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{{divbox|blue|Welcome to the water cooler| This is a place to find out what is happening and to discuss our external projects and activities. Feel free to suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission or ask questions about how you can help. To discuss the inner workings of the charity, head over to the [[engine room]].}}
{{divbox|blue|Welcome to the water cooler| This is a place to find out what is happening and to discuss our external projects and activities. Feel free to suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission or ask questions about how you can help. To discuss the inner workings of the charity, head over to the [[engine room]].}}
{{divbox|green|WMUK Grants programme - a piece of cake?[[file:Tile wmuk.jpeg|75px|left]]|<center>Applying for a grant is easy.<p>If Wikimedia UK can help you improve Wikimedia projects, check out our [[grants|grants page]].</center>}}
{{divbox|green|WMUK Grants programme - a piece of cake?[[file:Tile wmuk.jpeg|75px|left]]|<center>Applying for a grant is easy.<p>If Wikimedia UK can help you improve Wikimedia projects, check out our [[grants|grants page]].</center>}}
== Upcoming volunteer opportunities to speak about Wikipedia ==
== Kanban for editathons ==
Dear All,
[[File:WCCWiki4.jpg|thumb|A {{wp|kanban board}} at the Women in Classical Studies editathon at Senate House, London]]
I just saw the newsletter with a picture of the {{wp|kanban board}} used at the Women in Classical Studies editathon. What a great idea! It helps people share what they are working on. Helps to avoid edit conflicts. Enables organisers to list all the articles that have been improved. It could possibly work well for a recap session at the end too, where people talk about the changes they made.
There are two exciting volunteer opportunities within expert outreach and Wikipedia that I wanted to flag up.
Who was involved with that editathon? Who has used it elsewhere? I would love to hear how it has been used in practice.
* Science Communications and Public Engagement workshop on 19 June, London, run by Society for Applied Microbiology, but open to a wider audience from other science organisations. See a draft agenda below. This is a really good opportunity to talk about using Wikipedia in Science communication to the right audience. Some details remain to be pinned down, so whoever is keen to deliver this can adapt the programme.
[[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 15:09, 3 February 2017 (GMT)
* A talk about Wikipedia and how a learned society can engage with it at [http://www.physiology2014.org/ Physiology 2014], London, which takes place over 30 June - 2 July. Probably a brief presentation (or a workshop, depending on your preference) to function as a part of the conference, to lead to a full training workshop in October in the office of the Physiology Society. The details are up for discussion and so we would arrange a meeting with the conference organiser to pin it all down.
: Hi [[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]], I was the lead trainer at the [[ wikipedia:Meetups/UK/Institute_of_Classical_Studies_Jan_2017 |Women in Classical Studies editathon]]. I saw the kanban in an [https://www.instagram.com/p/BClfaSjhVdG/ Instagram post] for an [[wikipedia:Meetup/ArtAndFeminism|Art+Feminism]] editathon. It worked much better than expected - a fantastic indicator of the [https://youtu.be/bAWxTPZZNrg?t=2m27s achievements of the day].[[User:Eartha78|Eartha78]] ([[User talk:Eartha78|talk]]) 19:02, 3 February 2017 (GMT)
::Cool. So how did you use it? Did you get people to brainstorm a load of post-its of articles to look at, at the beginning of the day? Did you just say 'if you have an idea, stick it on the board'? Did you come with the post-its filled out already? [[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 10:25, 11 February 2017 (GMT)
Do get in touch if you are interested in getting involved! [[User:Daria Cybulska (WMUK)|Daria Cybulska (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Daria Cybulska (WMUK)|talk]]) 10:15, 28 April 2014 (BST)
::: The group were quite well prepared prior to the editathon. They had identified a number of articles to create - some had already done the research and started to writing in their sandbox. When we began the second part of the editathon they each committed to an article, wrote it on a sticky note and stuck it to the wall! Moving the notes from left to right was surprisingly motivating and a good excuse to stretch ones legs. Also used the sticky notes for an evaluation exercise at the end of the session. [[User:Eartha78|Eartha78]] ([[User talk:Eartha78|talk]]) 18:27, 16 February 2017 (GMT)
== Wiki Education Cooperative ==
::::Thank you Eartha78. That is really interesting. I will use this next time I do an editathon. [[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 09:39, 19 February 2017 (GMT)
Prompted by the [[meta:Wiki_Education_Foundation/Monthly_Reports/2014-03|Wiki Education Foundation's latest monthly report]], and in preparation for WMUK's next monthly report, I think it's appropriate to share the following information on the Water Cooler (with apologies that it has taken me slightly longer than I would have liked to do so):
== Wikimedia UK's plans for 2018 - community consultation ==
[[File:Programmes Consultation Video - Wikimedia UK.webm|centre|thumb|800x800px|Watch our video about our plans for 2018]]
In early March, I attended the Wiki Education Cooperative meeting in Prague. At this meeting, the WMUK joined other Wikimedia education programs (including Israel, Nepal, Czech Republic, Mexico, Ukraine, United State, Canada, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Serbia) and the Wikimedia Foundation’s Global Education Program team to determine a plan moving forward for sharing best practices and fostering collaboration among educational efforts on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia project. Outcomes of the Prague meeting include:
* Cooperative members will spend the next several months in small teams that target the initial goals agreed upon by the whole group. From now through Wikimania 2014, I will be a part of the Resources Team, which initially aims to consolidate existing resources so that everyone can find everything in one (very visible and easy-to-find) place. I see this as an important step in aligning our Education activities to the successful approaches on the global education program and similar efforts in other parts of the world.
