Huge dents have been made in the Geograph backlog since last year, thanks mainly to changes in HotCat and Cat-a-lot on Commons and the dedication of WereSpielChequers and others. Geograph is fantastic, but it has surprising gaps and the images are all low-res, so there's definitely room for Geogrpah and WLM to peacefully co-exist.
Harry Mitchell
Phone: 024 7698 0977 Skype: harry_j_mitchell
________________________________ From: Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk To: HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com; UK Wikimedia mailing list wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Wednesday, 16 January 2013, 16:49 Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WikiConference 2013 Speakers
As I recall, the objections were in part that we have most of this material already on Commons (via Geograph), but badly organised. I don't know if that's changed, or if we've got a better idea of what's out there...
- Andrew.
On 16 January 2013 16:45, HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com wrote:
Well we have a list of Grade I listed buildings in every county. I'm sure it would be easy enough to have a bot do the same for Grade II* and Scheduled Ancient Monuments, and that gives us a ready-made target list. How much more organisation is needed, beyond creating the necessary project pages on the relevant wikis and getting the word out?
Harry Mitchell http://enwp.org/User:HJ Phone: 024 7698 0977 Skype: harry_j_mitchell
From: Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com To: UK Wikimedia mailing list wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Wednesday, 16 January 2013, 16:31 Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WikiConference 2013 Speakers
Excellent suggestions, thanks, I will look into it.
A WLM speaker would be great... last year it was mentioned, but only as a plea for someone to step forward and organise the UK effort.
I looked into what it would take but it seems a larger job than I'd have time for given my other committements - is there noone from the GLAM side of things who can take it on??
Tom
On 15 January 2013 21:11, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
If the UK would be participating in Wiki Loves Monuments this year, would that be an angle to search a keynote? (national or European) I doubt someone from the international team would qualify as a ''keynote'' (maybe regular though?) but someone from Heritage England or even one of the European umbrella organizations (Europa Nostra, Europeana) could do something?
Just a thought,
Lodewijk
2013/1/15 Jon Davies jon.davies@wikimedia.org.uk
AGM 8th of June with more activities on the 9th.
On 15 January 2013 11:21, Joe Filceolaire filceolaire@gmail.com wrote:
date? On Jan 15, 2013 11:19 AM, "Thomas Morton" morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
Morning Everyone,
As you might know, the 2013 conference will be in Lincoln, organised by the Conference Committee with support from the office.
With the venue chosen, we now need to figure out an exciting programme. A lot of this is in the planning stage and we will be releasing more information later, however one of the first thing we need to do is figure out some keynote speakers.
Later in the year we will be calling for papers and speakers from within the community, right now we are focusing on finding one or two "big names" who have something relevant to say.
As this is your concert we need to know
who you want to hear from!
It could be anyone; from celerities, to politicians, to activists. We're looking for intriguing suggestions, people with a unique perspective.
Some initial suggestions have been made, please please do suggest further ideas here on the mailing list, by emailing myself or posting on this page: http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_UK_2013/Speakers
Regards, Tom
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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). Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.
Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
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The part of the Geograph that we've imported so far is indeed overwhelmingly low res - they lifted their file size a little before the large batch imports were done, but some high res images were in those batches and subsequent smaller scale imports from the Geograph have included some very high res images. I suspect that a large proportion of the million plus Geograph images that we've yet to import will be fairly high resolution.
The categorisation needed backlog of Geograph images is now down to circa 700,000 and will have dipped quite a bit further by September when the next WLM runs. However apart from churches, piers, war memorials, hill forts and some castles the bulk of the geograph categorisation has been to village or town level - so we are probably in much the same state that we were in last year. Any photogenic listed building that can be photographed from the road and is within a congenial drive of a decent real ale pub will have been photographed by geographers. Especially if it is thatched or has Llamas in the next field ( http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Llamas_and_alpacas_in_the_United_... that according to frequency on Commons both species are clearly of UK origin).
