Dear all,
I am glad to inform you that a memorandum has been signed between Wikimedia
Armenia Scientific-Educational NGO and Tavush Province Administration of
the Republic of Armenia, according to which the latter is obliged to
1.
Support the establishment and regular work of Wikiclubs in Tavush region
2.
Equip the Wikiclubs with notebooks, provide with fast and consistent
internet
3.
Encourage the implementation of Wiki projects in the learning process
and the active participation of teachers and students in projects carried
out by Wikimedia Armenia
4.
Spread information on events carried out by Wikimedia Armenia among
teachers of the region
5.
Support other educational initiatives accomplished by Wikimedia Armenia
This arrangement allows Wikimedia Armenian to increase the number of its
Wikiclubs, spread and develop the Wiki movement in Tavush region, and
contribute to expanding educational opportunities. At the moment there are
7 Wikiclubs (Gosh, Archis, Sarigyugh, Kirants, Lusahovit and two clubs in
Noyemberyan) in Tavush region. It is anticipated to gradually establish
Wikiclubs in all communities of the region.
Wikimedia Armenia NGO Chair of the Board
Vahagn Piliposyan
Hello everyone,
I would like to inform you that* the deadline for the CEE Meeting 2019
registration is extended until August 3! *
Although we have announced that here will be no extension of deadline,
we'll do that due to a lot of suggestion from the communities. Some of the
CEE communities need more time to choose their representatives and
unfortunately that caused small number of registered participants so far.
I will use this opportunity to strongly suggest to the all of the delegates
to register in timely manner. You can find more details on the following
links:
- Registration form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRR002uKE4lrzJYTt4qJ9uhioFI7bLmiq…
- CEE Meeting meta page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_CEE_Meeting_2019
*Please note that there will be no more extensions and that only those who
register until August 3 will be taken into account. *
Feel free to reach out if you need assistance or additional information.
Best,
Ивана Маџаревић
менаџер пројеката и заједнице, Викимедија Србије
p: 011 3348 468 m: 060 74 54 773 a: Дечанска 4/3, Београд
s: rs.wikimedia.org e: ivana.madzarevic(a)vikimedija.org
*Замислите свет у коме свака особа на планети има слободан приступ
целокупном људском знању. То је оно на чему ми радимо.*
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
Working groups are busy analyzing community conversations and are
integrating insights from these as well as expert feedback and input
into their work. From this, they have started to put ideas and
concepts together and are turning these into draft recommendations for
structural changes that will help us advance in our strategic
direction: To become the support system for the whole free knowledge
movement. These drafts will be published for movement input in August.
Affiliate communities across the globe have begun launching strategy
salons to share their ideas about the future of our movement. The
diverse range of perspectives being shared here is enriching the
conversations that working groups are having. And we have added
another opportunity to get involved in the community conversations:
online surveys.
== Wikimedia 2030 @ Wikimania 2019 ==
Visit the Wikimedia 2030 space [1] at Wikimania! The space will be a
lively hub of discussions about building the future of our movement.
Representatives from each working group will host public discussion
sessions with the community to learn from them and review the draft
recommendations for each thematic area in person. We will also host
meet-ups in the main conference hotel on the Friday and Saturday
evenings, where we’ve got more fun things planned. We are currently
putting the finishing touches on the program and more updates on all
of this will follow in the coming weeks.
== Talking movement strategy around the globe ==
>From South East Asia to Africa and beyond: Movement strategy is all
about generating global engagement and discussions about our future.
Over 30 community members from across the Asia-Pacific region came
together to discuss our shared future at the ESEAP Strategy Summit in
Bangkok. Our call for strategy salon grant proposals resulted in 44
grants being awarded, and strategy-focused events have recently been
held in Cameroon, Uganda, and Morocco. Upcoming salons will take place
in Estonia, Bangladesh, Venezuela, and the Levant.
In addition, the Capacity Building (see blog post)[2] and Roles and
Responsibilities working groups have held in-person meetings in
Singapore and in Utrecht to work on drafting recommendations. And
there’s more to come: the Resource Allocation working group will meet
this week in Madrid and Community Health will come together next week
in Amman.
And you can share your thoughts and ideas at anytime and from anywhere
on Meta [3] as part of the ongoing community conversations.