Wikimedia UK is in the process of writing our proposal to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding during 2018/19. The deadline for the bid is 1st October after which it is assessed by staff at the Foundation, there is an opportunity for community feedback and questions, and the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meet to consider proposals and make recommendations about grants.
* The team at the Wikimedia Foundation will help the group redesign an online portal that is more cohesive and accessible than the varied portals have been in the past.
* The cooperative will network at Wikimania 2014 with other stakeholders to expand its reach and to welcome new members into the community.
For more about the kick-off meeting in Prague see [https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education_Portal/Newsletter/March_2014/Education_Cooperative_Kickoff_Meeting_in_Prague this Education newsletter post].
As 2018/19 is the final year of our 2016 - 2019 strategy, our programme for next year is in many ways a continuation of our activities in 2017 and falls under three key strands:
The cooperative is technically still in formation and is presently only operating under a working name. Aims, goals, scope and other essential elements for any such grouping are still to be codified, but we are already formulating these ahead of a potential official launch at Wikimania 2014.
# Diverse content and contributors
# Promoting open knowledge
# Education and Learning
As ever, please do not hesitate to direct any questions or comments directly to me. --[[User:Toni Sant (WMUK)|Toni Sant (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Toni Sant (WMUK)|talk]]) 15:31, 4 May 2014 (BST)
These strands are directly related to our three strategic goals, which are to:
==Wikimedia Sweden launches Umepedia Challenge==
* Increase the quality and quantity of coverage of subjects that are currently underrepresented on Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects
* Contribute to the development of open knowledge in the UK, by increasing understanding and recognition of the value of open knowledge and advocating for change at an organisational, sectoral and public policy level
* Support the use of the Wikimedia projects as important tools for education and learning in the UK
We would welcome input from the UK community into our plans for next year - which we are still shaping - and have created a short video to highlight our programme strands which you can watch [https://youtu.be/56s3Ch7sHbQ here]. You can give us feedback on our programme anytime, but if you’d like your views to be taken into account in our submission to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding, please do comment below by Friday 29th September. If you’d prefer to get in touch by email, feel free to contact me on lucy.crompton-reid@wikimedia.org.uk.
Hello everyone. You might be interested to learn that [https://www.wikimedia.se/ Wikimedia Sweden] has launched an article improvement competition called the Umepedia Challenge. The contest is focused on writing and editing articles about the Swedish city of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ume%C3%A5 Umea]. The contest runs through the month of May and [https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Umepedia_Challenge more details can be found here]. [[User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)|Stevie Benton (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Stevie Benton (WMUK)|talk]]) 10:10, 6 May 2014 (BST)
There are several questions in particular that I’d like to ask:
== 10,000 research quality maps of the world ==
* Is there anything that Wikimedia UK should be doing more of, or new activities that we should consider, in 2018/19?
* What work would you like to see us continue?
* Is there anything you think we should do less of or stop doing?
* How would you like to be involved in Wikimedia UK’s programme next year?
[[File:A new and correct chart of the sea coast of ENGLAND, SCOTLAND and IRELAND NYPL1640559.tiff|thumb|<center>Map of Britain, Samuel Thornton, c.1705<br><small>Scan at 6,078 × 4,968 pixels.<br>[[Commons:Commons:Batch uploading/NYPL Maps|NYPL maps project page]].</small>]]
With many thanks indeed for your input.
I have been drafting a note about this GWToolset based maps upload project for the Wikimedia Commons Village pump. The upload should complete within the next couple of days (due to extreme file sizes, and an WMF Operations request to throttle speed of uploads, this has taken a lot longer than I expected). As this is Chapter supported media, would a UK blog post along similar lines published at the same time be of interest? --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 10:20, 8 May 2014 (BST)
== ACTRIAL and new users creating new pages at events ==
::A UK blog post would be very interesting. As I mentioned below, this should really be on the Water Cooler as it relates to an external programme. Would you be good enough to repost there? --[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 14:52, 11 May 2014 (BST)
::: Done.
