Wikimedia-l June 2020

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87 participants
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Digest of Wikimedia Clinic #002; updates on schedule; Wikimedia clinic in Spanish!
by Asaf Bartov 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Dear Wikimedians, We have now published the digest of Wikimedia Clinic #002[1]. If you missed previous announcements about the Wikimedia Clinic idea, please see its page on Meta[2]. As announced, it contains a compact summary of the topics discussed, augmented by links and some follow-up information that was not available during the call. I invite you to skim the topic list and see if there's something of interest for you. Upcoming Wikimedia Clinic calls are: Call #004 - Sunday(!), June 28th, 17:30 UTC [3] Call #005 - Wednesday, July 1st, 17:30 UTC [4] Also, we are experimenting with a Wikimedia Clinic in Spanish! It is still being scheduled, and I will keep you posted as soon as the date and time are known. That call will be held primarily in Spanish (everyone is welcome, of course), and will welcome discussions in Spanish. Cheers, Asaf [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Clinics/002 [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Clinics [3] https://meet.google.com/wcu-arcq-jxg [4] https://meet.google.com/eqo-qokn-mwj Asaf Bartov (he/him/his) Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities Wikimedia Foundation <https://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

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Brand Project: Who are we as a movement?
by Essie Zar 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Hello Everyone, There are some new updates and opportunities to engage with the Brand project. Thank you to Lodewijk for bringing some attention to a few of these opportunities. We were actively drafting this update for this group when your email went out. As Zack indicated in September,[1] we have been regularly discussing with the members of the brand network (which people can still join )[2] ideas around an evolved brand system with "Wikipedia" as a center point. To assist in this evolution of the movement brand, we chose to partner with Snøhetta,[3] an internationally renowned design firm known for working on complex and multi-stakeholder projects like the modern Library of Alexandria (Bibliotheca Alexandrina) and the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Snøhetta has been tasked with figuring out precisely what this improved brand system will look like. They will release a proposed naming convention for movement-wide feedback in April, and a proposed design for movement-wide feedback in May. [4] The result of this process will be a new branding system that will be opt-in for affiliates. In order to have enough knowledge and context to arrive at these proposals, Snøhetta is reviewing feedback from the many points at which it has already been given, and has created a process with built-in community involvement. The process thus far has included workshops in Norway, India and online with 97 volunteers from the brand network (movement affiliates, volunteers, foundation staff, and board members) reflecting 41 nations. At the workshops, community participants were asked to break into small groups to answer the question "Who are we?". Through these workshops, groups developed rich concepts* that they think best represent who we are as a movement. Now, we would like to invite you to review the 23 concepts that came out of the community workshops by “liking” and providing feedback on the one(s) you think best represent the Wikimedia movement. You can click on any concept to see an expanded explanation and photos of the actual concepts built or selected by workshop participants. Approximate time to complete this exercise is around 10-15 min. https://brandingwikipedia.org/concepts/ Feel free to leave feedback directly on Snøhetta’s website, on the project talk page on Meta [5], or on the Brand Network [2], which will also be available on Meta starting next month. Snøhetta will use the feedback from the concepts to develop one single concept to act as a tool that will help guide the proposals around naming (expected for April) and around design (expected around May). They are scheduled to begin reviewing feedback on Tuesday, 17 March, but can continue taking feedback for a few more days if there is interest. We also invite you to share what free knowledge means to you in Snøhetta's open exercise. Please take a moment and share your thoughts in any of the channels mentioned. https://brandingwikipedia.org/2020/02/17/what-does-free-knowledge-mean-to-y… Finally, we want to acknowledge that we have feedback, from various points in this process so far, from several communities and in several areas of the wikis, including Meta. We understand that some people believe that we don’t need this project. Our shared vision is for every single human being to freely share in the sum of all knowledge -- and that means billions of people. There are many people and cultures we still need to reach and include. We will need a strong well known brand to achieve the goals the movement has set for itself and we have a lot of work to do to get us there. Want to learn more? Check out the project hub at brandingwikipedia.org and the project page on Meta [5]. Participate in discussions on the project talk page, or by joining the Brand Network [2]. Also feel free to drop us a note at brandproject(a)wikimedia.org if you have questions. Thanks! Essie Zar (from the movement brand identity project team) [1] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2019-September/093382.html [2] https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediabrandnetwork/ [3] https://snohetta.com/ [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… * What is a concept? A tool making the complex more understandable. Concepts make complex subjects more understandable. They manage to consolidate vast amounts of facts, data and details into a singular definition in its context. By creating concepts we allow ourselves to acknowledge the complexity yet dare to step away from differences and look for similarities that binds it all together. -- *Essie Zar* (she/her) Brand Manager Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>

