WikimediaAnnounce-l January 2013

wikimediaannounce-l@lists.wikimedia.org

14 participants
25 discussions

by Jan Ainali

This is the quarterly report from Wikimedia Sverige for Q4. A wiki version<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_reports/2012-12>is available. Community-Support <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:2012-12-29_Jon_Knuts_01.jpg> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:2012-12-29_Jon_Knuts_01.jpg> The borrowed camera used at an icehockey game. Access to technology The equipment was borrowed 20 times in Q4. 295 quality images, 12 valued images and 8 featured pictures have been produced by the pool (as of December 20). The equipment was complemented with: - UV-filter - Hard case bags for transports - Backpack Lowepro Fastpack 350 for camera and lenses - Nikon D600 camera house and SD Access to scientific journals and monographies One book was ordered by an editor. EditahonsAda Lovelace <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skrivstuga_Ada_Lovelace_2012_grupp1.JPG> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skrivstuga_Ada_Lovelace_2012_grupp1.JPG> The Ada Lovelace edit-a-thon. In remebrance of Ada Lovelace, we had an edit-a-thon in Stockholm with focus on women in science and technology. Around 10 new editors were guided by 6 experienced editors. 12 new articles were created and another 10 improved, a great acomplishment since there was little knowledge about Wikipedia before at the attendees. One of them blogged about it on the Wikimedia Foundation blog<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/10/30/gendered-language-and-the-swedish-wiki…>. It was also noted by media: - Att skriva historia<http://feministisktperspektiv.se/2012/10/26/att-skriva-historia/> (To write history) - Feministiskt perspektiv (in Swedish) - Vilken kvinna saknar du på Wikipedia?<http://np.netpublicator.com/netpublication/n82203029> (Which women do you miss on Wikipedia?) - City Malmö (in Swedish) World War I In cooperation with the Europeana Awareness project, one edit-a-thon<https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/sv:Wikipedia:Skrivstuga/F%C3%B6rsta_v%C3%A4rl…> with the theme World War I was held. A report with lessons learned<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Projekt:Europeana_Awareness/Edit-a-thon_om_WW…> was created after the event. It was also noted by media: - Skrivstuga om första världskriget<http://www.militarhistoria.se/nyhetsfronten/skrivstuga-om-forsta-varldskrig…> (Edit-a-thon about World War I) - Militär Historia (in Swedish). Gothenburg <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skrivarstuga,_Regionarkivet_G%C3%B6teborg…> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skrivarstuga,_Regionarkivet_G%C3%B6teborg…> Edit-a-thon at the Regional Archives in Gothenburg. One edit-a-thon<https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/sv:Wikipedia:Wt#Skrivarstuga.2C_G.C3.B6teborg…> in Gothenburg was held at Regional Archives. Community driven projectsSwecon As a community driven project some volunteers attended Swecon, a congress for Sci-fi litterature. We gave som workshops and took pictures of authors, which can be found on commons<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Swecon_2012>. Håkan Wester from Studiefrämjandet made a short interview<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9m7ax6LuZg> with Chairman Jan Ainali on how Wikipedia can be used in popular education (in Swedish). Monument hunt (Fornminnesjakten) <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Kyrkan_i_Garpenberg.JPG> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Kyrkan_i_Garpenberg.JPG> The winning picture in Fornminnesjakten - Fornminnesjakten<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gemenskapens_projekt_2012/Fornminnesjakten> was ended with a price ceremony in Hedemora. The competition had 7 participants who uploaded around 30 images. Calle Eklund and Arild Vågen from Wikimedia Sverige arranged the price ceremony which got good response in the local press<http://www.dt.se/nyheter/hedemora/1.5214329-deras-bilder-blir-tillgangliga-…> . Bokfair The bookfair could be summarized, 82 persons were interviewed. There are 113 images in the category on Commons<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:G%C3%B6teborg_Book_Fair_2012> on authors and celebrities, and 25 images on Wikimedia Sveriges participants. Report from Culutral treasures on the net (Kulturskatter på nätet) Work with updating it to a second edition has started and it is probably ready by spring time. QualityIdentify deficient or missing content Work is ongoing, the thesis will be ready in February. Surveys of how Wikipedia is used and can be improved Unfortunatly the student who started this thesis dropped out. We have for the first time managed to translate the editor study to Swedish and participated and are eagerly waiting for the results. Content donations from institutionsCouncil of the Swedish Central Museums Our workshops continued, three were held during November and meetings about collaborations in exhibitions and preparations for batch-uploads were also on the agenda. The Working Life Museums Co-operation Council We signed a letter of intent<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Projekt:Arbetslivsmuseer_2013/Avsiktsf%C3%B6r…> (in Swedish) with he Working Life Museums Co-operation Council (Arbetslivsmuseernas samarbetsråd) who has over 400 Working Life museums as members. This is similar to the letter of intent we signed in May with The Council of the Swedish Central Museums which made way to several workshops, upcomin uploads and editing from the institutions. The Vasa Museum We signed a letter of intent on starting a project with the Vasa Museum, who is a member of The Council of the Swedish Central Museums and this is a direct spinn-off from that collaboration. The project is around an exhibition and we will have workshops, Wikipedia competitions, and help them with integrating Wikimedia content in the exhibition. Wikipedian in residence An ending seminar of the Wikipedian in Residence at the Swedish National Heritage Board were held. Press release<http://www.cisionwire.se/riksantikvarieambetet/r/pressinbjudan--riksantikva…> (in Swedish). The National Historical Museum We held a workshop at The National Historical Museum (Historiska museet) for five of their employees. Image uploading, editing, categoizing and use of relevant templates was on the schedule. Meetings We had several meetings with large GLAM institutions about a variety of projects: - The National Maritime Museums - The National Archives - The Nordic Museum - The Open Knowledge Foundation Wiki Loves Monuments <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012_Bild_01.JPG> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012_Bild_01.JPG> Johan Andersen is awarded first price in the category Buildings and Best series of images. The Swedish winners were announced. Blog post<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/vinnarna-i-wiki-loves-monu…> about that and one about the statistics<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/10/31/wiki-loves-monuments-2012-…> (both in Swedish). A price ceremony were held at the conference FSCONS (Free Society and Culture Nordic Summit). 200 aerial photos of Sweden <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skeppsholmen_2.JPG> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skeppsholmen_2.JPG> Skeppsholmen <https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Skeppsholmen> in central Stockholm. Images from our second flight were given permission to be published by the Swedish Defence Forces. A category on Commons<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Sveriges_flygfotoproj…> holds all the images. OutreachEducate teachers and GLAM employees <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Ylva_Pettersson_-_Katedralskolan_i_Skara_…> Short video with Ylva Pettersson about the nomination (in Swedish). <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Ibrahim_Baylan_och_Einar_Spetz,_Skolforum…> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Ibrahim_Baylan_och_Einar_Spetz,_Skolforum…> Former board member Einar Spetz demonstrating Wikipedia to Parliament member Ibrahim Baylan (s). <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikimedia_Sverige_MPS12.jpg> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikimedia_Sverige_MPS12.jpg> Secretary Jakob Hammarbäck at Mötesplats skola. <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikipedia_i_utbildning_broschyr.pdf> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikipedia_i_utbildning_broschyr.pdf> Wikipedia i utbildning The Internet days (Internetdagarna) This years the internet days had a special track for internet use in education. Board member Ylva Pettersson presentation gave a presentation on how she uses Wikipedia in the classroom and our Education manager Sophie Österberg took seat in a panel discussion. - Ylva's presentation<http://prezi.com/qvamwu4jgvjb/what-do-you-like-about-ballet-the-dancin/> , video <http://bambuser.com/v/3082366#t=2427s> (in Swedish). - Panel discussion, Video <http://bambuser.com/v/3087841#t=594s> (in Swedish). School forum (Skolforum) Board member Ylva Pettersson, finalist to the Golden apple (Guldäpplet) for her her use of Wikipedia gave a presentation on what teachers should think on. Video <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PocY67h9A3w> (in Swedish). More pictures to be found on Commons<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Sverige_at_Skolforum_…>. The video will be adapted to present it from a Wikimedia centric perspective. Education manager Sophie Österberg was present, together with Wikimedia Sverige volunteers during the conference and was shortly interviewed by the national broadcastingradio, UR, viewable here<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZRtbxqWHKg> . Meeting place school (Mötesplats skola) Together with GR utbildning (GR education) we attended Mötesplats skola in Gothenburg which is a big conference/fair for teachers. Hembygdens Helg We participated at Hembygdens helg at the National Historical Museum. Blog post <http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/hembygd-hela-helgen/> (in Swedish). Some pictures were uploaded to Commons<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:ListFiles/Hembygdens_helg_2012> . An online course An online course is under development and will be launched this spring for teachers mainly. It will be held online with virtual meetings. The participants will, if successful, receive a diploma from WMSE. Meetings We had several meetings with Educational institutions discussing how we could work with Wikipedia Education program, among these were: - The Royal College of Music - The Royal Institute of Technology - Umeå University Also, the Wiki skills project had a meeting in Athens. Workshops - Workshop with staff at the Central museums in The Royal Armoury. - Workshop with the staff at Ájtte Swedish mountain and Sámi museum. Meetup for volunteers We have planned a day for volunteers, the 26th of January, here at Wikimedia Sweden. The idea is to go through ideas about how to present WMSE and the Wikipedia educational program here in Sweden. Informational material We created some new materials for our Wikipedia Education Program, and also reprinted some already existing material. - Wikipedia i utbildning<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikipedia_i_utbildning_broschyr.pdf> (Wikipedia in education) - Case studies (the WMF version) Project Wiki-skills: Teach teachers how to use wikis in class <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wiki-skills_broschyrer._3_december_2012..…> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wiki-skills_broschyrer._3_december_2012..…> The Wiki Skills brochure. Leo is back from the partners coordination meeting in Athens. Anna has been working on the economic reporting. Sophie has been printing the learning scenario brochures which we will use partly for dissemination of the project and partly as material for the courses. It will be used as a complement to the learning scenarios of Wikipedia in education<http://se.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fil:Wikipedia_i_utbildning_brosch…> . We are about to plan the content of the courses in more detail. In preparation for this we have been giving some feedback to the Definition of training scenarios and training curriculum<http://wikiskills.cesga.es/xwiki/bin/view/Wiki-Skills/D3.1+Definition+of+tr…>, the Guidelines for Trainers<https://wikiskills.cesga.es/xwiki/bin/view/Wiki-Skills/D3.4+-+Guidelines+fo…> and the Evaluation Framework<http://wikiskills.cesga.es/xwiki/bin/view/Wiki-Skills/Deliverable+8.1+-+Eva…> . We have been preparing a course description<http://kreablo.se:8080/x/wiki/kreablo.se/view/Wiki%20skills/Kursen%20WikiSk…> and a registration form<http://kreablo.se:8080/x/wiki/kreablo.se/view/Wiki+skills/Anm%C3%A4lningsfo…> which has been sent out to invite our target group (which consists of teachers of trainees and of students in vocational training. Other teachers from secondary education may be welcome as well). University (teach the teachers program) We had a blogpost<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/17/wikipedia-education-program-sweden-kic…> about the Swedish program published on the Wikimedia Foundation blog. Lessons to learn In this, together with the past month, we have gratefully received information, tips and best practices from Annie Lin at WMF and Cornelia Trefflich at WMDE. This has furthered our educational program in various ways but perhaps most importantly helped to minimise aspects which has already been tried with few results. KTH Royal Institute of Technology We have been holding workshop at KTH with engineering students who have the option to write their assignment on Wikipedia, which should be an article about a subject in their course of study. This collaboration will evolve further as the lecturer, Stefan, very much appreciate the idea. KMH Royal College of Music We have had two workshops with a small course of four students and two professors. The students study to become teachers in music and music production. We have set up a Wikipedia project where they will contribute with their knowledge. In the spring, Wikipedia will in a more structured and planned way, become a part of this course as the professors have so far very much enjoyed to work with Wikipedia together with their students. SLU Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences We are currently supporting SLU in arranging a Wikipedia day the 18th of January which should be seen as the launch of the project *Knowledge transfer to Wikipedia from researchers at SLU.