May I give you some news on the wiki encyclopedias for children:
I have let you know nearly one year ago about the launching of Vikidia
in English[1]:
Vikidia in English now has 1,445 articles and 32 active users. the
advantage in English is that we can pick up, choose, adapt and select
some existing material, especially from Simple English Wikipedia, and
from Wikijunior. Some of the first users on en.vikidia.org also come
from other Vikidia language and it even gather some Dutch teenager from
Wikikids.nl.
Vikidia was first launched in French and there is a similarly developed
counterpart in Dutch : http://wikikids.nl/ . these wikis are 8 and 9
years old now.
Vikidia in French has now more than one million unique visitors a month,
with a yearly growth of audience of nearly 40 %.
It's not a Wikimedia project, yet it is supported by Wikimédia France
that now funds our hosting costs.
Another wiki encyclopedia for children was recently launched in German,
and is supported by Wikimedia Germany. See some English explanation on
it here: [2].
There is some quite significant differences between the way each wiki's
aims, rules and functioning are designed, which we had the opportunity
to discuss between one and another teams/founders.
The guestbook on fr.vikidia show that this resource is really
appreciated by children (and even older peoples), and that there is a
need for such a wiki beside Wikipedia ([3] [4]).
Yet nothing can be done but with a significant community, that's why
your support (as individual people so as an organisation) really matter !
klexikon.de, which claim to be a content - rather than an educational -
wiki for children, directs a great part of its efforts (this is most of
the Wikimedia Germany support) on organizing meeting and workshop for
wannabe editors (teachers or other - mainly - adults). What about
Wikimedia UK supporting something similar? Yet it would demand some
peoples to undertake it... One can also begin with one (or some) blog
post about this project ?
[1]
http://blog.wikimedia.fr/vikidia-in-english-opens-today-lets-build-a-childr…
[2]
https://zikoblog.wordpress.com/2014/12/23/a-new-wiki-klexikon-the-free-ency…
[3] https://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Vikidia:Livre_d%27or
[4] see also
http://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=wikibooks%2C%20wikiversity%2C%20viki…
--
Mathias Damour
49 rue Carnot
F-74000 Annecy
00 (33) 4 57 09 10 56
00 (33) 6 27 13 65 51
https://fr.vikidia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays
mathias.damour(a)laposte.net
Hi Wiki-Britons,
I'd like to let you know about the global campaign of 'Women in
Architecture' editathons that we are planning with the Guggenheim for
October:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Women_in_Architecture
We've had interest in hosting from someone at the Architectural Association
School of Architecture (AA) in London:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_Association_School_of_Architect…
Would some London volunteers here be able to attend/help at such an event,
if the AA people would take the lead in physically organizing it?
Thanks,
Richard
(User:Pharos)
Hi all,
Have a look at the message from Rosa below - she's looking for some advice
on contributing to Wikipedia relating to collections she is representing.
If anyone is in the area and/or is interested in helping our, feel free to
get in touch! It sounds like she's already done a fair amount of research,
so may only need a bit of support.
All the best,
Daria
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Rosa Sadler <r.sadler(a)sheffield.ac.uk>
Date: 23 September 2015 at 09:08
Subject: Contributing to articles on Wikipedia using materials at National
Fairground Archive
To: glam(a)wikimedia.org.uk
Dear GLAM UK,
I am a member of staff in the Library at the University of Sheffield. The
National Fairground Archive is based within the Library and we are
interested in using our subject knowledge and collections to contribute to
Wikipedia articles relating to this area. We understand the policy about
not contributing original research and would not be doing this.
I have looked at your pages on Wikipedia and have seen the information
about Wikipedia projects and Wikimedians in residence and I want to ask: is
it a requirement that we be part of a project with a pre-existing
Wikimedian or is it ok for members of staff here to become editors and make
contributions independently? Would this be seen as a conflict of interest?
We would, of course, be using individual accounts and obeying the
guidelines for editors. Our aim in contributing would be to make
information about this area more available to the public by adding to
articles and to provide links (in citations) to our collections so that the
general public can further benefit from them.
I am interested to hear whether this kind of activity would be acceptable
to the Wikipedia community and as such I look forward to your response.