As for the idea that Geographers are hardy folk who only take exterior shots and never enter buildings; Well a search on Commons for stained glass Norfolk gets 1,124 hits whilst a search for stained glass gets only 40,114, so one English county accounts for 3% of our global coverage of stained glass.....
In our recent photo-adding session http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:WereSpielChequers/image_adding we got some newbies and not so newbies to add images to articles on Wikipedia and we found that most articles which lack an image but have a UK geocode can already be illustrated from Commons. The main exception being nature reserves - (my theory being they don't allow cars or serve real ale). Of course there may be lots of notable buildings that are sufficiently unfashionable not to have either articles or images despite having a Listed status.
So I'm not convinced that WLM would give us images for articles that already exist but lack images, though it could give us new photographers, show that we are taking part in a global wiki event, and help kickstart articles on important but uncommercial buildings. All that in my view makes it worthwhile to do, but with the precaution that I proposed last year - we need to advise people that we may already have images, possibly uncategorised ones of the monument in question, and if they want to be the first to load an image of a particular building they first need to check whether we already have it.
WSC
On 16 January 2013 16:55, HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com wrote:
Huge dents have been made in the Geograph backlog since last year, thanks mainly to changes in HotCat and Cat-a-lot on Commons and the dedication of WereSpielChequers and others. Geograph is fantastic, but it has surprising gaps and the images are all low-res, so there's definitely room for Geogrpah and WLM to peacefully co-exist.
Harry Mitchell http://enwp.org/User:HJ Phone: 024 7698 0977 Skype: harry_j_mitchell
*From:* Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk *To:* HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com; UK Wikimedia mailing list < wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org> *Sent:* Wednesday, 16 January 2013, 16:49
*Subject:* Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WikiConference 2013 Speakers
As I recall, the objections were in part that we have most of this material already on Commons (via Geograph), but badly organised. I don't know if that's changed, or if we've got a better idea of what's out there...
- Andrew.
On 16 January 2013 16:45, HJ Mitchell hjmitchell@ymail.com wrote:
Well we have a list of Grade I listed buildings in every county. I'm
sure it
would be easy enough to have a bot do the same for Grade II* and
Scheduled
Ancient Monuments, and that gives us a ready-made target list. How much
more
organisation is needed, beyond creating the necessary project pages on
the
relevant wikis and getting the word out?
Harry Mitchell http://enwp.org/User:HJ Phone: 024 7698 0977 Skype: harry_j_mitchell
From: Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com To: UK Wikimedia mailing list wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Wednesday, 16 January 2013, 16:31 Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] WikiConference 2013 Speakers
Excellent suggestions, thanks, I will look into it.
A WLM speaker would be great... last year it was mentioned, but only as a plea for someone to step forward and organise the UK effort.
I looked into what it would take but it seems a larger job than I'd have time for given my other committements - is there noone from the GLAM
side of
things who can take it on??
Tom
On 15 January 2013 21:11, Lodewijk lodewijk@effeietsanders.org wrote:
If the UK would be participating in Wiki Loves Monuments this year, would that be an angle to search a keynote? (national or European) I doubt
someone
from the international team would qualify as a ''keynote'' (maybe regular though?) but someone from Heritage England or even one of the European umbrella organizations (Europa Nostra, Europeana) could do something?
Just a thought,
Lodewijk
2013/1/15 Jon Davies jon.davies@wikimedia.org.uk
AGM 8th of June with more activities on the 9th.
On 15 January 2013 11:21, Joe Filceolaire filceolaire@gmail.com wrote:
date? On Jan 15, 2013 11:19 AM, "Thomas Morton" morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
Morning Everyone,
As you might know, the 2013 conference will be in Lincoln, organised by
the
Conference Committee with support from the office.
With the venue chosen, we now need to figure out an exciting programme. A lot of this is in the planning stage and we will be releasing more information later, however one of the first thing we need to do is figure out some keynote speakers.
Later in the year we will be calling for papers and speakers from within
the
community, right now we are focusing on finding one or two "big names"
who
have something relevant to say.
