Various projects (GLAM/ARkive, GLAM/TNA, etc) are asking for articles
to be translated into other languages.
Learning from GLAM/Derby, how can we make best use of people with time
to do such translations? Do we need a Wikipedia page where such
requests can be gathered? Currently, it's arduous to contact 280+
Wikipedias and make requests.
How can we reach out to language students (formal and leisure) and
teachers? Can we encourage the latter to set Wikipedia translations as
exercises for their students, instead of having them make redundant
translations of books or such like?
--
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk
The next Cambridge meetup (our dozenth) will be on 8 October, as usual
in the CB2 cybercafé, Norfolk St, and (as I should emphasise for those
not previously attending) upstairs.
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Cambridge/12 is the official page.
Charles
Below is the Wikimedia UK monthly report for the period 1 to 31 August 2011. If you want to keep up with the chapter's activities as they happen, please subscribe to our blog, join our 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.
This report is also available, complete with pictures, on our website at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2011/August .
Contents
1 Education projects
2 GLAM activities
3 Wikimania
4 Wikipedia Workshops
5 Board activities
6 Charitable status
7 Fundraising
8 Recruitment
9 UK press coverage
10 Miscellaneous
11 Upcoming activities in September
Education projects
This month, Fiona Apps had meetings with staff at the University of Liverpool and University of Manchester about possible collaborations, and Sam Knight, the University of Bristol Outreach Ambassador, has been meeting with various student and staff groups within the University. He also helped to organise the Bristol Girl Geek Dinner (see below).
GLAM activities
On 8 August, The Guardian ran a story on "British Museum makes the Wikipedia connection", based on an interview with Matthew Cock, covering the museum's viewpoint of Liam's Wikipedian in Residence, creating content vs. uploading photographs, QR codes and more.
The ARKive project - a collaboration to improve Wikipedia articles on threatened species - has continued through the month, led by Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing). Four articles related to the project have been appeared on English Wikipedia's Did You Know?. Full information is available at Wikipedia:GLAM/ARKive. The project will continue with two public events in Bristol on 15 September; one in the afternoon, the other in the evening.
A collaboration with the National Archive has been in the process of being drawn up this month, as reported in the August GLAM report, and described on a Wikipedia project page.
There is now a Wikipedia article about QRpedia, the QR code based, multi-lingual, mobile-friendly interface to Wikipedia, launched at GLAM/Derby. Appropriately, nine other-language versions have also been created. Meanwhile, developer Terence Eden is soliciting views on how QRpedia should deal with cases where articles are not available in the user's preferred language.
Wikimania
Roger Bamkin attended Wikimania on behalf of the chapter on 4-7 August. WMUK also provided scholarships to Isaac Kosgei from Kenya, a Wikimedian from Hungary and a number of UK Wikimedians. Isaac Kosgei was particularly successful as a proposal to improve health related issues in sub-Saharan Africa was created around him. In September, he will meet Michelle Obama to discuss his work.
UK presenters at Wikimania included Christopher Cooper, Roger Bamkin, Ironholds, Deryck Chan, James F., Tom Morris and WereSpielChequers. WereSpielChequers was interviewed by the local press - see the article in Hebrew, or the Google Translate version of the article.
Wikipedia Workshops
On 15th July, Simon Smith (User:Tagishsimon) ran a Wikipedia workshop for post-graduate students of Archaeology, Cultural Heritage Management, Medieval Studies and Eighteenth Century Studies as part of the King's Manor Interdisciplinary Conference at the University of York. Feedback from the 15 participants was very positive and Simon stayed on for a workshop on interdisciplinary studies of the past and the conference's wine reception.
In August, forty people attended an evening event at the University of Bristol, jointly organised by Wikimedia UK and Bristol Girl Geek Dinners. The theme was Women in Wikipedia and the evening was led by Fiona Apps (User:Panyd). The mostly-female audience had one-to-one help from experienced Wikipedians including Jezhotwells, MartinPoulter and Bs5er. Fiona followed up with a post on the chapter's blog and an interview in the Signpost. There are more 'Wikipedia/Girl Geek Dinners' planned in future.
Board activities
There were two board meetings this month. The first, an Executive board meeting on 9 August, focused on our participation in the annual Wikimedia fundraiser, as well as reviewing the status of recruitment for our office administrator and chief executive, and ensuring our adherence to the 2010 fundraising agreement.
The second, an in-person full board meeting on 27-28 August, was kindly hosted by Derby Museum and Art Gallery. On the first day, Ting Chen from the Wikimedia Foundation was present at the meeting by invitation, as were several Wikimedia UK members. The principle of openness, as well as the growth potential for WMUK, was discussed; Andy Mabbett described his experiences with the ARKive project; and John Byrne gave an update on progress with our application to become a charity. The upcoming fundraiser and the 2012 activity plan were also discussed. On the second day, discussion topics included assessment of Wikipedia trainers; reviews of actions and board member reports; and a continuation of the discussion around the 2012 activity plan. Draft minutes of the meeting are available on our wiki.
Charitable status
As mentioned in last month's report post-publication, a revised submission has now been sent to the Charities Commission, and we received their response to our submission in early September.
Fundraising
This month, we received £1485.89 in donations from 81 donors - this is our highest number of donors since February. For more information please see our monthly fundraising report at Fundraising Report - Monthly Totals 2011.
Our annual accounts for the period 1 February 2010 until 31 January 2011 are now available at File:Wikimedia UK accounts 31 January 2011.pdf. Note that they are pending the correction of one minor error, after which they will be signed and filed with Companies House.
We provided an additional £4,037.04 (6,598 USD) to the Wikimedia Foundation via an extension of the previous grant we gave them earlier this year, representing 50% of the donations received by WMUK in the months of February through June this year.