Hi All,
::: If my blog account ("Fae") is re-enabled (it appears to have been restricted from editing without anyone informing me), then I will draft a post on WordPress. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 17:11, 12 May 2014 (BST)
::::Hi Fae, if you'd like to draft a blog post about this excellent project I would be more than happy to publish it with an appropriate attribution on your behalf. [[User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)|Stevie Benton (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Stevie Benton (WMUK)|talk]]) 18:17, 12 May 2014 (BST)
Some thoughts on {{wp|WP:ACTRIAL}} and our events:
*It makes sense to encourage new users to work in {{wp|Wikipedia:Drafts|Draft: name space}}.
*This doesn't change the fact that it is worth asking people to create an account in advance (and to remember their password!)
*We have to expect that some people won't create an account and most of those who have won't be auto-confirmed - this is OK.
*If there are admins present at the event, they can make new users confirmed.... although I wouldn't stress over it - there is no harm in the Draft: name space.
*All the above is less of an issue if we take the approach of [[#Training from the back of the room]] described above. If the group is split into teams that are deliberately set to have the full spread of ability, we can encourage people to help other team members, including the following:
**Middle-ability people to show the people with no account how to create an account.
**Experienced editors to help newer editors to find a page that might need editing.
**Experienced editors to create pages that other team members are interested in editing.
You could even get admins to confirm accounts of non-confirmed people in their team, but it might actually be better to not do that. If the experienced people in the team have actually created the article then at least we know it is in their contributions and so they can steward the article towards improvement. e.g. 1. the day after the event, they might go back to the article and tidy it up, 2. if the article gets tagged for deletion, they are better able to discuss it and improve it, whereas a new user may feel bitten.
::::: I would rather create it exactly as it will be displayed using my account, which is on the system. I was under the impression that volunteers can do that, rather than eating up employee time cut & pasting and reformatting. I assume that there is a review process for draft blog posts, though I recall that the board of trustees no longer needs to approve them. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 21:05, 12 May 2014 (BST)
[[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 14:44, 25 September 2017 (BST)
::::: I'm going to skip this now. Too many days have passed since my notice on Commons about the project, and time passed without further response here. My original intention was to hold off the Commons notice for a day or two so that the post on the chapter blog would be news.
:Obvious question, where do we find data on how many non-autoconfirmed users and IPs actually make pages that satisfy Wiki Criteria? [[Special:Contributions/82.132.237.141|82.132.237.141]] 15:31, 26 September 2017 (BST)
::::: It would be nice if we could return to allowing unpaid volunteers to draft blog posts on WordPress, rather than this entirely relying on employees along with the associated lost opportunity costs. However this is just an observation comparing how things used to be done, not that long ago, to the reality of how the charity works today. This is not a request for an employee to do anything, neither is it a criticism of employees, the shift to using closed processes for managing the chapter blog being the choice of the board of trustees. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 14:21, 20 May 2014 (BST)
::[[:meta:Wikipedia:New pages patrol/Analysis and proposal|According to WMF research]], of the 1,180 articles created every day on the English Wikipedia, about 7% are by non-autoconfirmed editors. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 16:55, 2 October 2017 (BST)
:Thanks for your input Yaris678. Working in Draft: or User: space is probably going to be integral to dealing with this. I've not used Draft: much myself, but I'm keen on getting people to use their sandbox to prepare material and then copy it over. It does mean a chunk of the pages people work on aren't copied over the to the mainspace but that's a reasonable trade-off. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 16:59, 2 October 2017 (BST)
== Trained trainers - post-refresher meetup ==
:The [[#Training from the back of the room]] sounds like a really interesting idea, I'm interested in this kind of collaborative/peer learning process. Sadly for the bulk of editathons I manage, this wouldn't be applicable, as I'm generally working with a whole bundle new users, trying to advocated for further use in their organisations. [[User:Lirazelf|Lirazelf]] ([[User talk:Lirazelf|talk]]) 14:07, 3 October 2017 (BST)
[[File:Beer Bernard 1.jpg|thumb|Alcohol can encourage sharing, but may inhibit other brain functions required for learning.]]
::Thanks Lirazelf. I guess you'll have to rely on the first four bullets - especially the draft namespace. I think it would be useful to have a non-new user move the drafts across. Preferably during the training session, so people can see their work "live" on Wikipedia, which will create excitement. Ideally, well before the end of the training so that people can continue to edit their articles in main space - seeing that this is a normal thing to do is important.
[[File:Workshop 001.jpg|thumb|Not that kind of workshop!]]
::I fringe benefit of this approach is that each article edited will be in the contributions list of at least one non-new user. That way, they can "steward" the article to a certain extent. This will be particularly important if the article is nominated for deletion - having someone who knows the ropes will help to get the article in a position to keep - and help to argue that it should be kept. But more generally it will be useful, to keep the article quality up.
