
a Phabricator task and adding it to the #Engineering-Community backlog, so
at least is not forgotten in a mailing list archive.
> 3. Develop a central hub where WMF, Wikimedia affiliates, and
> mission-aligned organizations can post links to intern, contract, and staff
> openings. WMF could do this in partnership with an organization like
> Mozilla, the Free Software Foundation, Code for America, or the Ford
> Foundation. This hub might fit well with the WMF Partnership Department's
> mission, in addition to WMF HR's recruiting mission.
>
I have heard this idea many times before. Creating a successful "central
hub" takes a lot of work. A lot. It's one of those things that should exist
somewhere already, if only as a seed, and we should support more than
create our own.
> 4. Support the Volunteer Supporters Network
> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Supporters_Network> initiative
> on Meta; encourage peer support and networking opportunities among
> Wikimedia volunteers.
>
Sounds interesting. How? I'm not very familiar with this initiative (I
should), but could it be one of those Wikimedia efforts suffering a
non-tech/tech divide? Anyway, #Engineering-Community would welcome another
task to our backlog about connecting better our tech volunteers with that
network (and other implementable ways of supporting this initiative).
> 5. Post monthly emails to appropriate Wikimedia mailing lists about intern,
> contract, and full-time openings at WMF and affiliates that may be of
> interest to members of those lists.
>
This is also for HR. Advertizing better our open position is important
indeed. The trick here is "appropriate Wikimedia mailing lists". Where are
the good candidates ready to apply? For what is worth:
https://twitter.com/wikimediaatwork
6. Develop an active mentorship program at WMF that encourages WMF
> employees to mentor high-potential volunteers in their career development,
> ideally leading to a role at WMF or a mission-aligned organization. The
> Individual Engagement Grants Program and GSOC already do some of this with
> their grantees and interns, and the concept could be expanded to other
> programs and departments.
>
Yes, but mentoring well also takes a lot of effort. A lot. And even if a %
of those interns does end up working at Wikimedia, at least in the tech
area we are struggling with very low retention rates. High effort and low
retention is a risky combination. We are trying to do better (which, heh,
takes more energy), but we need to be careful and realistic. After two
years of ~20 tech interns during the (Northern Hemisphere) Summer, I was
the one proposing to be less pushy, aiming for quality, reliability, and
retention. Currently we have 10 tech interns, and I'm personally very happy
of seeing that this is a more sustainable effort.
7. Continue to expand the number of intern opportunities at WMF. WMF
> benefits from the inexpensive labor, and the interns benefit from the
> experience and the networking opportunities.
>
I don't have numbers, but I think every year we have more interns? The WMF
is growing as well, of course. In any case, note that there is no
"inexpensive labor" in our context. Finding interns, onboarding, and
mentoring them takes significant effort. Still, I think we all agree that
this is an area that can be expanded, also in Engineering.
Thoughts? We can take this discussion to Meta if it's getting to
> complicated and diverging too much from the original purpose of this
> thread.
>
I'm biased, but if you want results, I'd rather log and discuss every
task/goal in Phabricator.
--
Quim Gil
Engineering Community Manager @ Wikimedia Foundation
http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/User:Qgil
Wikipedia has been awarded the prestigious Erasmus Prize 2015. This prize
is awarded annually to a person or institution that has made an exceptional
contribution to culture, society or social science. Wikipedia was chosen
because the Internet encyclopedia provides worldwide access to knowledge in
an open and democratic way. The award goes specifically to the
international Wikipedia community, the volunteers behind Wikipedia. [
http://www.erasmusprijs.org/?lang=en&page=Erasmusprijs]
On Wednesday 25 November, the King of the Netherlands will present this
award to three members of the international Wikipedia community who each
represent a different aspect of what Wikipedia stands for and hopes to
achieve. [
http://www.erasmusprijs.org/?lang=en&page=Nieuws&mode=detail&item=Award+Cer…
]
Members of the international Wikipedia community are welcome to attend the
award ceremony, which will take place in the Royal Palace of Amsterdam, on
25 November. The event is free, but travel expenses are at own costs.
On behalf of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation, Wikimedia Nederland is
compiling an invitation list of Wikipedians that are interested and able to
attend.