* It is a project where researchers are asked to, by the university, contribute with their knowledge to Wikipedia. SLU has filed an application as to be able to employ potentially a Wikipedian for support to the researchers. Swedish as a second language <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikipedia_workshop,_language_course.jpg> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikipedia_workshop,_language_course.jpg> Wikipedia workshop, students learning Swedish and Wikipedia. This is a continuation of the courses which are initially offered to newcomers in Sweden. At this level, students should have quite a good understanding of Swedish. We have had one workshop, another one is to come soon, with these students about the basics of Wikipedia. This teacher, Maria, would want Wikipedia contribution to become an assignment for all the students to come studying Swedish as a second language. At the moment there is a project, based on all their nationalities, with focus on culture and people. There is therefore a list, based on the students origins, with some painters, musicians, writers etc, which are not written about in Swedish. After talks with Annie Lin (WMF) though, it would seem as if a better idea is to have them translate from Swedish to their native language. Student clubs A student club at Katedralskolan in Skara has started. Flipped classrom movies has been used (pending upload to Commons). The theme is "Develop city article and aspire for featured status" The project was featured<http://www.diu.se/nr6-12/nr6-12.asp?artikel=s6> in the Swedish magazine The computer in education (Datorn i utbildningen). Europeana Awareness An event page <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_edit-a-thons> was created on Meta to coordinate an international series of parallel edit-a-thons with World War I as the theme. The edit-a-thons will take place in a number of countries in Europe. If everything goes according to plans, the events will take place at the 29th of June 2013. Wiki Loves Public Art (WLPA) [image: Wikilovespublicart 4.svg]<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikilovespublicart_4.svg> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikilovespublicart_4.svg> A voting has been held on the logo for Wiki Loves Public Art. The winner can be seen to the right. Vinnova has given us funds to create a database about public artworks in Sweden. A database developer will be identified and the work will have to start as soon as possible. See our blog post in Swedish and English<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/11/30/vinnova-stodjer-vart-datab…> . A new national coordinator in Sweden and a person that will organize a few supporting events for the photo contest was identified and will start working with the contest in December 2012. A new web designer are now working on getting the international website up and running as soon as possible. We had some initial difficulties but it is now progressing very well and a first version is up and running on wikilovespublicart.org. The organizing team for WLPA in Sweden had a very good meeting with The National Public Art Council Sweden (Statens konstråd) and they are very positive to the idea and are looking into how they can be involved in both the creation of the database and in the Wiki Loves Public Art contest. Database for Public Art We received funding from Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) in their open data program to collect and create a database for public art. We plan to build it on a similar architecture as the Wiki Loves Monuments database, so that it can be utilized in a similar way for the Wiki Loves Public Art contest. We are funded with 375 200 SEK, and we will hire for this position. Make contacts with important educational institutionsThe Swedish National Council of Adult Education (Folkbildningsrådet and Flexlär) We have been present at two conferences, which were organised by and for the study-circle movement in Sweden. We have found several organisations who would be interested in holding circles about Wikipedia and Commons. We are now in the process of taking this further. Dialogue with the Swedish educational broadcasting organisation (UR) Ur is currently interested in how they can use Wikipedia, and potentially Wikiversity as a part of their educational mission. The current dialogue is focused on their material for newcomers in Sweden and how they may use Wikipedia as a means to develop their knowledge of Swedish. Broadcasting for the national radio We have held a broadcast for the national radio which will be sent mid December, where we held a workshop together with a teacher about Wikipedia. Not only the technical basics but also the democratic, gender and societal aspects. SWAMID This month we have met Leif Johansson at SUNET. They work with SWAMID, an identity federation for universities and polytechs in Sweden. SWAMID is though a part of a much greater network of identity federations for universities and polytechs around the world in the EU, the US and Asia. They have put together an idea about using that identity when editing Wikipedia, which would most hopefully engage new contributors as they may easily show their contributions on WP together with articles they have published in journals and such, all collected through a single identity. We have contacted Erik Möller as Leif asked for the possibility to meet in person in either San Fransisco or Washington. The Academy for Principals (Rektorsakademin utveckling) We have met RAU and they have offered us to participate at their conference for teachers next year where we may have two seminars, one each day. We are also discussing the possibility of taking part in a course they're offering principals during autumn where we may be responsible for one or two of the seminars in that course. Nordic cooperation <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Working_with_the_Wikimedia_Chapters_in_De…> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Working_with_the_Wikimedia_Chapters_in_De…> The yearbook. Meeting of the Nordic Chapters The third meeting between the Nordic Chapters was held in connection with the FSCONS conference in Göteborg, November 10. It was confirmed that the second phase of the project for the support of the Sami Wikipedia should be led by Wikimedia Norway and be a cross-the-border project. Booklet on the activities by the Nordic chapters The yearbook project was sucessfully finished with the printing of the booklet *Working with the Wikimedia Chapters in Denmark, Norway and Sweden* (in English). A second edition might be produced early 2014. A few copies will be distributed to all chapters. EnablingBoard meetings - 2012-10-21, minutes<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-10-21> available in Swedish. - 2012-11-12, minutes<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-11-12> available in Swedish. - 2012-12-11, minutes<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-12-11> available in Swedish. - 2012-12-19, minutes<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-12-19> available in Swedish. Important notes on internal character was approval of; a new policy for working hours of employees, policy for communication and guidelines for Conflicts of interest, policy for representation. We also enrolled in a collective agreement, which is more or less standard for employers in Sweden, thus giving us better status for new recruitment. Communication Newsletters has been sent to the members (in Swedish). - November <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nyhetsbrev/November_2012> - December <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nyhetsbrev/December_2012> We also sent a newsletter to all our members per mail including a copy of the Nordic Yearbook and announcement of the annual meeting in 2013. Chapters reports has been produced every month. - October <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_reports/2012-10> - November <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_reports/2012-11> - December <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_reports/2012-12> The office continued to summarize their efforts in a short weekly office newsletter (in Swedish) which is also sent out on the chapter mailinglist (in Swedish). - Week 40 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-40> - Week 42 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-42> - Week 43 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-43> - Week 45 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-45> - Week 46 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-46> - Week 47 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-47> - Week 48 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-48> - Week 49 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-49> - Week 51 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kansliets_veckobrev/2012-51> Activities performedReview by accountants In order to develop the organization we consulted KPMG to do a review of the chapters financial routines. The preliminary report that was delivered in October was very positive. Legal advice We consulted a legal firm to ensure that we use CiviCRM in compliance with Swedish privacy laws. Education Holger Motzkau participated in a course on collective agreements. Collective agreements The chapter joined the collective agreement between IDEA (an employer association specialized on non-profits) and Unionen. Hirings - Sophie Österberg started working on a three month contract as Education manager October 1. - Suzan Tutak started working on a four month contract as financial administrator November 1. - After a long and elaborous recruiting process, with the help of external recruitment firm, Jan Ainali was hired as the CEO. Jan, who is the present chairman, will resign before start of the assignment in March. - Contracts with Sophie Österberg (Education manager) and Axel Pettersson (GLAM manager) were extended until end of June 2013. - The hiring process for the project on creating a database for public art started. Office relocation With our growth we need a bigger space and has started looking for a new office. OtherMedia - Dance, Skype and Wikipedia - an ordinary school day (Dans, Skype och Wikipedia – en vanlig dag i skolan) http://www.diu.se/nr6-12/nr6-12.asp?artikel=s6 (Datorn i utbildningen) - Their pictures are becoming availible for everybody (Deras bilder blir tillgängliga för alla) http://www.dt.se/nyheter/hedemora/1.5214329-deras-bilder-blir-tillgangliga-… (Dala-Demokraten) Presentations - Chairman Jan Ainali gave an hour long presentation about Wikipedia for the IT-consultancy company Kentor. Presentation <http://aina.li/kentor>, Video: high res, missing ending<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zu7r6AN-aNQ> full video but low res <http://bambuser.com/v/3085636> (in Swedish). - Salemportalen is a Swedish language Wikipedia project driven by the Salem Municipality Library och the Salem Local Community Association (Salems Hembygdsförening). Two members of Wikimedia Sverige participated in a workshop at the Salem Municipality Library and held a training course on editing and on uploading of pictures to Wikimedia Commons. TEDxHornstull We got a special invitation to attend a TEDx event with the theme: "Change through collaboration". Aniversary The chapter turned five years old on October 20. Board member Bengt Oberger wrote about the journey on the Wikimedia Foundation blog<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/10/31/the-expansion-of-wikimedia-sverige/> (in English and Swedish). Nobel leaureats interviews <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Serge_Haroche_en.ogv> Serge Haroche <https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Serge_Haroche>. We got accredited to interview Nobel leaureats this year too and had the pleasure to interview Serge Haroche in both English and French. Economical Report We are in the middle of summing up the finacials for the year. Hera are some preliminary results (rounded): Revenues: 1,490,000 SEK Costs: 2,180,000 SEK Loss: -690,000 SEK Deposit into 2013: 456,000 SEK *Regards,* *Jan Ainali* Chairman, Wikimedia Sverige <http://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Huvudsida> 076-2122776

