Hi everyone!
I'm very happy to announce that the Affiliations Committee has recognized
[1] Wiki World Heritage User Group [2] as a Wikimedia User Group. The group
aims to ensuring the full coverage of World Heritage sites on Wikimedia
projects and catalyzing dynamic synergies around World Heritage.
Please join me in congratulating the members of this new user group!
Regards,
Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight
Chair, Affiliations Committee
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Recognit…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_World_Heritage_User_Group
On 10/22/20, Kaarel Vaidla <kvaidla(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
> How to participate
...
> * Join our Telegram group [2].
It would be amazing if we could embody the values of movement strategy
whenever we can. Using only Telegram group as recommendation is NOT*.
In general please consider not to endorse commercial and closed source
software as primary communication channel. It is also bad in terms of
usability and intensity/velocity of exchanges in conditions and
context of massive cross-zone/cross-cultural event organizing. Likely
to be a cute looking mess and info bottleneck. I already have multiple
Wikimedia Telegram groups that hard to follow and take more personal
energy then they should at these times of pandemic. Please re-consider
this!
My arguments are presented on the Telegram group itself and your meta
page https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Tr…
In Solidarity and with Care
~Zblace
*As a queer person without western privileges I can recommend its
limited use due to phone number privacy and I do also use it myself
but it should be neither only nor first option.
Hello -
The Wikimedia Community Malta User Group is planning to have an hack-a-thon around the development of citation templates for mt.wikipedia
We would really appreciate input from anyone who has any experience creating/editing templates and/or specially any significant insight into citation templates.
This edit-a-thon is planned for Monday 2 November at 6pm CET (UTC+1) and we'll meet at https://meet.wmcloud.org/WikiMalta
Please let me know directly if you'd like to be a part of this or would like more information about the hack-a-thon, Wikimedia Community Malta or mt.wikipedia.
Thanks and best wishes,
Toni
___________________________
Toni Sant
Wikimedia Community Malta
User:ToniSant
http://www.wikimalta.org
Dear all,
Today the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees starts two calls for
feedback: on changes to our Bylaws[1] mainly to increase the Board size
from 10 to 16 members, and on a trustee candidate rubric[2] to introduce
new, more effective ways to evaluate new board candidates. These proposals
are part of the governance improvement process announced on 28 April[3].
The Foundation’s work is wide-ranging, focused on areas including product
development, technical infrastructure maintenance, community support,
grantmaking, public policy advocacy, and fundraising. In addition, the
Foundation is charged with administering the operations of an international
nonprofit organization responsible for a more than 500-person paid
workforce and an annual budget of over US$100 million. Its ambitious
mission is to support the sharing of knowledge amongst every single human
being in partnership with Wikimedia communities across the globe.
To provide sufficient strategic guidance and oversight over such a broad
scope of work and constituents, Board members should reflect a similarly
broad scope of expertise, experience, and backgrounds. Expanding the number
of board seats from 10 to 16 will move us closer to this goal, supported by
a Board candidate rubric that will help us all evaluate potential trustees
and ensure that they can provide what the Board, Foundation, and movement
need. The Foundation will work with the broader movement to formalize this
rubric. Currently, trustees have to serve on more than one Board committee
(as voting members, alternates or liaisons). This overlap is a significant
burden, as it limits the amount of work that can be done—and the volunteer
trustees are overworked.
== Bylaws revisions ==
We have published the planned revisions to the bylaws on Meta-Wiki and we
welcome your comments through 26 October[1]. The Board has carefully
considered the published revisions and we believe that they are a positive
step toward accomplishing our governance reform goals. We are publishing
these so that they are transparent to the communities before the Board’s
final vote to adopt the revisions, and we will be responding to questions
about the revisions on the talk page. We shall consider any suggested edits
that would further the Board’s governance needs and goals.
The revised Bylaws would maintain the current general structure of trustee
seats, with half (8 of 16) sourced from candidates identified through
community selection processes, one reserved for Jimmy as Founder, and the
rest (7 of 16) selected by the Board directly. The revisions would
eliminate the distinction between trustees selected by affiliates and
trustees selected by community voting. This offers more flexibility for
adjusting community selection processes if necessary, while also not
requiring any particular process changes. We hope to discuss possible
changes with our communities in early 2021.
== Board candidate evaluation form ==
In addition to expanding in size, the Board is considering ways to improve
our overall process for selecting trustees. The Board Governance Committee
(BGC) has drafted a Board candidate rubric as a tool to show and help
evaluate the relevant effective candidates for the Board[2]. The rubric is
still a draft, and we want to hear what all of you think is missing,
overrepresented, underrepresented, confusing, or could otherwise be
improved. The goal of the rubric is not only to aid us in evaluating
potential trustees but also to clearly and openly communicate how we are
evaluating candidates. We welcome your input through 26 October.
== Impact on postponed trustee selection process[4] ==
Following development of the rubric, we will work to further improve the
selection of Board candidates by adapting the community-sourced trustee
selection processes to fill 8 seats instead of 5. Any changes to current
selection processes will be preceded by the necessary discussions with
affected communities. We plan to start this discussion in early 2021. Once
the new process is developed, it will be used to select all
community-sourced trustees going forward.
