WikiConference UK 2013/Talk submissions

Wikimedia UK will be hosting WikiConference UK 2013 along with our Annual General Meeting in Lincoln on Saturday, 8 June.

To submit a talk, simply use the template below to specify the title of your talk, your name, how long it will be and a short blurb as to what it is about. Whilst you are here, consider commenting on other suggestions. You will be contacted in the coming weeks if your talk is selected.

If you have any questions, please post them on the talk page, and/or contact the Conference Committee, conference-committee-lwikimedia.org.uk

Please see the talk submissions from last year for some examples.

The deadline for talk submission has now passed. Submissions are being evaluated by the Conference Committee and speakers will be informed of the result of their submission as soon as possible.

Template

Please use the template code below

{{subst:SubmissionsWikiCon
| Talk title  = 
| Username    = 
| Length      = 
| Description = 
}}

Proposals

Wikimania London

• Presenter Name: James Knight & Edward Saperia
• Talk Length: 10-15 Minutes
• Talk Description: Overview of Wikimania London (provisional on bid acceptance)

Comments

• The target date for the announcement is 1 May, which is a little over a month before this conference, so assuming the decision is announced on time, I imagine we can wait until then to announce the final running order of talks. Harry Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 17:51, 21 April 2013 (UTC)
• Would be great to hear from the Wikimania team at the conference! The Land (talk) 14:22, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

QRpedia latest

• Presenter Name: Andy Mabbett, User:Pigsonthewing
• Talk Length: 20 min (or as required)
• Talk Description: A brief overview of QRpedia for people new to it, and a summary of recent changes, developments and new/ planned deployments, including implications of the move to WMUK management.

Small is beautiful - GLAM in small museums

• Presenter Name: Andy Mabbett, User:Pigsonthewing
• Talk Length: 20 min (or as required)
• Talk Description: GLAM projects in major museums are well-known in the Wikimedia community; but what of local, specialist and other small GLAMs? The talk will examine recent successes and issues arising, and look at how we can unlock the hidden stories in the collections of smaller GLAMs. Based on my experiences as Wikipedian in Residence at Staffordshire Archives and Heritage Service, Wikipedian in Residence at Lancashire Museums, and in GLAM projects elsewhere.

Comments

• Hi Andy, much as I'd love to hear about all the things you'd like to talk about, could I possibly ask you to pick the one you'd most like to talk about? With 16 submissions (so far), we may struggle to fit all the suggestions in, so a limit if one talk per person seems fair. Cheers, Harry Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 17:54, 21 April 2013 (UTC)
  • Seconded. I get that Andy is trying to let us decide which are the most important topic(s) for him to talk on, but I'd like to hear which he personally is most interested in speaking about, as that might be a strong indicator of the best talk(s). MartinPoulter (talk) 16:38, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
  • While I'd be happy to speak more than once, I don't expect to be able to occupy more than one slot (lightening talks excepted; that would be facilitating other speakers, to fill any available gaps) at the expense of other speakers. I have no strong preference, but perhaps QRpedia has been done to death, while 'Have you heard?' and 'Wikipedia is not an Encyclopedia!' are the freshest. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 14:29, 30 April 2013 (UTC)
• A practical talk about issues specific to small GLAMs, and how to address them, would be very interesting. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:47, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
• I'd find this interesting. The Land (talk) 14:23, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikipedia is not an Encyclopedia!

• Presenter Name: Andy Mabbett, User:Pigsonthewing
• Talk Length: 30 min (or as required)
• Talk Description: Wikipedia as a database, geo-location resource, and more. What else do we produce, other than the on-screen pages we all know and love? How can editors account for this, when writing articles?

Lightning talks

• Presenter Name: Andy Mabbett, User:Pigsonthewing
• Talk Length: Flexible; up to an hour
• Talk Description: I would like to facilitate a session or sessions of lightning talks, like those I participated in at GLAMsterdam (see my blog post on the topic which explains the process and rationale). Any attendee can have, say, one minute or so (to be determined) to speak to everyone present, on any Wikimedia-related topic. Timing can be flexible, so this can fill gaps between more structured sessions. Also useful in case of under-runs, or planned speaker's not attending.

Have you heard?

• Presenter Name: Andy Mabbett, User:Pigsonthewing
• Talk Length: 20 min (or as required)
• Talk Description: Audio files on Wikipedia Commons, Wikipedia and other projects with particular reference to the "Voice Intro Project" (see WikiVIP blog post and WikiVIP project page). Why we need them, how we can generate more contributions, and barriers that need to be overcome.

Comments

• Great idea for a talk, a very "little known" area of Wikimedia that could benefit from exposure! --ErrantX (talk) 22:55, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
• Yes please. The Land (talk) 14:23, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Wikimedia UK's Virtual Learning Environment

• Presenter Name: User:Stevie Benton (WMUK)
• Talk Length: 15 minutes
• Talk Description: A brief introduction to the Wikimedia UK Virtual Learning Environment - what it is, how it works, what it will achieve and what's happening next.