10 years, 8 months

WMF Board Agenda (Draft)

by Geoff Brigham

Please find below the draft WMF board agenda for the upcoming meetings on January 31-February 2, 2013. *== Thursday, January 31, 2013 == '''18:00 - 19:00''' - Governance Committee Meeting == Friday, February 1, 2013 == '''9:00 - 9:10''' - Greetings and Introductions '''9:10 - 10:00''' - Housekeeping * Affiliations Committee Charter (technical correction only) * Pledge of Personal Commitment (annual signing) * Discussion on a proposed Duty of Loyalty Policy for the Board (consisting of summary of existing duty of loyalty responsibilities) '''10:15 -12:15''' - Presentation on 2012-13 Year-to-Date and Planning for 2013-14 (Part I) '''12:15-14:00''' - ''Lunch'' '''14:00 - 15:30''' - Presentation on 2012-13 Year-to-Date and Planning for 2013-14 (Part II) '''15:30 - 16:00''' - Discussion on Board Term Limits '''16:15 - 16:45''' - Legal Presentation == Saturday, February 2, 2013 == '''9:00 - 11:00''' - Presentation on 2012-13 Year-to-Date and Planning for 2013-14 (Part III) '''11:15 - 12:15''' - Discussion on Affiliations Committee and WCA (Part I) '''12:15 - 13:15''' - ''Lunch'' '''13:15 - 14:15''' - Discussion on Affiliations Committee and WCA (Part II) '''14:15 - 14:30''' - Advisory Board: Term Renewals '''14:30 - 15:15''' - 2013 Board Agenda / Extend Executive Session '''15:30 - 16:30''' - Executive Session * -- Geoff Brigham General Counsel Wikimedia Foundation

10 years, 8 months

Wikimedia Sverige Chapters Report December 2012

by Jan Ainali

This is the Chapters report for Wikimedia Sverige December 2012. A wiki version <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Chapters_reports/2012-12> is available. GLAMThe Co-operation Council of Woking Life Museums We signed a Letter of Intent<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Projekt:Arbetslivsmuseer_2013/Avsiktsf%C3%B6r…> (in Swedish) with the Co-operation Council of Working Life Museums (Arbetslivsmuseernas samarbetsråd, link to Swedish Wikipedia<http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arbetslivsmuseernas_samarbetsr%C3%A5d>) which has a membership of more than 400 Working Life Museums in Sweden. This Letter of Intent is similar to the letter of intent signed in May, 2012, with The Council of the Swedish Central Museums which made way to several workshops, upcoming uploads and the editing by the institutions concerned. The Vasa Museum We signed a Letter of Intent on starting a specific project with the Vasa Museum. The museum is a member of The Council of the Swedish Central Museums and this LoI is a direct spin-off from that overall collaboration arrangement The Vasa Museum project is about an exhibition and we will have workshops and Wikipedia competitions, and also assist the museum with the integration of Wikimedia content into the exhibition. The National Historical Museum We held a workshop at The National Historical Museum (Historiska museet) with five employees. Image uploading, editing, categorizing and use of relevant templates was on the schedule as well as two presentations, one on a project about writing articles on all civil parishes and one on copyright and free licences. Europeana Awareness [image: Wikilovespublicart 4.svg]<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikilovespublicart_4.svg> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Wikilovespublicart_4.svg> - A voting has been held on the logo for Wiki Loves Public Art. The winner can be seen to the right. - The website wikilovespublicart.eu was launched. - Eva Fransson was assigned as new national coordinator for Swedish Wiki Loves Public Art. Database for Public Art We got funding from Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) in their open data program to collect and create a database for public art. We plan to build it on a similar architecture as the Wiki Loves Monuments database, so that it can be utilized in a similar way for the Wiki Loves Public Art contest. We are funded with 375 200 SEK, and we will hire a new employee for execution of the project. Education We had a blogpost<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/17/wikipedia-education-program-sweden-kic…> about the Swedish program published on the Wikimedia Foundation blog. Swedish University of Agricultural Scienes Plans were drafted for the Wikipedia day<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_i_utbildning/SLU/Information/Wikipe…> at the Swedish University of Agricultural Scienes in Uppsala, January 18, 2013. Academy of Principals Development We made a podcast with the Academy of Principals Development and are planning to have common workshops for principals. Workshops We had a workshop<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Projekt:Wikipedia_i_utbildning_2012/Stagneliu…> at Stagneliusskolan in Kalmar. WikiSkills <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Teach_the_teachers.png> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Teach_the_teachers.png> Teach the teachers! We have been announcing three WikiSkills face-to-face courses and since then been looking for suitable course participants - teachers eager to perhaps hold a wiki lesson with their students. The courses will be held in the south, middle and north of Sweden (which is a loong country) hence also giving some attention to parts of Sweden which generally is not spoiled whith events. Course description and registration form (in Swedish)<http://kreablo.se:8080/x/wiki/kreablo.se/view/Wiki+skills/Kursen+WikiSkills…> OtherNobel laureates interviews <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Serge_Haroche_en.ogv> Serge Haroche <https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Serge_Haroche>. We got an accredition for interviewing Nobel laureates (videos) 2012 as well. Aerial photography <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skeppsholmen_2.JPG> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Skeppsholmen_2.JPG> Skeppsholmen <https://se.wikipedia.org/wiki/en:Skeppsholmen> in central Stockholm. Images from our second flight were given permission to be published by the Swedish Defence Forces. A category on Commons<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Wikimedia_Sveriges_flygfotoproj…> holds all the images. Blog Four blog posts were produced in December: - Long version of the education blog post<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/wikipedia-i-utbildning/> (in English) - Presentation of our financial administrator<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/12/11/valkommen-suzan-tutak-var-…> (in Swedish) - Rebuttle on an op-ed<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/12/14/allt-pa-internet-ar-inte-f…> (in Swedish) - Call for presentation to the Wiki skills courses next year<http://wikimediasverige.wordpress.com/2012/12/21/wikiskills-kurs-2013/> (in Swedish) InternalBoard meetings We had two board meetings in December. Minutes are available in Swedish (December 11 <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-12-11> , December 19<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/M%C3%B6tesprotokoll/Protokoll_2012-12-19> ). RecruitingCEO After a long and elaborous recruiting process, with the help of external recruitment firm, Jan Ainali was hired as the CEO. Jan, who is the present chairman, will resign before start of the assignment in March. Database coordninator/technician The hiring process for the project on creating a database for public art started. Newsletter <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Working_with_the_Wikimedia_Chapters_in_De…> <https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fil:Working_with_the_Wikimedia_Chapters_in_De…> Available as pdf. We also distributed a newsletter to all our members per mail and included a copy of the newly published Nordic Yearbook as well as an announcement of/invitation to the 2013 Annual Meeting. Communication Two newsletters were sent to members: - About the course for volunteers<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nyhetsbrev/December_2012> (in Swedish) - Holiday message<https://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Nyhetsbrev/December_2012_Julh%C3%A4lsning> (in Swedish) *Regards, Jan Ainali* Chairman, Wikimedia Sverige <http://se.wikimedia.org/wiki/Huvudsida> 076-2122776

10 years, 8 months

The Signpost -- Volume 9, Issue 05 -- 28 January 2013

by Wikipedia Signpost

10 years, 8 months

Wikimedia UK monthly report - December 2012

by Stevie Benton

Hello everyone, I've just published the Wikimedia UK activity report for December, which was a shortened month for the office due to the winter break. You can find the report at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2012/December For those of you who prefer plain text, this is below. Thanks and regards, Stevie Reports/2012/December Below is the Wikimedia UK monthly report for the period 1 to 31 December 2012. If you want to keep up with the chapter's activities as they happen, please subscribe to our blog, join a UK mailing list, and/or follow us on Twitter. If you have any questions or comments, please drop us a line on this report's talk page. Community The office hosted a shared lunch in December for staff and volunteers. Everyone who came brought some food and drink along and we spent some time enjoying each other's company and getting to know each other a little. A very pleasant and useful afternoon! GLAM activities Wikimedians in Residence program resulting from our November 2012 recruitment has been progressing with Wikimedia UK in negotiations with the institutions taken forward. We are working with Natural History Museum and Science Museum, National Library of Scotland, Black Cultural Archives in cooperation with Equiano Centre, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums. Technology During December we spent time setting up the new infrastructure and began migrating Wikimedia UK properties. For example, the board, office and other private Wikis were moved to a new server - and preparations were made to move Civi CRM and email in the new year. Other activities Microgrants Information about microgrants that are currently running, and how to submit a microgrant application of your own, are at Microgrants/Applications. UK press coverage (and coverage of UK projects & activities) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20680725 http://www.itv.com/news/update/2012-12-11/wikipedia-we-want-those-start-ups… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9736665/Wikipedia-founders-… http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/technology/williamhenderson/100008453/wikipedi… http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/us-news-blog/2012/dec/19/cards-against… http://www.wired.com/geekmom/2012/12/cards-against-humanity-holiday-stats/ http://tyneandwear.sky.com/newcastleunited/article/50706 http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f3fc3be1-0146-4b64-a4c5-d9792… http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/20865218 http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/dec/24/technology-links-news… http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/9764719/Wikipedia-co-founde… http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/378829/breakfast-briefing-outlook-features-stri… http://metro.co.uk/2012/12/29/most-read-wikipedia-pages-revealed-facebook-o… http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12/20/cash_rich_wikipedia_chugging/ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/dec/26/koh-wikipedia-apple-s… http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/dec/27/wikipedia-most-viewed http://www.itv.com/news/2012-12-28/wikipedias-top-10-viewed-articles-in-201… http://crave.cnet.co.uk/software/facebook-tops-list-of-most-viewed-wikipedi… http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20858333 http://video.sky.com/news/related/55523/0/Wikipedia%20Boss%20Hope%20For%20O… http://www.breakingnews.com/item/ahZzfmJyZWFraW5nbmV3cy13d3ctaHJkcg0LEgRTZW… http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p8g6s Upcoming activities in January and February January 08 - Board meeting - call 12 - Manchester meetup 13 - London meetup 13 - Oxford meetup 14 - AHRC Wikipedia training workshop at the British Library 16 - IRC office hours 20 - Reading Meetup February 08 - Introduction to Wikipedia workshop at the British Library 09–10 - Board meeting - in person 10 - London meetup 16 - Liverpool meetup 17 - Coventry meetup 20 - IRC office hours 23–24 - Training the Trainers/February 2013 event - Manchester For events in March 2013 and onwards, please see Events. Administrative activities Board activities There was a meeting of the Executive Working Group, and the minutes are in the process of being drafted. Work continued with Compass Partnership on our Governance Review. News from the Chief Exec For information on Jon's activities this month, see News from the Office. Communications Links to December's press coverage can be found higher up this page. In general December was a fairly quiet month for Wikimedia UK communications. In part this is because the chapter didn't participate directly in the Wikimedia Foundation annual fundraising campaign. It was also a short month in terms of office activity as the winter break began on 22 December. There were interesting blog posts on the first stage implementation of the new visual editing tool for Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons reaching the landmark of hosting 15 million files and a Manchester Girl Geeks editing event. Also covered by the blog were a training session for editors in Stanford and an update on the Communications Data Bill. We experimented a little with video this month, using the festive season as an opportunity to record a message from staff to the community, accompanied by a written message from Jon. This was well received so we'll be looking to try out more video in the future. Also in keeping with the festive season we designed and distributed some festive e-cards, which we hope you enjoyed. A loose framework has been created for this year's Annual Review. You can see the top level page here. Each section breaks down into its own page. Please do get involved in helping to shape this report and all content contributions are welcome. In more general terms Stevie has been trying to build networks and relationships with organisations that share our broad objectives. During December he met with Creative Commons, attended a Google-hosted event called Interactivism and met with the Shoreditch Network. This work carries over into January. Fundraising and Membership Fundraising This month, we received £13,128.78 in one-off donations, with 49 individual donations, of which 3 were defined as major gifts (over £1000). Removing those from consideration, the average donation amount was £39.69 - 75% of these donors have had Gift Aid Declarations made and matched with their records. If anyone would like a full (but anonymised) csv file with more information, please get in touch with katherine.bavage(a)wikimedia.org.uk and let her know your requirements. There were 5,783 successful direct debits this month, bringing in a total of £23,817.37. Membership Up to 31st December 2012: 138 new (membership commenced in preceding three months) and current members. 123 'grace' members (membership within six months after date membership should be renewed) This adds up to 261 members who are eligible to vote 124 Expired members A reminder was sent to all members in the January 2013 members newsletter to renew their membership. Results of this will be included in the January 2013 monthly report. -- Stevie Benton Communications Organiser Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 20 7065 0993 / +44 (0) 7803 505 173 @StevieBenton Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.*