We also signed a contract with SmartDebit to provide administrative services which will enable us to accept Direct Debit payments. We expect to have systems set up for Direct Debit donations in good time for the 2011 Wikimedia Fundraiser.
Recruitment
Interviews for the temporary Office Administrator position took place this month, and Richard Symonds (User:Chase me ladies, I'm the Cavalry) was appointed to the position, starting from 1 September.
First stage interviews for the Chief Executive position also took place this month, with in-person interviews scheduled for the start of September. A total of 83 applications were received for the position. (For more information, see the blog post put out in early September.)
UK press coverage
Press coverage of Wikipedia in UK publications this month included:
2 August, London plods raid Wikipedia in counter-anarchist operation, Register - covering the reuse of Wikipedia content by the Metropolitan Police without attribution.
5 August, "The US should let its credit rating be downgraded – and shrug" mentions "You may have never heard of David Beers but every finance minister in the world knows of him," noted Reuters in a recent – and rare – profile of the analyst, who doesn't even have a Wikipedia page."
8 August, S&P's powerful chief steps out of the shadows - "Some time last Friday night, someone created a Wikipedia page for David T Beers. Overdue, you might think."
8 August, British Museum makes the Wikipedia connection, The Guardian (see #GLAM activities)
8 August, Wikipedia wants more contributors, MacWorld UK; also Wikipedia targets addition of many more contributors in ComputerWorldUK
8 August, Women! Wikipedia needs you, Guardian blogs
10 August, The end of Wikipedia as we know it?, Irish Times
19 August, Wikipedia founder to lead Radio 3 Festival, also covered by NewsOnNews and Cambridge technology news
22 August, The Spark (a free magazine distributed in South-West England) did a profile of WMUK trustee Martin Poulter, discussing reasons for contributing to the chapter and to Wikipedia.
Miscellaneous
There was one UK Wikimeet this month: London on 14 Aug.
Upcoming activities in September
We have quite a number of events planned for September, including:
1st - Institute of Physics Workshop
2nd to 3rd - Science Online London - "How are wikis being used to carry out and communicate science?" session
2nd-4th - RegioWikiCamp Brest (France) - Unconference on regional wiki projects
3rd - Mayor of Derby on Webstream to give prizes to Russia, France and Indonesia for Multilingual challenge
8th - British Museum internal workshop
8th - Steve Virgin and Roger Bamkin talking at TEDx Bristol
11th - London meetup with Chief Exec short list
14th - Workshop for GLAMs at Herbert Art Gallery and Museum
15th - Wiki Wildlife Bristol
17th - Manchester meetup
18th - In-person executive board meeting - Derby
27th - Manchester Girl Geek Dinner at B-Hive, Manchester. Fiona Apps (User:Panyd) speaking about Women and Wikipedia.
27th - Presentation for all staff at the British Library
For events in October and onwards, please see Events.
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited.
Wiki UK Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827.
The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL, United Kingdom.
Picking up on Richard's Suggestions for Merchandise, as we are about
to start working with Museum Galleries Scotland to drive involvement
and a new GLAM events programme, I am considering how to "brand" it.
Are there any views for or against using an image of "Wikimedia in
Scotland" rather than just the WM-UK logo? My concern is that some
will resist joining in a "UK" branded programme but would rush to
support a country specific initiative. If it gets better results, we
could follow a similar pattern for Wales and avoid appearing to push
"UK" in every document (or teeshirt).
Cheers,
Fae
--
http://enwp.org/user_talk:fae
Guide to email tags: http://j.mp/faetags
Richard,
This would be an ideal demo for QRpedia - assuming they agree and WMUK are
keen to do a Welsh (country or language) event. Can't volunteer to lead
(unrealistic) but happy to help and cheer or explain how etc
Roger
On 15 September 2011 12:56, Richard Symonds <
richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
> Speaking of other parts of the UK – is anyone interested in helping out
> some Welsh Wikipedians with organising a backstage-pass-like GLAM event at
> one of their cultural institutions? Anyone with experience dealing with
> small Wikipedias – or anyone with Welsh connections – would be a great help!
> ****
>
> ** **
>
> Richard****
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia UK mailing list
> wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org
> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
>
>
--
Roger Bamkin
Chair WMUK <http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board>
01332 702993
0758 2020815
Google+:Victuallers
Skype:Victuallers1
Flickr:Victuallers2
Speaking of other parts of the UK - is anyone interested in helping out some
Welsh Wikipedians with organising a backstage-pass-like GLAM event at one
of their cultural institutions? Anyone with experience dealing with small
Wikipedias - or anyone with Welsh connections - would be a great help!
Richard
Hi all,
The draft Wikimedia UK report for August is on the wiki at:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2011/August
Please let me know if there's anything that's been missed out - the report will be sent around tomorrow.
Thanks,
Mike
P.S. the September report is in embryo form at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports/2011/September - please add things that have happened/are happening this month to that rather than the August report. :-)
On Sep 15, 2011 12:16 AM, "Richard Symonds" <
richard.symonds(a)wikimedia.org.uk> wrote:
>
> In answer to Andy's original question: I'd rather sort it out later, after
> the fundraiser. There is quite enough on our collective plate at present,
> and perhaps this should wait until after the CEO is in position and the
> fundraiser is comfortably set up.
Please don't sort anything out. It's fine how it is. We are, and should be,
Wikimedia UK. It would be confusing for us to use gb for our subdomain.
Especially since our primary url uses the country top level domain, uk.
FYI
Gordo
*******
Dear Gordon,
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Tel: 0208 267 4281
--
Gordon Joly
gordon.joly(a)pobox.com
http://www.joly.org.uk/
Don't Leave Space To The Professionals!