If you are a Wikipedia editor and you would like to be present, sign up on
the guest list as soon as possible. Enrollment is possible by sending a
Wikipedia mail to user:FrankTMeijer or listing your name on the list here [
https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Uitreiking_Erasmusprijs#Inschrijfli…
](in Dutch only). Deadline for enrollment is 12 July.
Please note that:
*Enrolling on the guest list does not yet ensure that you can attend the
event. In case the number of interested people exceeds the number of
available seats in the audience, further selection will take place. Since
spaces are limited, we therefore kindly ask you to only sign up if you are
absolutely certain that you can attend.
*Invitees will need to reveal their real name and address details to
Wikimedia Nederland, which in turn will pass them to the Praemium
Erasmianum Foundation, so that invitation letters can be sent out.
*Due to the presence of the King, a very strict security protocol will be
in place. Guests need to present themselves with invitation and need to be
able to identify themselves.
*This is a formal event where a dress code (tenue de ville) will be in
place.
*While the event itself is free, travel to and from the Netherlands is not
and these costs will not be reimbursed.
Best regards,
Arne Wossink, Frank Meijer
Arne Wossink
Projectleider / Project Lead Wikimedia Nederland
Tel. +31 (0)6 11000505
*Postadres*: * Bezoekadres:*
Postbus 167 Mariaplaats 3
3500 AD Utrecht Utrecht
WMAT Melange
Ob im Kaffeehaus, zu Hause am Rechner oder To-go auf dem mobilen
Endgerät von unterwegs: Mit der WMAT Melange informieren wir euch
vierteljährlich über unsere Aktivitäten – per E-Mail, Mailingliste oder
via RSS Feed auf unserer neu gestalteten Website. Wir wünschen eine
angenehme Lektüre und freuen uns auf euer Feedback!
Highlights aus dem zweiten Quartal 2015
Eurovision Song Contest
Als im Mai der Eurovision Song Contest alles in Beschlag zu nehmen
schien, bleib davon natürlich auch das Online-Nachschlagewerk Nummer 1
nicht unberührt. Die Zugriffszahlen auf die einschlägigen
Wikipedia-Artikel gingen allein im Mai in die Millionen. Für deren
exzellente Bebilderung sorgten mittels WMAT-Akkreditierung Freiwillige
aus Österreich. Sie erlebten intensive Wochen vor und hinter den
Kulissen. Wie groß das weltweite Interesse an dem Musikspektakel war,
das lässt sich daran sehen, dass die dabei entstandenen Fotos in 59
verschiedenen Wikipedia-Sprachversionen Verwendung finden.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:ESC2015_supported_by_WMAT
WikiTown Hustopeče
Eine ganze Stadt im Fokus wikimedianischer Aufmerksamkeit: Das war der
charmante Plan einer Gruppe tschechischer Wikimedianer, die über ein
langes Wochenende die mährische Grenzstadt Hustopeče in Beschlag nahm.
Ganz im Zeichen guter Nachbarschaft luden sie auch uns Österreicher dazu
ein. Sprachgrenzen taten dem Erfolg keinen Abbruch. Über und rund um
Hustopeče entstanden zahlreiche Fotos und verbesserte Wikipedia-Artikel
– auf tschechisch und auf deutsch.
