Wikimediauk-l July 2017

wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org

31 participants
18 discussions

Copyfraud by the British Museum
by Fæ 14 Sep '17

14 Sep '17

The Tullie House Museum in Carlisle has a number of objects on loan from the British Museum,[3] and it appears that it is only those objects that have any restrictions on photography. I took photographs of two of these (without any flash), as the restrictions are shockingly obvious cases of copyfraud, and not for any reason that might protect the works from damage.[1][2] It seems incomprehensible as to why the British Museum would ever want to make copyright claims over ~2,000 year old works especially considering they are not a money-making commercial enterprise, but a National institute and charity, with a stated objective[4] that "the collection should be put to public use and be freely accessible". Does anyone have any ideas for action, or contacts in the Museum, that might result in a change of how loans from the BM are controlled? I'm wondering if the most effective way forward is to make some social media fuss, to ensure the Trustees of the museum pay attention. The reputational risk the apparent ignorance over copyright by the BM loans management team seems something that would be easy to correct, so changes to policy are overdue. My own experience of polite private letters to a Museum's lawyer demonstrates that you may as well save hours of volunteer time by filing these in the bin, compared to the sometimes highly effective use of a few pointed tweets written in a few minutes and shared publicly and widely across social media. Those of us Wikimedians who work closely with GLAMs tend to shy away from any controversy, wanting the organizations to move towards sharing our open knowledge goals for positive reasons. I'm happy to try those types of collegiate ways of partnering, however drawing a few lines in the sand by highlighting embarrassing case studies, might mean we make timely progress while activist dinosaurs like me are still alive to see it happen. Links 1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Museum_2nd_century_bronze_j… 2. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:British_Museum_Fortuna_statue,_with… 3. Tullie House, Roman Frontier exhibition: http://web.archive.org/web/20161030151228/www.tulliehouse.co.uk/galleries-c… 4. British Museum "about us": http://web.archive.org/web/20170714042800/www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/ma… 5. Commons village pump discussion: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Village_pump#British_Museum_and_… Contacts * https://twitter.com/britishmuseum * https://twitter.com/TullieHouse Thanks, Fae -- faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Editathon: London, 13 October 2017
by Andy Mabbett 01 Aug '17

01 Aug '17

Just a heads-up that I'm organising a daytme editathon in London on Friiday, 13 October 2017. I hope those of you who aren't superstitious will be able to make it. Details including the host organisation, will follow as soon as I'm cleared to announce them, but I thought you might want to keep the date free. -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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"Native name" in Infobox?
by Gordon Joly 31 Jul '17

31 Jul '17

The term "native name" the Infobox at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konnie_Huq Konnie Huq was born in Hammersmith, as was her sister. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupa_Huq Native name: is there something better to describe her name in Bengali? Gordo

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Imperial War Museum, meetings with Wikimedia UK
by Fæ 28 Jul '17