== Take part in movement strategy online surveys ==
If you prefer to participate anonymously or could not join any of your
community’s or group’s conversations yet, an additional way to get
involved is to take part in our online survey [4]. Here, you can share
your perspectives about the structural part of our movement,
particularly in relation to your local or thematic context. There are
surveys for each of the nine thematic areas, and the surveys are
available in a number of languages.
Following a soft launch to test the questions and quality of the
translations, we now encourage the wider movement to take part and
contribute to ongoing global discussions.
== Community conversations report for June is now live ==
If you want to get a good snapshot of the ideas, opinions, and
thoughts that have been put forward in all of these discussions, then
we have a reading recommendation for you: the June community
conversations report
[5]! The report offers a summary of all the input gathered during
discussions that happened on Meta, at regional salons, and during
conversations facilitated by the strategy liaisons.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to get in touch.
Best wishes,
Nicole
[1] https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2019:Wikimedia_2030
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Blog_po…
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Partici…
[4] https://wikimedia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_d718KRfJ5W3OVYV and
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9cyOksUM4rJVt6DHLEjZ7xo7IL7BMS-_…
[5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Reports…
--
Nicole Ebber
Adviser International Relations
Program Manager Wikimedia 2030 Movement Strategy
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin
Tel. (030) 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de
Unsere Vision ist eine Welt, in der alle Menschen am Wissen der
Menschheit teilhaben, es nutzen und mehren können. Helfen Sie uns
dabei! 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.
Hi everyone!
I'm very happy to announce that the Affiliations Committee has recognized
[1] Wikimedia Community User Group Math [2] as a Wikimedia User Group. The
group aims to coordinate global activities to improve the display and
retrieval of mathematical expressions, with the long-term objective of
making mathematical knowledge better accessible to every human being.
Please join me in congratulating the members of this new user group!
Regards,
Kirill Lokshin
Chair, Affiliations Committee
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Recognit…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Math
Congratulations, Erina and WCUG Uganda, on a clear and informative report!
One area to consider improving would be on-wiki contributions by the core
user group volunteers.
Cheers,
A.
On Mon, Jul 15, 2019 at 9:14 PM Erina Mukuta <erinamukuta(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
> *To whom it may concern*
> below is the link to the over due annual report for the mentioned usergroup
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/2018-2019_Annual_Report
>
> Kind regards
> --
>
> *Erina Mukuta*Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda
> Tel: *+256774424843*
> skype: mukuta.erina twitter:
> @erinamukuta
> *https://wikiuganda.wordpress.com/ <https://wikiuganda.wordpress.com/>*
>
> *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Erinamukuta
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Erinamukuta>*
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
Hi all,
The next Research Showcase will be live-streamed next Wednesday, July 17,
at 11:30 AM PDT/18:30 UTC.
YouTube stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9vvwV5KfW4
As usual, you can join the conversation on IRC at #wikimedia-research. You
can also watch our past research showcases here:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Research/Showcase
This month's presentations:
Characterizing Incivility on Wikipedia
Elizabeth Whittaker, University of Michigan School of Information
In a society whose citizens have a variety of viewpoints, there is a
question of how citizens can govern themselves in ways that allow these
viewpoints to co-exist. Online deliberation has been posited as a problem
solving mechanism in this context, and civility can be thought of as a
mechanism that facilitates this deliberation. Civility can thus be thought
of as a method of interaction that encourages collaboration, while
incivility disrupts collaboration. However, it is important to note that
the nature of online civility is shaped by its history and the technical
architecture scaffolding it. Civility as a concept has been used both to
promote equal deliberation and to exclude the marginalized from
deliberation, so we should be careful to ensure that our conceptualizations
of incivility reflect what we intend them to in order to avoid
unintentionally reinforcing inequality.
To this end, we examined Wikipedia editors’ perceptions of interactions
that disrupt collaboration through 15 semi-structured interviews. Wikipedia
is a highly deliberative platform, as editors need to reach consensus about
what will appear on the article page, a process that often involves
deliberation to coordinate, and any disruption to this process should be
apparent. We found that incivility on Wikipedia typically occurs in one of
three ways: through weaponization of Wikipedia’s policies, weaponization of
Wikipedia’s technical features, and through more typical vitriolic content.
