Hi all, the new bulletin from Wikimedia Italia (#69) is available. This
time we wrote about WikiVIP, OpenStreetMap Foundation, Wikimania 2014
scolarships, our side projects and future appointments
As usual, a link has been added to meta, at
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_Italia…;
more-or-less raw text of the bulletin follows below.
ciao, .mau.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
== New record on Wikimedia Commons ==
On January 25th, after almost ten years after its birth, [
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Pagina_principale Wikimedia Commons] has
exceeded 20 million files. The site Wikimedia Commons is designed to
accommodate multimedia files (images, audio, video) that are used to
illustrate Wikipedia articles in all languages. Unlike text, which must
always be translated to be transferred from one edition to another, media
files are immediately reusable everyhere.
Given the wide participation of the community Wikimedia Commons (a million
files per quarter are uploaded), every year a contest is held: [
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:POTY/2013 Picture of the Year].
Users of Wikimedia projects are being asked to vote for the best photo. The
first round of voting to decide the best picture of 2013 closes at midnight
on Friday, February 7th. You still have time!
== A voice as a gift ==
Now you may also listen to Wikipedia! The initiative '''WikiVIP''' (acronym
of “Voice Intro project”) was recently launched: it aims to add to the
information on a prominent personality also a media file for hearing his of
her voice. The first one who joined the project was the British actor [
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Fry Stephen Fry]: go and hear his
presentation.
The goal of the project is to collect a short audio file of 10 seconds by
members of the scientific, political, artistic and literary world, so that
users can make their voices heard and at the same time find out how they
pronunce their name. Wikimedia Italia joins the initiative with enthusiasm;
in addition, we tie it to the fundraising campaign [
http://www.sostienilacultura.it/ '''Sostieni la Cultura'''] (Support the
Culture), asking the characters involved to make an appeal that witnesses
their support to the project.
Do you know a person whose biography is on Wikipedia? Invite her or him to
contact our office at [mailto:segreteria@wikimedia.it
segreteria(a)wikimedia.it] to participate in the project and get all the
information you need!
== Wikimedia Italia begins the process to become the official Italian
chapter of OpenStreetMap Foundation ==
Wikimedia Italia wants to support free culture in all its forms; so we are
always looking for projects worthy to be supported. Knowledge mayalso be
geographical, put on a map: a project in this area, born in 2004, is [
http://www.openstreetmap.org OpenStreetMap]. OpenStreetMap is a free
editable map of the whole planet; the project allows anyone to view, edit
and (re)use geographical data in a voluntary and collaborative way. All
OpenStreetMap data are released with a free license: the [
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ODbL Open Database License] (ODbL).
Just like Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap is also supported by a foundation: the [
http://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/About OpenStreetMap Foundation] (OSMF),
a non-profit foundation registered in the United Kingdom. OSMF has its own
network of [http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Foundation/Local_Chapterslocal
chapters], like Wikimedia Foundation. In Italy there is no local
chapter, although the Italian community is [
http://osmstats.altogetherlost.com/index.php?item=countries very active].
Recently the idea was born together with the OSM community to create a
chapter inside Wikimedia Italy: we have therefore established a set of
rules and the process began officially on January 31.
In the coming months we will take on the international relations with OSMF
in order to become a recognized Italian chapter. For the moment, we want
right from now become a reference point for OSM and for those who
participate, for any reasons, to the map of Italy.
== Wikimania 2014: scolarships ==
The tenth annual conference of the Wikimedia movement this year will be
held [https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page in London], '''on
August 6 to 10''', at the headquarters of the [
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbican_Centre Barbican Center]. The event
is only successful if many people in the Wikimedia movement, from different
parts of the world, are able to participate for enriching the debate and
the discussions. For this reason the Wikimedia Foundation provides [
https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/it scholarships],
which will cover the costs of participation of some lucky Wikimedians.
Deadline for submission of applications is '''Monday, February 17, 2014'''.
The cover provided by the scholarship is of three types: travel expenses;
shared room; registration fees at the conference. To know all the details
about the selection criteria and
[http://scholarships.wikimedia.org/applyhow to apply], please consult
the [
https://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships/FAQ Scholarships/FAQ
FAQs].
'''Italian Wikimedians''' should not despair if they see their application
rejected by the Wikimedia Foundation, since this year too Wikimedia Italia
will offer some scholarships. Details are still being finalized: we won't
fail to communicate them as soon as the Board of Directors decide. Dust off
your English, because London is waiting for you!
== Side projects and campaigns ==
* During the final months of 2013, some '''[
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progetto:GLAM/Biblioteche/Progetti/WikiVEZtra…
courses] on Wikipedia''' were promoted thanks to the initiative of
the [
http://sbuvenezia.comune.venezia.it/easyne2/LYT.aspx?IDLYT=8892&ST=SQL&SQL=…
System of the City of Venice] and the [
http://www.promovetro.com/ Consorzio Promovetro]. The attendance was large
and the series of meetings ended with a editathon whose purpose was to
implement the voices of Murano and its glass art famous throughout the
world. Following the workshop, the Venice City Council has launched a
competition to undertake [
http://www.comune.venezia.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/6965…
starter job contracts] focused on the research and drafting. Two
candidates were selected in early 2014 and will begin to work to spread the
knowledge of the cultural, artistic and production of artistic glass from
Murano, through social media and Wikipedia.