Who is going to the refresher of the train-the-trainers course on Saturday the 28th of June?
::[[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 12:59, 19 October 2017 (BST)
Who would be interested in some kind of meet-up afterwards?
==Wiki Loves Monuments UK 2017 awards announced==
[[File:The Derelict West Pier of Brighton.jpg|thumb|1st prize: The derelict West Pier in Brighton, by Matthew Hoser]]
I am very pleased to be able to announce the 2017 award winners for Wiki Loves Monuments in the UK.
We could do something that evening or something on Sunday. We could do an informal chat over a pint or we could have some kind of workshop where we share and reflect on our experience as trained trainers and learn from that. It depends on who is around when and what exactly is planned for the refresher. I don't know what is planned for the refresher yet but perhaps we should start by asking questions of availability.
First place goes to '''Matthew Hoser''' for his image of the derelict West Pier in Brighton.
Who will be around the evening after the refresher? Who will be around - or could arange to be around - the next day?
In second place was '''Paul Stümke''', who captured the Glenfinnan Viaduct at Loch Shiel.
[[User:Yaris678|Yaris678]] ([[User talk:Yaris678|talk]]) 13:33, 14 May 2014 (BST)
Third was '''Oliver Tookey''' for the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea.
:Sadly I can't make the training on the Saturday, but a meet up sounds like a cracking idea to me. It was great to get to know everyone better at the Manchester TtT event. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 11:49, 16 May 2014 (BST)
The special prize for the best image taken in Scotland was awarded to '''Keith Proven''' for Smailholm Tower.
:Registration was opened two months ago, with prospective attendees approached by direct email, and there is no public registration page or schedule (the emailed link was to a restricted web page which specified timing as 9.30am—6.30pm). I would not like to make plans around it until there is a confirmation that there have been sufficient numbers, and confirmation that registrations were accepted. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 11:32, 20 May 2014 (BST)
The special prize for the best image taken in Wales went to '''Sterim64''' for Craig-y-mor.
::There is no public registration page because this is not a public event, rather one intended only for people who became accredited trainers for Wikimedia UK before February this year. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 11:41, 20 May 2014 (BST)
:::I would say it is an event restricted to past trainees, it does not automatically follow that we must not use an open page to coordinate the event, such as discussing the schedule and content, sharing a list of who is coming or negotiating the social side. Coordination by direct private email increases the number of touch-points needed to confirm anything, and makes change unlikely, rather than the wiki norm of self service and encouraging suggestions for changes.
:::As a counter example, ARC meetings are restricted yet have an openly shared agenda in advance of meetings, public minutes afterwards, and a long term open meeting schedule, all of which can be discussed by anyone. Ensuring processes of the charity default to openly sharing as much as we can, rather than defaulting to closed communications, is part of meeting Value 4 of [[Vision, values and mission]]. In this case, one consequence of coordinating using closed channels would be that no other volunteers who might happen to be interested in training, would think of joining an evening social nearby. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 12:01, 20 May 2014 (BST)
::::Registration is not on a pending-approval basis, anyone who registered has a place. If it were on a pending-approval basis, the registration confirmation page and email would have stated so. Yes, the event is happening. The exact programme for the day is determined by the training provider base on expectation provided by attendees during registration. There's nothing stopping discussion and or planning happening in public, such as is going on right here......... [[User:Katie Chan (WMUK)|Katie Chan (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Katie Chan (WMUK)|talk]]) 12:56, 20 May 2014 (BST)
:::::Thanks for confirming that, I was unaware of it and would not want to presume. If the training provider (Midas?) can provide a schedule/description it might be an idea to create a simple event page and move this specific discussion about the day's logistics to that talk page. As there is time before the event, the provider might want attendees to have a pre-discussion on expectations, which is not relevant to share on the watercooler. Is there a reason to not share the attendee list? I doubt this has an expectation of privacy, or represents private data. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 13:50, 20 May 2014 (BST)
== Tools for identifying Wikimedians at press events, etc ==
You can see all of these images, and the other stunning pictures that were awarded Highly Commended status [[Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2017_in_the_United_Kingdom/Winners|at Wikimedia Commons]].
[[File:Albin with Wikipedia microphone.jpg|thumb|Albin with Wikipedia microphone]]
Copied from a post I made to the UK mailing list at Michael Maggs's request:
<blockquote>
Many congratulations to all of our prizewinners, and thanks to all who volunteered to help make the contest a success: contestants, judges, reviewers and Wikimedians in many roles. Thanks also for the kind support we received from the International team, from our friendly staff at Wikimedia UK, and from our 2017 prize sponsors, Wikimedia UK and Archaeology Scotland. [[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 07:43, 31 October 2017 (GMT)
Reading [https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/10/no-interviews-except-wikipedia-documenting-eurovision-song-contest-commons/ about the making of videos at Eurovison] I was stuck by the positive response to the "Wikipedia
representative", not least engendered by his use of a branded
microphone windshield (see third picture in the above post; that windshield is far too big for use on the Zoom H1 which I use for the voice project, but something smaller would be useful).
