The Wikimedia UK staff team, who really hope you can make it!
Wikimedia UK is hosting an open day and workshops on Saturday 23 March and we’d love for you to come along.
The open day has been designed for volunteers, trustees, potential trustees and staff to get together over coffee and lunch to meet and discuss the future of our charity. This event will be especially useful for those responding to our call for applicants to join our Board of Trustees.
This is an excellent chance to come together as a community of people who all want to help the chapter achieve great things in support of free and open knowledge. In particular, it’s an opportunity for our community and potential trustees to meet and get a sense of the contributions they may be able to make to our charity and our movement.
Topics for the day will include a workshop looking at our five year plan and a session based on where we want to be in 2018. We want to know what your vision for our charity is, what you want us to achieve and how we can get there.
The event will take place at our offices in the Old Street area of London and will run from 10am-5pm. Lunch and refreshments will be provided and we will also consider meeting travel expenses for attendees.
We’re looking forward to seeing you there and making the most of this opportunity to learn from one another. If you’d like to come along please use this page to express your interest.
If you’re interested in becoming a Trustee of our charity, please call Jon Davies, Chief Executive on 020 7065 0990 or email jon.davies@wikimedia.org.uk Jon will be happy to speak with you.
Postcard of a steam tug called Vigilant coming through the swing bridge in Newcastle.
Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, working with Wikimedia UK, have today announced they are to jointly recruit of a Wikimedian in Residence.
This is a ground-breaking partnership between one of the North East’s most important cultural bodies and the charity that promotes and supports Wikipedia, the world’s 5th most popular website.
The Wikimedian in Residence will be working on photographs from TWAM’s Shipbuilding, Maritime Trade and Science & Technology collections, digitising content and helping to improve content on Wikipedia.
Jon Davies, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, said: “Wikimedia UK is really pleased to be working together with TWAM. The Wikimedian in Residence will make a valuable contribution to making the museum’s materials accessible to people around the world, for free.”
Carolyn Ball, of Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums, said: “The Wikimedian in Residence will be working with our shipbuilding, maritime and science and technology collections, which are Designated as being of national and international importance. They will work with TWAM staff and the research community to develop new Wikipedia articles, and improve existing articles, relating to these collections.”
This post was written by Charles Matthews, Wikimedian and Wikimedia UK volunteer.
The digitisation project for the Victorian-era Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) on Wikisource has reached the milestone of a complete posting for the biographies for the first edition, which was published in 63 volumes from 1885 to 1900. Wikisource is the text repository of Wikimedia, less well known than Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons (media files), but which adds value to texts with author pages, portals and categories, and light annotation and hyperlinks.
The efforts of over 30 people since 2008 have put close to 30,000 DNB articles onto Wikisource. While in the UK the text of the old DNB is available freely through library cards on http://www.oxforddnb.com, the subscription site of the modern revised Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB), the old DNB is still of interest, and this digitisation makes it much easier to use for the whole world… For example the DNB contains more genealogical and bibliographical research information. This major resource has in fact not previously been available straightforwardly on search engines.
The DNB was a remarkable legacy project of the publisher George Murray Smith. Typical of the unstoppable Victorian attitude, it was authored by over 700 writers, with the first editor being Leslie Stephen, father of Virginia Woolf. It is particularly strong in areas such as naval biography and Scottish history. With a deep coverage of figures relevant to the British Empire as it then was, it was called by historian Christopher Hill “that much maligned and indispensable work”. Texts on Wikisource cannot be guaranteed perfect, but the small numbers in the left margin of the DNB biographies give access to scans of original pages allowing for checking and correction by anyone.
Today the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK are announcing the release of the final report and recommendations regarding the governance of the Wikimedia UK chapter. The report was completed by Compass Partnership, consultants in non-profit management based in the UK. The report was commissioned jointly by the Foundation and Wikimedia UK in October 2012 following important Wikimedia community discussions about potential conflicts of interest arising from a series of wiki outreach projects.
The Foundation and Wikimedia UK saw the potentially damaging effect of these matters and we ordered this review and report. We both expect the highest standards of governance, and this report is an effort to chart a strong course for Wikimedia UK and also thoughtful and valuable counsel for any organization in our movement to consider.
