Dear All -
Last December 6th special meeting event
on Wikipedia and NFT with a few invited guests
made me think we could do meeting that are relevant
beyond our immediate scope and be more visible...
...but also last week I was almost topic-banned
on HR Wikipedia (Croatian) as none of the Admins knew
what Wikimedian in Residence is and were thinking
it is either paid editing or problematic self-promotion
(when I was actually unemployed :-)))
So after a successful event and a monthly HR drama,
I am thinking what can we do better to increase
WiR and WREN visibility on Wikipedia and Wikimedia.
For people coming from most of the arts the notion of
artist-in-residence is super familiar and easy to relate to,
but average Wikipedian (if there is such thing)
has very few chances to come across this term
as well as to grasp what Wikimedian in Residence is.
Only 27 Wikipedia instances have articles on WiRs
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3809586
What could be good strategies to change that?
15 years ago (so we missed it by a week)
on December 13, 2006 we got this text as a start
http://original-research.blogspot.com/2006/12/wikipedian-in-residence-propo…
Maybe we can draft something short quickly today
and just pass it on later in the day to Wikimedia-L
and potentially to the DIFF Blog of WMF?
Elsewhere?
Best Z
On Tue, Jan 4, 2022 at 6:33 AM Samuel Klein <meta.sj(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> ZB -- Just seeing this excellent idea. Yes, it is a good time to revisit
> and envision what might be possible if this were a much broader and more
> universal practice, with a wide range of templates.
>
Glad to hear you think so. Few people in the WREN list also expressed
interest so maybe we start in the upcoming meeting?
> I would suggest combining it with a global scholarship program for younger
> students -- a multilingual internationally known wikimedia scholarship
> program, with matching funds and support via regional partners, would
> elevate the principles, the focus on improving public knowledge, and the
> practice of self-organization and learning-by-participating that makes us
> tick.
>
OK - I did not hear of it, but curious for sure.
Best Z. Blace
> SJ
>
> On Wed, Dec 22, 2021 at 1:28 AM Željko Blaće <zblace(a)mi2.hr> wrote:
>
>> Before this last 21st day in the 21st year of 21st century
>> is globally over, I try to re-initiate re-thinking
>> on this 15 years old proposal for a Wikipedian-in-residence
>>
>> http://original-research.blogspot.com/2006/12/wikipedian-in-residence-propo…
>> but also articles in (only) 27 language Wikipedias,
>>
>> Meta, Outreach wiki and elsewhere
>> for updating the notion of WIR and roles it performs in Wikimedia,
>> an ecosystem of diverse entities, dynamics and relations.
>>
>> As Wikimedians with wider perspective than a single wiki project, often
>> more than a single language and for sure more than single community, gear
>> up to discuss and act on 2030 strategy, that includes new initiatives, new
>> formations of decentering resources, new content, forms and methods of
>> working, with new priorities, conditions, tools, services and what
>> not…there is also a value in reflecting and reimagining what is already
>> established but often overlooked practice.
>>
>> Some of the WIR practitioners have been self-reflecting on and off
>> publicly https://wikistrategies.net/5-things-wikipedian-in-residence/
>> and engaging with communities https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc9YgFm2eso
>> there was also network establishment.
>> 3 years ago WREN UG (Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network User
>> Group) was recognized with the aim to protect the common elements of the
>> role and for creating a peer support network of new and experienced WIRs
>> for collaboration and to encourage a global professional environment which
>> inspires institutions to appoint persons to engage with Wikimedia.
>>
>> In recent times Wikipedian-in-Residence, is more often
>> Wikimedian-in-Residence, in rapid growth of Commons and Wikidata (but also
>> in 2021 first one in Wiktionary) and sometimes Wikimedian-at-Large, in more
>> generalized practice of strategy or direction setting work.
>> Additionally in time of pandemic when doing physical events is
>> challenging and many of the (potential) partner organizations are closing
>> down or limiting public events to bare essential, short and transient it is
>> more important than ever that individuals (rather than cohorts of editathon
>> enthusiasts) keep revisiting institutions and work with them in a most
>> flexible mode and scale.
>>
>> Finally to start both re-visioning and maybe even re-positioning WIRs in
>> Wikimedia we should think of what this network of ‘free agents’ can bring
>> towards 2030, beyond what WMF, affiliates, UGs, HUBs, WikiProjects and
>> other organizational forms can. Also think how much more useful this
>> initial inspiration of artists, writers and researchers in residence could
>> be if these creative and critical roles in the art and cultural sector get
>> embraced and encouraged more often and more intentionally.
>>
>> Z. Blace
>> _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
> --
> Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266
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Hi all!
It's time to organize the judging for the 2021 Wiki Science Competition
[1], and I'm looking for people to serve on the jury. It’s not too much of
a time commitment as the judging is very informal and mainly done through
an email chain. Please think about if you know someone who might be
interested (including yourself) and let me know.
Thanks!
John
[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Science_Competition_2021_in_th…