10 years, 8 months

Wikimedia Foundation Report, December 2012

by Tilman Bayer

Hi all, please find below the WMF report for December 2012, in plain text. As always, the editable and formatted version has been published on Meta: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Report,_December_2012 and the reports are being posted on the Wikimedia blog, too: https://blog.wikimedia.org/c/corporate/wmf-monthly-reports/ As usual, we are also publishing a separate "Highlights" summary. Please consider helping non-English-language communities to stay updated, by providing a translation: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Highlights,_December_2012 Many thanks to those who have translated the November "Highlights" into Danish, Spanish, ‎Piedmontese, ‎Portuguese, ‎Russian, Ukrainian and Simplified Chinese (and partially into some other languages)! While still focussing on WMF activities, the "Highlights" include a small selection of the most noteworthy events from the whole movement. Suggestions for the January issue are welcome until February 6 at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Highlights Regards, Tilman -- Wikimedia Foundation Report, December 2012 <Video: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Monthly_Metrics_Meeting_January_10,… Video of the monthly Wikimedia Foundation metrics and activities meeting covering the month of December <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Metrics_and_activities_meetings/2013-01-10> (January 10, 2013)> Contents * 1 Data and Trends * 2 Financials * 3 Highlights o 3.1 Visual Editor opt-in launch on English Wikipedia o 3.2 Record donations in shortest ever fundraiser o 3.3 First round of the new funds dissemination process ends * 4 Engineering o 4.1 VisualEditor o 4.2 Editor engagement o 4.3 Mobile o 4.4 Other news * 5 Fundraising o 5.1 Major Gifts and Foundations o 5.2 Annual Fundraiser * 6 Grantmaking & Programs o 6.1 Strategic Goals Metrics o 6.2 Grantmaking + 6.2.1 Funds Dissemination Committee + 6.2.2 WMF Grants Program # 6.2.2.1 Grants approved in December 2012 # 6.2.2.2 Reports accepted in December 2012 + 6.2.3 Participation Support + 6.2.4 Individual Engagement Grants + 6.2.5 Fellowships + 6.2.6 Wikimania Scholarships o 6.3 Learning and Evaluation o 6.4 Programs + 6.4.1 Brazil # 6.4.1.1 Education - Brazil * 6.4.1.1.1 Reports on courses * 6.4.1.1.2 Program development + 6.4.2 Mobile + 6.4.3 Global Education * 7 Human Resources o 7.1 Staff Changes o 7.2 Statistics o 7.3 Department Updates * 8 Finance and Administration * 9 Legal, Community Advocacy, and Communications o 9.1 LCA Report, December 2012 + 9.1.1 Contract Metrics + 9.1.2 Trademark Metrics + 9.1.3 Domains Obtained + 9.1.4 Coming & Going + 9.1.5 Other Activities o 9.2 Communications Report, December 2012 + 9.2.1 Major announcements + 9.2.2 Major Storylines through December + 9.2.3 Other worthwhile reads + 9.2.4 WMF Blog posts + 9.2.5 Media Contact, December 2012 o 9.3 Wikipedia Signpost, December 2012 * 10 Visitors and Guests == Data and Trends == Global unique visitors for November: *484.5 million* (-0.79% compared with October; +2.06% compared with the previous year) (comScore data <http://reportcard.wmflabs.org/graphs/unique_visitors> for all Wikimedia Foundation projects; comScore will release December data later in January) Page requests for December: *20.2 billion* (-0.8% compared with November; +23.5% compared with the previous year) (Server log data <http://stats.wikimedia.org/EN/TablesPageViewsMonthlyAllProjects.htm>, all Wikimedia Foundation projects including mobile access) Active Registered Editors for November 2012 (>= 5 mainspace edits/month, excluding bots): *79,532* (-0.03% compared with October / +0.59% compared with the previous year) (Database data <http://reportcard.wmflabs.org/graphs/active_editors>, all Wikimedia Foundation projects. Note: We recently refined this metric <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/08/31/improving-the-accuracy-of-the-active-…> to take into account Wikimedia Commons and activity across several projects.) *Report Card* (integrating various statistical data and trends about WMF projects) for November 2012: http://reportcard.wmflabs.org/ (Definitions <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Analytics/Metric_definitions>) == Financials == <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMF_Revenue_%26_Expenses_November_2… Wikimedia Foundation YTD Revenue and Expenses vs Plan as of November 30, 2012> <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WMF_Expenses_by_Functions_November_… Wikimedia Foundation YTD Expenses by Functions as of November 30, 2012> (Financial information is only available for November 2012 at the time of this report.) All financial information presented is for the Month-To-Date and Year-To-Date November 30, 2012. Revenue $16,614,546 *Expenses:* Engineering Group $5,309,228 Fundraiser Group $1,442,814 Grantmaking & Programs Group $2,159,357 Governance Group $314,952 Legal/Community Advocacy/Communications Group $1,265,059 Finance/HR/Admin Group $2,267,388 Total Expenses $12,758,798 Total surplus/(loss) $3,855,748 * Revenue for the month of November is $11.26MM vs plan of $10.29MM, approximately $964K or 9% over plan. * Year-to-date revenue is $16.61MM vs plan of $15.50MM, approximately $1.11MM or 7% over plan. * Expenses for the month of November is $2.83MM vs plan of $3.12MM, approximately $290K or 9% under plan, primarily due to lower personnel expenses and capital expenses partially offset by higher legal expenses, bank fees, outside contract services, and operating grants. * Year-to-date expenses is $12.76MM vs plan of $14.64MM, approximately $1.88MM or 13% under plan, primarily due to personnel expenses, internet hosting, travel expenses, capital expenses, and outside contract services partially offset by higher legal expenses, bank fees, and awards and grants. * Cash position is $28.06MM as of November 30, 2012. == Highlights == <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:VisualEditor-logo.svg> === Visual Editor opt-in launch on English Wikipedia === An alpha version of the VisualEditor <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor>, the upcoming rich-text interface which will make it easier to edit wiki pages, was enabled on the English Wikipedia <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/12/try-out-the-alpha-version-of-the-visu…> in December. Experienced editors can now test it and provide feedback on problem and priorities. <Video: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Impact_Of_Wikipedia.webm "The Impact Of Wikipedia" (video produced for the fundraiser, with subtitles in various languages)> === Record donations in shortest ever fundraiser === The fundraising team reached their end-of-year goal of US $25 million early this year, making 2012 the shortest fundraiser to date. We also had a record-breaking total number of contributions: 1.484 million donations since July 1. The campaign ended with a "Thank You" banner <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=B12_1231_ThankYou_Getstrtd> that introduced readers to a diverse group of editors <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Thank_You_All> through written messages and video interviews. About half a million people watched a four-minute video introduction to Wikipedia editors and we saw an increase in account creation. === First round of the new funds dissemination process ends === The Wikimedia Foundation's Board of Trustees approved <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Board_decisions/2012-2013_round1> the recommendations <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2012-2013_ro…> of the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC), allocating $8.43 million to 11 Wikimedia organizations. This marked the successful conclusion of the first round of the new FDC process. This change in how money is distributed within the Wikimedia movement was described <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/11/15/fdc-process-milestone-sharing-wikimed…> by Trustees Jan-Bart de Vreede and Patricio Lorente as "a significant devolution of power <http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/DevolvePower> to the global volunteer community of Wikimedians". The committee was formed earlier in 2012 and consists of seven volunteers from seven different countries, who have editing experience on several Wikimedia projects, and have founded or have been Board members of five Wikimedia chapters. == Engineering == A detailed report of the Tech Department's activities for December 2012 can be found at: https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_engineering_report/2012/December Department Highlights Major news in December include: * The launch of an alpha, opt-in version of the VisualEditor <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/12/try-out-the-alpha-version-of-the-visu…> to the English Wikipedia, a project more complex than it appears <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/07/inventing-as-we-go-building-a-visual-…>; * A research study <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/article-feedback-new-research-and-nex…> on the use of the Article Feedback feature; * New metrics for the MediaWiki community <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/10/introducing-mediawiki-community-metri…>; * The start of the Outreach Program for Women <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/11/welcome-to-floss-outreach-program-for…>; * Continued work to improve the workflow <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/12/translation-interface-makeover-in-pro…> and interface <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/31/translation-editor-growing-snazzier/> for translators. == VisualEditor <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/VisualEditor> == In December, the VisualEditor team enabled on the English Wikipedia <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/12/try-out-the-alpha-version-of-the-visu…> an alpha version of the VisualEditor (see also general "Highlights" section). The VisualEditor team focused on ensuring that it worked properly, on providing a dedicated tool to report problems with editing, and on addressing the reports and ideas from editors after deployment. This successful release was also a major milestone for Parsoid <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Parsoid> (the parsing program <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parsing> that translates plain wikitext into HTML annotated for easy editing, and /vice-versa/). Parsoid needs to handle the full range of arbitrary and complex existing wiki content, including templates, tables and extensions; it did so very well, as witnessed by the lack of mistakes <https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?namespace=&tagfilter=visualeditor&titl…> introduced by Parsoid in the wikitext. This was in large part due to the team's efforts on automated conversion testing <http://parsoid.wmflabs.org:8001/> and the completion of a strategy to only convert the parts of the page what were edited ("selective serialization"). === Editor engagement <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/New_editor_engagement> === This month, the Editor engagement team (E2) continued to develop new features of the Notifications <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Echo_(Notifications)> project (called "Echo"), and enabled a first experimental release on mediawiki.org <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki>. They worked on feature requirements <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Echo/Feature_requirements>, the user experience <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Echo_User_Experience> and developed interface and behind-the-scenes components. More features will be developed in January that are planned to be enabled on the English Wikipedia in early 2013. Help is welcome to test these features <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Echo/Testing> to provide feedback