Page 48 – Upcoming Events

Breast cancer information on Wikipedia: making it even better

Around 55,000 people are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK every year, affecting not only those people but also their families and friends.

As October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Wikimedia UK and leading UK breast cancer support charity Breast Cancer Care teamed up for an expert-led Wikipedia editing session designed to improve Wikipedia articles about breast cancer.

Millions of people see these articles every year: at the time of writing, the article for breast cancer had been viewed more than 261,000 times in the past 90 days. Because Wikipedia is often a first source for people looking for information it’s important that the content is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. That’s why Breast Cancer Care, the only UK-wide charity providing specialist support and tailored information for people affected by breast cancer, was keen to be involved in the editing session.

Julia Bell, Head of Publishing at Breast Cancer Care, said: “When Wikimedia UK contacted us to offer this session for our expert editors to work with some of their expert editors we jumped at the chance. We know how many people use Wikipedia and how important it is that anyone looking for information about breast cancer finds accurate articles that they can understand easily. There’s an awful lot on Wikipedia so we can’t hope to get to it all, but we’re delighted to have an opportunity to help where we can.”

The editing session took place on 22 October at the London office of Breast Cancer Care. It was a great success with improvements planned to a list of key articles prepared in advance. Breast Cancer Care provided those editing with source and reference material, making sure that the information on Wikipedia is accurate and up to date.

Stevie Benton, Communications Organiser for Wikimedia UK, said: “I’m grateful to Breast Cancer Care for their efforts in helping to improve these very important articles. So many people look to Wikipedia for information that it’s crucial that the chapter identifies ways to make Wikipedia better for those who need it and their families.”

You can take a look at the list of articles worked on during the event here. Given the success of this event a plan is developing for a similar event to take place during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in March.

Governance review – interim review and progress report

Wikimedia UK has just received the independent interim review and progress report which records the progress the charity has made since January in implementing the recommendations of the Compass Review.

This interim report comes around halfway through the 18 month period established for embedding excellent governance practices as recommended in the initial review. It was prepared by Rosie Chapman, an independent governance consultant, with support from her assistant Sarah Loader.

The report highlights that good progress has been made although of course work remains to be done. Of the 50 recommendations made in the initial report good progress has been made on almost all, and half of the recommendations have already been fully implemented into the charity’s practices.

We were particularly pleased to note the consultants’ view that:

“To have adopted so many of the first Governance Review’s recommendations within the relatively short time scale of eight months is very impressive, particularly given the charity’s size and resources. WMUK has clearly spent a great deal of time and effort discussing policies and putting systems and processes in place, and it is admirable that the Trustees have made such good progress in implementing so many of the recommendations. Indeed, for an organisation of its size and relative ‘newness’, WMUK’s general documentation is more robust and effective than we have seen in many similar sized organisations”.

It is also gratifying to see the report notes that “a number of features, such as [Wikimedia UK’s] commitment to transparency, represent good practice which could be of interest to other membership charities.”

Chris Keating, Chair of Wikimedia UK, said: “I’m really pleased by the progress we’ve made in improving Wikimedia UK’s governance over the last year. The recommendations of the Compass Review last year have been immensely valuable in this work. We’re committed to the continuous improvement of our governance and our publication of this audit is part of that process.”

Wikimedia UK would like to place on record its thanks to Rosie Chapman and Sarah Loader for their significant work on this report. You can read the report in full here.

On a related note, Wikimedia UK is to host an international workshop for Wikimedia chapters in March with a view to sharing governance best practice. More details are available on Meta, here.

Wikipedia: Learning by sharing knowledge

This post was written by Martin Poulter. You can read the original here.

Billions of people around the world crave education, but lack the resources we take for granted. Adequate libraries and current textbooks are out of their reach, but they are increasingly getting internet access. Meanwhile, every day in universities and schools, talented students are writing essays, then handing them in to be read by a tutor who already knows the topic, to be marked and eventually thrown away. If only that student work could be put into a free, multilingual, knowledge-sharing space.

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, is part of a charitable project to give everyone on the planet free access to the sum of all human knowledge. This takes enormous effort from tens of thousands of volunteer editors, and after thirteen years it is still very much a work in progress. In many areas, Wikipedia has a real need for decent, well-written content.

In writing an online encyclopedia, the Wikipedia community needs people to:

choose and evaluate sources
represent sources with the right amount of relative weight;
structure information clearly to convey what is known about that topic;
write neutrally without bringing in subjective interpretations and opinions;
write in an original way to avoid plagiarism;
write accessibly for the widest audience;
check grammar and wording;
illustrate by finding, creating, or adapting images;
review articles against quality criteria;
and to discuss and justify these choices with people who may have a different perspective.

So there are research, textual, social and even legal skills involved in being a Wikipedian. Users do not need all these skills from the outset, but can start small and develop them by interacting with the community.