Comments

• I am eager to hear about this topic. Yaris678 (talk) 12:27, 22 February 2013 (UTC)
• If both my talk and this talk are accepted — naturally I hope they are — it would make sense to have them adjacent in the programme. MartinPoulter (talk) 11:00, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

Three prongs of outreach

• Presenter Name: User:MartinPoulter
• Talk Length: 20 minutes
• Talk Description: Partnerships with GLAMs are the jewel in the crown of Wikimedia UK's work, but there are two other major kinds of partnerships we can create: education projects and expert outreach. This is a round-up of the progress made in these two other areas, of the possibilities for the future and of the opportunities for volunteers.

Comments

• This is an excellent idea for a talk & I agree it should be combined with Stevie's talk - perhaps you could merge them together into a single 30-40 minute talk?? --ErrantX (talk) 22:54, 6 April 2013 (UTC)
• Yes please, would be interested in a workshop on this too if a second day workshop thing happened Mrjohncummings (talk) 13:44, 9 April 2013 (UTC)
  • I don't think they overlap, but they do abut, so I'm not suggesting a merge but having them next to each other. MartinPoulter (talk) 22:59, 11 April 2013 (UTC)
• I would also like to see this. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:50, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

I iz in ur servers

• Presenter Name: Tom Morton
• Talk Length: 20 minutes
• Talk Description: Since November, Wikimedia UK has had two tech contractors working on their websites and services. This would be a quick overview of the work we've done so far, what is planned in the future, and a Q/A session - plus an opportunity to coerce encourage people to get involved in the tech committee etc.

All is not as it seems

• Presenter Name: Tom Morton
• Talk Length: 20 minutes
• Talk Description: As a volunteer editor I write mostly about Second World War deception, a fascinating and little covered aspect of the war. This proposed talk would be about the difficulties of researching/writing about an obscure topic. Including:
• Finding good source material
• What happens when sources are wrong!
• Primary sources.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Wikimedia UK's Education Projects But Were Afraid To Ask

• Presenter Name: Toni Sant
• Talk Length: 20 minutes
• Talk Description: An overview of WMUK's Education Projects aimed at WMUK members not directly involved in Education projects.

Comments

• Toni and I have had a chat. There is a significant overlap in what we want to say, but we are each saying individual things. It might make sense to make this a single 30 minute slot. MartinPoulter (talk) 23:00, 11 April 2013 (UTC)

Yes, I'd be quite happy to do a double act with Martin, of course. The important thing is that we don't end up talking to people who already know about WMUK's Education projects. --Toni Sant (WMUK) (talk) 17:12, 15 April 2013 (UTC)

Natural History Museum and Science Museum Wikimedian in Residence

• Presenter Name: John Cummings
• Talk Length: 20 minutes (or as needed)
• Talk Description: An overview of what we've been doing at the Natural History Museum and Science Museum possibly with a special focus on augmented reality and multilingual things.

Comments

Would be really interested to see this. The Land (talk) 14:24, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Privacy Policy Complaints: The Ombudsman Commission

• Presenter Name: Dan Garry, Deskana
• Talk Length: 15 minutes (can go shorter or longer as needed)
• Talk Description: A discussion of how privacy policy complaints are handled by the Wikimedia Foundation's Ombudsman Commission.

Accessibility in lists

• Presenter Name: User:RexxS
• Talk Length: 15 to 150 min as required
• Talk Description: Wikipedia has lots of lists, many of them present difficulties for visitors using screen readers. What can we do to improve on that?

Comments

• It's a small but important topic: it deserves a treatment, but a short one. MartinPoulter (talk) 16:36, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
• I'm keen to see this; more on accessibility would be good. Andy Mabbett (User:Pigsonthewing); Andy's talk; Andy's edits 14:31, 30 April 2013 (UTC)

Understanding scope and delivering openness.

• Presenter Name: Fæ (talk)
• Talk Length: 15 mins or a longer slot
• Talk Description: When the UK chapter became a registered charity, the boundaries of our mission and our defined aims became a matter for external regulation and reporting. During 2012/13 we have seen "mission creep" which needs to be understood and consider either refining the mission, or how to "factor out" programmes not in our core mission. A related issue has been our exponential growth in paid staff with increasing professionalism and associated bureaucracy at times reducing openness, do we want to change our priorities in the coming year and deliver on our expectations of staying more open and transparent than most other charities and most other Wikimedia organizations?