Similarly, my local branch of OpenStreetMap issues mappers with
== Effects of broadband ==
branded high-viz vests; these often reassure the public (or at least
facilitate the opening of a discussion), when someone is walking down
their road noting house numbers and other features.
I suggest some thought is given to providing WMUK volunteers who are
Looks like BT wants to push more people to faster internet where it has fiber: https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bt-group-broadband/bt-incentivises-operators-to-move-customers-to-faster-broadband-idUKKBN1KE0LR
likely to attend press calls and related events with something to
identify them in a crowd; this could include microphone windshields,
tabards, baseball caps, or perhaps something else.
I strongly suggest that the primary brand used should be Wikipedia,
Is someone monitoring the trend of average internet speed and the impact it has on user activity in the Wikimedia projects? [[User:Nemo bis|Nemo bis]] ([[User talk:Nemo bis|talk]]) 08:43, 24 July 2018 (BST)
with Wikimedia and WMUK (or WikiNews or whatever) beings secondary, as
it is the former which the lay public recognise most readily; and
which elicits the positive response referred to above.
On a related note, are we ever going to get the promised business cards?
::Hi [[User:Nemo bis|Nemo bis]], I'm not sure that our small charity has the capacity to do something like this, or how it might benefit us. You are welcome to expand on why you think this would be a good idea if you like. [[User:John Lubbock (WMUK)|John Lubbock (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:John Lubbock (WMUK)|talk]]) 12:29, 2 April 2019 (BST)
</blockquote>
Michael asked:
<blockquote>
perhaps you could kick off a discussion there by summarising the sort of recognition and/or materials that you would find it helpful for the charity to supply?
</blockquote>
I've mentioned some items above; I welcome suggestions from others. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (User:<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Andy's talk]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 20:57, 15 May 2014 (BST)
I sent an email yesterday to the UK list and it has not been posted. If any one wishes to read my summary of the background, please email me for a copy. There seems little point in re-sending emails to the list as I have been given no explanation. Be aware that any emails I send may misleadingly appear in the list archives as if it was posted at the time I sent it. Thanks --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 14:04, 16 May 2014 (BST)
:Or maybe the list admins haven't got round to dealing with it yet. Probably best not to speculate on motives. [[User:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|Richard Nevell (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Richard Nevell (WMUK)|talk]]) 14:30, 16 May 2014 (BST)
::{{ec}} I have removed anything from my comment here that was more than bald facts, to make sure it is now extremely hard to read bad faith into it. The email of concern was posted on 15 May 2014 @14:16. If it does get posted, it will appear as if it were posted before six other emails in that thread that in practice were written afterwards. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 15:20, 16 May 2014 (BST)
:I would hope that we can make the best possible use of this excellent suggestion to increase the range and scope of our charitable work.
:If we were to supply business cards or other items implying accreditation, what should be on them? Something like "''Volunteer Photographer, Wikimedia UK''" or the equivalent, with the globe logo if we can persuade the WMF to allow us to use their trademark in that way? The wording "''Wikipedia representative''" may not be possible as we are not legally allowed to speak for the "''Wikipedia community''" as a whole, in the same way that we cannot control what goes into the encyclopedia. Just thinking aloud here; of course we will have to look into the legal issues of representation before we can be absolutely certain about what is safe. Ideally, it would be best if we can avoid having to print disclaimers, as any sort of legalise will tend to undermine the member and will scare people off.
