There was a "Wikipedians" group which was apparently started for
"networking" (which in practice seemed to mean spam blasts), per
http://davidgerard.co.uk/notes/2009/04/16/wikipedians-on-linkedin/
But there's at least a couple more groups which are sincere and were
just put together by Wikipedians (i.e. not Foundation-official), e.g.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=104879
I have no idea about how to consolidate LinkedIn groups, but for the
moment I suggest it would be an idea to make a wiki page (presumably
on meta) for these. If there isn't one already. Same on other social
networks. Anyone?
- d.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Virgilio A. P. Machado <vam(a)fct.unl.pt>
Date: Thu, May 14, 2009 at 11:29 AM
Subject: pt:wiki policies
To: foundation-l-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Dear Sirs,
Yesterday ( http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Pedidos_a_administradores/Discuss%C3…
), while discussing a private case, whose full details are
confidential I described a strict hypothetical case as follows:
Suppose a tetraplegic girl learns how to use a computer and finds out
about Wikipedia. After registering as a user she does all sort of
trampling. Would there be any administrator willing to block her from
editing Wikipedia?
So far, three administrators, one of them a bureaucrat and member of
arbitration committee have answered YES.
The administrator bureaucrat later quoted Wikimedia:Non discrimination
policy, explaining that that policy did NOT allow them to treat
editors differently, based on their [...] medical condition.
Wikimedia:Code of Conduct Policy was also quoted.
I wonder if you would care to comment on all of the above.
Sincerely,
Virgilio A. P. Machado
--
Michael Bimmler
mbimmler(a)gmail.com
Wikipedia Invades La Plata Natural History Museum
Saturday, May 2nd, from 10 am, a group of wikipedians - members of
Wikimedia Argentina - will visit the La Plata Natural History Museum
to gather information to flush out and complete articles in the
renowned online encyclopedia Wikipedia.
The group will be composed of editors and photographers and will be
led through the museum by tour guides during their visit. The
wikipedians hope to broaden articles which cover the themes that the
museum includes and take photographs of the exhibitions to help
illustrate the text of the encyclopedia. The photographs will not only
be used in the Spanish articles, but also in articles in over 250
languages that are available in Wikipedia. The photographs will be
published with a free license in Wikimedia Commons
(http://commons.wikimedia.org).
The La Plata Natural History Museum is a natural science museum which
houses a vast collection of archeological, anthropological and
ethnographic information. Founded by Francisco Pascisio Moreno in
1884, the museum is unique in its scope in South America with over
3,000,000 objects in its collection and over 130 years of history.
The museum is renowned for its collection of large fossilized mammals
of the pampas from the Cenozoic and Quaternary eras as well as
collections of trilobite fossils of the Cambrian period and graptolite
fossils from the Silurian period in Argentina. Also, Argentina and
Peru archeological and ethnographic collections are on exhibition, as
well as showing the broader landscape of the Americas. There is also
an Egyptian room where an original temple (the temple of Aksha, from
Nubia) is on display. The archeological collection shows cultural
development of Latin America from 12,800 BC through to the Inca empire
and the arrival of the Europeans. More information can be found
online: http://www.fcnym.unlp.edu.ar/museo/
Wikimedia Argentina is a non-profit membership group which has been
recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation as a local chapter of our
country. The Wikimedia Foundation maintains a global projects such as
Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikiversidad, Wikiquotes, etc.
Currently, Wikimedia Argentina is organizing Wikimania 2009, the
international conference of Wikimedia projects to be held in late
August. The city of Buenos Aires was selected for this annual meeting,
which in years prior has taken place in the United States of America,
Germany, Taiwan and Egypt. More information can be found online:
http://www.wikimedia.org.ar
--
Patricio Lorente
Mensajería Instantánea: patricio_lorente(a)jabber.org
Blog: http://www.patriciolorente.com.ar
Here we have an interesting discussion topic. So what /is/ the main focus of
Wikimedia? Is it about collecting together free knowledge, or is it about
spreading it? If it would only be about spreading, I think we have at least
chosen the wrong shape, because a page full of links would then be more
appropriate. But we're not just about collecting either, it seems, since we
try to work on spreading the content through dumps (although not optimally),
DVD's and printed versions. We do a lot of activities which are focussed on
spreading the stuff we collected first.