The report discusses important conclusions based on discussions with and materials provided by all of the major stakeholders. The aim of the report is not to lay blame, rather it seeks to determine if pre-existing policies and practices around conflicts of interest and governance were sufficient. Through this report we also aim to lay the groundwork for better and stronger governance for Wikimedia UK in the future and for its development as a chapter in our movement. We also believe the report may benefit the wider community of Wikimedia affiliated organizations by providing an example of best practices around governance and decision-making as applied to a chapter.
With a clear list of recommendations and timeline for their implementation, Wikimedia UK is now in a position to improve and expand its policies and procedures, related not just to the management of conflict of interest but also its management structure. The chapter will be discussing the findings with the community and begin their implementation at their forthcoming Trustee meeting in February.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported this process over the past three months, including the authors of the report, Compass Partnership, the staff and trustees of WMUK and the Wikimedia Foundation, and Wikimedia community members who shared their insights and feedback about the whole process.
Q: How did this report come about? Who originated the suggestion for the report?
The report was commissioned jointly by Wikimedia UK and the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) in October 2012 following community discussions about conflicts of interest concerning Wikimedia UK, specifically relating to the management of wiki-based outreach initiatives, including QRpedia, Monmouthpedia, and Gibraltarpedia.
The report looks at how pre-existing policies and procedures were managed in light of conflict situations. The report also provides insight and advice on how to address any deficiencies in Wikimedia UK’s policies and practices. The report makes those recommendations and also provides a timeline for implementation.
The report was not intended to lay blame or identify any individuals nor actions who may have been at fault. The focus was on policies and how decisions and actions were carried out. Through this report we also aim to build a better future for Wikimedia UK, and lay the groundwork for stronger governance. We also believe the report may benefit the wider community of Wikimedia affiliated organizations by providing an example of best practices around governance and decision-making as applied to a chapter.
Q: Who conducted the report and how was it carried out?
The report was conducted by Compass Partnership, a UK-based management consultancy with experience conducting reviews of this kind, and advising non-profits on issues related to compliance with UK charity laws. Compass Partnerships was chosen from a list of candidates developed by both Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK.
The report involved collection of records (primarily minutes from meetings, emails and correspondence), interviews with officers and others involved in the projects (from Wikimedia UK, WMF, and other organizations), review of on-wiki and publicly available materials, and other fact-gathering.
WMF and Wikimedia UK jointly commissioned this report to gain an objective view into the activities that took place and the decisions made by Wikimedia UK, and to produce suggestions that address any observed issues in governance – particularly as they relate to the management of conflict of interest matters in the UK context.
We also believe the report may benefit the wider community of Wikimedia affiliated organizations by providing an example of best practices around governance and decision-making as applied to a chapter.
Q: Who paid for the report and the review?
The report was commissioned jointly. WMF covered the costs of hiring the consultancy firm; however both WMF and Wikimedia UK contributed considerable time and effort into the collection of information and in assisting with the report authors.
Q: What is the Foundation’s view on the findings of this report? What is Wikimedia UK’s view on the findings of this report?
Q: What are the immediate outcomes of the review? Are any actions being undertaken immediately by Wikimedia UK or the Wikimedia Foundation?
WMF and Wikimedia UK jointly undertook this review and the creation of the report with the shared understanding that the recommendations would be reviewed and adopted immediately where appropriate. The Wikimedia UK board will be reviewing the report, and the timeline for implementation of the changes proposed, at their Board meeting on Saturday 9 February. Some of the proposals will need to be discussed by the whole Wikimedia UK membership before they can take effect.”
Q: What is the status of the QRpedia project – and the other community ‘pedia’ projects
The report outlines clear recommendations for clarifying the ownership and operation of the QRpedia project. The other community projects are still active, although neither WMF nor Wikimedia UK are planning to support new projects of this nature at least until that question is resolved. Updated, 11 February: Wikimedia UK, Roger Bamkin and Terence Eden have reached an agreement about the future ownership of QRpedia. Full details of this agreement will be shared in due course.
Q: Will there be more community ‘pedia’ type projects and use of QR codes?
There are no current plans from Wikimedia Foundation to expand the number of the community projects. The Wikimedia Foundation is not planning to review nor approve any licensed uses of the Wikipedia trademarks for the purposes of community projects at this time.