These look very like the skills that we try to develop and sharpen in degree-level education. That is why, in education systems around the world, hundreds of academics have set their students to improve, critique, translate, or illustrate Wikipedia articles. Articles such as Dictator novel, Implicit self-esteem and Nuclear energy policy in the United States have become rich and informative through student involvement.

Writing for the world, rather than just for one’s tutor, is potentially very motivating. It also risks ‘stage fright’. The course and assessment need to be structured to ensure learners are comfortable with Wikipedia’s norms and prepared to make the right sort of contributions.

Many lecturers and teachers are still suspicious of Wikipedia and (in vain) tell students to avoid it altogether. They see it purely as a reference resource. Seeing it as an educational process or as a knowledge-sharing community gives a different perspective: A poor Wikipedia article offers an opportunity to create active – and in some cases extremely rewarding – experiences for learners, while improving the world’s access to free educational material.

The US-based Wikimedia Foundation has some case studies from educators and here in the UK there is an index of education projects that may provide inspiration and guidance.

Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day

15 October is recognised as Ada Lovelace Day and is dedicated to celebrating the contributions of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Wikimedia UK is proud to be a part of those celebrations. Along with Jisc, we’re supporting an editathon focusing on women in science which takes place today at the University of Oxford. Additionally, there is another editathon taking place on Saturday at Conway Hall, London. This session will work to create articles about notable and historic women. There are still some spaces available for this free event, so sign up on the project page linked above.

As if to illustrate that the ongoing campaign to encourage greater recognition of women in STEM, BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour show featured a discussion of this topic, featuring our very own Daria Cybulska. UK readers of this blog can listen to the show here. The section about Ada Lovelace Day begins after around 7:45 of the recording.

This is an important issue and we thank and congratulate everyone working in this area. Happy Ada Lovelace Day!

Wikimedia UK & York Museums Trust appoint Wikimedian in Residence

York Museums Trust has appointed its first Wikimedian in Residence, becoming the latest cultural institution to strike up a partnership with Wikimedia UK.

Pat Hadley, from York, will help champion the use of Wikipedia – and other Wikimedia projects like the media repository Wikimedia Commons – across the Trust and beyond. Pat’s role will see him become Wikimedian in Residence for two days a week for a six month period.

Martin Fell, digital team leader at YMT, said: “We are delighted that Pat has accepted this new role. An archaeologist for the last decade who has been a regular contributor to Wikipedia for the last two years, he brings with him the ideal mix of a passion for history and an understanding of the huge potential of sharing knowledge online.”

Pat will work with YMT’s Digital Team, curators, volunteers, the Wikimedia community and Wikimedia UK to facilitate the release of more of the Trust’s collections onto Wikimedia Commons under open licenses. He will also help develop an open digital strategy for the Trust that will include a revamp of licensing of digital assets and continued engagement with the Wikimedia community.

To begin with Pat will work with the Trust’s Tempest Anderson collection which includes some 5,000 glass slides as well as numerous significant books and scientific papers. Topics covered by the collection include – but are not limited to – early mountaineering in Europe, volcanology, social history, geology, local history, travel, photography, the magic lantern, colonialism, shipping and medicine. The images alone have the potential to improve a wide range of Wikipedia articles and will also be of great value to Wikipedians editing in other languages.

Pat will also be looking at institutional engagement with Wikimedia projects and will build on the very successful residencies at other institutions such as the British Museum, the British Library, Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums and the Natural History Museum.

The post is supported by a grant from Wikimedia UK.

Introducing our two new trustees

Recently Wikimedia UK announced the co-option of two new Trustees to the Board of our charity, Kate West and Carol Campbell. Kate and Carol have provided brief biographies to introduce themselves to the community.

Kate is an operations and resource management professional and has worked for a variety of high-profile, non-profit organisations. She is Chief Operating Officer at the Electoral Reform Society and responsible for the smooth running of the Society’s finances, governance systems and internal operations. Kate previously managed operations at the political think tank Demos and worked for six years at the Charity Commission.

Kate said: “I am delighted to be joining the Wikimedia UK Board and am looking forward to helping the charity continue to grow and achieve its mission of supporting free and open knowledge for all.”

Carol is a former charity CEO who has worked in the hospice sector, the arts, a special school and a cathedral. She is currently involved in voluntary work mentoring a new senior manager and putting a quinquennial programme in place for a church. She is married, has a daughter living in Tokyo and is owned by Gem, a curly guide dog.

Carol said: “I am looking forward to working with Wikimedia UK, particularly in the field of strategy, governance and working with volunteers. I have been involved in the charity sector for most of my working life, in both a managerial and a voluntary capacity. One of my abiding passions is empowerment and the role of Wikimedia in supporting this agenda is particularly exciting to me.”

Welcoming Kate and Carol, Chris Keating, Chair of Wikimedia UK, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Carol and Kate to our Board. They each have a wealth of experience of governance, gained in community-driven organisations, and will bring very valuable perspectives to Wikimedia UK.”