Comments

• The above description sets off some alarm bells for me, to be honest. Whereas the other talks seem to be about reporting on work done or raising awareness of future possibilities or opportunities, this proposal as it stands seems as if it would extend an unproductive internal wrangle- not the sort of thing you do at the showcase public conference. If the point you want to make is about the centrality of openness to our way of working - and it is indeed central - then waiting for a session at a conference months hence seems the wrong way to have the discussion, given the other tools we have, such as this wiki. Hasn't this topic been talked out already? If there are questions about why the staff or board work a certain way, then the sensible thing to do is to ask those people directly, not wait a few months for a public session. As a trustee, you're certainly not short of opportunities to contact the relevant people or indeed influence the charity's direction. MartinPoulter (talk) 16:35, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
• I think it is good to review what WMUK is for and would anticipate this talk sparking some lively debate which would hopefully result in clarifying the issue. That said, if it were me I would probably write a user essay on this wiki as my starting point. That would allow a more deliberative approach. After the essay had been up for a while I would think about the response it got and whether it would be a good idea to present something on the subject. Yaris678 (talk) 17:47, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
• Openness seems too difficult to talk about openly. I'll carry on talking about it in-camera instead of using up time in the AGM on matters of more interest to the members. Thanks --Fæ (talk) 11:05, 23 April 2013 (UTC)

MediaWiki for OER and Learning Analytics

• Presenter Name: User:Sjgknight (should note, I think this is an important area which it'd be great for someone to present on, but it certainly doesn't have to be me (though it'd be nice to chat to whoever does do it if selected!))
• Talk Length: At least 15 minutes, could go longer
• Talk Description: I've suggested two areas for discussion at EduWiki http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:EduWiki_Conference_2013/Proposals User:Toni_Sant_(WMUK) suggested WikiConference might be a good place to start these discussions.

1. Learning Analytics and mediawiki - present the idea of learning analytics and why mediawiki might be a good platform for it, e.g. based on: http://people.kmi.open.ac.uk/knight/2013/01/mediawiki-for-learning-analytics/
2. Mediawiki for an OER platform - I worked on a project (the ORBIT project http://orbit.educ.cam.ac.uk/ ) based on mediawiki, and the choice to go with mediawiki was very deliberate, but there were technical issues with setup (beyond the user issues of starting communities, of teachers in this case, editing), such as exporting to PDF and the ability to have numbered headings. We'd like to engage with the community to address some of these issues and talking about our experience might be one way to start that discussion.

Comments

• Indeed! As I see it, we can use the WikiConference session as a way to discuss a possible session for EduWiki 2013. Thanks. --Toni Sant (WMUK) (talk) 12:11, 19 April 2013 (UTC)

• Just to confirm, if this proposal is accepted, are you happy to deliver the talk? Harry Mitchell | Penny for your thoughts? 17:48, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

yup, absolutely, but if you know of someone else in the area I won't be offended if they're asked either! Sjgknight (talk) 11:41, 22 April 2013 (UTC)

• Would be really interested to see this talk about a new, education-related topic from a relatively new member of the community, and you're the right chap for the job, Simon. An overview of what learning analytics are, why they're useful, and the strengths and weaknesses of MediaWiki as a platform for collecting them, and any lessons for projects such as Wikipedia and Wikiversity? Sounds ideal. MartinPoulter (talk) 16:26, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
• I am very interested in this topic. It would be nice to see the talk immediately before the talk on #Wikimedia UK's Virtual Learning Environment because I think the contrasts will be very interesting. Yaris678 (talk) 17:37, 22 April 2013 (UTC)
• I would very much like to see this one as well. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:45, 11 May 2013 (UTC)

Wicipedia Cymraeg

• Presenter Name: Robin Owain
• Session Length: 15-20 minutes
• Description:

Comments

I found it really helpful to learn more about the Welsh Wicipedia when Robin spoke at a Board meeting last year, I'd recommend this to the rest of the community as well. The Land (talk) 14:26, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Opening Up Humanities Sources

• Presenter Name: Martin Eve
• Session Length: 20 minutes
• Description: This talk will look at the ways in which open access mandates affect publication in the humanities and the efforts that we are taking to mitigate the potential damage of new publisher business models. Our project, the Open Library of Humanities, aims to introduce a mode free of article processing charges that will facilitate open practice and enhance the value of Wiki citations. It is the background to these efforts and the transormative practices that we're undertaking that I want to talk about here.

Malta Music Memory Project

• Presenter Name: Darren Stephens
• Session Length: 15-20 minutes
• Description: The Malta Music Memory Project (M3P) is a self-described "repository for memories of Malta's music and associated arts, ensuring that these are kept in posterity for current and future generations". It uses the Mediawiki platform for supporting its work. This talk shares some of our experiences of setting up and maintaining a Mediawiki project, perhaps sitting a little outside the mainstream Wikimedia ecosystem, that others might find useful.

Wiki Loves Monuments

• Presenter Name: TBC
• Session Length: 15 minutes
• Description: See Wiki Loves Monuments 2013 in the United Kingdom

Comments

• Somebody should definitely talk about this! --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:43, 11 May 2013 (UTC)
  • Sounds like you're volunteering ;-) The Land (talk) 14:25, 12 May 2013 (UTC)