The report makes recommendations about clarifying the ownership and operation of the QRpedia project. Wikimedia UK is currently in negotiations about the possible transfer of ownership and operation of the QRpedia project. Updated, 11 February: Wikimedia UK, Roger Bamkin and Terence Eden have reached an agreement about the future ownership of QRpedia. Full details of this agreement will be shared in due course.
Q: Will Wikimedia UK now be permitted to take part in the Wikimedia fundraiser?
This report was not commissioned to examine Wikimedia UK’s fundraising activities and its conclusions and recommendations are focused more broadly on governance and operational details. We expect Wikimedia UK will revisit the topic of the Wikimedia fundraiser when the time is right.
Q: Did the governance review cover any issues related to financial matters?
The focus of the review was to examine the decisions made by Wikimedia UK, as well as pre-existing policies and procedures. The report does make specific recommendations relating to the disclosure of financial information as it relates to transparency and accountability. Wikimedia UK’s finances were audited by UHY in 2012.
John Byrne has decided to stand down as the Treasurer and a trustee of Wikimedia UK. His resignation coincides with the end of our financial year.
John said: “Today I’m announcing, with regret, my resignation from the Board of Trustees of Wikimedia UK. I hope to pursue Wikimedia-related employment opportunities in the near future, and it is clear that in order to do so I should step down from the Board sooner rather than later.
“It has been a challenging and fascinating period for Wikimedia UK, and I have greatly enjoyed working with the staff, trustees and volunteers. I’m glad to be able to say that financial procedures and reporting are already vastly improved since I took over as (initially) Acting Treasurer last April.
“Wikimedia UK is poised to take things to a new level in the new financial year beginning on 1st February when we will introduce a new chart of accounts that will give us much better analysis and reporting, and a new version of the Sage accounting software. Of course I will continue to be involved as a volunteer in the UK Wikimedia community, and in particular with our GLAM outreach programme.”
The Wikimedia UK Board thanks John for all of his hard work as our Treasurer and we wish him well. We look forward to his continued involvement as a volunteer.
This message was initially circulated by the organising team of Wikimania 2013.
Scholarship applications for Wikimania 2013 in Hong Kong are now being accepted. The application window is open until 22 February.
A Wikimania 2013 scholarship is an award given to an individual to enable them to attend Wikimania in Hong Kong from 7-11 August, 2013.
Two types of scholarship will be available this year. Partial scholarships will cover travel expenses to Wikimania, capped at 50% of the estimated air fare from your nearest international airport according to this page. Full scholarships will cover round-trip travel, dormitory accommodation as arranged by the Wikimania Team, and registration for Wikimania 2013.
Applicants will be rated on the following four dimensions:
1. Activity within Wikimedia (on-wiki and off-wiki) – 50%
2. Activity outside of Wikimedia and other free knowledge/software projects – 15%
3. Interest in Wikimania and the Wikimedia movement – 25%
4. Fluency of English language – 10%
If you have any question, email the team at wikimania-scholarship@wikimedia.org
Please note that Wikimedia UK will also be offering four full scholarships and two partial scholarships to attend Wikimania 2013. The application process is exactly the same and all applications should be made in the same way as that described above.
The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum, working with Wikimedia UK, have today announced they are seeking to appoint a Wikimedian in Residence.
This is a ground-breaking partnership between two of the UK’s most prestigious cultural institutions and the charity that promotes and supports Wikipedia, the world’s 5th most popular website.
As the official Wikimedian in Residence the successful applicant will be expected to make an impactful contribution to the public’s knowledge of the work of both institutions and their important and unique collections.
Jon Davies, Chief Executive of Wikimedia UK, said: “Wikimedia UK is really excited by this partnership. The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are known worldwide for their excellence and their extensive archives. The Wikipedian in Residence will make a valuable contribution to making the museums’ materials accessible to people around the world, for free.”
Scouts from Portugal at the opening of the 21st World Scout Jamboree
This is a guest post from Maurizio Codogno, Wikimedia Italia, and was initially posted on the Wikimedia Foundation blog where you can also see the post in Italian and Spanish
On 9 September 2005, the article Choisy-le-Roi, a French town near Paris, was created on the Italian Wikipedia. On 3 October 2008, the article Placca indiana, one of the tectonic plates in the lithosphere of the Earth, was also created. What can these articles ever have in common? Simple. they are, respectively, the 100,000th and the 500,000th article on it.wikipedia.org.