Best wishes,
Rosa
Sadler
*Library Information Services Coordinator*The Diamond
University Library
University of Sheffield
r.sadler(a)sheffield.ac.uk
--
Daria Cybulska - Head of Programmes and Evaluation, Wikimedia UK
+44 (0) 207 065 0994
+44 7803 505 170
--
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.*
Hi all,
tl;dr summary: I'm planning to run a survey about wikimeets in the near future. Do you have any comments/suggestions on the draft? See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mike_Peel/Wikimeet_survey
At a recent meetup, a Wikipedian who was new to wikimeets pointed out that the event had the air of a gentleman's club about it. Looking around at the high-back comfy chairs, the Victorian-era interior decorations, the pints of real ale, and the mostly-male (and regular) attendees, I couldn't really disagree with their assessment. This started me thinking: are there better venues and times to hold meetups, or better ways of advertising/inviting people to planned meetups? What would make them more open and inviting to new editors, or the many long-term editors that have never attended a meetup?
As an experiment to try to improve the attendance and advertising of wikimeets in the North of England, a few months ago I posted messages on the talk pages of previous wikimeet attendees about the last Leeds and Manchester wikimeets, and the Liverpool wikimeet coming up this weekend. There was, unexpectedly, a pretty good response, with a number of people signing up to attend the wikimeets. I'm not sure whether it was a direct consequence or not, but we had a long-term editor attend the last Manchester wikimeet who hadn't previously attended a wikimeet. I couldn't attend the last Leeds wikimeet: was anyone there and able to say whether it made a difference or not? I'm hoping that the irregular wikimeet attendees who have signed up for the Liverpool meetup will be there!
It also started a longer conversation with Iridescent [1], which led to the idea of having some sort of a UK-wide notifications list. During that conversation, I started drafting a survey of past and potential wikimeet attendees with the aim of getting some quantified and actionable answers about how to improve wikimeets, and also improve communication about wikimeets. The latest draft of the survey is at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Mike_Peel/Wikimeet_survey
Amongst other things, the survey draft asks about how people get to wikimeets; when and where wikimeets should be held; what activities should take place at wikimeets; and how notifications about an upcoming meetup would ideally be circulated.
I'm hoping to run this survey soon, so if you are interested in improving the survey questions then please send me an email or post on the talk page before the end of the month! In particular, if you currently organise (or regularly attend) wikimeets, then I'd greatly appreciate your input/feedback about the survey questions before it goes live. Ideally the survey would be run in association with WMUK, but given the recent turmoil I'm not sure if this will be possible, so I'll run it myself unless WMUK expresses an interest in helping out with it!
Thanks,
Mike
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Iridescent/Archive_17#Next_meetups_…
Forwarding to this list, perhaps someone has some ideas for how we can make
use of the newly released LIDAR data!
Richard Symonds
Wikimedia UK
0207 065 0992
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.*
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Tim Waters <chippy2005(a)gmail.com>
Date: 22 September 2015 at 10:34
Subject: [Talk-GB] Environment Agency LIDAR datasets OGL licensed now
available
To: OSM - Talk GB <talk-gb(a)openstreetmap.org>
Hello,
back in June we had a thread announcing that this LIDAR data was due
to be released. Well some of it has.
https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2015/09/18/laser-surveys-light-up-ope…http://environment.data.gov.uk/ds/survey#/
I think it's just for England, and appears to be 1m and 2m composite
DTM and 1m and 2m DSM They do intend to release a Tiled version next,
and I think 50cm and 25cm are coming also
What can we do with it?
Cheers,
Tim
_______________________________________________
Talk-GB mailing list
Talk-GB(a)openstreetmap.org
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-gb
Hi all!
Just to follow up on an email sent to members earlier today, there have
been a few changes on Wikimedia UK's board:
- Simon Knight has stood down to take up a position at a University in
Sydney, Australia (congratulations Simon!)
- Nancy Bell, Head of Collections at the National Archives was co-opted
onto the board for a two year term (welcome to Nancy!)
- Carol Campbell was appointed Vice-Chair of the board
- Gill Hamilton (a new trustee as of the AGM) was appointed Secretary of
the board
- Nick Poole (a new trustee as of the AGM) joined the Governance
Committee
All the best,
Richard Symonds
Wikimedia UK
0207 065 0992
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.*
Good afternoon!
This is a quick note to members of Wikimedia UK - if you use Gmail, check
your spam folder, as I've just sent an email update about the board out and
it may have ended up in there.
All the best,
Richard Symonds
Wikimedia UK
0207 065 0992
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.*
I'd be interested in helping with the London event but have a meeting of
the Construction Industry Council that afternoon so couldn't get along
until late afternoon.