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The Wikipedia Library - new technical improvements and partnerships now available
by Sam Walton 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Hi all, The Wikipedia Library team at the Wikimedia Foundation is pleased to announce new technical improvements to the Library Card platform and the addition of 6 new publisher collections. If you’re an active editor who would find free access to paywalled reliable sources useful for your contributions, log in now to see what you can access: https://wikipedialibrary.wmflabs.org/ More than half of the publishers available through the library can now be accessed directly through the Library Card platform, rather than requiring an individual account to be set up and maintained for each. Additionally, the Library Bundle provides immediate access to 60% of our content with no application required! We’re also excited to announce that 6 new publishers have joined the program, including ProQuest, Springer Nature, and the Central and Eastern European Online Library. You can read more about these changes in the blog post we just published: https://space.wmflabs.org/2020/06/24/simplifying-your-research-needs-the-wi… We hope you find these resources useful, and would love to hear your feedback at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Library_Card_platform/Authentication-b… Best, Sam -- Sam Walton Product Manager, The Wikipedia Library Wikimedia Foundation swalton(a)wikimedia.org

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Invitation for Education Office hours, June 2020
by Sailesh Patnaik 25 Jun '20

25 Jun '20

Hi everyone, This is an invitation to join the monthly education office hours! The o ffice hours are a dedicated time and an online space to have conversations and discussions related to Wikimedia and education activities, listen and learn from each other's projects and activities. Join us for the month of June on 25th June 2020 at 12:00 PM UTC. You can find details to join the meeting here: https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/About/Office_Hours/June_25_20… Looking forward to seeing you all then, Please let me know if you have any questions. Do you want to reach out to the education team for a 1:1 consultation? Request for a slot for Education Office Space ( ttps://outreach.wikimedia. org/wiki/Education/About/Office_Space <https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/About/Office_Space> ) by filling this google form ( http://bit.ly/EduOfficeSpace ) Dhanyabaad! -- *Sailesh Patnaik* Program Coordinator, Education

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New members of the Board and Supervisory Committee
by Wikimedia Armenia Board 24 Jun '20

24 Jun '20

Dear Wikimedians, On June 6-8, 2020 Wikimedia Armenia’s snap Assembly was held online, the agenda of which was the adoption of the new charter, the election of the Board members, and the Supervisory Committee. All this was done within the framework of the organization's reforms. The majority of eighty-eight members of Wikimedia Armenia voted for all suggested issues by open and transparent vote. The new charter was approved, which was developed within 5 months by the members of the organization and lawyers and was based on the conclusion of the governance audit conducted in Wikimedia Armenia, our research and discussions. Narek Avetisyan and Davit Poghosyan were elected as members of the Board, and Davit Arevyan and Norayr Baghdasaryan were elected as members of the Supervisory Committee. All the selected candidates have a great contribution to the development of various Wiki projects and Wikimedia Armenia. As a result, the Board of Wikimedia Armenia consists of four members: Vahagn Piliposyan (the Chair of the Board), Tigran Azizbekyan (Secretary of the Board), Narek Avetisyan and David Poghosyan. The Supervisory Committee consists of three members: Vardan Mnatsakanyan (the Chair of the Committee), Norayr Baghdasaryan (the Secretary of the Committee), and David Arevyan. Currently, the President of Wikimedia Armenia is Susanna Mkrtchyan who was elected during the previous Assembly. “Wikimedia Armenia” NGO’s Chair of the Board Vahagn Piliposyan

