Water cooler/2015

London Wikidata Meetup 2

Our next London Wikidata Meetup will be on Wednesday 5th January 2015 at Development House (where Wikimedia UK is based). Some of you may already be familiar with the recent Signpost article on Wikidata. This concerns Wikidata:WikiProject Wikidata for research page, which concerns a funding application for a virtual research environment with a deadline for 14th January. One of the topics we hope to discuss is how we might like to be involve in this. If you are interested, but can't make it to the event, we have a list for organising activities here, please join us. Fabian Tompsett (WMUK) (talk) 12:41, 5 January 2015 (GMT)

BETT UK 2015

Free tickets are available to colleagues/guests to attend Bett UK 2015 between 21 and 24 January at Excel London. This is "the world's leading learning technology event".

Jimmy Wales is delivering a keynote and I'm on a panel about 'The changing landscape of technology in higher education'. I believe that Diane Strassmann (from Wiki Ed Foundation) is also participating in this multi-day event.

Feel free to contact me directly if you need any further information. --Toni Sant (WMUK) (talk) 07:28, 7 January 2015 (GMT)

Volunteer Strategy Gathering Data

During the Volunteer Strategy Gathering, John Cummings led a workshop where participants provided all sorts of information on post it notes. This information had been collated and put into some sort of order. This now available as JPGs here. It would be great if you could look through the data and join in the discussion on the talk page. The more people who help with this, the clearer we can get about what we want out of the follow up Volunteer Strategy Gathering/February 2015. Fabian Tompsett (WMUK) (talk) 16:49, 8 January 2015 (GMT)

Harassment and Gender Gap: looking for a solution at the IdeaLab

"While Wikimedia projects are rightly criticized for failing to achieve gender diversity, it is less recognized in Wikimedia discussions that other online communities are similarly having gender diversity problems and that editors perceived as non-male in any online volunteer collaborative project also experience heightened risk of discrimination and harassment. To some extent, the problem goes beyond Wikimedia projects and is inherent in the act of groups meeting in virtual spaces."

This is from a contribution to the IdeaLab on Meta Human resources sharing in the open movement. Making the Wikimedian community more welcoming, particularly to female editors, is one of the strands to emerge from the Volunteer Strategy Gathering 1 (VSG1). I think putting the issue in the broader context of other online communities may be useful.

Another initiative on the IdeaLab is WikiProject Women: "There is currently no space on Wikipedia where a woman can go and be sure that she'll be able to participate in discussions without being dominated by men's voices. Wikipedia needs a place where women can feel safer and not always overwhelmed by male advice, criticism, and explanations." There is quite a long discussion, particularly on the talk page, which anyone interested in this topic would benefit from having a look at. Fabian Tompsett (WMUK) (talk) 14:32, 15 January 2015 (GMT)

Postponement of volunteer strategy day

Wikimedia UK has reluctantly decided to postpone the volunteer strategy day which was scheduled for Saturday 28 February. This will now happen later in the year. The primary reason for this postponement is that there is more value to the charity and its volunteers in holding the event later in the year when a budget will be in place, when the charity has a new CEO and any pending structural or other changes to the staff team have taken effect.

The event represents a significant investment of volunteer time and effort and so it is appropriate that we value that time respectfully. Like all other resources, volunteer time is limited and we do not wish to leave anyone feeling that their time was wasted because the event took place too soon.

Please do be assured that conversations that may have happened at the gathering will still take place. The charity is still very keen to consult with the volunteers and members on the proposed topics (and any others, of course) but for the time being these will be focused online rather than in person. We are looking at hosting regular group conversations online, either by Google Hangout, Skype or conference call. More information about the practical details will be made available presently.

Q: Why was the event postponed when it is only three weeks away?

A: We feel that the event will be more helpful later in the year. There will be more substantial matters upon which volunteers can have a meaningful influence. Furthermore, the new chief executive will be in post and they will welcome the chance to engage with as many members of the community as possible.

Q: When will the new event take place?

A: We are working on the basis that the next volunteer strategy gathering will take place in September. This will give the new CEO plenty of time to establish themself in the new role and have an understanding of our community and the charity's needs.

Q: What about the topics up for discussion?

A: The postponement will allow these conversations to be developed, with the Wikimedia UK Wiki, being the primary channel for this. We are also piloting using the Education Program Extension at the Cinema Museum editathon, Saturday 7th March and are looking at other opportunities to gain some experience. If you would like to participate piloting the Education Program Extension, or have some other innovation that you would like to see tested please contact: fabian.tompsett@wikimedia.org.uk

Q: I have already booked my travel. What happens to my ticket?

A: If you are able to get a refund, please do so. However if a full refund is not possible, please send us the documentation and we will ensure that you are not out of pocket.

For all inquiries regarding the ongoing development of our volunteer strategy, including the future gathering, please contact fabian.tompsett(at)wikimedia.org.uk

Looking for feedback on my funding proposal to work with UNESCO

Hi all

I’m looking for feedback and endorsement for my Wikimedia Foundation PEG grant to be Wikimedian in Residence at UNESCO. I’d very much appreciate if you would have a look, the most relevant objectives to Wikimedia UK are:

1. Train UNESCO and its partner organisations to contribute to Wikimedia projects: Provide UNESCO and its partners with the skills, tools, resources and connections to contribute to Wikimedia projects in a meaningful, measurable and sustainable way. To integrate into the Wikimedia community both online and by matching them with local Wikimedia organisations and volunteers for in person support and collaboration. The project will create and improve content receiving 100,000,000 views per year on Wikimedia projects, educate 1000 people in over 200 organisations to learn more about Wikimedia projects. This will include 500 newly registered users trained to contribute to Wikimedia projects and 500 articles formally reviewed by experts.