The terms of both Carol and Kate run until the end of September 2015.

Wikimedia at the Mining Institute

This post was originally published by Robert Forsythe. You can read the original here.

Earlier in 2013 Wikimedia (parent to Wikipedia) was engaged in North East England through Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums. This was with the first Wikimedian in Residence in the region. Robert Forsythe was the fortunate candidate and it proved to be fascinating. An interesting follow on has been arranged for the 6th November 2013.

An editathon is being held in the North of England Institute of Mining and Mechanical Engineers just a very short walk east of Newcastle Upon Tyne Central station. I will be participating and it ought to appeal to a wide spread of people. It is a magnificent venue, a major piece of Victorian Gothic Revival. Lunch and a guided tour are part of the package provided. There is already Wikimedia content but once you see the collections, you will understand just how much connectivity between the Institute and Wikimedia there might be. If you feel you are a Wikimedia beginner, there will be experienced editors on hand. And if “mining” phases you reflect how much local and regional social history runs with the subject.

Additionally the library hosts the collections of local Stephenson Locomotive Society and Railway Correspondence & Travel Society branches. It has become a place where many volunteers interested in industrial heritage in the region gather (not least because it has a license and offers excellent coffee). More details are available on the registration page.

There have been 15 sign ons as of 4th October.

The morning after the month before

This post was written by Richard Nevell

September 2013 will always be the month the UK took part in Wiki Loves Monuments for the first time. We missed out in 2012, and planning began in January this year because we didn’t want the same to happen again. It has been a long process, but now the dust is settling and we can look back at WLM in the UK.

The first few minutes of 1 September were nervous. Would everything work? Would we have long to wait for our first upload? What did the month ahead hold? I nearly wore out the F5 looking for that first image, but only had to wait a few minutes. Thirty days later we had 11,995 photos from 573 people.

Both of those numbers are encouraging. The sheer number of photos meant the UK was the eighth biggest contributor to the global competition, but if anything those 573 people are more encouraging. Looking at the names of people who took part, there is a mix of old and new faces, and lots of people who have never edited before.

Buildings are the stage on which history happens, and WLM was a chance for people to engage with history as well as Wikimedia. And it worked. The fact nearly 600 people got involved speaks for itself, and several people have been in touch with the office saying how much they enjoyed the competition and adding something to Wikipedia. Some people wanted to know more about how it all works. It got people interested.

The competition is over as far as submissions is concerned, but now the judging stage starts. Volunteers have been integral to getting the infrastructure in place for WLM to work, and now they are helping by whittling down 11,995 photographs to around 1,000 for the final judging panel. The volunteer community have been outstanding. There are too many names to list here, but their efforts were invaluable and I owe them thanks.

As October wears on, keep an eye out for those listed buildings. Commons always needs good pictures, so don’t put away the camera just yet. The winners will be announced in early November, so watch this space.

Announcing new Wikimedia UK trustees

The board of Wikimedia UK is pleased to be able to announce today the co-option for a two year term of two new trustees, Carol Campbell and Kate West, both of whom have specialist expertise.

Carol has extensive experience of volunteer organisations and brings strong conflict-management and relationship-building skills to the board. She was previously Cathedral Executive Officer at Ely Cathedral. Kate is Chief Operating Officer at the Electoral Reform Society, and brings strong governance, management, policy and planning skills. We welcome them both.

Further extension of the board can be expected soon, particularly with a view to increasing the proportion of trustees who are active members of the Wikimedia community.

Reflections on two years in post

This post was written by Jon Davies, Chief Executive

Exactly two years ago today I started working for Wikimedia UK and what a memorable day that was.

It was a Saturday and I took an early train to Coventry to find out what exactly a ‘backstage pass’ meant and what Wikimedians actually looked like in the flesh. I had met a few at the London meetup but this was the first time I was there as their new CEO and could spend the day working with them. I met some amazing people that day. Rock drum, Roger Bamkin and Harry Mitchell were particularly memorable and everyone made me feel welcome. At lunchtime I popped over to Warwick University and met Richard Symonds and Fiona Apps who were running a stall at the Fresher’s Fair recruiting students. After that back to the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum to watch the process of creating and improving pages and then to the pub wearing my brand new Wikimedia UK t-shirt.

Looking back all the elements of what makes us successful were there. Volunteers, co-operation with other institutions, enthusiasm, t-shirts and beer. This was a sociable organisation that had wonderful people in it.

On Friday I completed our application for next year’s funding and was amazed at the distance we had all traveled together. Certainly there have been frustrating moments and a few detours I regret we had to make, but we are now doing so much more. One look at the Wikimedia UK website or list of events demonstrates that. I have very high hopes for the next year.

Thanks to everyone, volunteers, trustees and staff who have contributed.