I was describing to someone how Wikipedia works:
"anyone can edit" etc.
He answered with this argument:
"Wikipedia is the triumph of the average person!
of the man in the street!)"
(average meaning: not good, not bad, just OK)
I asked "why?"
His explanation:
"Great brilliant works are built by individuals.
Groups of people can only create average works.
If someone writes something good in the wiki,
other average persons will intervene with his/her
work and turn it into an average work. If someone
writes something bad in the wiki, the others will
again turn it into something of average value.
with your system (meaning: Wikipedia's system)
you can be sure that you will never create
something too bad but also never something too
good. You can create only average articles."
The idea behind his argument was that Wikipedia
will be a good resource as long as it attracts
good cotnributors. but it will soon become an
average site/encyclopaedia because it allows
anyone to join the project and edit, and most
people are just average persons and not brilliant
writers.
Do you think it's true? and how can we answer
this argument?
--Optim
__________________________________
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On Sunday 28 July 2002 03:00 am, The Cunctator wrote:
> What are the articles this person has been changing?
For 66.108.155.126:
20:08 Jul 27, 2002 Computer
20:07 Jul 27, 2002 Exploit
20:07 Jul 27, 2002 AOL
20:05 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
20:05 Jul 27, 2002 Leet
20:03 Jul 27, 2002 Root
20:02 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:59 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:58 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:54 Jul 27, 2002 Principle of least astonishment
19:54 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
19:52 Jul 27, 2002 Trance music
19:51 Jul 27, 2002 Trance music
For 208.24.115.6:
20:20 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
For 141.157.232.26:
20:19 Jul 27, 2002 Hacker
Most of these were complete replacements with discoherent statements.
Such as "TAP IS THE ABSOLUTE DEFINITION OF THE NOUN HACKER" for Hacker.
For the specifics follow http://www.wikipedia.com/wiki/Special:Ipblocklist
and look at the contribs.
--mav
Hello,
We are a group of Algerians contributors to Wikipedia, we would like to
create a new Wikipedia portal for the widely local spoken language in north
Africa "Derija" which is driven from various languages like Arabic, French,
Amazight, Spanish ... ( see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algerian_Arabic
and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darija )
The project is not influence by any political motivation, we would like to
ease the understanding of information for the people who does't speak
Arabic, French nor English in the region.
It would be interesting to point out that a similar experience has been
launched in 2008 in Egypt by creating a Wikipedia portal for the Egyptian
language with is similar to Arabic (see
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Arabic and
https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%88%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A%D8%A8%D9%8A%D8%AF%D…
)
the experiment is having a lot of success in Egypt, and we would
like exactly to copy the Egyptian model but our goal is to reach the
population of 5 countries "Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Libya and Mauritania".
We would like to know if it respects the terms of the Wikifondation, and
the process to follow to create the portal.
Best regards
Walid Zenad
Hi all,
My colleague, Eryk, alerted me to this thread (I'm subscribed now). I think
I can shed a little light as to what's going on with Visiting Scholars.
For a brief introduction, I'm the Community Engagement Manager with the
Wiki Education Foundation. My "official" username is User:Ryan_(Wiki_Ed)
and my volunteer account is User:Rhododendrites.
Since the Wikipedia Library is growing rapidly and Wiki Ed wanted to
dedicate time and resources to grow this program in particular, Wiki Ed
will be running Visiting Scholars in the US and Canada. But that hand-off
only just happened with the announcements this week, with five institutions
already ready to go (see posts on the Wiki Ed blog
<http://wikiedu.org/blog/2015/07/13/visiting-scholars/> and WMF blog
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/07/13/wikipedians-as-visiting-scholars/>),
so I want to try to apologize in advance for what I'm sure will be a few
hiccups/areas of confusion.