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Benutzer:Beppo/WikiTown_Hustope%C4%8Dehttps://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Benutzer:Karl_Gruber/WikiTown_Hustope%C4%8De
Wiki Loves Earth
Die Natur und ihre Monumente für die Wikipedia bestmöglich vor die
Fotografenlinse zu bekommen: Das ist das Ziel des internationalen
Fotowettbewerbs Wiki Loves Earth, an dem sich Österreich heuer schon zum
zweiten Mal beteiligte. Im Mai und Juni wurden zahlreiche Fotos auf
Wikimedia Commons hochgeladen, die nun noch von der Jury begutachtet
werden müssen. Sicher keine leichte Aufgabe: In Österreich beteiligten
sich über 50 erfahrene Commons-Fotografen und über 150 Newcomer, die im
Zuge von Wiki Loves Earth ihre Fotos erstmals auf Wikimedia Commons zur
Verfügung stellten.
http://wikilovesearth.at/
Wiki Takes Nordtiroler Oberland
Bis vor kurzem konnte man in der Wikipedia nur sehr begrenzt
herausfinden, wie es eigentlich im Nordtiroler Oberland, genauer in den
Bezirken Imst und Landeck, aussieht. Es fehlten schlicht die
entsprechenden Fotos. Das hat sich nun gründlich geändert: Rund um
unsere Mitgliederversammlung in Imst „nahm“ eine tatkräftige
Fotografen-Truppe aus Österreich, Deutschland und der Schweiz das
Nordtiroler Oberland ein. Schlägt man nun in der Wikipedia nach, legen
viele Fotos von Architektur, Kultur und Natur eines nahe: Schön ist es dort.
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Benutzer:Philip_Kopetzky/Wiki_Takes_Nordtir…
WMAT Leitbild
Gemeinsam mit unseren wichtigsten Bezugsgruppen (Community, Vorstand,
Angestellte) haben wir in den letzten Monaten ein Leitbild und damit
eine klare Vision und Mission für WMAT für die nächsten Jahre
erarbeitet. Das Ergebnis wurde im Rahmen unserer Mitgliederversammlung
im Juni verabschiedet und bildet nun die Basis für die Weiterentwicklung
von WMATs Zukunftsstrategie. Dazu findet Ende August eine Klausur mit
Vorstand und Mitarbeitern statt, deren Ergebnisse im Rahmen der
Planungswerkstatt im September präsentiert und diskutiert werden.
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Projekte/WMAT_Leitbildentwicklung
Berichte und Ergebnisse unserer Community-Mitglieder
Mediawiki Hackathon Lyon
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Notizen_vom_Hackathon_2015
Fotoworkshop Nürnberg
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Hauptseite#Bericht:_Fotoworkshop_N.C3.BCrnb…
GLAM-Wiki-Konferenz Den Haag
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Nachrichten#Bericht:_GLAM-Wiki-Konferenz_in…
WLM Kick-off Deutschland
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Nachrichten#Bericht:_WLM-Kickoff_in_Deutsch…
Protokoll der WMAT Mitgliederversammlung vom 6. Juni in Imst
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Archiv/2015-06-06_Protokoll_MV_2015
Fotoaktionen
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Projekte/Fotoaktionen
Internationales
WMF Board und FDC Wahlen
Das Board of Trustees ist das oberste Organ der Wikimedia Foundation und
gestaltet somit die Zukunftsstrategie unserer Organisationen
entscheidend mit. Alle zwei Jahre haben Mitglieder der diversen
internationalen Wikimedia-Communitys die Möglichkeit, drei Kandidaten
für den Zeitraum von zwei Jahren zu wählen. Einige Mitglieder des
sogenannten “Funds Disseminantion Committees”, kurz FDC, wurden
ebenfalls kürzlich für eine zweijährige Amtsperiode von der Community
bestellt. Das Komitee entscheidet über die Budgets der Zweigvereine, die
sich nicht über einzelne Projekt-, sondern komplette Jahresbudgets
finanzieren, also u.a. auch über das Budget von WMAT. Die diesjährige
Wahlen zeichneten sich nicht nur durch die bemerkenswerte Qualität der
Kandidaten, sondern auch über eine extrem hohe Beteiligungsrate aus.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections_2015/de
Wikimedia Conference 2015
DieWikimedia Conference 2015
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Conference_2015>fand von 15.