User:Paul W
On 22 September 2015 at 10:37, <wikimediauk-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
wrote:
> Send Wikimediauk-l mailing list submissions to
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Women in Architecture editathon with Guggenheim in October -
> London edition? (Pharos)
> 2. Re: Women in Architecture editathon with Guggenheim in
> October - London edition? (Stuart Prior)
> 3. Nancy Bell, Head of Collection Care at The National Archives,
> joins Wikimedia UK board (Michael Maggs)
> 4. Re: Women in Architecture editathon with Guggenheim in
> October - London edition? (Joe Filceolaire)
> 5. Re: Nancy Bell, Head of Collection Care at The National
> Archives, joins Wikimedia UK board (Richard Symonds)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 21 Sep 2015 11:29:56 -0400
> From: Pharos <pharosofalexandria(a)gmail.com>
> To: wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] Women in Architecture editathon with
> Guggenheim in October - London edition?
> Message-ID:
> <
> CAJcrdm7xYaBJOeV41gPgO1rMvTxsFzBpGaG8+5V+zHirW8ZWWw(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Hi Wiki-Britons,
>
> I'd like to let you know about the global campaign of 'Women in
> Architecture' editathons that we are planning with the Guggenheim for
> October:
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Women_in_Architecture
>
> We've had interest in hosting from someone at the Architectural Association
> School of Architecture (AA) in London:
>
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Architectural_Association_School_of_Architect…
>
> Would some London volunteers here be able to attend/help at such an event,
> if the AA people would take the lead in physically organizing it?
>
> Thanks,
> Richard
> (User:Pharos)
>
Wikimedia UK is pleased to announce the co-option of Nancy Bell to the
board for a two year term. Nancy has been appointed for her extensive
skills, experience and contacts, particularly in the national and
international cultural heritage sectors.
Nancy is currently Head of Collection Care at The National Archives, in
which role she is responsible for the preservation of one of the largest
and most significant sources of information in the world dating from
Domesday Book to recent digital records. She has established an
internationally recognised heritage science research programme in
collaboration with the higher education sector and industry, and has
established a programme to work closely with students and researchers to
disseminate their work further as wiki editors.
Nancy comments "There are huge opportunities to extend the reach of
volunteers in new communities to create an even more vibrant Wikimedia
UK. I am committed to open and accessible information as a guiding
principle and very much welcome the opportunity to promote this mission
widely".
Please join us in welcoming Nancy to the board.
Best regards
Michael
Michael Maggs
Chair, Wikimedia UK
Well done Greyham - your energy and patience is justly rewarded.
Jon Davies.
Jon Davies
arnottdavies(a)gmail.com
07976 935 986
Linkedin
<https://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=75614530&trk=hp-identity-name>
On 18 September 2015 at 13:01, <wikimediauk-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
wrote:
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> Today's Topics:
>
> 1. Wikimedia UK Trustee Treasurer excellence recognised
> (Michael Maggs)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2015 11:12:38 +0100
> From: Michael Maggs <michael(a)maggs.name>
> To: "wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org"
> <wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, Wikimedia Mailing List
> <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: [Wikimediauk-l] Wikimedia UK Trustee Treasurer excellence
> recognised
> Message-ID: <0A0DA8BE-F273-44B6-A5A5-C1A5683695EF(a)maggs.name>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>
> Treasurer highly Commended at Financial Leadership Awards
>
> Press release issued by Wikimedia UK, 18 September 2015:
>
> Greyham Dawes was awarded Highly Commended by the judges at the Financial
> Leadership Awards last night.
>
> The judges recognized that Greyham Dawes, who has been Wikimedia UK’s
> treasurer since February 2013, had completely changed both the charity's
> financial reporting and its planning. His pragmatic approach has helped the
> charity focus on the future, and his overwhelming positivity moves
> difficult conversations towards solutions.
>
> Carol Cambell, Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee said “Wikimedia UK is
> a high profile charity within the open knowledge movement and Greyham has
> been an important and influential part in enabling the organisational
> transparency that is an essential part of our work."
>
> Wikimedia UK is a young charitable organisation that is at the forefront
> of the open knowledge movement. They are the UK chapter of the global
> Wikimedia movement, and work with volunteers and a range of national
> organisations to help create and preserve open knowledge and to provide
> easy access for all.
>