These methods of incivility were gendered, and had the practical effect of
discouraging women from editing. We implicate this pattern as one of the
underlying causes of Wikipedia’s gender gap.
Hidden Gems in the Wikipedia Discussions: The Wikipedians’ Rationales
Lu Xiao, Syracuse University School of Information Studies
I will present a series of completed and ongoing studies that are aimed at
understanding the role of the Wikipedians’ rationales in Wikipedia
discussions. We define a rationale as one’s justification of her viewpoint
and suggestions. Our studies demonstrate the potential of leveraging the
Wikipedians’ rationales in discussions as resources for future
decision-making and as resources for eliciting knowledge about the
community’s norms, practices and policies. Viewed as rich digital traces in
these environments, we consider them to be beneficial for the community
members, such as helping newcomers familiarize themselves on the commonly
accepted justificatory reasoning styles. We call for more research
attention to the discussion content from this rationale study perspective.
--
Janna Layton (she, her)
Administrative Assistant - Audiences & Technology
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Dear all,
We would like to inform you that after long deliberations between the
Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and the WikiIndaba Steering Committee (WISCom)
we have reached an agreement that the suitable dates to host the WikiIndaba
conference 2019 in Abuja, Nigeria will be from 8 - 10 November.
We know that this news will disappoint many of you, who were gearing up for
the meeting. Unfortunately, operational difficulties created some delays.
We have discussed this with the staff of the WMF, and all agree that a
postponement will give us some extra time to ensure that a quality event is
planned for all. WikiIndaba conference is a key pillar in the Wikimedia
movement strategic direction, and an important platform for the African
Wikimedia community.
WISCom and the WMF continue to support Wikimedia Nigeria as the host and
venue for the conference.
We greatly appreciate your support and understanding, and we hope to see
you at WikiIndaba!
Kind regards,
Bobby Shabangu
Forwarding to WIkimedia-l since WikiEN-l is relatively dead.
Since this message, an Arbcom member (SilkTork) stated that they weren't consulted, nor did this action was the result of Arbcom forwarding a concern to the office. [1]
The only non-response excuse from the WMF [2] was that "local communities consistently struggle to uphold not just their own autonomous rules but the Terms of Use, too.” even though there were no complaints on-wiki nor to Arbcom privately.
The on-wiki discussion is taking place at the Bureaucrats and the Arbcom noticeboards.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bureaucrats%27_noticeboard#User:Fra… <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bureaucrats'_noticeboard#User:Fram_banned_for_1_year_by_WMF_office>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Committee/Noticebo…'s_ban
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Commi… <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia_talk:Arbitration_Commi…>
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bureaucrats%27_noticeboard#Statemen…
Techman224
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: George Herbert <george.herbert(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: [WikiEN-l] Fram en.wp office yearlock block
> Date: June 10, 2019 at 8:54:34 PM CDT
> To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Reply-To: English Wikipedia <wikien-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>
> In case you're not following on-wiki - Office S&T blocked English Wikipedia
> user / administrator Fram for a year and desysopped, for unspecified
> reasons in the Office purview. There was a brief statement here from
> Office regarding it which gave no details other than that normal policy and
> procedures for Office actions were followed, which under normal
> circumstances preclude public comments.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bureaucrats%27_noticeboard#User:Fra…
>
> Several people on Arbcom and board have commented they're making private
> inquiries under normal reporting and communication channels, due to the
> oddity and essentially uniqueness of the action.
>
> There was an initial surge of dismay which has mellowed IMHO into "Ok,
> responsible people following up".
>
> I understand the sensitivity of some of the topics under Office actions,
> having done OTRS and other various had-to-stay-private stuff myself at
> times in the past. A high profile investigation target is most unusual but
> not unheard of.
>
> I did send email to Fram earlier today asking if they had any public
> comment, no reply as yet.
