Open Access/2011/January

Open Access Issue 1 - January 2011

Editorial

Welcome to the first issue of Open Access, a revived Wikimedia UK newsletter reporting on the activities of the UK chapter, members and supporters and on all matters of interest to them. This month, we have a number of dates for your diary based around Wikipedia's 10th birthday; features on Yeonpyeong and Visual Arts on Wikipedia; and short summaries of the last Cambridge meet-up, a talk given to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and our Microgrants.

Next month, we'll be doing a round-up of recent GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) activity - including the GLAM-WIKI conference that took place at the British Museum last November.

As a Chapter we want members to get involved as this is your newsletter. We want to learn about our members and what they are working on. We want to hear what you think, learn about your ideas on how to improve things for all, or otherwise listen to what you think about the topics covered here. You can leave general comments at the bottom of this page, or send them to the editor (Charles Matthews, on editor@wikimedia.org.uk).

Follow Wikimedia UK also on blog.wikimedia.org.uk , and for general discussion join the mailing list at lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l .

Upcoming events

• London, Sunday 9 January - monthly meetup at Penderel's Oak pub in Holborn, Sundays from 1pm;
• Bristol Event Thursday 13 January- public lecture by Jimmy Wales "Wikipedia at 10"
• London, Thursday 13 January - "Wikipedia at 10" Louise Blouin Foundation museum, London
• London, Friday 14 and Saturday 15 January - Edit-athon at the British Library

Features

Features cover the activities and interests of UK Wikimedians as well as topics related to the UK and/or to Wikimedia UK. Want to write a feature for the next newsletter? Please pitch your idea to editorwikimedia.org.uk before the 20th of this month.

This month we have two features for you:

• User:Maproom talks about how a Wikimedia map changed his view of an international incident

• User:Johnbod summarizes the visual arts on Wikipedia, from the Stuckists to the Cameron-Brown spat over Titian's age

Short entries

Short entries are one paragraph summaries of recent events and interesting topics. Want to write a short entry for the next newsletter? Please send them to editorwikimedia.org.uk before the end of this month.

Cambridge Meetup report from 23 October, by Charles Matthews

The ninth Cambridge meetup took place as usual upstairs in the CB2 Internet bistro from 3pm: it's around a mile from Cambridge railway station, and offers wifi and a view of autumn foliage at this time of year. Attendance was 12, the largest and most talkative gathering yet, drawn from many parts of the country. A smaller group went on to the Cambridge Blue after 6pm. As a side project, some local photo work was done for the Open Plaques site, who are at openplaques.org. (Ed.)

Chartered Institute of Public Relations, by Steve Virgin

A team of two from the Wikimedia UK Board gave a presentation to the Chartered Institute of Public Relations at the CIPR Offices in London on 7th October. Andrew Turvey and I spoke to a vibrant audience of interested PR professionals on the topic of 'What is your Wikipedia Strategy?' With around 20 people in attendance, the two hour session sparked much debate. Of particular interest were three of the fundamental content policies of Wikipedia: Neutral Point of View, Verifiability and No Original Research, leading to animated discussion. One positive outcome from the Chapter's perspective was he expression of interest in offering pro bono PR support to Wikimedia UK. The lecture was part of the CIPR's summer social media school, helping PR professionals better understand what is 'out there' and 'how best to use it.'

What is a microgrant? by Mike Peel

Wikimedia UK offers smallish sums of money as direct help to those who will use it to create content for Wikimedia sites. For details of how the scheme works, look at Microgrants, and contact Mike Peel.

About Open Access

Open Access is by and for UK Wikimedians, is edited by Charles Matthews (editorwikimedia.org.uk), and is published under a CC-by-SA license. All images are files from Wikimedia Commons. Their image description pages contain attribution and license information, accessible simply by clicking the image.

Open Access is a publication of Wiki UK Ltd, a company limited by guarantee (Registered No.6741827), trading as Wikimedia UK. The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham NG9 1RL.

Wikimedia UK is the United Kingdom chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia UK Board trustees are Andrew Turvey (Chair), Michael Peel (Secretary), Thomas Dalton (Treasurer), Joseph Seddon, Steve Virgin. Follow the links to their user pages for contact details. To join or to donate to Wikimedia UK, go to the left-hand sidebar.

Views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflect those of the company.

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