As this is your concert we need to know who you want to hear from!
It could be anyone; from celerities, to politicians, to activists. We're looking for intriguing suggestions, people with a unique perspective.
Some initial suggestions have been made, please please do suggest further ideas here on the mailing list, by emailing myself or posting on this
page:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_UK_2013/Speakers
Regards, Tom
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
-- Jon Davies - Chief Executive Wikimedia UK. Mobile (0044) 7803 505 169 tweet @jonatreesdavies
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). Telephone (0044) 207 065 0990.
Visit http://www.wikimedia.org.uk/ and @wikimediauk
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
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--
- Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Can someone give me a quick overview of how geograph works and how the images are taken?
I ask this because a number of images from my home town are poor quality, and incomplete (I can locate less than 5 notable buildings photographed in the town, when the real number is circa 20-30).
When I say "poor quality" I don't necessarily mean low res etc. but of poor photographic quality; for example a monument in the centre of the town is photographed from about half a mile away across the roofs of several buildings (although you can drive/walk right past it...).
Tom
Firstly - Good summary WSC
Geograph is basically a wiki for images. You take a picture. You load it to Geograph and specify where the item is and where you were standing when you took it. The picture is then looked over by someone to check its not a picture of your thumb. THe picture is categorised in a way similar to commons. Points are awarded based on the rarity of the picture (no one has taken a picture there before). The site attracts a lot of happy snappers and people who like to get points. Its a great idea and its worked. YOu may not find a great picture of extly what you want ...... but then there are lots of pictures still to load and lots that require better categorisation. On the latter - there has been a lot of improvement. If you compare it to panaramio which is Googles tool for getting people to donate geotagged images then Id say that the quality is not as good but the quantity of images is much better by Geograph. I look at images on Google Earth for Morocco and there is an occasional picture of maybe one settlement in 6.
However I agree with WSC's final para (as well) and although it would have been nice to see Geograph run across the world, it appears that WLM has the brand and momentum. (And their prizes are impressive).
HTT R
On 20 January 2013 13:51, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.comwrote:
Can someone give me a quick overview of how geograph works and how the images are taken?
I ask this because a number of images from my home town are poor quality, and incomplete (I can locate less than 5 notable buildings photographed in the town, when the real number is circa 20-30).
When I say "poor quality" I don't necessarily mean low res etc. but of poor photographic quality; for example a monument in the centre of the town is photographed from about half a mile away across the roofs of several buildings (although you can drive/walk right past it...).
Tom
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Thanks Roger,
Both Geograph and Wiki Loves Monuments have established that people like photography contests, and they are willing to take images and release them under open licenses. I'd also add that enough of the images are good that it is worth sifting through the many that aren't.
Geograph is very much focussed on the UK and Eire, though I think they may be extending to Germany. They definitely aren't global but then neither is the UK chapter. WLM started in the Netherlands and has now extended to dozens of countries, but not yet the UK.
WLM is a Wikimedia initiative from one of our fellow chapters, and I'd agree that means a presumption that we should take part, and that we'd be welcome participants. The Geograph is a completely separate entity and my only attempt to contact them has not been responded to after some months (I emailed them about a probable copyright anomaly). But their licensing is fully compatible with ours.
The Geograph runs a points based system which started off with the idea of getting a photo of every square kilometer of the UK, Yes they really do have images as banal as a bit of driftwood on the shingle that forms the only dry land in one particular grid square. They've subsequently extended that model to allow various other ways to get points for subsequent picture in the same square km. I have whinged slightly here about their poor coverage of nature reserves, but I'd really like to see the UK chapter approach them and say "Here is a list of Wikipedia articles that lack images, would you be willing to add them to Geograph and offer Geograph points for photographing them? And while we are talking would your members like a dual load option so that they can also load their images onto commons?"
Where the Geograph outscores WLM is that they aren't time limited, some of their photographers have uploaded images from decades ago, and they cover the same object in different seasons. I think that makes them more compatible with Wikipedia, September foliage can hide some of the features we want to photograph, winter snow can highlight earthworks and other archaeology, past events are best illustrated with old photos, and waterfalls in particular are much better illustrated with minigalleries showing winter spate next to summer trickles.