Pine, regarding why you weren't in the loop about UW: Though Jake or Alex
could probably say more definitively, it looks like the person who signed
up to supervise the position, Paul Constantine, was contacted by the OCLC
representative working with the Wikipedia Library. She wouldn't likely have
known how to find out if Wikipedians are there first. You may want to
connect with Paul, but in the future I'd be more than happy to work with
you. Since we work with so many universities at Wiki Ed, we're pretty
committed to maintaining a database of people we can talk to about this or
that at different institutions.
Then there's the implicit question of why no UW contact was listed for the
UW position. I've centralized the application process to have them go
through me rather than going directly to the institutional contacts. That
way I can do some screening, looking for the kinds of things a
non-Wikipedian would have difficulty determining. It's also because I'd
like to do more recruitment in the other direction, reaching out to
Wikipedians to apply even if there's no open position and/or having
conversations with people who want access to research materials. If I'm
managing the applications, I can better make those connections. So the
reason the contact isn't there is because I wanted to avoid the confusion
of having a second email address someone might accidentally send their
resume to. Upon reflection, it probably would be a good idea to include the
contact's name and maybe a link to their faculty/staff bio.
Sorry for the long message. If you have questions or comments about
Visiting Scholars, please send an email or leave a message on my talk page.
Thanks!
Ryan
On Tue, Jul 14, 2015 at 2:37 PM, Eryk Salvaggio <eryk(a)wikiedu.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, Jul 14, 2015 at 8:12 AM, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Lane, I wasn't aware that this position was planned at all. We have
>> contacts at the UW libraries and at Wiki Ed but they seem to have planned
>> this without us being in the loop. That said, I'm glad that UW and Wiki Ed
>> arranged for this position. Pinging Jake and Sage to see of they will let
>> us know the contact people for this position at UW and Wiki Ed, off-list
>> if
>> necessary.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Pine
>> On Jul 14, 2015 7:50 AM, "Lane Rasberry" <lane(a)bluerasberry.com> wrote:
>>
>> > Note the UW position- do we know this contact?
>> >
>> > ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>> > From: Jake Orlowitz <jorlowitz(a)gmail.com>
>> > Date: Mon, Jul 13, 2015, 5:28 PM
>> > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] 5 New Visiting Scholars Positions Open (now under
>> > Wiki Ed)
>> > To: wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org <
>> > wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>,
>> wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > <
>> > wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
>> >
>> >
>> > The Wikipedia Library <https://enwp.org/wiki/WP:TWL> is pleased to
>> > announce
>> > five new Wikipedia Visiting Scholars
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:VS> positions
>> > with US and Canadian universities and research organizations as part of
>> an
>> > program expansion.
>> >
>> > Visiting Scholars are remote, unpaid Wikipedia editors who become
>> > affiliated with top research libraries. They receive full access to the
>> > partner library’s e-resources to expand topics of institutional interest
>> > which also need development on Wikipedia. This marks the second
>> successful
>> > round of institutions participating in the program
>> > <http://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/03/17/wikipedia-research-library/>.
>> >
>> > These new positions will be coordinated and managed by the Wikipedia
>> > Library’s movement partner, the Wiki Education Foundation
>> > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Education_Foundation> (Wiki Ed).
>> > Wiki
>> > Ed will process applications, connect to schools, and drive the growth
>> of
>> > the program in the North American region. They are in an excellent
>> position
>> > to help expand Visiting Scholars because of their extensive existing
>> > connections to universities and desire to support Wikipedia’s best
>> content
>> > creators.
>> >
>> > We invite Wikipedia editors who specialize in content creation, and
>> would
>> > like access to a full research library, to apply for these new unpaid,
>> > remote affiliate positions at the following research libraries:
>> >
>> > - *McMaster University
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMaster_University>* is a public
>> > university in Hamilton, Ontario
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton,_Ontario>, Canada. The
>> > library’s
>> > holdings in their Division of Research Collections and Archives
>> contain
>> > many valuable and unique resources, with emphases in areas such as
>> peace
>> > and war (with a particular emphasis on the Holocaust
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holocaust> and resistance), Bertrand
>> > Russell <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Russell>, Canadian
>> > literature and popular culture.
