On 14 Jul 2011, at 10:09, Charles Matthews wrote:
There are certainly other approaches. No serious use has been made of the UK wiki in relation to WLM.
I don't see a WMUK board minute on the matter. I think WMUK participation in WLM went by default earlier in this year, because it was not put on the board agenda.
The board has a huge amount to discuss at each meeting, so it not being on the meeting agenda or in the minutes is not a sign that we haven't been thinking about it. It's certainly been on my mind for a long time, and I doubt that there would have been any problem with supporting or funding such a project - but we didn't have anyone that was willing to lead it, set out its needs, and foster a critical mass of involvement.
It may have course have been discussed on the board list; but nothing clear was communicated to the outside world about it.
Please see my email from 15 December, and the ensuing discussion (which you participated in): http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediauk-l/2010-December/005507.html Lodewijk's prod on 4 February: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediauk-l/2011-February/005627.html and a second prod on 18 February: http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediauk-l/2011-February/005656.html It has also been discussed both on the board mailing list, and also offlist (I approached several individuals about this - without luck). I'm not sure whether we could have done much more (without starting to bug uninterested people with lots of emails) - I'd welcome insight into this, though.
The Dutch experience with WLM is apparently that it brings in new people. There are limitations to the argument that there is too much to do and not enough people to do it. If not enough is invested in the right sorts of research and communications efforts that could improve matters, it becomes self-defeating.
We need a mixture of both - involved community members that can drive this sort of project forward and make sure it matches up with online activities, and then new people to participate, provide fresh enthusiasm, and help out with the project (and hence becoming involved community members ;-) ). One without the other doesn't work
Mike