On January 22, at 4:50 am (Rome and Zurich timezone), the millionth article was created! Given the creation and deletion of articles that routinely happens on Wikipedia, it is not exactly clear which one is the actual millionth article. The two most likely candidates are 8mm (a California-based band) and Scautismo e guidismo in Portogallo (Scouting and Guiding in Portugal).The Italian edition of Wikipedia is the fifth to have reached this milestone. In addition to the English language edition, which had its millionth article on March 1st, 2006 and now has well over four million entries, the “millionaire club” currently includes the Wikipedias in German (since 27 December 2009), French (since 21 September 2010) and Dutch (since 17 December 2011). The editions in Spanish, Russian and Polish are also approaching the milestone.
Surely, in August 2001, when the first Italian article was created, no one would even have dreamed of witnessing the millionth one. In the discussion about the creation of article number 100,000, some people jokingly wrote that they were getting ready for when the half a million goal was reached, a figure which seemed unattainable.
To tell the truth, the first two articles mentioned at the beginning of this post have something else in common. The links above show how the items appeared at their creation, but if you consult them today (respectively here and here), we can see that in these years the content of both articles has been greatly expanded. This is probably the best answer to those who believe that having too many articles is useless, if not harmful, for the encyclopedia: The structure of Wikipedia allows and even encourages the growth of knowledge, because even a slight improvement, when added to many others, can make a difference.
In fact, on the Italian Wikipedia, relative to other editions, the automated creation of pages is strictly limited to the cases where it’s tightly checked by humans and it encourages editor engagement, and has been almost non-existing in last years. Even more noteworthy is the fact that the 500,000th article was created by an unregistered user (a permission removed on the English Wikipedia in 2005), another confirmation of the practical philosophy of Wikipedia, which prefers authority of the text to authority of the writer.
The article Scautismo e guidismo in Portogallo is a product of Progetto:Scout, the combined effort of Wikipedia editors interested in developing and maintaining articles about scouting. The article itself, while entered by User:Lou_Crazy, is the result of a combined effort, in pure wiki style. Its contents come from the article Scouting and guiding in Portugal in the English language Wikipedia, which received contributions from at least ten different users since it was created in 2007. On the English Wikipedia there is WikiProject Scouting, which is analogous to Progetto:Scout. The text was translated by Lou Crazy, and it was adapted using templates written by members of Progetto:Scout to help in this effort. So, despite being only 2175 bytes long at its creation, this article already has a long history behind it, and it has already grown almost twice in size, including the addition of a photo.
Lou Crazy, who volunteers most of his free time as a scout leader, says that he started working on this article a few days ago, because it was missing, and he wants Wikipedia to be a great resource for scouts and guides who want to know more about their brother scouts and guides across the world. He had also prepared an article about Federação Escotista de Portugal, one of the scout associations in Portugal. So, when the counter was close to 1 million, he sent both articles and crossed his fingers.
The second candidate article, 8mm, was written by Nungalpiriggal, a fairly novice Wikipedian, who was awake and online that night, looking at the page counter with the mouse ready to press the Save Page button for the historical moment.
Why that article? First of all, Nungalpiriggal is a fan of that band and that page was missing. Second, he felt the millionth article should have respected Wikilove, thus, no controversial topics or discussed personalities, no football players or politicians, nothing that may cause any disagreement and confusion. So, the choice went to an international band that most people in Italy did not even know about (maybe, now that this article has been published, somebody else in Italy will listen to their music). And, last but not least, as a cameo in this page there is a link to Grey’s Anatomy, the article mostly viewed on the Italian Wiki in 2012.
Of course, no one plans to rest on our laurels and there are at least two new challenges for the encyclopedia. We need to increase the number of active contributors on Italian Wikipedia, which has stayed more or less constant for many months at around 8,000 people. Anyone can lend a hand, even just correcting a typo.
Of course we then have to improve the quality of individual items too. Today there are only 800 entries which are stated Featured or Good: it is true that the criteria for inclusion in those lists are very strict, but it is certainly possible to do much more. Finally, for those who feared that we are running out of items to be created, no worry! There is a page dedicated precisely to the requests for creating articles on topics not yet covered. Collaboration means that too!
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