:What would members find useful, in practice?--[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 23:01, 15 May 2014 (BST)
::Why the word "volunteer"? from comments on the mailing list there seems to be an assumption that it offers some form of legal indemnity to WMUK, or WMF; I remain to be convinced that that's the case. I've used my (voluntary) work with the RSPB as a yardstick before; when I appear in public alongside their paid staff, I have the same type of badge, and the same branded clothing, as they do. The voluntary nature of my participation is nowhere made apparent. [I've split this as a subsection of the above, lest that get bogged down]. <span class="vcard"><span class="fn">[[User:Pigsonthewing|Andy Mabbett]]</span> (User:<span class="nickname">Pigsonthewing</span>); [[User talk:Pigsonthewing|Andy's talk]]; [[Special:Contributions/Pigsonthewing|Andy's edits]]</span> 00:04, 16 May 2014 (BST)
:::That was just my suggestion. I suspect that the term, or something equivalent, might be needed on a formal business card, but as you say would seem unnecessary on clothing, badges and so on.--[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 07:39, 16 May 2014 (BST)
::::as far as I'm aware Andy is right and defining someone as a volunteer does not limit the charity's liability. My view is that if we want to be a volunteer led organisation we should provide volunteers with cards. The charity would need to consider and take steps to limit any liability which might arise as a result. This would however possibly open up a distinction between 'officially-approved' volunteers and others doing the same kind of work on their own initiative. How would everyone feel about that? Any suggestions for the basis on which cards should/should not be issued? [[User:Mccapra|Mccapra]] ([[User talk:Mccapra|talk]]) 17:06, 17 May 2014 (BST)
:As I understand the logic of the previous debate, it was essentially that if we gave volunteers business cards, they would be representing WMUK. The board, in their infinite wisdom, thought that was an inherently bad thing, but there was also the small risk that somebody "representing" WMUK might say something silly, that somebody might take them seriously, and that WMUK's reputation might suffer as a consequence. That's a lot of ifs buts and maybes if you ask me. Volunteers representing WMUK should be seen as a Good Thing™, and the advantages of business cards to people like Andy and me (who talk to a lot of people and often need to follow up, or give others a way of following up should they wish) far outweigh the hypothetical drawbacks based on an overly conservative approach to risk. On a list of most useful things the chapter could d for its volunteers, business cards would be pretty high up on my list. If it's really necessary, we can sign some sort of agreement. [[User:HJ Mitchell|Harry Mitchell]] ([[User talk:HJ Mitchell|talk]]) 10:58, 24 May 2014 (BST)
::Bear in mind that the composition of the board was almost totally different during that 'previous debate'. I can't speak for past boards, but I can say that the current board is more than open to discussing ideas such as this which could help volunteers be more effective in the work they want to do in association with the charity.--[[User:MichaelMaggs|MichaelMaggs]] ([[User talk:MichaelMaggs|talk]]) 13:32, 24 May 2014 (BST)
:::I can speak with personal recall of board discussions (for goodness sake, it was hardly that long ago and plenty of discussion was publicly on this wiki), the issue was volunteers making up fantasy titles rather than being an "inherently bad thing", however the trustees wanted to care not to hurt anyone's feelings. Being open to discussing ideas with volunteers is not an invention of the "new" board of trustees, giving out that perception is unhelpful and truly smacks of {{w|damnatio memoriae}}, in most measurable ways past boards were far more engaged in discussion with volunteers than the current set. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 14:16, 24 May 2014 (BST)
::::Your last sentence is accurate, Fae, certainly. It wasn't the volunteers who made up the vanity titles, though (indeed, I Tip-Ex'd it out on my cards), but the phrase used for getting us replacements was "within a week"... [[User:HJ Mitchell|Harry Mitchell]] ([[User talk:HJ Mitchell|talk]]) 17:18, 24 May 2014 (BST)
:::::This is now on the agenda for the next Board meeting[[User:Mccapra|Mccapra]] ([[User talk:Mccapra|talk]]) 18:54, 24 May 2014 (BST)
=== Clothing ===
:Anything visible, like t-shirts/hoodies (perhaps with writing on the back, rather than the front?), baseball caps, camera cases/straps, and other props that people would use anyway lends itself to being branded, which makes it visible. I do agree that the Wikipedia logo is the one that people recognise; if I have to spend ten minutes explaining the difference between Wiki'''m'''edia and Wiki'''p'''edia, we've defeated the point (which is to be recognisable, and to catch people's eye with something they immediately recognise and have positive thoughts about). [[User:HJ Mitchell|Harry Mitchell]] ([[User talk:HJ Mitchell|talk]]) 11:34, 24 May 2014 (BST)
== Scholarships to Wikimania London ==
[[File:Wikimania 2013 Group Photograph.JPG|thumbnail|right|Wikimania 2013 group photo]]
Application for scholarship support to attend this year Wikimania is now open. Wikimania 2014, the 10th annual international conference of the Wikimedia movement, is being held between 6 and 10 August 2014. The venue is in the [[:en:Barbican Centre|Barbican Centre]], London.
To qualify for assistance, you must either be based in the UK or a UK citizen living abroad, and agree to produce a public report (which may be published on the Wikimedia UK blog and/or in our newsletters) summarising the key things that you have taken from the event. Applications may be made for the cost of conference registration, accommodation for the duration of Wikimania, and/or travel within the UK.