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Wikimedia Deutschland: general assembly and new Supervisory Board
by Lukas Mezger 24 Jun '20

24 Jun '20

Dear fellow Wikimedians, On Sunday, Wikimedia Deutschland held its 25th and first-ever virtual general assembly with over 250 members attending. Our members elected a new Supervisory Board, which consists of 7 elected members: * Lukas Mezger (chair, re-elected) * Daniel Reisener (treasurer, re-elected) * Sabria David (re-elected) * Kilian Kluge (re-elected) * Christina Dinar * Valerie Mocker * Alice Wiegand Christina Dinar and Valerie Mocker are new to the board, so please join me in welcoming them as well as in welcoming back Alice Wiegand. We are particularly pleased that our measures to increase gender diversity have been successful and that our elected board now consists of four women and three men. I would like to wholeheartedly thank our departing elected board members Harald Krichel, Peter Dewald, and Marcus Cyron, and our departing appointed members Helene Hahn and Mirjam Stegherr for the great work and their commitment to Wikimedia Deutschland over the past years. Sabine Zepp and Lenia Zinßer were elected as auditors. I would like to express my gratitude to our departing auditors Daniel Baur, who has been serving the association over so many years, and Lena Stammler. The general assembly also changed our bylaws to allow for virtual board meetings and remote board votes. Additionally, our members added a new rule concerning appointed officers to ensure that at least one third of the board is of non-male or non-female gender. The general assembly also approved changes to our strategy and formally approved of the board’s and the executive director’s actions for 2019. The new board will reconvene shortly to discuss Movement Strategy matters, among others, and I am very much looking forward to working together with the new team. Kind regards, Lukas

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Board Update on Branding
by Nataliia Tymkiv 24 Jun '20