* Some time ago, our newsletter had a headline '''"Open data and Cultural
Heritage: A Challenge to win"'''; at that time we talked of the [
http://www.beniculturaliaperti.it/ petition], sponsored by [
http://it.okfn.org/ OKFn Italia] with the support of
[http://www.iwa.it/IWA Italy], convened to make the Italian Cultural
Heritage data available
and reusable for everyone. We are writing again about it because the
promoters did not stop at the mere collection of subscriptions (540, and a
dozen associations), but they also went to submit the amendments to the
Ministry of Heritage and Culture and Tourism. On the [
http://it.okfn.org/2014/01/21/beniculturaliaperti-2014-e-primi-risultati/
initiative report page] there is a brief summary of the meeting; we urge
you to read it and we would like to mention here only a passing quote.
"[...] the operation #beniculturaliaperti allowed to get close the contexts
of those who would have the data and who manages the conservation and
cataloging."
== Future appointments ==
* February 13, Trieste: [[Utente:Aubrey|Andrea Zanni]] (Head of the
Wikimedia projects Italy) will participate in the seminar [
http://www.aib.it/struttura/sezioni/friuli-venezia-giulia/2014/40221-il-pun…
point on the National Library Service and its achievements in Friuli
Venezia Giulia]. The event is scheduled for 10 am, at the Higher School of
Modern Languages (Via Fabio Filzi 14, Trieste). You can [
http://www.aib.it/struttura/sezioni/friuli-venezia-giulia/corsi-convegni/co…
sign up online] for the seminar and follow the [
http://servertv.units.it/live.html live streaming].
* February 27: [http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utente:Virginia_GentiliniVirginia
Gentilini] will give a presentation on Wikipedia at the
headquarters of the [http://www.fmach.it/ Fondazione Edmund Mach] in San
Michele all'Adige, as part of a collaboration between Wikimedia Italia and
the Institute of Agriculture belonging to the Foundation.
* February 27-28, Rome: L[http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utente:Sannita Luca
Martinelli], member of Wikimedia Italia, will speak about Wikidata on the
occasion of the international conference [
http://www.aib.it/attivita/congressi/c2014/fsr2014/ Faster, smarter and
richer. Reshaping the library catalogue], promoted by the [
http://www.aib.it/ Italian Libraries' Association].
* March 14, Milan: Pierfranco Minsenti, digital librarian, will participate
in the [http://www.convegnostelline.it/relatori1.php?IdUnivoco=69 Convegno
delle Stelline] with a speech entitled ''Wikipedia as a collaborative work
environment for a cross-community of libraries''. The aim is to define the
impact on librarians of the collaboration of to Wikipedia.
Hi all,
We are happy to announce that the Board of Trustees approved the new
Trademark Policy this Saturday.[1] The policy is based on a seven-month
consultation with the community to replace our 2009 policy. The new policy
is unconventional in how it provides expansive use of the Wikimedia marks.
Thanks to the community's collaboration, the policy is more readable,
thorough, and consistent with our values.
The Board also approved our recommendation to withdraw trademark
registration and protection for the Community logo.[2] We will now initiate
withdrawal of US and worldwide registrations.
Many thanks to everyone who participated in these two consultations!
Thanks,
Yana and Geoff
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Trademark_policy
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Logo/Request_for_consultation
--
Yana Welinder
Legal Counsel
Wikimedia Foundation
Hello everyone,
Wikimedia UK's board and staff have been working hard over the last few
months on our new Strategic
Plan<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategic_plan_2014-2019>,
and we have just released the draft for community consultation. We hope
that the model we have
used<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategic_and_operational_models>
may
be of general interest to the wider wiki community, and we hope that as
many Wikimedians and other interested parties as possible will help us in
critiquing and building on it.
The model starts with our Vision and
Values<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Vision,_values_and_mission_(proposed)>,
and uses those to inform our Mission. Within the Mission, we have
identified five high-level Strategic
Goals<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategic_Goals> that
will help us focus our activities. For each goal, we will be measuring our
ongoing progress against a series of desired outcomes, using numerical
targets where possible and narrative measures where we are unable to track
hard numbers.
This approach should ensure that our day-to-day activities are closely
focused on our Mission, and that our 'distance travelled' charitable impact
can be tracked over the entire five year term of the plan.
Please do get involved in the discussion following the links above. There
is also a page for general feedback and comments
here<https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Strategic_Plan_2014-2019/General_feedback_page>.
The consultation period closes on 28 February 2014 with a view to the
board approving the documents at their meeting in March.
You may also be interested in a related blog post by Simon
Knight<http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2014/02/wikimedia-uk-strategy-consultat…>,
one of the WMUK trustees who has been closely involved in this work.
Thanks in advance for your help,
Stevie
--
Stevie Benton
Head of External Relations
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.*