Application should be made by completing [http://bit.ly/wm2014scholar this application form]. The deadline for application is Sunday 8 June. After the deadline, we will be in touch to offer scholarships as soon as possible. Any UK residents who have previously made an application for scholarship through the Wikimedia Foundation process and had agreed to share their application details with their local chapter need not apply again. -- [[User:Katie Chan (WMUK)|Katie Chan (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Katie Chan (WMUK)|talk]]) 17:19, 16 May 2014 (BST)
: Thanks Katie. May I ask out of curiosity how many scholarships are on offer and/or how much money is being made available for this? [[User:CT Cooper|CT Cooper]]<small><span style="font-weight:bold;"> ·</span> [[User talk:CT Cooper|talk]]</small> 19:10, 18 May 2014 (BST)
::It will be depending on needs and applications. The estimated amount is approximately £7,800, which is on par with last year. I hope that helps. Regards -- [[User:Katie Chan (WMUK)|Katie Chan (WMUK)]] ([[User talk:Katie Chan (WMUK)|talk]]) 14:22, 19 May 2014 (BST)
{{clear}}
== Bad copyright rules killed Hadfield's Space Oddity ==
There is an interesting op-ed in the ''Ottawa Citizen''[http://www.ottawacitizen.com/touch/story.html?id=9842445] complaining about misuse of bad copyright law to take down Chris Hadfield's cover of "Space Oddity" on the ISS. This is something that is probably of interest to many people here - maybe something we can issue a comment about? Also covered by [http://boingboing.net/2014/05/18/bowies-takedown-of-hadfield.html#.U3n5-jlTq74.facebook Boing Boing]. [[user:Thryduulf|Thryduulf]] (talk: [[user talk:Thryduulf|local]] | [[w:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wp]] | [[wikt:user talk:Thryduulf|en.wikt]]) 13:43, 19 May 2014 (BST)
:The UK community of active volunteers might not have a solid consensus that this was "bad copyright law". It is no surprise that David Bowie would want to protect the copyright of his most well known works, or have the {{w|performing rights}} negotiated, before finding them globally published. If there is interest in taking official positions on copyright, there are other examples that would illustrate how UK copyright law or its frequent poor interpretation damages open knowledge; misunderstood orphan works or national institutions claiming commercial rights on publicly funded copies of public domain artwork spring to mind.
:Thanks for highlighting the story, there are interesting user comments on the article. --[[User:Fæ|Fæ]] ([[User talk:Fæ|talk]]) 12:20, 20 May 2014 (BST)
Latest revision as of 19:35, 13 August 2022
Welcome to the water cooler
This is a place to find out what is happening and to discuss our external projects and activities. Feel free to suggest ideas that could help our charitable mission or ask questions about how you can help. To discuss the inner workings of the charity, head over to the engine room.
WMUK Grants programme - a piece of cake?
Applying for a grant is easy.
If Wikimedia UK can help you improve Wikimedia projects, check out our grants page.
A kanban board at the Women in Classical Studies editathon at Senate House, London
I just saw the newsletter with a picture of the kanban board used at the Women in Classical Studies editathon. What a great idea! It helps people share what they are working on. Helps to avoid edit conflicts. Enables organisers to list all the articles that have been improved. It could possibly work well for a recap session at the end too, where people talk about the changes they made.
Who was involved with that editathon? Who has used it elsewhere? I would love to hear how it has been used in practice.
Cool. So how did you use it? Did you get people to brainstorm a load of post-its of articles to look at, at the beginning of the day? Did you just say 'if you have an idea, stick it on the board'? Did you come with the post-its filled out already? Yaris678 (talk) 10:25, 11 February 2017 (GMT)
The group were quite well prepared prior to the editathon. They had identified a number of articles to create - some had already done the research and started to writing in their sandbox. When we began the second part of the editathon they each committed to an article, wrote it on a sticky note and stuck it to the wall! Moving the notes from left to right was surprisingly motivating and a good excuse to stretch ones legs. Also used the sticky notes for an evaluation exercise at the end of the session. Eartha78 (talk) 18:27, 16 February 2017 (GMT)
Thank you Eartha78. That is really interesting. I will use this next time I do an editathon. Yaris678 (talk) 09:39, 19 February 2017 (GMT)
Wikimedia UK's plans for 2018 - community consultation
Watch our video about our plans for 2018
Wikimedia UK is in the process of writing our proposal to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding during 2018/19. The deadline for the bid is 1st October after which it is assessed by staff at the Foundation, there is an opportunity for community feedback and questions, and the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meet to consider proposals and make recommendations about grants.
As 2018/19 is the final year of our 2016 - 2019 strategy, our programme for next year is in many ways a continuation of our activities in 2017 and falls under three key strands:
Diverse content and contributors
Promoting open knowledge
Education and Learning
These strands are directly related to our three strategic goals, which are to:
Increase the quality and quantity of coverage of subjects that are currently underrepresented on Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects
Contribute to the development of open knowledge in the UK, by increasing understanding and recognition of the value of open knowledge and advocating for change at an organisational, sectoral and public policy level
Support the use of the Wikimedia projects as important tools for education and learning in the UK
We would welcome input from the UK community into our plans for next year - which we are still shaping - and have created a short video to highlight our programme strands which you can watch here. You can give us feedback on our programme anytime, but if you’d like your views to be taken into account in our submission to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding, please do comment below by Friday 29th September. If you’d prefer to get in touch by email, feel free to contact me on lucy.crompton-reid@wikimedia.org.uk.