2. Make content from the archives of UNESCO and its partners available on Wikimedia projects: This project will facilitate the upload of 30,000 images, audio files, videos, data and other content to Wikimedia projects from UNESCO archives (24,000 images), UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and other sources including 10 organisations changing their content license to be Wikimedia compatible, a completed pilot project is outlined in the Goal section.

I ran a pilot project that resulted in the images found in the Wikimedia Commons category Images from the archive of UNESCO, here are a few examples:

• 

  The Soda volcano, Oromia, Ethiopia.

• 

  Rubble of the cathedral after the earthquake that hit the Capital Port au Prince just before 5 pm on 12 January 2010.

• 

  Young monk, wearing a special costume, July-August 1991, Sikkim, India.

• 

  Sabha, 6, getting ready to walk to school from her house on the borders eastern Gaza strip, where she and her family are still living in tents.

• 

  Not far from Mohenjo-Daro (or Mohenjodaro) - These Mohana fishermen/hunters use lures from real birds to catch more birds. They will either eat them or sell them. Mohenjodaro, Pakistan.

• 

  Priest of rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, a high place of Ethiopian Christianity, still today a place of pilgrimage and devotion.

If you think this is a worthwhile project please click this link and then click the endorse button.

Many thanks

Mrjohncummings (talk) 22:06, 25 January 2015 (GMT)

From Vietnam to Aberystwyth

(Edit-a-thon at the National Library of Wales)

Just a heads-up please to all admires of the Magnum Photographer Philip Jones Griffiths' work, one of the few Welsh Internationals in this field. Jason Evans, the new Wikipedian in Resident at the National Library, will host an edit-a-thon of Welsh photographers whose work are held at the Library; this includes Philip Jones Griffiths and John Thomas. More details can be found here. Images unavailable to the public will be available for Wikipedians. Can anyone suggest a way to bring Griffiths' worldwide admirers into the fold, maybe using video conferencing on the day? Other suggestions would be appreciated. Robin Owain (WMUK) (talk) 21:08, 14 February 2015 (GMT)

St Paul's Cathedral

Photography is normally restricted inside St Paul's but, on 8th April 2015, they have a special event which, for a small fee, relaxes this rule. Even if you don't win their competition, this is a good chance to load images into Commons. Andrew D. (talk) 15:42, 9 March 2015 (GMT)

Women's Boat Race

There's some buzz about this at the UK Wikipedians' notice board. I've made a start on the main topic at Women's Boat Race and there seem to be other related topics in need of development such as Amy Gentry - the "founder of British Women's Rowing". Perhaps we could organise an event on April 11th - coordinating to have photographic coverage of the length of the course, with a rendezvous to compare notes afterwards. Andrew D. (talk) 13:15, 13 March 2015 (GMT)

I think that's a really nice idea, and a good chance to watch a piece of history taking place. One for the programme team to think about. Perhaps Wikinews might be interested as well? The course is 4 miles long, so I don't know how many people you'd need to get good coverage, and checking Google maps I don't think you can get from one side of the loop to the other on foot before the boats make it round. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:03, 13 March 2015 (GMT)

Might the article need to be merged with en:Henley Boat Races? I guess that depends on whether you think it's a new thing, or a change of site for an existing race. Jarry1250 (talk) 22:18, 14 March 2015 (GMT)

Thank feature broken here

I noticed that thanks have been broken for some time now. While I initially got a rather cryptic error code (that I did not record, assuming it was a temporary glitch), the behaviour has changed in recent days to "Thank action failed. Please try again." Since no thanks have been recorded for more than a month, the problem is perhaps less temporary than I had initially thought. Any pointers/ fixes? Thanks. --Daniel Mietchen (talk) 13:36, 9 May 2015 (BST)

Hi Daniel, thanks for pointing that out. I experienced the same problem myself and raised a bug in Bugzilla at the start of the month so our developers can take a look at the issue. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 09:12, 11 May 2015 (BST)

New MPs

Is there any coordination happening that anyone knows about to get Free photos of all the newly elected MPs? If not, is there capacity at WMUK to help facilitate doing so? Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 15:58, 9 May 2015 (BST)

Hello Thryduulf. This is something I was discussing with Richard Nevell today. Most, if not all, newly elected MPs will have photos that they use for publicity purposes. Perhaps the easiest way to ask to obtain these for the public domain is to write to the Parliamentary offices of the main parties and make an offer to upload them to Wikipedia in exchange for release of good quality images. I would be happy to write on behalf of the charity if you think that would help. An alternative would be to write directly to Parliament, rather than party offices, to ask for permission to set up a photo booth similar to that arranged by the folks who went to the European Parliament. However, there are rules about photography in Parliament so that would be trickier to arrange. Hope this helps. Stevie Benton (WMUK) (talk) 17:44, 11 May 2015 (BST)