24 Jun '20

Dear all, As Acting Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees since March [1] I take full responsibility for this situation. I am truly sorry for all the frustration this whole situation has caused to volunteers, who have engaged in discussions expressing their concerns, and to the staff, who have been working and not really sure if that is really the direction the Board is prepared to seriously consider, or if it is just an exercise on our part. As Chair of the Board, I recognize the Board owes clear information to the communities and guidance to the staff. In 2017, the Board approved the 2030 Movement Strategic Direction, recognizing the strategic importance of growing the reach of the Wikimedia projects to new languages, communities, and geographies, as part of our global mission. In June 2018, the Board approved a Foundation Annual Plan that included research into the Wikimedia and Wikipedia brands to understand how they could be tools in helping us reach these goals. In November 2018 [2], the staff presented research to the Board about the Wikipedia and Wikimedia brands. I personally, even though a relatively long term Wikipedian (and a bit less long term Wikimedian), was basically convinced by the findings that a rebranding is needed and beneficial for our mission and global vision, and furthermore that it should be based on the Wikipedia brand. The information presented there also convinced the Board that the team should continue their work, but as you can see from the minutes the Board believed that communication is crucial, but already a possibility for a new name for the Wikimedia Foundation was seriously considered [3]. And I am going to be frank here - intuitively taking the name of something like “Wikipedia Foundation” makes a lot of sense, whether or not it makes sense upon deeper consideration. But, of course, no one was planning to just rename the organisation, more conversations were needed. It was convincing enough for us (the Board) to approve the budget for this initiative. The Board has received regular updates about the Brand work along the way, including approving continued work in the 2019 and 2020 annual plans. However, the Board has not yet had a very serious, frank conversation about what the Board will do when the work is finished, including how to balance feedback from many communities, and the importance of reaching new communities. The Board also has not yet received a final report, as the exploratory project was and still is ongoing. The process itself, even though the brand project team has designed its process to be inclusive and transparent, has created bitterness in some volunteers, some of whom feel they were led on or even actively manipulated. I am sure there was no intent to do that. But, for instance, people do point to a reported KPI (key performance indicator) in the previous survey as an alleged attempt at deceiving either the community or the Board. The Board did not make its decision to support the brand project based on that number, nor does the clarification of that number or removal of that KPI influence the Board’s support for the project. Good-faith mistakes should not undermine trust in our colleagues’ intentions or the purpose of an entire process. But this “elephant in the room” feeling is hurting all of us - both volunteers and staff, so I acknowledge that this created a lot of bitterness. I want us to take a step back and try to have an honest and constructive conversation on what our future work will be together. I know there is mistrust towards the Wikimedia Foundation acting in good faith, I also know the staff members feel intimidated when talking with the communities, so it is really difficult to have a frank dialog. We are all in this vicious circle - we do not trust each other, so we do not talk honestly; we do not talk honestly so we cannot build that trust. I truly want that to change. So I am going to be as direct as possible about the Board’s perspective. The executive statement says, “A rebrand will happen. This has already been decided by the Board” [4]. What does it mean? The brand project was approved by the Board in 2018. Rebrand may include: names, logos, “taglines,” colours, typography, or any combination of the above. An outcome of the project will be a set of recommended new branding practices.The Board has not approved any specific recommendations yet. However, it is important to be clear: the Board absolutely can change the name of the Wikimedia Foundation, even to the “Wikipedia Foundation,” if it decides. Has the Board made the decision to change the name of Wikimedia Foundation yet? No, the Board has not. In 2018, the Board agreed that the name of the Wikimedia Foundation does not help us with our strategic goals. From 2018-2020, the Board has been reviewing research and participating in the brand process with the goal of finding a better name. The Board has not yet made a decision to change the name to another name, as the Board has not yet had a final report on the results of the Brand Project, or the opportunity to discuss the findings and tradeoffs, and make a decision for what the Board will do. The Board conversation about this is planned to happen during the August meeting. Did the Board want to possibly have the rebranding (if approved) to take place before Wikipedia’s 20th birthday in January 2021? Yes, in a way. The resolution [5] talks about the work being done by then, but it is indeed unclear whether the changing of the brand was included or just the completion of the research by the Foundation. The timeline can still change if the Board decides it. Should the Board be clearer in what the Board is directing the Wikimedia Foundation to do? Yes, I believe so. Some of this unclarity and misalignment is the cause of all this unfortunate frustration. What are the possible outcomes for the August Board meeting on branding? The Board can 1) stop the project, 2) pause the work being done or 3) continue with it. Does the Board still want you to take the survey [6] then? Yes. The currently open survey [6] is intended to find the best possible outcome if the Foundation's (!) branding were centered around Wikipedia, and your voice is needed. It is an opportunity to provide constructive feedback on those alternatives. If you are engaging in discussions around it, please be kind to each other. Do all organisations in our movement have to have a uniform name? Per the Board’s resolution from 2013 <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes/2013-11#Movement_roles> [7] - yes, but it was a decision made at that time when the Board believed there was a chance to increase visibility and recognition of Wikimedia as a brand. It is 2020 now, and it may be the right time to loosen up on this approach and allow all organisations in the movement to use different names [8], best suited for their local context. Or keep uniform names, but allow using any of our brands for fundraising purposes. Or something else. The Board does have a sense that there is a need to be much more outward-looking and optimize our key assets, including our brands, for the challenges to come. All across the Movement we have a lot to do to accomplish our 2030 goals and build out our movement strategy. And that work can be done as the Wikimedia Movement, Wikimedia communities, and the Foundation even with a new name, depending on our needs. Stay safe, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Acting Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees [1] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes/2020-02#Board_Business [2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_Wikimedia_brand_strategy_proposal… [3] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes/2018-11-9,10,11#Branding [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Communications/Wikimedia_brands/2030_moveme… [5] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Brand_Project_Support_(May… [6] 2030 Movement Brand Project: Naming Convention Proposals Survey: https://wikimedia.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9G2dN7P0T7gPqpD [7] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Minutes/2013-11#Movement_roles [8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_movement_affiliates/Naming_guidel… *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!*