There are several questions in particular that I’d like to ask:
Is there anything that Wikimedia UK should be doing more of, or new activities that we should consider, in 2018/19?
What work would you like to see us continue?
Is there anything you think we should do less of or stop doing?
How would you like to be involved in Wikimedia UK’s programme next year?
This doesn't change the fact that it is worth asking people to create an account in advance (and to remember their password!)
We have to expect that some people won't create an account and most of those who have won't be auto-confirmed - this is OK.
If there are admins present at the event, they can make new users confirmed.... although I wouldn't stress over it - there is no harm in the Draft: name space.
All the above is less of an issue if we take the approach of #Training from the back of the room described above. If the group is split into teams that are deliberately set to have the full spread of ability, we can encourage people to help other team members, including the following:
Middle-ability people to show the people with no account how to create an account.
Experienced editors to help newer editors to find a page that might need editing.
Experienced editors to create pages that other team members are interested in editing.
You could even get admins to confirm accounts of non-confirmed people in their team, but it might actually be better to not do that. If the experienced people in the team have actually created the article then at least we know it is in their contributions and so they can steward the article towards improvement. e.g. 1. the day after the event, they might go back to the article and tidy it up, 2. if the article gets tagged for deletion, they are better able to discuss it and improve it, whereas a new user may feel bitten.
Obvious question, where do we find data on how many non-autoconfirmed users and IPs actually make pages that satisfy Wiki Criteria? 82.132.237.141 15:31, 26 September 2017 (BST)
Thanks for your input Yaris678. Working in Draft: or User: space is probably going to be integral to dealing with this. I've not used Draft: much myself, but I'm keen on getting people to use their sandbox to prepare material and then copy it over. It does mean a chunk of the pages people work on aren't copied over the to the mainspace but that's a reasonable trade-off. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 16:59, 2 October 2017 (BST)
The #Training from the back of the room sounds like a really interesting idea, I'm interested in this kind of collaborative/peer learning process. Sadly for the bulk of editathons I manage, this wouldn't be applicable, as I'm generally working with a whole bundle new users, trying to advocated for further use in their organisations. Lirazelf (talk) 14:07, 3 October 2017 (BST)
Thanks Lirazelf. I guess you'll have to rely on the first four bullets - especially the draft namespace. I think it would be useful to have a non-new user move the drafts across. Preferably during the training session, so people can see their work "live" on Wikipedia, which will create excitement. Ideally, well before the end of the training so that people can continue to edit their articles in main space - seeing that this is a normal thing to do is important.
I fringe benefit of this approach is that each article edited will be in the contributions list of at least one non-new user. That way, they can "steward" the article to a certain extent. This will be particularly important if the article is nominated for deletion - having someone who knows the ropes will help to get the article in a position to keep - and help to argue that it should be kept. But more generally it will be useful, to keep the article quality up.
1st prize: The derelict West Pier in Brighton, by Matthew Hoser
I am very pleased to be able to announce the 2017 award winners for Wiki Loves Monuments in the UK.
First place goes to Matthew Hoser for his image of the derelict West Pier in Brighton.
In second place was Paul Stümke, who captured the Glenfinnan Viaduct at Loch Shiel.
Third was Oliver Tookey for the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill on Sea.
The special prize for the best image taken in Scotland was awarded to Keith Proven for Smailholm Tower.
The special prize for the best image taken in Wales went to Sterim64 for Craig-y-mor.
You can see all of these images, and the other stunning pictures that were awarded Highly Commended status at Wikimedia Commons.
Many congratulations to all of our prizewinners, and thanks to all who volunteered to help make the contest a success: contestants, judges, reviewers and Wikimedians in many roles. Thanks also for the kind support we received from the International team, from our friendly staff at Wikimedia UK, and from our 2017 prize sponsors, Wikimedia UK and Archaeology Scotland. MichaelMaggs (talk) 07:43, 31 October 2017 (GMT)
Is someone monitoring the trend of average internet speed and the impact it has on user activity in the Wikimedia projects? Nemo bis (talk) 08:43, 24 July 2018 (BST)
Hi Nemo bis, I'm not sure that our small charity has the capacity to do something like this, or how it might benefit us. You are welcome to expand on why you think this would be a good idea if you like. John Lubbock (WMUK) (talk) 12:29, 2 April 2019 (BST)