bis 17. Mai in Berlin statt. Die Konferenz ist das jährliche
internationale Treffen der Wikimedia-Organisationen und dient dem
Austausch über die Zukunft der Wikimedia-Bewegung bezüglich
Kooperationen, Strukturen und Organisationsentwicklung. In erster Linie
ist die Konferenz damit eine Antwort auf zunehmend komplexer werdende
Strukturen in der Wikimedia Bewegung – es geht darum, das Miteinander
von Community, Foundation und zahlreichen, in Größe und Struktur sehr
unterschiedlichen Freiwilligenorganisationen auf der ganzen Welt zu
gestalten; sprich um die Strukturen, die sich zusätzlich zu den und um
die Communitys in den diversen Wikimedia-Projekten herausgebildet haben.
WMAT-Vertreter waren nicht nur als Besucher vor Ort, sondern haben sich
auch aktiv in Programmgestaltung eingebracht, insbesondere rund um die
Themen Freiwilligenunterstützung, Qualität und effektive
Organisationsgestaltung:
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Notizen_von_der_Wikimedia_Conference_2015
Ausblick
SCI Sommer-Camp
Vom 14. bis 27. August veranstalten wir zusammen mit demSCI Österreich
<http://www.sci.or.at/>das internationale Workcamp Wikipedia for Peace.
Während des Camps lernen die Teilnehmerinnen und Teilnehmer Wikipedia
und andere Wikimedia-Projekte kennen, erfahren und erstellen Inhalte
rund um das Thema Frieden und unterstützen das Ziel, Wissen über das
Internet zugänglich und für jedermann frei zu machen.
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Projekte/Workcamp_Wikipedia_for_Peace
Planungswerkstatt
Nach der Ideenwerkstatt im April laden wir nun herzlich zur
Planungswerkstatt am 5. September ein. Wir wollen unsere Strategiearbeit
sowie die Aktivitäten von Wikimedia Österreich im Jahr 2016 mit euch
besprechen. Darüberhinaus freuen wir uns über eure Ideen für Projekte
und wollen gemeinsam mit euch überlegen, wir wie sie in unsere
Jahresplanung einfließen lassen können. Für den Vorabend planen wir
einen Stammtisch, zu dem wir Alice Wiegand aus dem Vorstand der
Wikimedia Foundation einladen, um mit euch aktuelle Entwicklungen im
deutschsprachigen und internationalen Wikiversum zu diskutieren. Alice
wird auch bei der Planungswerkstatt dabei sein.
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Projekte/Planungswerkstatt_2015
Wikisource-Konferenz in Wien
WMAT wird gemeinsam mit der Wikisource User Group die erste
internationale Wikisource-Konferenz ausrichten. Wikisource ist eine
Sammlung von Quellentexten, die entweder urheberrechtsfrei sind oder
unter einer freien Lizenz stehen und u.a. eine wertvolle Ressource für
zahlreiche Wikipedia Autoren darstellt. Vom 20. bis 22. November werden
sich Wikimedianer und Vertreter von Partnerorganisationen in Wien
treffen, um sich auszutauschen und voneinander zu lernen.
Termine in den kommenden Wochen
Wikimania:
15.-19.7. Juli 2015, Mexiko Stadt
https://mitglieder.wikimedia.at/Projekte/Wikimania_2015
Ortsbildmesse Oberösterreich:
6. September 2015, Gmunden
https://www.land-oberoesterreich.gv.at/59793.htm
Start Fotowettbewerb Wiki Loves Monuments:
1. September 2015, überall in Österreich
http://wikilovesmonuments.at/ <http://wikilovesearth.at/>
The Wikimedia Nederland chapter report on May and June is available on Meta:
*https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_Nederland/201505
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_Nederl…>*
It is also included in this message as plain text.
COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION
*Survey among the editing community of Dutch language Wikipedia
WMNL commissioned a survey to get insight into how the Wikipedia community
experiences the working atmosphere on NL-Wikipedia, the views of editors on
the low number of women who contribute to Wikipedia, and the recruitment
and retention of new editors. Two years ago WMNL also surveyed the editing
community, but on different topics. From 3 to 16 June, logged-in editors
could take part in the survey via a general notice on NL Wikipedia. In
total 452 editors completed the survey: 322 Dutch, 91 Belgian en 39 other
nationalities. 51 of the respondents were female. (11%). The full results
will be available early July.
*Scholarships
WMNL provided scholarships to three volunteers from the Netherlands to
attend the International Hackathon in Lyon. A further three volunteers have
received scholarships to attend Wikimania in Mexico City next month.
Wikimedia Conferentie Nederland
Preparations have started for organizing the 8th annual Wikimedia Nederland
Conference in November, with former WMNL chair Ziko van Dijk taking the
lead.
*Erasmus Prize
The awards ceremony for the Erasmus Prize will take place on Wednesday 25
November 2015, at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam. On behalf of the
international community, three representatives will receive the award,
which is presented by the Dutch King Willem Alexander. Other Wikipedians
are welcome to attend the ceremony as a spectator. Together with the Dutch
community, WMNL has compiled the invitation list for this event. During the
week of the award ceremony, a number of other activities will take place,
such as conferences, lectures and Wikimeets. The program for this ‘Erasmus
Week’ is in development and can be found here.
CONTENT
*Project Nature
In May, 250 historical images of birds were added to Wikimedia Commons.
These pictures are from the book de Nederlandsche vogelen donated by our
partner Koninklijke Bibliotheek. The images can be found here. So far 145
have been used to enhance Wikipedia articles.
The project nature working group has been very active: they have made
contact with the volunteer organisation IVN to explore cooperation and are
planning activities with the National Park Utrechtse Heuvelrug. In both
cases, the aim is to inspire the volunteers behind these organisations to
start contributing the Wikipedia. Furthermore, the working group are
preparing an online writing event to commemorate Dutch nature conservation
pioneer J.P.Thijsse.
Wikipedian in Residence Hans Muller started work at Naturalis on May 1. He
is cooperating closely with WMNL's project nature working group.
*Project World War II
The Institute for Sound and Vision released broadcasts by Radio Oranje, the
London based radio station for the occupied Netherlands during the Second
World War. The broadcasts - in Dutch, naturally, can be heard here. Already
22 broadcasts, or just over 12%, have been added to Wikipedia articles.
*Textile project
A group of representatives from Dutch cultural institutions, with support
from WMNL, has initiated a project to improve Wikipedia articles about
textiles, primarily on Dutch Wikipedia. It appears that articles about
basic textile techniques (weaving methods, types of fabrics, materials used
for the production of textiles) still need a lot of improvement. Activities
will include Creation of a structured wishlist and action list of articles
to be written and improved. Guidelines for articles about textiles.
Edit-a-thons with Wikimedians and textile experts from Dutch and Belgian
museums. Image donations, especially of close-up images of textile types
and techniques which are still missing on Wikimedia Commons. If possible:
release of reliable out-of-copyright sources. More information can be found
on the projectpage
*Wiki Loves Monuments
After a one year break in 2014, when WMNL organized the photography contest
Wiki Loves Earth, the Wiki Loves Monuments working group is getting ready
to organise Wiki Loves Monuments once again this year. Even though here was
no contest last year, a lot of work was done to prepare the list of
municipal monuments for this year's event.
*Gendergap
The gendergap taskforce has finalized the projectplan for the Dutch
Gendergap project. Our plan has two main goals:increase the number of
articles on women subjects & recruitment of female editors. In June we have
had a very positive follow-up meeting with ATRIA, the institute for gender
history, to discuss possible cooperation in this project.