I recognize that delays and slow progress can be frustrating and even
confusing. I don’t think anyone—community, Board, or staff—is completely
satisfied with the situation we currently find ourselves in. Like everyone
else, we are doing our best to respond to the challenges of 2020. There are
many pressing demands competing for everyone’s time and attention. We are
faced with the difficult tasks of balancing goals and priorities and
judiciously allocating the resources we have available to work on them. We
remain committed to holding the community trustee selection process in the
Foundation’s 2020-21 fiscal year (July through June). That process is much
more labour-intensive than many may realize, taking months of planning,
preparation, and execution. For the community trustee selection process to
be successful, it requires not only resources to plan but also the ability
for as wide a range of diverse candidates and community voters as possible
to participate. We postponed the process in part because we were not sure
that it would have that necessary participation if it had happened at the
originally scheduled time. We appreciate everyone’s patience and
understanding as we do our best to move this work forward in a way that is
mindful of both the desire to move quickly and our responsibility to
achieve the best possible outcomes.
Thanks in advance to everyone who takes the time to participate
constructively in these conversations.
You can find the original version of this announcement at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Octo…
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/July…>
Best regards,
antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv
Vice Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Octo…
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Octo…
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard/Upda…
[4]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Postponement_of_Community_…
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working
hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You
should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in
advance!*
I am pleased to announce the 23 recipients of the *WikiCite* project grants
and eScholarships. The WikiCite initiative focuses the development of open
citations and linked bibliographic data to serve free knowledge.
There is impressive diversity among these recipients in terms of:
- the types of activities (content creation & upload, outreach & training,
software development, and documentation/localization),
- the topics (everything from Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts, to Brazilian
legislation, to Nigerian newspapers...)
- and the recipient locations (15 countries, the majority of which are in
the global South).
Combined these grants are valued at $69k USD, yet we received more than
double the number of excellent applications than the budget could support.
To learn about each recipients’ project see this blogpost:
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2020/10/22/wikicite-awards-23-grants-escholarshi…
And while I’ve got your attention...
The WikiCite 2020 Virtual Conference is happening on Monday-Wednesday.
Sessions will be live-streamed on several platforms, in time zones across
the globe, and with presentations in English, French, German, Indonesian,
and Portuguese.
Please come and join us.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiCite/2020_Virtual_conference
--
*Liam Wyatt [Wittylama]*
WikiCite <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiCite> Program Manager & Okapi
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Okapi> Community Liaison
Wikimedia Foundation
Hi everyone,
The date is set for the global discussions that will kick off implementing
Movement Strategy, and everyone’s invited to attend. [1] Say hi to old
friends, meet new people, exchange ideas, and take part in discussions for
transformation. Calls will take place on November 21 and 22 at different
times to maximize global participation. You are welcome to attend any or
all. More information to come very soon.
How to participate
* Express your interest on Meta [1] and watch the space for registration
information, we’ll also make sure to keep everyone updated by email.
* Join our Telegram group [2].
In September, we asked the movement to look at the recommendations and
identify initiatives that we should work on together in 2021. [3]
Communities and affiliates have been meeting and discussing, and we are
excited to see what initiatives emerge as priorities for implementation.
[4] Whether you did this work and have your priorities in hand, are just
thinking about them, or want to learn what this is all about, join the
global conversation.
The time is now to be accountable for growing and nurturing the movement
together. We have 10 recommendations to guide the way. [5] What is
something you’d like to do in 2021? What are things we should all work on
together? The outcome of our discussions will be an 18-month movement-wide
implementation plan that we will create together.
Whether you’re a seasoned Wikimedian or a new contributor, an established
chapter, or a new user group, join the discussions. The community-led
Design Group [6] stressed the importance of continuous on-wiki engagement
and options for offline participation for those that cannot attend the
meetings. We’ll be sure to communicate these options far in advance.
What comes after?
* Another set of global meetings will take place on December 5 and 6.
* The purpose of the second set of meetings will be to take the
conversation further, coordinate the way forward, and provide an additional
opportunity for people to get together and identify their priorities in
between the meetings.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us on Meta, via
Telegram, or by email <strategy2030{{at}}wikimedia.org>. Looking forward to
engaging with you all on November 21 and 22, it’s been a while.
On behalf of the Support Team,
Kaarel
[1] Event page on Meta:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Transit…
[2] Link to group on Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/NV8jtxZkQB7aN8spsaWtYg
[3]
https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2020-September/095685.html
[4] Preparation and Prioritization events:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Transit…
[5] Recommendation all-in-one:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Movement_Strategy_Recommenda…
[6] Community-led Design Group:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Transit…
--
Kaarel Vaidla (he/him)
Movement Strategy <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/2030>
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
In 2019 Wikimedia Israel (WMIL) decided to develop instructional material
for the Wikidata Query Service (WDQS). The background for this decision was
that we see audiences to whom we introduce Wikidata become especially
enthusiastic when we present the *Wikidata query service tutorial
<https://wdqs-tutorial.toolforge.org/> *, which offers quite a
unique feature within the landscape of information services available
today. This enthusiasm often dampens when audiences discover that querying
is not done using natural language but rather requires learning SPARQL.
We believe learning SPARQL is not rocket science, even for audiences with
no programming background. We created a step-by-step tutorial website to
give users an introduction and some basic lessons on how to use the query
service. While WDQS has a great Help section, this section might not be so
helpful to users who are new to Wikimedia platforms. We therefore built the
tutorial website on the WordPress platform which has a more familiar design
to most users. We believe this website will make the WDQS more accessible,
and hope this will be a way to expand Wikidata to new audiences.
Currently the site is in English but we are open for collaborations to add
the tutorial in other languages.
We are also keen to hear feedback from those involved in Wikidata Outreach.
We hope you'll find it useful.
All the Best
Revital Poleg
Executive Director, WMIL
Revital Poleg
Executive Director, WMIL