But which of the two is more important to us, and which takes preference? To
think about that, we should take a few things into consideration:
* Are we the only one able to perform a certain task? Are we the single (and
therefore important) link in a chain from knowledge to receiver?
* Is there an activity someone else could do more effectively?
* Is there an activity we could do most effectively?
* Is there a part that is connected directly to our identity, which we do
not /want/ to let go?
* What are the side effects to limiting/extending ourselves on one of the
two?
* How does the main public (also our main moneymaker) see us/expect us to
act?
This type of questions we should try to answer in a more general shape to
find an answer on the specific question of the " necklace" article and
specific photo's.
I don't claim to know all the answers to these questions, nor do I think
anyone does, actually. However, I hope we will alltogether try to address
this type of questions, perhaps as part of the strategy process.
I personally don't think we can see this specific group of articles as
different as the other 12 million. There are many many categories, and
there's a lot to say for deleting each single one of them. (insulting to
some people, confusing, dangerous if people follow it, dangerous information
for terrorists, distracting from the real information, you probably know all
the possible reasons even better then I do). If we would ever exclude one
set of topics, we should be very carefully considering where to draw the
line exactly, to avoid that we will drift off to who-knows-where with the
argument "yeah, but if that gets deleted, this should be going too". That
goes both for articles and images (even editors who are getting blocked).
I think that Wikipedia is best in collecting information. That is the place
what we are best in, that is what no other website is able to imitate on
this scale. That is also what the general public expects from us. I feel
that this is what Wikipedia's primary focus should be. However, that should
not exclude any thoughts about restraining ourselves if that furthers the
other goal, spreading. But also consider that the spreading to people who
want to avoid sexual content, could also be done by others. It should not be
too hard to build a filter to censor Wikipedia from that type of information
and even images for example based on the categorization.
Best regards,
lodewijk
Fred Bauder <fredbaud(a)fairpoint.net>
> The image is an excellent illustration of its subject. However I would
> prefer a policy which excluded both it and the article in which it is
> used as an illustration. I'm not sure how the policy should be elaborated
> in our policy pages, but essentially this sort of material is
> incompatible with our core mission, to provide an accessible compendium
> of knowledge to the world.
>
> I was discussing Wikipedia with a Mohs surgeon the other day, he happened
> to be a Mormon. Other than the articles on dermatology and Mohs surgery,
> we talked about his 13 year old daughter who had been discouraged by her
> school from using Wikipedia. An article such as Pearl necklace
> (sexuality) adds little to a girl's knowledge base in comparison to the
> barrier it raises to her use of the encyclopedia.
>
> I suggest that Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not include Wikipedia is not a
> manual of sexual practices. It could be phrased Wikipedia is not the
> Karma Sutra.
Hi all,
I'd like to invite the interested people to submit some best practices from
their communities about the bureaucrat procedures. Please let me know what
works well and what not. Appointment, removal, rules of use of the bit.
Thanks a lot.
Best, eia
The Wikipedia Usability Initiative has extended the application deadline
for the Software Developer position till May 30th. We are recruiting
two candidates for this position. Both local applicants to the San
Francisco Bay Area and remote applicants are encouraged to apply.
Please help spread the word.
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Job_openings/Software_Developer_(projec…
Naoko Komura
Program Manager
Wikipedia Usability Initiative
Wikimedia Foundation
-----
Job Title
Software Developer
Employment Duration
June 1, 2009 to April 16, 2010
About the Wikipedia Usability Initiative
The Wikipedia Usability Initiative was realized by a grant from the
U.S.-based Stanton Foundation. The goal of this initiative is to
measurably increase the usability of Wikipedia for new contributors by
improving the underlying software on the basis of user behavioral
studies, thereby reducing barriers to public participation. This
position is part of the program team for the initiative.