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Emergency moderation ended
by Asaf Bartov 24 Jun '20

24 Jun '20

Dear Wikimedians, We have ended the emergency moderation of the mailing list We did our best to process the moderation queue at least several times a day, but are happy to return the list to regular operation. Asaf in behalf of the list admins

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Internet Archive BOT
by Pascal Martin 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

HI, My native language is French, automatic translation into English. This message follows the numerous detection of false 404 links by the Internet Archive robot because it is blacklisted on a lot of servers. Small details concerning the archiving service of Wikiwix ( https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:De_kroeg#Internet_Archive_Bot ) It is based solely on this Javascript to be implemented since 2008 in French Wikipedia: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki:Gadget-ArchiveLinks.js The advantage of this solution makes it possible to add other archiving sources, and does not modify the content of Wikipedia articles. New links are detected by 3 different means: • Annual recovery: https://dumps.wikimedia.org/backup-index.html, • Recovery on IRC and on the WEB of Recents Changes. And we also recommend clicking on the archive link as soon as the source is added by a contributor, this immediately generates storage of the link and allows you to test the rendering of the archived page. In addition to fighting 404 errors, this solution also offers the advantage of protecting against changes in content that may appear in the pages to be archived. Wikiwix strictly respects copyright, archiving is only done with the author's approval using the noarchive tag. Since 2015, I have been alerting about the deployment of the IA robot: 2015: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2015/Bots_and_gad…: the bot solution with modification of the template cache is currently exclusive to WayBackMachine, 2017: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discussion_user:Pmartin#I_left_you_a_message! : attempted collaboration abort by the bot trainer and bot stopped following numerous false detections on page 404. The role of IABOT is to detect the links present in Wikipedia which are in errors 404, to find an archive in priority on the WayBack Machine, and to modify the articles to replace the dead link there. This process is not good because IABOT only allows one archive url to be stored on all the languages, which greatly favors the Wayback Machine, to the detriment of the different versions of the page. While the template should link to a page that would list all of the possible archives for a 404 page. A week has been planned for the end of July 2020 to resolve the few stabilization problems that Wikiwix currently encounters, linked to the new solution which consumes only 30 euros of electricity per month, we can also support this week for a deployment of the solution on the NL part of Wikipedia. Could someone stop this bots, otherwise the false detection of links will become contagious for all projects? Pascal Martin

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Wikimedia Clinic #003 today at 08:00 UTC
by Asaf Bartov 23 Jun '20

23 Jun '20

Dear Wikimedians, A quick reminder that we will be having another Wikimedia Clinic open call today, in about three hours, at 08:00 UTC. The Wikimedia Clinics calls are open video calls (using Google Meet) where any active Wikimedian is welcome to attend and ask questions or ask for advice about whatever Wikimedia-related goal or problem they're working on.You can also just share what you're working on and invite feedback, even if you don't have a specific question. Or people can just connect to hang out, or to offer their own experience to the people asking questions. It's relaxed and informal. The calls are a Friendly space <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Friendly_space_policy>. Attendees are expected to: - Listen with patience and respect. - Share your experience, but remember others' contexts are very diverse, and may not match yours. - Be of service. The Google Meet link is https://meet.google.com/hmb-hfjk-jtk NOTE: I know the Branding project is still a topic of interest and debate for many of you. While you are welcome to bring it up during a clinic and share thoughts with each other, I'm afraid this upcoming call won't have new information from WMF's side beyond the last communication from the Board, and those interested in further engagement on the topic would be able to get more answers on the same general channels on Meta and the Wikimedia-l mailing list they have already been using. Again, the topic is not taboo on the Wikimedia Clinic, but I do want to set expectations for people who may only attend hoping to hear new information about it. Cheers, A. Asaf Bartov (he/him/his) Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities Wikimedia Foundation <https://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

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Wikimedia-l June 2020