and find bugs. (see also: Presentation slides <https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qVzlgBOotLxaYDtRwQMmQDxh9_37v3eMjjo…> from the metrics meeting for December) <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Monthly_Metric…> Dario Taraborelli explaining results <https://docs.google.com/a/wikimedia.org/presentation/d/1s_ULakFx2pIc82CsAFc…> about the AFTv5 tool and new user registrations at the metrics meeting for December> A research study <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/article-feedback-new-research-and-nex…> on the use of the Article Feedback <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Article_feedback/Version_5> (AFT) tool on the English Wikipedia confirmed that many readers use this quality assessment feature, and a sizable number of them go on to register and become editors. Based on that research and other suggestions, new features were started to reduce the editor workload through better filters and simpler moderation tools. The activation of Article Feedback on all articles of the English Wikipedia is planned for March 2013. Some wikis like the German Wikipedia have started to evaluate <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/de:Spezial:Artikelr%C3%BCckmeldungen_v5> this tool as well, while others like the French Wikipedia are discussing it <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/fr:Discussion_Wikip%C3%A9dia:Prise_de_d%C3%A9…>. No significant development activity happened on Page Curation <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Page_Curation> (an interface for experienced contributors to review and improve newly created pages) following its release on the English Wikipedia, but its localization and adaptation for possible use on other wikis and in other languages is currently under consideration. In December, the Editor engagement experiments <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Editor_engagement_experiments> team (E3) launched a new test aimed at Onboarding new Wikipedians <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Onboarding_new_Wikipedians>; it offers an optimized task list immediately after sign up, inviting those without an idea of how to get started to choose an article and try their hand at editing. Development continued on the new account creation experience and a Guided Tours <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:GuidedTour> feature that which will be launched in January 2013. To support these and future experiments, the EventLogging tool <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:EventLogging> underwent heavy development, including the launch of a dedicated space on meta-wiki for defining the data collected in a public, collaborative manner. Development of a user metrics interface <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Metrics> for programs also begun in order to standardize user metrics, and provide infrastructure and access to them. Last, the E3 team collaborated with the Fundraising team to reach out to donors and readers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Donor_engagement> as part of the annual fundraising campaign, via email and a "Thank You" banner which ran at the end of the year. === Mobile <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Mobile_engineering> === The Mobile development and design team worked on finalizing contributory and other experimental editor-focused features on the Beta site (uploads, editing, and watchlist functionality) in order to clear the way for mobile uploads by March 2013. They also worked to improve the reader and potential editor experience by introducing features geared toward educating and engaging users, such as a human-readable last-modified indicator for articles and watchlists, and thumbnail images to illustrate the watchlist view. Because of the huge interest generated in the Beta testing site, an Alpha site was created to house very early work on contributory features without disrupting the reading experience of the 100,000+ Beta users. Work continued on GeoData <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/GeoData_Storage_%26_API>, a tool to store and retrieve GPS coordinates in Wikimedia databases, and it was deployed to all Wikipedia and Wikivoyage sites; it is expected to become officially operational shortly. This tool is a cornerstone of the discovery feature for the mobile site, allowing users to read about places around them. Orange Congo joined the list of mobile carriers who enable free mobile access to Wikipedia via the Wikipedia Zero <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero> program. The Wikipedia Zero team resolved operational issues and continued to work on more partnerships <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/the-countries-in-which-mobile-matters…>. Two other initiatives to bring Wikipedia to mobile devices, the Wikipedia S40 J2ME app <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikipedia_S40_J2ME_app> and the USSD service <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikipedia_over_SMS_%26_USSD>, are now ready to launch pending contractual negotiations with carriers. Last, the Mobile quality assurance <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Mobile_QA> team started to work on an upcoming community testing event for Mobile features, and support for the MobileFrontend extension in the Beta cluster <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Beta_cluster> testing environment. === Other news === * Community metrics <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/10/introducing-mediawiki-community-metri…> are now generated every month to provide insights into the activity and health of the MediaWiki contributor community. * Six interns joined the technical community <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/11/welcome-to-floss-outreach-program-for…> as part of the Outreach Program for Women <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Outreach_Program_for_Women>. They will work full-time between January and March 2013 on projects ranging from coding to documentation to bug triage. * The Language engineering team continued to improve the workflow <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/12/translation-interface-makeover-in-pro…> and interface <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/31/translation-editor-growing-snazzier/> for translators; this is done as part of an initiative to improve the user experience of the Translate extension <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Extension:Translate>, a tool used to translate software as well as content of wiki pages. == Fundraising == <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Zack_Exley_thinking_during_2012_Wik… Zack Exley thinking under a large set of testing data during the 2012 Wikimedia Fundraiser. The team did more than 100 live A-B tests in December.> <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Monthly_Metric… Katie Horn explaining banner statistics during the monthly metrics meeting (slides <https://docs.google.com/a/wikimedia.org/presentation/d/1snihaY1NRhf9cwAyY68… >> Department Highlights see general "Highlights" section === Major Gifts and Foundations === * Received a $500,000 gift from M. Chastain, a $500,000 gift from A. Sosnik, a $250,000 grant from the Knight Foundation, and a $100,000 gift from an anonymous donor. === Annual Fundraiser === * We reached our $25,000,000 end-of-year goal early this year. See the Fundraiser Statistics page <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Special:FundraiserStatistics> for a view comparing this year to previous years * This was the shortest fundraiser to date. We showed everyone banners only for the first 9 days and then experimented with a new feature: hiding banners. We started showing banners /only/ to users who hadn't seen them before, and only for a limited number of views (usually 1 or 2). This lowered the visibilty of the banners while still allowing us to reach our goal. This method of displaying banners will impact our fundraising testing strategy in the future. More information can be found in the Press Release: "The Wikimedia Foundation raises $25 million in record time during 2012 Wikipedia fundraiser <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_ra…>" * Banners were only shown to the following five English-speaking countries through December 31: US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand in addition to fundraising chapters. This was a response to a very successful start and worldwide testing which indicated we could improve our global translations. The team will be working to improve translations to re-launch the global fundraiser in all remaining countries in the Spring of 2013. * Through more than 100 live A-B tests, we discovered many new, more-effective banner messages. We started the campaign on November 17 [1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=B12_112605_Min_US> and took all fundraising-related banners down on December 31 [2] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=B12_5C_121713_recurring_recur…>. * The results of past fundraising tests are available on "We Need a Breakthrough <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2012/We_Need_A_Breakthrough>" and a synopsis of December testing highlights will be included in the upcoming Fundraising 2012 report, which is in the process of being written. * Customer Service worked with 10 agents to answer emails in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Japanese, Russian, French, Chinese, as well as using community-translated messaging for inquiries in German and Polish. We responded to over 20,000 emails from October to December (peak-time) and worked closely with the Tech team to identify, triage, and respond to donor issues. We also worked cross-departmentally on a broad range of issues (Legal, Ops). * We closed the campaign December 27 - 31 with a "Thank You banner" <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page?banner=B12_1231_ThankYou_Getstrtd> that introduced our readers to a diverse group of editors through written messages and video interviews. About 500,000 people watched a four-minute video introduction to Wikipedia editors <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Impact_Of_Wikipedia.webm> and we saw an increase in account creation. 