For more information, please see the press release.
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikipedia_to_become_more…
Job Purpose
The core responsibility of this position is to design, develop, test and
deploy new features and improvements of the MediaWiki software for the
the Wikipedia usability initiative by working closely with the
interaction designer and peer developers of MediaWiki.
Reports to
Program Manager
Job Summary
*Propose software design solutions and obtain consensus from senior and
peer tech teams
*Create implementation prototypes based on design concepts
*Develop, test, and deploy new features and improvements to the
MediaWiki core and to MediaWiki extensions
*Collaborate in designing and implementing QA processes including
multi-lingual and performance tests
*Work closely with operations staff to ensure proper integration with
testing and production systems
Required Qualifications
*Computer Science degree or equivalent work experience
*5+ years experience as a software developer is required
*Experience with PHP development is required
*Extensive experience with AJAX/HTML/CSS is required
*Experience with cross-browser compatibility testing is required
*Experience with security implications of JavaScript/PHP software is
required
*Experience with LAMP is a major plus
*Experience with testing and analyzing usability and accessibility is a
major plus
*Experience with MediaWiki is a major plus
*An understanding of internationalizing and localizing software products
a major plus
*Any other free/open software development experience highly welcome
*Comfortable in a highly collaborative, consensus-oriented environment
*Experience with wikis and participatory production environments is a plus
*Understanding of the free culture movement is a plus
*The ideal candidate will be creative, highly motivated, and able to
operate effectively in multiple cultural and language contexts
Salary
The salary is in the range of $75,000 to $85,000 plus benefits,
commensurate with experience.
This position will be filled in June 2009. Due to the volume of
responses that we anticipate we will not reply to all applications, so
please do not interpret our silence as a lack of interest.
Based in San Francisco, CA., but remote candidates will be considered.
--
Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
The Hebrew Wikipedia community decided that Southpark episode named "Chef
Aid" is not worthy of an article, not because of it's content, but because
it is an unimportant episode.
I now wonder. This episode is available so far in the following wiki
Languages: English, French, Hungarian and Russian. I am aware that the
foundation does not like to intervene in local community decisions, and I am
not looking for a overturn, but rather to understand how this case fits it's
views and objectives.
Here we have an episode available in 4 languages (and will probably we
available in more - just a matter of time), but in the Hebrew language it
will never we available.
"*Imagine a world* in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment." -- not in the Hebrew language
(and perhaps, others too?).
see google translated vote page:
http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=iw&js=n&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhe.…
Opinions, please.
Yonidebest, hewiki user
Hi all!
The Wikipedia Usability Initiative conducted a user research study with
SF based Bolt Peters in late March to uncover barriers new editors face.
We are in the process of completing a full report on our methodology,
process and analysis, but wanted to share with you some of the major
themes and findings in the meantime....
Some quotes from our participants that illustrate these findings:
“Usually it’s the most information in the easiest spot to access. It
always looks very well put together….it boggles my mind how many people
can contribute and it still looks like an encyclopedia.” – ‘Galen’
“I like Wikipedia because it’s plain text and nothing flashes” – ‘Claudia’
“Rather than making a mess, I’d rather take some time to figure out how
to do it right."
(later) "There sure is a lot of stuff to read.” – ‘Dan’
“ [I felt] kind of stupid.” – ‘Galen’
“It’d be nice to have a GUI, so you could see what you’re editing.
You’ve made these changes and you’re looking at it, and you don’t know
how it’s going to look on the page. It’s a little clumsy to see how it’s
going to look.” – ‘Bryan’
“[This is] where I’d give up.” – ‘Shaun’
Check out the full post on the foundation blog:
http://blog.wikimedia.org/2009/04/24/usability-study-results-sneak-preview/
We would love to hear any initial thoughts, opinions, and reactions. If
you have any similar or dissimilar experiences - either personally or in
your own work/research, we'd love to hear about that too!
Always on your side,
The Usability Team