*Wikipedia and libraries
The Royal Library, WMNL, and several public libraries are discussing a
pilot project on Wikipedia in the Library; a project very similar to the
successful Catalonia’s Network of Public Libraries. We reached out to
Amical to discuss their experiences and we hope to incorporate those in our
project in the future. The project also builds on, and will likely expand,
the scope of the already-running Wiki Loves Eemland library project.
*Education programme: trainees translate Wikipedia articles
On 1 May, Arjen Lock and Eveline Poser started as translation trainees for
the Wikipedia Education program. Arjen and Eveline are students from the
ITV School of Translators and Interpreters, for Russian and German
respectively . The coming months they will be translating articles
suggested by Wikipedians following an appeal by WMNL in De Kroeg (the
NL-Wikipedia's Village Pump). Arjen and Eveline will not post their
translations on Wikipedia themselves. The Wikipedian who requested a
translation remains responsible for processing the translation. More
information, and the first translated articles are available on the
projectpage.
*Education programme: Students of Maastricht University working on the On
Expedition project
At Maastricht University (NL), a bachelor research course titled On
Expedition was organized from February- June 2015. During the course,
students were assigned to read and analyze a travel report from the
collection of the Maastricht Jesuit Library. In addition, they were invited
to contribute some of their acquired knowledge to Wikipedia and, if
relevant, donate digitized illustrations from the books to Wikimedia
Commons. The course was attended by international students, which resulted
in articles on the Dutch, French, English and German Wikipedia.
*Expedition Wikipedia closing seminar
The Expedition Wikipedia Wikipedian in Residence project took place in
2014. Ten Dutch university museums and collections and the Tropenmuseum
contributed media to Wikimedia Commons, with a relation to the general
theme of expeditions, and journeys of discovery. Wikipedian in Residence
(WiR) was Sandra Fauconnier (User:Spinster). On 28 May 2015, the project
was formally closed with a seminar on shared authority.
*Freedom of panorama
WMNL has been working with other chapters and the EU Free Knowledge
Advocacy Group in creating awareness of the proposed harmonisation of
copyright throughout the EU, and in particular of the proposed changes in
regulations on the so-called “freedom of panorama”. A amendment proposed by
a Member of the European Parliament would have resulted in freedom of
panorama being restricted in as many as 16 EU member states. We produced a
blogpost and issued a press release, (together with Kennisland]. We also
sent a letter to Dutch MEPs urging them to take action on this matter. An
overview of publicity on this matter can be found here.
COMMUNICATION AND PUBLICITY
*Seminar for information professionals on working with Wikipedia
The KNVI (Royal Society of Information Professionals) organised a seminar
to inspire librarians and other information professionals to cooperate with
Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects. WMNL director Sandra Rientjes
gave a presentation, as did representatives of WMNL partners National
Archives, Royal Library and Institute for Sound and Vision. A report can be
found here (in Dutch).
Newsletter
The WMNL newsletter for May and June were sent out to the subscribers.
GOVERNANCE AND ORGANISATION
*WMF site visit
Garfield Byrd, WMF Chief of Finance and Administration, visited WMNL June
8-10. As part of their commitment to due diligence, WMF staff make site
visits to major grantees every 2 - 3 years. Garfield was pleased with the
progess WMNL had made in professionalising its financial systems since his
visit in 2013.
*Wikimedia Conference Berlin
WMNL Boardmembers Frans Grijzenhout (chair) and Ad Huikeshoven
(international affairs), and ED Sandra Rientjes attended the Wikimedia
Conference in Berlin.
*Message to donors
We sent out a letter to all the people who have donated to WMNL over the
past six months, informing them of our activities and thanking them for
their support.
OTHER NEWS
The Institute for Sound and Vision published the results of research into
the audience reached by GLAM institutions when they share their collections
via the Wikimedia projects.