'The Impact of Wikipedia' video series can be found here <https://blog.wikimedia.org/tag/the-impact-of-wikipedia/>. You can see the 51 featured editors here <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Thank_You_All> * The campaign received some positive coverage this year in the media, for example on Techcrunch <http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/27/wikimedia-foundation-raises-25m-in-donatio…> and The Next Web <http://thenextweb.com/insider/2012/12/28/wikimedia-foundation-raises-25-mil…>. * <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ken_Thomas.jpg Commons Uploader Ken Thomas> * <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Netha_Hussain-925.jpg Wikipedian Netha Hussain> * <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tony_Santiago_%22Tony_The_Marine%22… Wikipedian Tony Santiago> * <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ravan_Jaafar_Altaie.jpg Wikipedian Ravan Jaafar Altaie> * <Video: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/The_Impact_of_Wikipedia… Wikipedian Ravan Jaafar Altaie> == Grantmaking & Programs == Department highlights * The WMF Board of Trustees approves FDC funds allocations for 2012–2013 Round 1. * The Grantmaking team and the FDC welcomes Katy Love, who joined WMF as the Senior Program Officer for the FDC on 28 December, 2012. * Wikipedia Zero officially launches in the Democratic Republic of Congo. * Preparation for the launch of the Individual Engagement Grants program in January 2013 is underway. === Strategic Goals Metrics === Metric Value MoM MoM% Chart Free Wikipedia Zero Page Requests 2.8m 87k +3.3% Increase <http://global-dev.wmflabs.org/graphs/free_mobile_traffic_by_version_monthly…> Global South Active Editors (5+ edits in main namespace) 15k -141 -0.9% Increase <http://global-dev.wmflabs.org/graphs/global_north_south_active_editors> === Grantmaking === ==== Funds Dissemination Committee === * The WMF Board of Trustees approves <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Board_decisions/2012-2013_round1> funds allocations for 2012-2013 Round 1 (see general "Highlights" section) * Hiring of the Senior Program Officer for the FDC completed; Katy Love joins from 28 December. Welcome, Katy! Read the job description. <http://hire.jobvite.com/Jobvite/Job.aspx?j=owwHWfwp&c=qSa9VfwQ> * FDC Staff publishes reporting requirements and forms for 2012-2013: FDC portal/Reporting requirements <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Reporting_requirements>. * WMF Staff publishes eligibility status for each affiliate organization for 2012-2013 Round 2: FDC portal/Eligibility status/Current round <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_status/Current_round> * FDC Grant Agreement finalized, and 2012-2013 Round 1 grantees are contacted to begin Round 1 disbursements. ==== WMF Grants Program ==== * WMF prepares to initiate the Flow Funding pilot project, which will begin in the New Year. Read more about it on the FF portal <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FF_portal>. * 2 grants approved and 8 reports accepted in December 2012 ===== Grants approved in December 2012 ===== 1. Nkansah Rexford Nyarko's Wikimedia outreach in Ghana: Grants:PWM GH/Wikimedia outreach in Ghana <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PWM_GH/Wikimedia_outreach_in_Ghana>. Funds support the launch of "'Wikimedia Outreach in Ghana' campaign which will be our first mass project. Our main goal, in line with that of the Foundation's, is to train Ghanaians to collect, refine and contribute Ghana- related content for free use on some selected wiki projects -- Wikipedia, Wikinews, Wikimedia Commons and Wikibooks (Cookbook)." 2. Malayalam Wikipedia 10th Birthday Celebrations approved: Grants:Malayalam Wikipedia/10th Birthday Celebrations <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Malayalam_Wikipedia/10th_Birthday_Ce…>. "These events are conducted as a series of celebrations of the tenth anniversary and birthday of Malayalam Wikipedia. Existing Wikipedia editors, aspiring Wikipedia users, subject matter experts and media representatives will be participating in these events. Apart from introducing a lot of common public to the concept of Wikipedia (both as readers and editors), it also rejuvenates the spirits and passion of the existing user base." ===== Reports accepted in December 2012 ===== * Grants:WM_SE/Annual_Program_Plan_2012/Report_Q3 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_SE/Annual_Program_Plan_2012/Repor…> * Grants:Susanna_Mkrtchyan/Wiki_conference <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Susanna_Mkrtchyan/Wiki_conference> * Grants:WikiSangamotsavam_2012/Malayalam_Wiki_Conference_2012/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WikiSangamotsavam_2012/Malayalam_Wik…> * Grants:WM_PH/Philippine_WikiCon_2012/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_PH/Philippine_WikiCon_2012/Report> * Grants:Ada_Initiative,_Inc./AdaCamp_DC_Funding/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Ada_Initiative,_Inc./AdaCamp_DC_Fund…> * Grants:WM_HK/Education_Toolkits_For_Liberal_Studies/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_HK/Education_Toolkits_For_Liberal…> * Grants:WM_HK/Kick_Start/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_HK/Kick_Start/Report> * Grants:WM_HK/Mac_Computer/Report <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_HK/Mac_Computer/Report> ==== Participation Support ==== No requests approved or reports accepted in December 2012. ==== Individual Engagement Grants ==== * WMF begins community discussions and lays plans for new pilot program focused on making grants to individuals to complete projects, which will be launched in January. Read more about it here <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Individual_Engagement_Grants>. ==== Fellowships ==== * Dispute Resolution Project: Results from a new survey of existing English Wikipedia dispute resolution volunteers, aimed at understanding their motivations and experiences in order to identify ways to retain and recruit more volunteers, have been released: wikipedia:Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution_volunteer_survey <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Dispute_resolution_volunteer_survey>. * Small-Wiki Editor Engagement Project: Results from the Bangla Wikipedia help pilot <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Small_Wiki_Editor_Engagement_Project/Report…> have been released, demonstrating that the number of active new Bangla editors doubled during the pilot period: * WikiWomen's Collaborative: We've launched a survey to gather feedback on the project from participants, and results will be available in January. The project has a new portal <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiWomen%27s_Collaborative> and is focusing on growing its base of volunteers to sustain it post-fellowship. ==== Wikimania Scholarships ==== Committee selected to run the 2013 Wikimania Scholarships selection process. Committee members are: * User:AutoGyro * User:Karthikndr * User:KTC * Osmar Valdebenito * User:Kudpung * User:CT Cooper * Deryck Chan (WM HK) * Simon Shek (WM HK) * Jessie Wild (WMF) The application process is expected to start in mid-January. === Learning and Evaluation === * Began drafting framework for evaluation and learning for the Grantmaking and Programs team. === Programs === ==== Brazil ==== * 2013 plan for Brazil Catalyst Program <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento…> published for community comment. * Acquired a quote for video production for tutorial and institutional materials * WikiMeeting in Recife <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Encontros/WikiRecife_I#Fotos> held in December. * Finalized hiring selection process for Brazil Data analyst consultant with a task for finalists <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Programa_Catalisador_do_Brasil/Planejamento…>. User:Jonas AGX's task <https://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Jonas_AGX/tarefa> User:Crang115's task <https://br.wikimedia.org/wiki/Usu%C3%A1rio:Crang115/tarefa> =====Education - Brazil ===== ====== Reports on courses ====== Ongoing development of courses that were selected but affected by a national strike: * History <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Physics <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Production systems <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Literature <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Physics <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Latin language <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Biology <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> Finalized 6 courses of the Education Program: 4 with good articles and contributions (about 80% of the content has already moved to or developed in the main domain of the Portuguese Wikipedia), and 2 under review. More than 60 articles have been produced <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Ezalvarenga/Report>. * Law <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Psychology <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Chemistry <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Biology <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> * Maths (various articles in the main domain) * Design <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Wikip%C3%A9dia_na_Universidade…> ====== Program development ====== <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Professor_Ruy_de_Queiroz.jpg Professor Ruy de Queiroz> * Development of restructure of Wikiprojects <https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Esplanada/propostas/Wikiprojet…> * Meeting with Ministry of Health to reach out to “school-hospitals”, which have research groups that develop projects and may engage with the project to improve Wikipedia articles on Medicine. * Meeting with professor Ruy de Queiroz, who was already using Wikipedia as an educational tool * Brazilian professor featured on the Wikimedia blog: Professor Yuri Leite <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/14/professor-yuri-leite-brazil/> ==== Mobile ==== * Free Access to Wikipedia has officially launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo (via Orange). * Mobile improved our usage reporting for more accurate analytics. In many developing countries, Opera Mini is the most widely used browser by users on mobile devices. For example, Opera Mini is the primary way Telenor's customers access Wikipedia Zero. We previously had no data on aggregate Opera usage on Wikipedia mobile, but now that will be included in our mobile analytics (starting in 2013). ==== Global Education ==== U.S. student profiled on Wikimedia blog Washington University senior Kevin Li's work on Wikipedia was featured on the Wikimedia Foundation's blog. Kevin, a student in Joan Strassmann's Behavioral Ecology course, contributed an article on worker policing to the English Wikipedia. Kevin started the article, and it has now achieved Good Article status. Read more about Kevin's experiences. <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/06/wikipedia-as-a-miniature-classroom-for…> Education Program kicks off in Sweden <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikipedia-wall_for_teachers_confere… A Wikipedia wall at a teachers' conference in Sweden.> Sophie Österberg, the education manager for Wikimedia Sverige, has written a detailed update on the kick-off of the Wikipedia Education Program in Sweden. She and the rest of the team in Sweden have been meeting with instructors and institutions to determine the best ways of working Wikipedia into the curriculum in Sweden. Wikimedia Sverige has also produced T-shirts and brochures for the program, and they're excited about the results so far: many instructors have expressed interest in being part of the program, and they've started to build relationships. Learn more about the Swedish education program's activities. <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/17/wikipedia-education-program-sweden-kic…> Brazilian professor's work featured on blog <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Yuri_L._R._Leite.jpg Yuri L. R. Leite> Professor Yuri Leite of the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo in Vitória, Brazil, has been using Wikipedia in his courses since 2009, when he taught a class on the Charles Darwin book "The Origin of Species" and had his students update the article on the book on the Portuguese Wikipedia as he went along. Now, his students have contributed to improving the information on evolution available on the Portuguese Wikipedia for several terms, and Yuri looks forward to continuing to grow the available articles. Read more about his motivations for doing the project. <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/14/professor-yuri-leite-brazil/> Trophy Case highlights excellent student work Professors and Ambassadors who worked with students in the United States and Canada program in 2012 have added a series of links to the new Trophy Case, which highlights the best student work. The Trophy Case includes categories for articles that were featured on the English Wikipedia's main page in the Did You Know section, those that have achieved Good Article status, high quality new articles, significantly expanded existing articles, and non-textual contributions. See the Trophy Case, and add other student work you see to it. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Ambassadors/Courses/Trophy_case> Worldwide resources page created on outreach wiki <Image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Studenti_p%C3%AD%C5%A1%C3%AD_Wikipe… Studenti píší Wikipedii is a brochure developed by Wikimedia Czech Republic for their education program, one of the brochures featured on the new page.