[Foundation-l] Looking for stories of readers affected by Wikipedia

Thu Nov 11 09:58:22 UTC 2010

Hello,

Megan might want to contact Valérie75
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Val%C3%A9rie75, who ended up
writing books about the topics she contributed to on Wikipédia. The
books are not under a free license (I don't think), but have received
good press in their domain (ornitohology, history of naturalism and
such).

Her mini bio does mention Wikipedia, and my take is that Wikipédia
(and the amazing contribution she made to it) was a breakthrough in
her career as an author. She has more than 50000 edits on fr wp.

Not sure if you're looking for that kind of stories, but it's a nice
editor/volunteer/amateur becomes professional story.

http://valerie-chansigaud.fr/index.php/accueil/mini-bio

Cheers,

Delphine

On Thu, Nov 11, 2010 at 7:31 AM, Sue Gardner <sgardner at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> Megan Hernandez on the staff is looking out for me, for stories of
> readers whose lives have been impacted by Wikipedia or the other
> projects. (Donors often send us stories like that, and I am often
> looking for stories to tell people about the projects. So I've asked
> her to send good ones to me.)
>
> I was writing her a set of criteria for the kinds of stories I want,
> and it occurred to me that you might yourselves have some good stories
> of exactly this kind. So I am sending along the criteria here too :-)
> If you have stories that fit many/all of these criteria, please send
> them to me, onlist or off. And please forgive my cross-posting to
> several lists at once.
>
> Thanks,
> Sue
>
> * Ideally, they'd be along the theme of "how Wikipedia made my life
> better." This might be an anecdote, or bigger-picture (ie, 'how
> Wikipedia makes my life better every day').
>
> * Ideally, they would be stories of people who
> pre-exposure-to-Wikipedia would have had circumscribed access to
> information. Because they grew up in a small town with no library,
> because their school didn't stock certain kinds of books, because
> materials in their language are of limited availability, because their
> government limits access to certain types of information -- in
> general, because their economic/political/socio-cultural circumstances
> somehow impede(d) easy access to information.
>
> * Ideally, the information that Wikipedia gives them is important, and
> directly, immediately useful. Like, it helped them better understand a
> health issue they were having, or it equipped them to do some
> important task better; it helped them understand a new situation or
> some aspect of themselves, or enabled them to solve an important
> problem. Maybe it helped them get a job they otherwise couldn't have
> gotten, or enabled them to avoid some specific danger or risk.
>
> * And/or, the information fed a general curiosity and desire to
> understand the world better. It got them interested in going to
> college which nobody in their family had done before, it helped them
> develop a more thoughtful position on a public policy issue, it
> stimulated them to travel or read more widely, or to question
> assumptions they had been making.
>
> * Ideally, their lives are better today because of the information
> they are exposed to via Wikipedia. Maybe this would be better in some
> really specific way -- like, "Three months later I persuaded my doctor
> to let me try the new treatment, and it worked." Or, it might be much
> more general.
>
> * It is fine if the information they found on Wikipedia might
> otherwise have been kept from them, either deliberately or through
> lack of easy opportunity. It is fine if the information is considered
> risky or controversial in some way.
>
> --
> Sue Gardner
> Executive Director
> Wikimedia Foundation
>
> 415 839 6885 office
> 415 816 9967 cell
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
> the sum of all knowledge.  Help us make it a reality!
>
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>
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