28 Jul '17

Could WMUK do a little research on this please? If this feedback on my correspondence with the Imperial War Museum was received from the IWM during meetings with employees of the charity in January 2013, this happened when I was a trustee on the board. I do not recall feedback like this getting shared with the board from the CEO, nor was I personally approached or informed separate from the board. It's the sort of thing I doubt I would forget, though I do recall being critical during a board meeting about any potential WMUK project or partnership with the IWM at that time, unless their use of misleading claims of copyright on public domain media changed first. As there were discussions about me, I would appreciate the notes held by WMUK from these meetings about a potential WMUK project being shared with me, even at this late stage. It seems fair that the WMUK CEO check the facts being made public on this list, and whether this feedback was shared with the board of trustees at the time. This is not a reply to Richard Symonds, for reasons known to the WMUK board and CEO. Thanks, Fae On 28 July 2017 at 20:32, Richard Symonds <chasemewiki(a)gmail.com> wrote: > First: I know me and you haven't got on very well in the past Fae, so I want > to underline that this email is meant in the friendliest way possible. I > really appreciate the work you do on Commons, and am deeply struck by the > passion with which you approach our shared goal. We're both on the same team > - working for free knowledge. > > That said, there's a bit of criticism - constructive, I hope. I'm not sure > if further emails like the ones at > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:F%C3%A6/email/IWM would be very > helpful - they didn't work at the time, and clearly haven't worked in the > past four years, despite your tweeting. The issue the IWM had in that case > was that they didn't agree with you that it was copyfraud. The solution > would be a sit-down talk between professionals, that is as you say, "invest > some resources into changing their minds". > > I remember trying this with the IWM in 2013 - at the time, I was talking to > the institution about the WW1 centenary, which they were the driving force > behind. They were happy to talk, and extremely friendly, and we had several > meetings with them. However, they had issues with the emails that you were > sending to them, which they saw as rude, passive-aggressive, and generally > unhelpful. The institution didn't see them as polite correspondence, and it > made them reticent to work with Wikipedia because they didn't feel like they > could be a part of a community that spoke to people like that. I know that > to you the emails were professional and to the point, and objectively > correct. But to them it came across as unprofessional, and that it happened > during the run-up to the WWI centenary made it very difficult for Wikipedia > to get involved in the commemorations in any more than a passive capacity. > You redoubled your efforts after you saw the IWM refusing to change, but > sometimes, our passion for change - for righting the wrongs in the world - > makes us seem like fanatics to middle-managers in cultural institutions. > This pushed them away, and made it harder for them to understand our point > of view. > > The solution here is, as you say, friendly and professional discussions - > social media campaigns about it, as well as using words like "copyfraud" > (which invoke thoughts of criminality in the minds of the reader), are > counterproductive. We need to be professional and approachable, engendering > change through example, and although social media campaigns and shaming work > sometimes (and are legitimate ways of forcing change on an old institution), > we have to be careful not to go to it as a first option, especially when our > strength in WMUK is our professional connections throughout the third sector > and "GLAM" world. > > On 28 July 2017 at 18:16, Fæ <faewik(a)gmail.com> wrote: >> >> On 28 July 2017 at 17:18, John Byrne <john(a)bodkinprints.co.uk> wrote: >> > The BM still in effect operates a "don't ask, don't tell" policy on >> > photography - see >> > >> > [http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/2011-11-14%20Visitor%20Regulations%20FINAL… >> > section 8.1] here: "8.1 Except where indicated by notices, you are >> > permitted >> > to use hand-held cameras (including mobile phones) with flash bulbs or >> > flash >> > units, and audio and film recording equipment not requiring a stand. You >> > may >> > use your photographs, film and audio recordings only for your own >> > private >> > and non-commercial purposes." The same goes for the images on their >> > website. >> > >> > But as I think Fae knows, they have in the past kindly facilitated >> > back-stage photography of objects by Wikipedians, knowing the images >> > will be >> > uploaded to Commons. Matthew Cock, our former main contact left some >> > years >> > ago. Most "policy" matters are hard to change at the BM because of the >> > size >> > of the organization. Everything "would have to go to the Trustees" - an >> > appalling vista for middle management. >> > >> > No doubt the THM is trying to enforce these standard terms, reflected in >> > the >> > loan agreement, more strictly than the BM itself does. I'm not sure >> > there's >> > much point in going to or after them. >> > >> > One day their main policy will improve, but they are not easy to >> > pressure - >> > in practice things work ok as it is, normally. >> > >> > John >> >> Thanks John, I recall us having meetings with BM folks. It was >> illuminating hearing how things work from the inside. Within my >> personal network I have some insight into the BM specifically, and >> other large academic related institutions. In general we get a >> positive response from curators and researchers who may plan an >> exhibition, in fact their issues with our open projects are spot on >> and match our own concerns. But this is a very separate world from the >> operations and marketing middle management who make the final >> decisions on loan policies and public exhibition standards. >> >> From the perspective of open knowledge advocates, after meetings and >> presentations I have had curators shake my hand and thank me for >> saying things they cannot. One of the great benefits of having unpaid >> volunteers like us knocking around with no "professional" affiliation >> with the institutions that may manage the content we are passionate >> about, is that we can say obvious things, without worrying too much >> about diplomacy or PR. >> >> Despite being criticised for making waves every now and then, it's >> those personal thanks for doing what I do that will encourage me to >> call unambiguous copyfraud, copyfraud, whenever I see it. >> >> If anyone wants to see my previous efforts trying politely talking to >> IP lawyers representing an institution that simply does not get it, >> they can take a look at my correspondence with the Imperial War >> Museum.[1] It's four years since I very politely and clearly gave them >> the facts about their continued copyfraud, and they have not lifted a >> finger to correct it. I guess they are too big to care about my tweets >> that continue to point out this problem,[2] however it would be great >> if WMUK wanted to invest some resources into changing their minds; in >> line with our shared vision of open knowledge and free access to >> public content. >> >> Links >> 1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae/email/IWM IWM emails. >> 2. https://twitter.com/Faewik/status/890954001990201346 example tweet >> on copyfraud from earlier today. >> >> Cheers, >> Fae >> -- >> faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae -- faewik(a)gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Copyfraud by the British Museum (John Byrne)
by John Byrne 28 Jul '17

28 Jul '17

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Pride 2017
by John Lubbock 28 Jul '17