> A centralized repository of information for participants in the Wikipedia Education Program worldwide has been created on the outreach wiki's education portal. Broken down into information by target audience, such as instructors and students, the page contains links to brochures, handouts, and videos available in multiple languages. Handouts created specifically for Wikipedia Education Program participants in any language are welcome. See the page. <http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education_Portal/Tips_and_Resources> == Human Resources == In December on the celebratory front, HR hosted an annual holiday party and organized a group excursion to watch "The Hobbit" movie. We kicked off a Remote Employee Experience Task Force to improve the experience of people who work remotely. We also hosted open enrollment for staff to change their health plan benefits. == Staff Changes === New Requisitions Filled * Matt Flaschen, Software Engineer, Features (Engineering) * Katy Love, Senior Program Officer, FDC (Grantmaking and Progams) New Recruiting Intern * Ion Vazquez (Human Resources) New Contractor * Joseph Silverman (Administration) Contract Extended * Antonella Amatulli * Stephanie Coates * Cristiana Coimbra * Andrew Garrett * Aaron Halfaker * Joanie Hjulmand * LaTrisha Holliness * Sandra Hust * Alexander Kuiper * Mimi Li * Jonathan Morgan * Heather O'Malley * Kritie Robinson * Yuko Sakata * Elena Strelnikova * Julie Trias * Heather Walls Turnover * Laura James * Kelly Kay * Raymond Lui Contract Ended * Alec Bogossian * Arun Ganesh * William Kelly * Srikanth Lakshmanan * Stacey Merrick * Lori Phillips * Karina Pulec * Steph Thommen New Postings * Deputy General Counsel * Director of User Experience * Legal Intern (Summer) * Software Engineer - Multimedia * Software Engineer (Search) * Software Engineer (Apps) === Statistics === Total Requisitions Filled December Actual: 128 December Total Plan: 167 December Filled: 2, Month Attrition: 3 YTD Filled: 32, YTD Attrition: 16 1 Position canceled for FY Remaining open positions to fiscal year end 45 (8 of which are on hold) === Department Updates === Real-time feed for HR updates http://identi.ca/wikimediaatwork or http://twitter.com/wikimediaatwork == Finance and Administration == * We have been focusing on our insurance renewals for 2013. Our goals for this insurance renewal are: 1. Improved D&O Coverage 2. Improved Media and Privacy Liability coverage 3. Improved travel coverage, with no country exclusions and a change to an new travel assistance provider. * We closed the space improvement project for the third floor enginnering space and are beginning planning for space improvement projects on the sixth floor for our next fiscal year. * We have hired a Systems and Network specialist to work on Office IT projects, on a temporary basis, while we are searching for a full time person for this role. == Legal, Community Advocacy, and Communications == === LCA Report, December 2012 === In December 2012, the Legal and Community Advocacy team presented a draft of the first conflict of interest guidelines to Meta for community comment and feedback. LCA also finalized standardized grant agreements for the FDC organizations and continued to provide guidance regarding Thematic Organizations. ==== Contract Metrics ==== * Submitted : 27 * Completed : 20 ==== Trademark Metrics ==== * Submitted : 12 * Approved : 1 * Pending : 6 * Denied : 4 * No Response : 1 ==== Domains Obtained ==== We obtained the following domains over the last month: wikiartpedia.org, wikinews.info, wikimanialondon.org, wikiartpedia.biz, wikiartpedia.co, wikiartpedia.info, wikiartpedia.me, wikiartpedia.mobi, wikiartpedia.net, wikimania.net, wikipedia.bg, wiwkipedia.org ==== Coming & Going ==== * Rubina Kwon transitioned from being a legal intern to a contract attorney. * Billy Kelly and Karina Pulec’s legal internships ended. * Ava Miller, Megumi Yukie, and Missy Black are coming on board as legal interns for the spring. ==== Other Activities ==== * A draft of guidelines on potential conflicts of interest was posted on Meta <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Guidelines_on_potential_conflicts_of_intere…> for public comment. Details of the guidelines were also set out in a blog post <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/01/04/wikimedia-community-input-requested-fo…>. * A California superior court overruled Internet Brands’ demurrer. Details of the ruling were set out in a blog post <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/17/state-court-overrules-internet-brands-…>. * GC Geoff Brigham shared some views on the naming of thematic organizations <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Thematic_Organizations#Addit…>. * Grant agreement templates for FDC organizations were finalized. * LCA continued to work with Creative Commons to ensure that the interests of the Wikimedia community and WMF were represented during the drafting of Creative Commons v.4 licenses. * LCA provided support and guidance for internships for women in software in conjunction with GNOME Foundation, Wikimania scholarships, and the FDC process. * The team has also been working on securing more expansive insurance protection for potential issues that may arise in relation to the defense of community-generated content. === Communications Report, December 2012 === In December the communications team formally launched the 2011-12 WMF Annual Report, as a print product and in a wiki/PDF version. Further work on translations and production of localized editions will continue through January. In December we also announced the winners of the 2012 Wiki Loves Monuments global contest and issued a release celebrating the conclusion of our recent successful online fundraiser. Communications also supported WMF ED Sue Gardner during a series of media interviews and panel discussions in New York, focusing on the fundraiser, Wikipedia Zero, and diversifying and growing our community of contributors. ==== Major announcements ==== The Wikimedia Foundation raises $25 million in record time during 2012 Wikipedia fundraiser <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_ra…> (27 December) Winners Announced in World’s Largest Photo Contest, Wiki Loves Monuments <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Announcement_of_Wiki_Lo…> (3 December) ==== Major Storylines through December ==== WMF’s fundraiser breaks a record (December 27) The Foundation’s most successful fundraiser ever got strong coverage in late December around the announcement that marked the shift from fundraising to a highly-visible ‘thank you’ campaign. This year’s coverage also included unexpected news of a $70K donation from US based ‘Cards against humanity’ which offered a video appreciation of Wikipedia. * Wikipedia edits its fundraising strategy (Bloomberg News) http://go.bloomberg.com/tech-deals/2012-12-11-wikipedia-edits-fundraising-s… * Wikimedia Raised $25M So Far in Annual Wikipedia Fundraiser (All Things Digital) http://allthingsd.com/20121227/wikimedia-raised-25m-so-far-in-annual-wikipe… * Cards against humanity gives $70000 to Wikipedia (Web Pro News) http://www.webpronews.com/cards-against-humanity-gives-70000-of-holiday-pac… * Are people who edit Wikipedia better people? (NY Magazine) http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/12/wikipedia-donors-better-people… End of year lists grab on to Wikipedia (December 27-30) Annual end-of-year media coverage on 2012 lists included a popular list of most-viewed articles in Wikipedia, based on results from a toolserver app by Johan Gunnarsson. The list generated a lot of speculation about how certain articles rose above others, including the curious inclusion of the German article for ‘Sackgasse’ (cul de sac) topping the German Wikipedia list. * The Most Popular Pages on Wikipedia in 2012: Facebook, One Direction and … Cul De Sacs? (All Things D) http://allthingsd.com/20121227/the-most-popular-pages-on-wikipedia-in-2012-… * Wikipedia's most-viewed articles in 2012 were... (CNET) http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57561057-93/wikipedias-most-viewed-article… * Wikipedia's hits of the year (Guardian) http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/dec/27/wikipedia-most-viewed ==== Other worthwhile reads ==== * The Hindu | Indians win in Wiki mega photo contest (December 6) http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indians-win-in-wiki-mega-photo-contes… * The Daily Nation (Kenya) | Wikipedia records high web traffic from Kenya (December 10) http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Wikipedia-records-high-web-traffic-fr… ==== WMF Blog posts ==== Fifty-four blog posts through December, including bilingual posts <https://blog.wikimedia.org/tag/multilingual-post/> in German, Spanish, Czech, and Portuguese. https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/ A few highlights: The impact of Wikipedia Ravan Jaafar Altaie (December 20) https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/the-impact-of-wikipedia-ravan-jaafar-… (Through December the Foundation featured 12 video interviews highlighting the contributions of volunteers from around the world. The whole series can be viewed at https://blog.wikimedia.org/tag/the-impact-of-wikipedia/) Article Feedback New research and next steps (December 20) https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/20/article-feedback-new-research-and-nex… 15 million free media files on Wikimedia Commons (December 10) https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/12/10/15-million-free-media-files-on-wikime… Wiki Loves Monuments (through December) (Numerous posts through December profiled the incredible selections from last year’s Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest, some of the most amazing freely licensed photographs on the Internet) https://blog.wikimedia.org/c/community/wiki-loves-monuments/ ==== Media Contact, December 2012 ==== https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_room/Media_Contact#December_2012 ==== Wikipedia Signpost, December 2012 ==== For lots of detailed coverage and news summaries, see the community-edited newsletter “Wikipedia Signpost” for December 2012: * Volume 8, Issue 49, 3 December 2012 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archives/2012-12…> * Volume 8, Issue 50, 10 December 2012 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archives/2012-12…> * Volume 8, Issue 51, 17 December 2012 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archives/2012-12…> * Volume 8, Issue 52, 24 December 2012 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archives/2012-12…> * Volume 8, Issue 53, 31 December 2012 <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/Archives/2012-12…> == Visitors and Guests == Visitors and guests to the WMF office in December 2012: 1. Craig Minassian (Minassian Media) 2. Jove Oliver (Minassian Media) 3. Eric Harris (Minassian Media) 4. Kat Walsh (Chair of the Board of Trustees) 5. Lisa Grossman (m|Oppenheim) 6. Valerie Aurora (The Ada Initiative) 7. Mark Oppenheim (m|Oppenheim) 8. Gray Lincoln (Fuze Box) 9. Trevor Bolliger (Wikia) 10. Jason Asbahr (Monstrou) 11. Jonathan Cooney (Monstrou) 12. Doron Weber (Knight Foundation) 13. Luis Villa (Greenberg Traurig) 14. Sarah Paris (UCSF) 15. Dr. Eric Widera (UCSF) 16. Andrew Rutledge (Microsoft) 17. David Sandwisch (Pacbell) 18. Richard Ortic (Gemini Model Art) 19. Rodney Dunican (Rod Ventures) 20. Saal Pean (Creative Commons) 21. Krista Boscoe (Kaplan) 22. Chad Spencer (DemiCreative, fundraising) 23. Dan Spencer (DemiCreative, fundraising) 24. Desirina Boscovich (Desirina Communications, fundraising) 25. Ben Thompson (Microsoft, engineering) 26. Lindsay Bayne (Microsoft, engineering) 27. Daniel Phifer (Social Imprints) 28. Kevin Mitchell (Fluxx) 29. Robert Kaye (Musicbrainz.org) 30. Caroline Young (ASG) 31. Cindy Hawley (ASG) 32. Brendan Quinla (ASG) -- Tilman Bayer Senior Operations Analyst (Movement Communications) Wikimedia Foundation IRC (Freenode): HaeB