Sandra Rientjes
Directeur/Executive Director Wikimedia Nederland
tel. (+31) (0)30 3200238
mob. (+31) (0)6 31786379
www.wikimedia.nl
*Postadres*: * Bezoekadres:*
Postbus 167 Mariaplaats 3
3500 AD Utrecht Utrecht
_______________________________________________
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
Of possible interest - perspectives on use of en.woktionary & fr.wiktionary for vocabulary learning/review, with focus on African languages:
http://niamey.blogspot.com/2015/07/wiktionary-as-tool-for-african-language.…
An idea buried in the text: Would it be possible to develop a kind of "flashcard" function based on "random page by language" where entry headwords for the chosen language would be generated without the definition(s)?
Don Osborn
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
GerardM,
Which do you think would end more language discrimination: a WMF
co-headquarters in Belgium, moving the WEF to Germany, or a Simple language
Wikipedia for the top-25 languages?
Dear all,
I wanted to let you know that Damon Sicore’s last day with the WMF was June
30th. Damon has served as the Vice President of Engineering and played a
role in our strategic thinking as we retool to fulfill our mission of
delivering free and open knowledge to the world. We wish him well.
Some of you may have questions about this transition and our plans for
Engineering leadership. There’s a small FAQ attached below that should
address some of the immediate questions about next steps. While I know you
may have additional questions, we can’t share more regarding personnel
issues. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality.
~~~~Lila
Q. Why did Damon leave?
Damon’s departure is a personnel issue, so we are not able to comment on
it. Thank you for respecting that confidentiality and Damon’s privacy.
Q. Who will manage Engineering and Technology?
Lila and our interim Chief Operating Officer Terry Gilbey will be sharing
oversight for the Engineering and Technology teams at the C-level. They'll
work closely with the strong leadership of the audience verticals and
individual teams. Lila, Terry, Katie Horn, Toby Negrin, Trevor Parscal, Wes
Moran, and the C-team are committed to doing our best to minimize
disruption to your day-to-day work, and to support you during this
transition.
Q. Who will guide Engineering decisions and set goals?
The basic direction for the Engineering team is articulated in their
approved Q1 goals. The team will continue to deliver on these commitments.
The audience team leads will meet regularly with Lila to ensure that their
work remains aligned with the WMF’s technical vision.
Q. What does this mean for the new Engineering and Technology department
structure?
The department structures for Engineering and Technology remain the same.
The audience verticals reflect the emerging strategy, and we believe they
remain the best way to organize the WMF’s teams, based on the work we have
ahead of us in the next few years.
Q. Will there be any additional department reorganization as part of this?
We’re not planning any additional organizational changes.
Q. What does this mean for the ongoing CTO search?
We are already underway with the CTO search; this will continue as planned.
The CTO role is an important part of executing against the WMF’s
engineering strategy. We look forward to bringing on board a new CTO with
the leadership, perspective, and skills that the position entails.
Q. Will we recruit for a new Vice President of Engineering? What is the
timeline?
Our priority will continue to be filling the CTO role. Once we have
identified a CTO we’ll revisit the role of VPE, to ensure that the new
CTO’s perspective is taken into consideration.
>Another thought: perhaps more investment could be made in providing career
>development support for our volunteers of all kinds. It's relatively common
>in the United States for organizations with lots of volunteers to put some
>investment explicitly into helping the volunteers develop skills snd
>experience that are useful for both their voluntary and paid work CVs. If
>more of that kind of investment was made by WMF, volunteering would be more
>attractive *and* WMF would benefit by having more ability to fill paid
>positions from the ranks of volunteers.
>
>Pine
I'm curious, concretely speaking, what do you have in mind?
FWIW, I'm very thankful to say that Wikimedia has given me many
opportunities to develop skills etc. When I made my first edit I
didn't know how to program, now that's what I do for living. Much of
that is thanks to help and guidance of many Wikimedians. Obviously
that's a different type of mentoring than you're suggesting, but
nonetheless much of what I know can be directly attributed to
mentoring by various people associated with the movement.
--
bawolff