>
>
> --
> -george william herbert
> george.herbert(a)gmail.com
> _______________________________________________
> WikiEN-l mailing list
> WikiEN-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, visit:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikien-l
Dear Friends From Affcom,
I am posting an open public request for your notice of Suspension moved at
Wikimedia India (WMIN) which we continue to contest and to our ignored
demand of having a public hearing as shared with you all over mail and
shared again here under Annexure [A]. You have taken an official position
on suspension without even hearing us even once, unexplained accusations
have been provided and we continue to believe Affcom has been
insufficiently investigating facts before making judgements. We repeatedly
over and over again provided justifications over Mail but you never took
them to your notice and only over calls you heard us, provided your
rationale for expectation gaps but never took our oral commentary which
refutes your claims,in any action, anywhere. Now you say WMIN won’t remain
a Chapter after 14th September and be transformed into a User Group.
Republic of India happens to be one of the only few countries where besides
volunteer driven Chapter and User Groups has a full-time staff based WMF’s
Allied Organisation CIS-A2K [1]. Wikimedia India activities [2] may be less
due to no source of funds [3] however, Community Members from India put
their efforts, strive hard to take the movement ahead. Whether it be the
previous financial year or the present, no Wikimedia Foundation Grants like
Rapid Grant, Project Grant etc have been applied by Wikimedia India members
to support any Chapter activity. They remain self-financed. We received
your notice last year when Wikimedia India was contesting a dispute with
CIS-A2K over attribution grabbing for our self-financed projects and
ignoring Chapter at important National level initiaves [4]. While working
with virtually no source of funds and struggles with WMF’s Allied
Organisation, your notice of suspension was the least bad we could have
had.
We continue to contest your suspension notice. It was Suo Moto (on its own)
decision making and as found and re-stated above and below in detail, there
were gaps and misunderstanding in your basis. We also continue to contest
there has been a Rush-to-decision making. No written responses via Mail to
Chapter’s clarification are being provided and invitation for calls are
initiated where brief responses are shared on a Cloud Document. It has been
subsequently found by both parties on there being gaps in communication.
However, even after clarity during call, Affcom has not taken any action
over them.
The basis of your suspension notice has been shared here for the wider
audience.
1.
Legal Structure : Affcom asked Wikimedia India to resolve and obtain its
necessary license in order to obtain funds. At present, as per Government
of India restrictions it is difficult to obtain foreign funding. Wikimedia
India informed the Affcom on roughly 13,000 Non-Government Organisations
(NGO)s [5] are struggling with a similar crisis to which Affcom
responded, “reconsider applying for a User Group.” and “no evidence that
the current organization’s leadership will be able to drive this problem
toward resolution”. Chapter efforts and commitment in resolving the said
crisis cannot be dusted in few words. A Government restrictive policy which
has an impact on 13,000 NGOs and Affcom finding flaws in WMIN Board Members
capability. WMIN would leave it for public interpretation.
Why not a capability audit for hosting zero-budget activities? While most
of the time are being spent on resolving the said crisis, WMIN continues to
undertake activities as listed. Taking the Open Knowledge Movement forward
remains a commitment for the Chapter irrespective of whatsoever political
climate may remain. Affcom was asked two questions respectively in this
regard however no response has been attained. The questions are
1.
Would zero-budget activities, those self-financed not meet sufficiency ?
Please elaborate for us to stand better and to improve upon.
2.
Would resolving Legal Structure and being able to receive WMF Grants be
a necessary criteria for WMIN to meet sufficiency or continued activities
not meet the fulfilment criteria?
(2) Open Governance : Affcom informed Chapter that a member needs to be in
physical presence at the Chapter Assembly to cast vote and raise voice and
asked The Chapter to change its bylaws. This information is anything but
false. This was communicated during the Call but Affcom did not bring
anything in action. Also, as per the Chapter Agreement between WMF and
WMIN, a copy of bylaws was provided in English Language to WMF. The bylaws
were approved by the then Chapter’s Council. No evidence has been brought
to notice on WMIN violating the Clause 7.2 of the Chapter’s Agreement,
“The Wikimedia Chapter shall be required to advise the Foundation of any
planned or actual change in the bylaws or status of the Chapter which might
affect the Foundation or the continued existence or effectiveness of this
Agreement.”
(3) Active Contributor Involvement :The November 10 email carried the
statement, “The chapter lacks broad and diverse membership, community
representation, as well as buy-in and involvement “ and “Membership seems
to be sourced through university leadership rather than through open
community participation and representation.” Chapter till date received no
evidence or logic construction on how the said argument was reached. Later
during the call, Affcom did acknowledge that there has been a communication
gap. Chapter further floated the idea of sharing the Member’s data base
after discussing privacy policy over them.