>> > - *DePaul University <
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DePaul_University>*
>> > is
>> > a private university in Chicago <
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago
>> > >,
>> > Illinois. The library is looking for Wikipedians who can focus on
>> > Chicago
>> > history, Catholic social justice studies, and/or Vincentian Studies
>> > (including French history during the Napoleonic Era
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Napoleonic_Era>).
>> > - *The Smithsonian Institution
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Smithsonian_Institution>*,
>> > established in 1846 “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge,”
>> is a
>> > group of museums and research centers administered by the Government
>> of
>> > the
>> > United States. The Warren M. Robbins Library of the National Museum
>> of
>> > African Art
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Museum_of_African_Art> is
>> > looking for a Wikipedian in Residence that can focus on modern
>> African
>> > art
>> > and artists.
>> > - *The University of Pittsburgh
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Pittsburgh>* (PITT) is
>> a
>> > state-related research university in Pittsburgh
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pittsburgh>, Pennsylvania. This
>> Visiting
>> > Scholar position will work with PITT’s Archives Service Center,
>> Special
>> > Collections and Center for American Music to focus on: Pittsburgh and
>> > Pennsylvanian history including urban renewal in Pittsburgh,
>> childhood
>> > in
>> > the industrial era of Pittsburgh, music composers of Pittsburgh,
>> > Pittsburgh
>> > theater or significant literary figures from Pittsburgh; Colonial
>> > American
>> > history; historic American songs; or philosophy of science.
>> > - *The University of Washington
>> > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Washington>* (UW),
>> > commonly
>> > referred to as Washington or, informally, UDub, is a public research
>> > university in Seattle <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle>,
>> > Washington. This Visiting Scholar position will work with UW’s
>> Special
>> > Collections and focus on labor and the working classes in the Pacific
>> > Northwest, all aspects of Pacific Northwest history and literature,
>> and
>> > Pacific Northwest architecture.
>> >
>> >
>> > Full application information is available at the Wiki Education
>> Foundation
>> > signup page <http://wikiedu.org/visitingscholars/apply/>.<
>> > http://wikiedu.org/visitingscholars/apply/>
>> >
>> > Wiki Ed also invites editors to apply for a Visiting Scholar placement
>> > pool. The pool will help grow the Visiting Scholar program by creating a
>> > list of willing and interested candidates to offer to new partner
>> > libraries. With the interests and needs of pre-qualified Wikipedians in
>> > hand, Wiki Ed can work to find libraries that match your interests.
>> >
>> > Access to research libraries as part of one of these visiting scholar
>> > positions creates considerable opportunities for Wikipedia editors. It
>> > allows them access to services and tools, including multiple paywalled
>> > databases, integrated search and discovery tools, research collections
>> and
>> > recommendations from specialist librarians, and expert consultation. In
>> > return, editors can begin a conversation with the library, which creates
>> > opportunities for greater understanding and communication between these
>> > universities and the wider Wikipedia community.
>> >
>> > *The Wikipedia Library*
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
>> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > <
>> >
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/GuidelinesWikimedia-l@lists.w…
>> > >
>> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
>> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > Wikimedia-Cascadia mailing list
>> > Wikimedia-Cascadia(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-cascadia
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-Cascadia mailing list
>> Wikimedia-Cascadia(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-cascadia
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Eryk Salvaggio
> Communications Associate
> Wiki Education Foundation
>
> eryk(a)wikiedu.org
> User:Eryk (Wiki Ed) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Eryk_(Wiki_Ed)>
> @WikiEducation <https://twitter.com/WikiEducation>
> wikiedu.org
>
> *Our organization supports the Wikipedia Education Program in the United
> States and Canada.*
>
--
Ryan McGrady
Community Engagement Manager
Wiki Education Foundation
ryan(a)wikiedu.org
User:Ryan (Wiki Ed) <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Ryan+(Wiki+Ed)>
wikiedu.org
*Our organization supports Visiting Scholars and the Wikipedia Education
Program in the United States and Canada.*