I have no in-principle objections to this (on-wiki reporting of long-term loans of equipment) as long as: (a) "Long-term" is defined. (b) There is no requirement to breach anonymity (e.g. recording against username OR realname, as preferred by the volunteer, not necessarily both), (c) People borrowing the equipment are informed that it will be recorded publically in advance. (d) The recording does not endanger the safety/security of the volunteer and/or equipment.
For example I borrowed a laptop for the train-the-trainers event at the beginning of February (as mine was broken) and also transported another laptop for the use of a second volunteer. I spent a few days with my family en-route back from the training and used one of the laptops for purposes including (but not limited to) Wikipedia and Commons editing during that time. The other was with me but not used. Does this count as long-term?
Regarding the security aspect, I took I think it was four WMUK laptops (and my own) up to Newcastle for the editathon at the Mining Institute in November. If it was publicly known that I was carrying five laptops then there is a (admittedly small) chance that I could have been targetted by someone with criminal intent. In this case reporting the details after the event would not have the same security implications, and for a 2-day event the delay would not be very significant. This might not be the case for all scenarios though - e.g. someone borrowing a DSLR for a fornight to take photos of remote parts of the Western Isles.
Chris
On Fri, 14 Mar 2014, Fæ wrote:
I have no idea why long term loans should be in secret. If someone wishes to borrow a camera or a laptop for a project that helps create content for Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, the charity should encourage an *open and transparent* proposal and report on the project as one funded/supported by the charity. This is a good thing and we should celebrate it.
If it turns out that long term secret loans over the last couple of years are mostly to employees (outside of their defined role) or the friends and family of employees, it could damage the reputation of the charity if questioned on how it manages its assets to ensure that there are no inappropriate benefits, and how it maintains its commitment for transparency. In comparison, when the WMF has provided money and equipment to worthy projects that lacked funds (many laptops have been given out over the years), as far as I am aware, this has never been done in secret, even if the justification was that the potential contributors were not rich enough to purchase their own kit.
Please openly report long term loans on the charity's wiki. For example, I see no reason why my long term loan of a Macmini should not be a matter of public record, and I am prepared to report on related content creation - doing otherwise is likely to fall in conflict with the proposed changes to the Terms of Use of Wikimedia Foundation websites. It would be unwise and potentially misleading to give volunteers or employees with long term free loans of equipment the impression that they would not be obliged to declare that their editing/contributions were directly supported and effectively sponsored by the charity.
Fae
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---- Chris McKenna
cmckenna@sucs.org www.sucs.org/~cmckenna
The essential things in life are seen not with the eyes, but with the heart
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