10 years, 8 months

[Press Release] VimpelCom partners with the Wikimedia Foundation to offer free mobile Wikipedia access through Wikipedia Zero

by Jay Walsh

(this press release can also be found online at https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/VimpelCom_partners_with…) * VimpelCom partners with the Wikimedia Foundation to offer free mobile Wikipedia access through Wikipedia Zero San Francisco, California and Amsterdam, The Netherlands -- January 25, 2013 -- VimpelCom Ltd. and the Wikimedia Foundation today announced a partnership to offer Wikipedia on mobile devices free of data charges to VimpelCom customers. By making Wikipedia available at no data charge to its customers, VimpelCom is removing barriers to information while joining the Wikimedia Foundation to increase access to the free and open knowledge available on Wikipedia. This partnership is part of the Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Zero program, which focuses on reaching the billions of people around the world whose primary opportunity to access the internet is via a mobile device. "We're very happy VimpelCom is joining us in removing a major barrier to accessing Wikipedia on mobile phones. This partnership is an important step forward in our mission to bring free knowledge to everyone on the planet," said Kul Takanao Wadhwa, Head of Mobile with the Wikimedia Foundation. "In conjunction with VimpelCom, one of the largest telecommunication providers in the world, we're now able to expand free access to Wikipedia in more countries. With this partnership, Wikipedia Zero is now available to 330 million mobile users around the world." VimpelCom customers will be able to access free Wikipedia knowledge by pointing their mobile browser to m.wikipedia.org. Customers in each VimpelCom market will be able to access local language versions of Wikipedia along with the English version. "The world's sixth largest telecommunications company and fifth largest website globally are coming together to offer our customers a better mobile experience and greater access to free knowledge, particularly in emerging markets," said Mikhail Gerchuk, VimpelCom Group's Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer. "This is a win-win partnership that helps us promote mobile internet to our customers while contributing to Wikipedia's mission to bring free access to all the world's knowledge." Wikipedia Zero will be rolled out in VimpelCom operations across the globe starting this year, with focus on emerging markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa. While Wikipedia Zero will be the first initiative of the partnership to launch, both partners are also expected to jointly develop additional Wikimedia services to target emerging markets in the future. Questions and answers about the partnership and Wikipedia Zero can be found at: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Mobile_partnerships#VimpelCom * About VimpelCom http://www.vimpelcom.com VimpelCom is one of the world's largest integrated telecommunications services operators providing voice and data services through a range of traditional and broadband mobile and fixed technologies in Russia, Italy, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Laos, Algeria, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Burundi, Zimbabwe, Central African Republic and Canada. VimpelCom's operations around the globe cover territory with a total population of approximately 780 million people. VimpelCom provides services under the "Beeline", "Kyivstar", "djuice", "Wind", "Infostrada" "Mobilink", "Leo", "banglalink", "Telecel", and "Djezzy" brands. As of September 30, 2012 VimpelCom had 212 million mobile subscribers on a combined basis. VimpelCom is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol (VIP). VimpelCom Media Contact Bobby Leach +31 20 79 77 200 (Amsterdam) pr(a)vimpelcom.com * About the Wikimedia Foundation http://wikimediafoundation.org http://blog.wikimedia.org The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. According to comScore Media Metrix, Wikipedia and the other projects operated by the Wikimedia Foundation receive more than 483 million unique visitors per month, making them the fifth-most popular web property world-wide (comScore, November 2012). Available in 280 languages, Wikipedia contains more than 23 million articles contributed by a global volunteer community of roughly 80,000 people. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants. Wikimedia Foundation media contact Matthew Roth Communications +1 415-839-6885 ext 6635 (San Francisco) mroth(a)wikimedia.org (To be removed from this mailing list please reply with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the subject line)

10 years, 8 months

WMIT bulletin no. 44: January 23, 2013

by .mau. (maurizio codogno)

Hi all, the new bulletin from Wikimedia Italia (#44) is available. This time we write about participation of Wikimedia Italia to an initiative for an Open School, and of course the hitting of the one millionth article mark for Wikipedia in Italian. As usual a link has been added to meta, at Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_Italia ; raw text of the bulletin follows below. ciao, .mau. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The passing of Aaron Swartz Andrea Zanni, a member of Wikimedia Italia board, spoke on Radio3 Science commenting on the story of the sudden death of Aaron Swartz, a symbol of the freedom of access to knowledge (you can listen him here<http://bit.ly/UL0maR>, from minute 3:20). On January 11, 2013, in New York, Aaron Swartz committed suicide at the age of 26 years. Aaron was a young American programmer and activist, engaged for years in the struggle for digital democracy and freedom of knowledge. One million articles on Italian Wikipedia Italian Wikipedia has reached its millionth article, becoming thus the fifth language to reach this milestone after English, German, French and Dutch. The article which hit the threshold should be it:8mm_(gruppo_musicale) 8mm <http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/8mm_%28gruppo_musicale%29_8mm>. Read the press release <http://wiki.wikimedia.it/wiki/Comunicati_stampa/unmilione>by Wikimedia Italia (in Italian) and the entry on Wikimedia Blog<http://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/01/22/italian-wikipedia-surpasses-one-millio…>(in English, Italian and Spanish). Towards an Open School “Verso una Scuola Open <http://bit.ly/ZacJlY>” (Towards an Open School) is an initiative sponsored by the Centro Formazione Insegnanti (Teacher Training Center) in Rovereto, which aims to raise awareness in the school world on the topic of conscious access to shared knowledge. On Thursday, January 17, the project held a conference in Trento, to weigh up the state-of-the-art for Open Source for education at the local level. Frieda Brioschi, the chair of Wikimedia Italia, participated as a speaker, telling the audience about the educational projects promoted by the association: Wikipedia va a scuola <http://wiki.wikimedia.it/wiki/Wikipedia_va_a_scuola>(Wikipedia goes to school). Official launch of Wikivoyage On January 15th, Wikipedia turned 12 years old. For the occasion, Wikimedia Foundation officially launched the project Wikivoyage<http://wikivoyage.org/>, a free travel guide anyone can contribute to. Find out how you can participate<http://it.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Wikivoyage:Come_puoi_aiutare_Wikivoyage>(in Italian). News in brief (Note: in this translated version only the news regarding Italy are shown) - On January 15, the project Wikidata in Hungarian started, with the activation of the dedicated extension. Project is scheduled to launch in Italy in a short time: we will keep you updated! - SAVE THE DATE: Next 2 March the official Members' Meeting for Wikipedia Italia will be held in Milan. As usual, everyone can participate but only members in good standing with the payment of the fee for 2013 will be entitled to vote. <http://xmau.com/>

10 years, 8 months

The Signpost -- Volume 9, Issue 04 -- 21 January 2013

by Wikipedia Signpost

10 years, 8 months

Wikimedia sites to move to primary data center in Ashburn, Virginia. Disruption expected.

by Guillaume Paumier

Posted today on the Wikimedia Tech Blog: https://blog.wikimedia.org/2013/01/19/wikimedia-sites-move-to-primary-data-… Wikimedia sites to move to primary data center in Ashburn, Virginia Next week, the Wikimedia Foundation will transition its main technical operations to a new data center in Ashburn, Virginia, USA. This is intended to improve the technical performance and reliability of all Wikimedia sites, including Wikipedia. Engineering teams have been preparing for the migration to minimize inconvenience to our users, but major service disruption is still expected during the transition. Our sites will be in read-only mode for some time, and may be intermittently inaccessible. Users are advised to be patient during those interruptions, and share information<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_maintenance_notice>in case of continued outage or loss of functionality. The current target windows for the migration are January 22nd, 23rd and 24th, 2013, from 17:00 to 01:00 UTC (see other timezones<http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Wikimedia+data+cen…>on timeanddate.com). Wikimedia sites have been hosted in our main data center in Tampa, Florida, since 2004; before that, the couple of servers powering Wikipedia were in San Diego, California. Ashburn is the third and newest primary data center to host Wikimedia sites. A major reason for choosing Tampa, Florida as the location of the primary data center in 2004 was its proximity to founder Jimmy Wales’ home, at a time when he was much more involved in the technical operations of the site. In 2009, the Wikimedia Foundation’s Technical Operations team started to look<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2009/04/07/wmf-needs-additional-datacenter-space/>for other locations with better network connectivity and more clement weather. Located in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Ashburn offers faster and more reliable connectivity than Tampa, and usually fewer hurricanes. The Operations team started to plan and prepare for the Virginia data center in Summer 2010. The actual build-out and racking of servers at the colocation facility started in February 2011, and was followed by a long period of hardware, system and software configuration. Traffic started to be served to users from the Ashburn data center in November 2011, in the form of CSS and JavaScript assets (served from “bits.wikimedia.org“). We reached a major milestone in February 2012, when caching servers were set up to handle read-only requests for Wikipedia and Wikimedia content, which represent most of the traffic to Wikipedia and its sister sites. In April 2012, the Ashburn data center also started to serve media files (from “upload.wikimedia.org“). Cacheable requests represent about 90 percent of our traffic, leaving 10 percent that requires interaction with our web (Apache) and database (MySQL) servers, which are still being hosted in Tampa. Until now, every edit made to a Wikipedia page has been handled by the servers in Tampa. This dependency on our Tampa data center was responsible for the site outage in August 2012<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/08/06/wikimedia-site-outage-6-august-2012/>, when a fiber cut severed the connection between our two locations. Starting next week, the new servers in Ashburn will take on that role as well, and all our sites will be able to function fully without relying on the servers in Florida. The legacy data center in Tampa will continue to be maintained, and will serve as a secondary “hot failover” data center: servers will be in standby mode to take over, should the primary site experiences an outage. Server configuration and data will be synchronized between the two locations to ensure a transition as smooth as possible in case of technical difficulties in Ashburn. Besides just installing newer hardware, setting up the data center in Ashburn has also been an opportunity for architecture overhauls, like incremental improvements of the text storage system<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/11/18/nobody-notices-when-its-not-broken-ne…>, and the move to an entirely new media storage system<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/02/09/scaling-media-storage-at-wikimedia-wi…>to keep up with the growth of the content generated and curated by our contributors. Wikimedia’s technical infrastructure aims to be as open and collaborative as the sites it powers. Most of the configuration of our servers<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2011/09/19/ever-wondered-how-the-wikimedia-serve…>is publicly accessible, and the Wikimedia Labs <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/04/16/introduction-to-wikimedia-labs/>initiative allows contributors to test and submit improvements to the sites’ configuration files. The Wikimedia Foundation currently operates a total of about 885 servers, and serves about 20 billion page views a month, on a non-profit budget that relies almost entirely on donations from readers. -- Guillaume Paumier Technical Communications Manager — Wikimedia Foundation https://donate.wikimedia.org

10 years, 8 months

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