WikiConference UK 2012/Elections/Questions/Michael Peel
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Hi there! This is the page for you to answer questions posed to you by the members of Wikimedia UK. Press the [edit] button above and then answer the questions in the box below by putting the number of the question and then your answer. |
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Answers
- I'm not sure of what types of groups and communities you're asking about, so I'll answer this from both on- and off-wiki perspectives.
On-wiki: I view myself as being part of the Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikisource communities in Wikimedia - although due to time constraints I'm not as active in them as I would like to be.
Off-wiki: I'm professionally part of the astronomical research community (including being a member of the Royal Astronomical Society), as well as being a member of several heritage organisations, and also a member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists. Had it not been for the amount of my time that WMUK has consumed over the last few years, I'd be able to add more groups and communities (with a higher level of active involvement) here. ;-) Mike Peel (talk) 21:52, 21 April 2012 (UTC) - Everything that Wikimedia is doing is is ground-breaking - and the opportunities that are available to Wikimedia UK now are amazing. I want to make sure that WMUK continues to enable volunteers to make the most of those opportunities, whilst giving them professional support and assistance. We're on the path to that being the case, but I don't think we've reached that that position yet - and I would like to see things through until we're there.
I also want to help provide continuity to, and memory for, the organisation (and to transfer that knowledge to other trustees, staff and volunteers). There are situations that arise that have previously come up a year or more ago, and long-term perspectives that can prove to be useful. Mike Peel (talk) 21:52, 21 April 2012 (UTC) - The problem with Wikiversity is that it's trying to do too much in a very diffuse way, and that it isn't focused on a single problem (e.g. like Wikipedia was focused on writing an encyclopædia, not writing every book ever). So I'd suggest that a project that focuses on a single sector, possibly even a single subject - e.g. university lecture course material on flower arranging - would provide a good, worked through case study which could then be publicised and replicated in other subjects, whilst also increasing number of contributors to wikiversity, and generating more interest from the educational community. Mike Peel (talk) 22:04, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
- This is a really complex question, and not one that any individual would be able to answer. Asking candidates about 1-year plans would have been much nicer. ;-) To answer in generalities, I'd like to see the GLAM projects multiply and diversify, as well as a strong set of educational and technological projects to develop along the same lines, and for those projects to have a substantial impact in the quality and comprehensiveness of the online projects. Mike Peel (talk) 22:04, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
- Of course, accurate information should be provided, at a suitable level of completeness for the situation (not too general, not too detailed). Mike Peel (talk) 22:11, 21 April 2012 (UTC)
- In such a situation, WMUK (staff/trustees/involved volunteers) should carefully evaluate the situation and send in corrections where appropriate. Such corrections may not always be needed (e.g. "oh, we said 45% where we meant 46%" wouldn't need correcting, nor would "we missed the name of one of our partner organisations out of a long list of people we're working with") - it's a judgement call as to when and where such corrections would be needed. Mike Peel (talk) 22:11, 21 April 2012 (UTC)