28 Jul '17

Hello mailing list. Last year we had a lot of fun taking photos at the Pride march in London. This year it's on Saturday 8th July and we can get press accreditation for photographers if anyone is interested in attending. You should have a professional quality camera. If there are any other events you would like to get press accreditation to go to, get in contact and let me know and I can ask for you. John Lubbock Communications Coordinator Wikimedia UK

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Open-licensed images of UK MPs are coming!
by Andy Mabbett 28 Jul '17

28 Jul '17

Some of you may recall my February 2012 blog post, "Politician pin ups – open-licensed pictures, please": http://pigsonthewing.org.uk/politician-open-licensed-pictures-please/ In their blog post today: https://pds.blog.parliament.uk/2017/07/21/mp-official-portraits-open-source… the Parliamentary Digital Service announce and preview their forthcoming release of a set of portrait photographs of 620 of the 650 UK MPs. Pictures of Peers and Parliamentary staff (and hopefully the missing MPs) are also planned. I've uploaded the first four pics to Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Official_United_Kingdom_Parliam… and added them to Wikipedia (English and some others). I plan to upload the rest once they're available, but will then need help updating articles and Wikidata. -- Andy Mabbett @pigsonthewing http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Odd? Peter Tatchell aritcle.
by Gordon Joly 27 Jul '17

27 Jul '17

I click on links at... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Tatchell and I get some odd behaviour? Can anybody confirm this? And fix it? Gordo

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Wikidata I/O showcase at Repository Fringe 2017
by MCANDREW Ewan 19 Jul '17

19 Jul '17

*Apologies for cross posting* Dear Colleagues, With only three weeks to go until Repository Fringe 2017 takes place at the John McIntyre Centre at the University of Edinburgh on 3 & 4 August, registrations are filling up fast and we have a packed programme which will hopefully pique your interest! Registration closes on 28 July so make sure you register now at: http://www.epay.ed.ac.uk/conferences-events/information-services/informatio… We have a really exciting programme lined up this year with a range of topics including: · Kathleen Shearer, COAR - Raising our game - repositioning repositories as the foundation for sustainable scholarly communication · Paul Ayris, UCL - The Empires of the Future are the Empires of the Mind’ [Winston Churchill]: Defining the Role of Libraries in the Open Science Landscape · Chris Banks, Imperial College - Focusing upstream: supporting scholarly communication by academics · Ewan McAndrew, University of Edinburgh & Navino Evans, Histropedia - Wikidata I/O Showcase Programme Hot Pick - Wikidata Showcase This Wikidata event at Repo Fringe is scheduled for 1pm to 3.15pm on Friday 4th August. It will be split into two main segments. Part 1: Adding data to Wikidata: the Wikidata hackathon The first session, from 1pm to 2.30pm, will focus on how to add data to Wikidata so this will include a short intro to what Wikidata is before looking at how individual items of data can be added to and, importantly, backed up with references as part of a data hackathon. Part 2: Querying and visualising Wikidata The second session, 2.30pm to 3.15pm, will look at how the data in Wikidata can be consumed, queried and visualised; whether it’s Voltaire’s works, the collections of the National Library of Wales, an analysis of MPs’ occupations or the 3 million linked citations visualised using the new Scholia tool. In addition to these sessions we are also running a SPARQL workshop from 9.30am-10.30am on Friday morning. Find out more about our programme at: http://rfringe17.blogs.edina.ac.uk/programme/ 2017 marks the 10th Repo Fringe where we will be celebrating progress we have made over the last 10 years in sharing content beyond borders and debating future trends and challenges. We look forward to seeing you in August! Kind regards, Ewan McAndrew Wikimedian in Residence Tel: 07719 330076 Email: ewan.mcandrew(a)ed.ac.uk Subscribe to the mailing list: wikimedia(a)mlist.is.ed.ac.uk My working hours are 10.30am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday. Wikipedia Project Page for the residency: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:University_of_Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh, Floor H (West), Argyle House, 3 Lady Lawson Street, Edinburgh, EH3 9DR. www.ed.ac.uk The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

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MozFest 2017
by Lucy Crompton-Reid 19 Jul '17

19 Jul '17

Dear all MozFest is calling for proposals for their annual festival this October in East London, and it would be great to have some Wikimedia-related submissions! https://mozillafestival.org/proposals The deadline is 1st August. I'm sure a number of you will have been to this before but I went for the first time last year and it really is a great conference. Of course it covers a wide scope of interest but in 2016 there was lots that was pertinent to people working or volunteering for Wikimedia, or for the open movement more broadly. All best Lucy -- Lucy Crompton-Reid Chief Executive Wikimedia UK +44 (0) 207 065 0991 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. 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.*

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Wikimediauk-l July 2017