I've taken part in some of the discussions about the future of WLM, and there is a realisation that it will need to change as we run out of monuments in some countries, But they do seem very wedded to the idea of it being a September competition, and I find that very limiting.
My preference would be that we follow both tracks, there is no guarantee that WLM would want to collaborate with us, but if they did the benefits would be great for us both - and why not run WLM in cooperation with the Geograph?
WSC
On 20 January 2013 16:52, Roger Bamkin victuallers@gmail.com wrote:
Firstly - Good summary WSC
Geograph is basically a wiki for images. You take a picture. You load it to Geograph and specify where the item is and where you were standing when you took it. The picture is then looked over by someone to check its not a picture of your thumb. THe picture is categorised in a way similar to commons. Points are awarded based on the rarity of the picture (no one has taken a picture there before). The site attracts a lot of happy snappers and people who like to get points. Its a great idea and its worked. YOu may not find a great picture of extly what you want ...... but then there are lots of pictures still to load and lots that require better categorisation. On the latter - there has been a lot of improvement. If you compare it to panaramio which is Googles tool for getting people to donate geotagged images then Id say that the quality is not as good but the quantity of images is much better by Geograph. I look at images on Google Earth for Morocco and there is an occasional picture of maybe one settlement in 6.
However I agree with WSC's final para (as well) and although it would have been nice to see Geograph run across the world, it appears that WLM has the brand and momentum. (And their prizes are impressive).
HTT R
On 20 January 2013 13:51, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.comwrote:
Can someone give me a quick overview of how geograph works and how the images are taken?
I ask this because a number of images from my home town are poor quality, and incomplete (I can locate less than 5 notable buildings photographed in the town, when the real number is circa 20-30).
When I say "poor quality" I don't necessarily mean low res etc. but of poor photographic quality; for example a monument in the centre of the town is photographed from about half a mile away across the roofs of several buildings (although you can drive/walk right past it...).
Tom
Wikimedia UK mailing list wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
-- Roger Bamkin Victuallers Ltd 01332 702993 0758 2020815 Google+:Victuallers Skype:Victuallers1 Flickr:Victuallers2
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On 20 January 2013 19:16, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
Where the Geograph outscores WLM is that they aren't time limited, some of their photographers have uploaded images from decades ago, and they cover the same object in different seasons. I think that makes them more compatible with Wikipedia, September foliage can hide some of the features we want to photograph, winter snow can highlight earthworks and other archaeology, past events are best illustrated with old photos, and waterfalls in particular are much better illustrated with minigalleries showing winter spate next to summer trickles.
Isn't WLM also non-time-limited? They have to be *submitted* to the contest (and Commons) in a specific month, but older images are still acceptable - see for example the Israeli winner, which was taken in the winter of 1992.
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/11/29/wiki-loves-monuments-2012-the-israeli-f...
We gave a prize to Geograph as Wiki of the year - they should respond to us if we use the right address
On 20 January 2013 19:29, Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk wrote:
On 20 January 2013 19:16, WereSpielChequers werespielchequers@gmail.com wrote:
Where the Geograph outscores WLM is that they aren't time limited, some
of
their photographers have uploaded images from decades ago, and they cover the same object in different seasons. I think that makes them more compatible with Wikipedia, September foliage can hide some of the
features
we want to photograph, winter snow can highlight earthworks and other archaeology, past events are best illustrated with old photos, and waterfalls in particular are much better illustrated with minigalleries showing winter spate next to summer trickles.
Isn't WLM also non-time-limited? They have to be *submitted* to the contest (and Commons) in a specific month, but older images are still acceptable - see for example the Israeli winner, which was taken in the winter of 1992.
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/11/29/wiki-loves-monuments-2012-the-israeli-f...
--
- Andrew Gray andrew.gray@dunelm.org.uk
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