(4) Capacity : WMIN was able to submit its annual reports on 21st December,
2018 (3.5 months late) due to a notice by Income-Tax department which
caused delay in preparing our Financial reports. Although we do not have
any annual grants or use any money to support any activity, as per
Chapter’s agreement, affiliate is required to submit Financial Results.
Meanwhile, WMIN reported its activities on every quarterly basis and shared
it with the wider Indian community via India Mailing List and also other
channels [6], [7], [8],[9]. Annual activity report is a compilation from
the quarterly reports.
Affcom claimed via Cloud document that no high level response submitted and
repeated delay is not accepted. WMIN informed Affcom that previous delay
needs to be looked at independently from earlier financial period and
suspension notice (WMIN then had a grant), but we received no response.
(5) Organizational Best Practices : Affcom asked us to ‘Resolve’ issues
relating to Organizational Best Practices, however, no information had been
received on respective deliverables not been met. The November 10, email
carried the statement, “There are concerns about whether” referring that
Affcom was also not sure themselves. WMIN shared the best practices after
placing it in front of the community on member’s mailing list for more than
15 days. To this Affcom responded that you are late with your submission
hence we are terminating your contract. They never shared an evidence and
when WMIN took its time placed it in-front of the community and then
submitted, they said delayed and instead of sending their response in
writing over mail they again invited us for a call. We continue to insist
on providing a written response via Mail but no action.
(6) Action Plan : Affcom asked us to submit an Action Plan and we kept
asking what deliverable are needed. We cannot commit on resolving
Government restrictions within a said timeline as more than 13,000 NGOs
struggle with the similar crisis. We emphasised again and again we have
been running zero-budget activities and working for the movement. We asked
them to review Organizational Best Practices, based on gaps we could have
taken things into consideration. They rather said, you have missed the
deadline, so WMIN has to be closed now.
To sum up, Affcom friends, you made up your own decision, you made up you
own hearing and you made up your own decision. It was a monologue masked in
the name of a dialogue.
I encourage you all to be in our boots someday, hosting activities on
zero-budget, fighting with the Government bureaucracy to attain some
funding as a help, the challenge of having a staff-based organisation in
parallel, struggle with self-financing activities and most importantly
working with Affcom to save yourself from their de-recognition threats.
If you believe you are correct, please abide to the request made under
Annexure [A] and put everything in public domain. Let community read for
themselves and decide. If Affcom is more transparent about its
investigation and actions then community would be able to better understand
the work and provide an opinion.
Regards,
Abhinav
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K
[2]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2019-April/013994.ht…
\
[3] Foreign Currency (Regulation) Act, 1960 compliance do not permit India
Chapter to receive money from its primary fiscal sponsor, Wikimedia
Foundation.
[4] Board of Directors at CIS, acknowledged in March, 2019 for a compliant
made in August, 2018 for CIS-A2K Staff not doing their duty to the order.
[5]
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/07/democracies-need-a-little-help-from-th…
[6]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2017-July/013030.html
[7]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2017-October/013089.…
[8]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2018-January/013188.…
[9]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2018-April/013295.ht…
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Annexure
[A] Reallocating the Affcom - WMIN Communication To Meta : No
communications over email, video call, social media, instant messaging, or
anywhere but wiki! While this would not just be aligned with the editing
spirit, it would promote greater transparency and also helpful for us to
communicate the message to our community members. While, we understand
Affcom had been advocating the same, however, taking care of privacy
concerns, do let us. Once we hear from Affcom on having no privacy
concerns, we may reallocate the discussions.
If there a consent to this, would request a green light also for
1.
Archiving the entire email conversation over a cloud document and
linking it to the relevant Meta page.
2.
Documenting Internet Calls in an attempt to resolve communication gaps
and linking them to Meta page for greater transparency.
3.
Based on Principal of Free Speech, allowing anybody to use the
discussion page for expression of their views.
4.
Any Volunteer is free to translate the text into the language of their
choice.
5.
Upload All PDF sent via Mails to Commons and link them to the Meta Page.
6.
All relevant customs and procedures which exist for any Meta page to be
in action.