Category Archives: oa.wikimedia

Wikimedia developers’ research needs

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“Thank you for taking the time to participate in this survey by the Wikimedia Foundation Research team to investigate how to serve Wikimedia developers.

The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation Research team is to develop models and insights utilizing scientific methods, and strengthen Wikimedia research communities in order to support technology and policy needs, and advance the understanding of the Wikimedia projects.

Wikimedia volunteer developers are one of our serving audiences, as we envision a world in which these developers can effectively leverage expertise from the Wikimedia research community to contribute to the Wikimedia projects. To serve developers in this mission, we have created this survey that aims to identify existing and suggested research needs and opportunities of Wikimedia developers….”

Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Research & Technology Fund/Wikimedia Research Fund – Meta

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“The Research Fund provides support to individuals, groups, and organizations with research interests on or about Wikimedia projects. We encourage submissions from across research disciplines including but not limited to humanities, social sciences, computer science, education, and law. We aim to support applicants who have limited access to research funding and are proposing work that has potential for direct, positive impact on their local communities.

We prioritize supporting applicants who have limited access to research funding, are in regions of the world where the Wikimedia research community has less representation, and are proposing work that has potential for direct, positive impact on their local communities or the global Wikimedia communities….”

Scholia for Software

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Abstract:  Scholia for Software is a project to add software profiling features to Scholia, which is a scholarly profiling service from the Wikimedia ecosystem and integrated with Wikipedia and Wikidata. This document is an adaptation of the funded grant proposal. We are sharing it for several reasons, including research transparency, our wish to encourage the sharing of research proposals for reuse and remixing in general, to assist others specifically in making proposals that would complement our activities, and because sharing this proposal helps us to tell the story of the project to community stakeholders.

A “scholarly profiling service” is a tool which assists the user in accessing data on some aspect of scholarship, usually in relation to research. Typical features of such services include returning the biography of academic publications for any given researcher, or providing a list of publications by topic. Scholia already exists as a Wikimedia platform tool built upon Wikidata and capable of serving these functions. This project will additionally add software-related data to Wikidata, develop Scholia’s own code, and address some ethical issues in diversity and representation around these activities. The end result will be that Scholia will have the ability to report what software a given researcher has described using in their publications, what software is most used among authors publishing on a given topic or in a given journal, what papers describe projects which use some given software, and what software is most often co-used in projects which use a given software.

 

 

Hello World, From Wikimedia Enterprise | 21 Jun 2022

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“We launched Wikimedia Enterprise last year with a goal of making it easy to programmatically access data from across the Wikimedia Foundation projects. Since then, we have been busy building a product that can serve the needs of commercial users of any size. Today, we are thrilled to share some of the first customers using this product, in addition to new features that make it easy for anyone to start using Wikimedia Enterprise.  Today, we are excited to announce that: Google has become the very first customer of Wikimedia Enterprise. The Internet Archive will receive full access to Enterprise’s feature set, at no cost, for use in furthering their mission of archiving the Web. Self-service trial accounts are available to anyone to try out Wikimedia Enterprise for their own use. Trial accounts include unlimited free access to a monthly snapshot of the entire Wikimedia Enterprise project archive and 10,000 free requests from our On-Demand API. New product and pricing details are now available, including a pricing calculator to estimate usage cost after a trial, as well as comprehensive product documentation, and a customer service portal with detailed FAQs. We have also added a news page (you are reading it!) to better communicate updates and announcements to current and potential customers….”

Job: Technical Community Program Manager at Wikimedia Foundation | Sept 2022

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“The Wikimedia Foundation is looking for a Technical Community Program Manager to join our team, reporting to the Manager of Developer Advocacy in the Technology department.  As the Technical Community Program Manager, you will be part of a multifunctional team supporting our global communities of Free and Open Source developers. You will work closely with our technical community and staff, and help run programs, events and initiatives to foster technical community and capacity building and a fun, inclusive and productive environment.  You’ll work remotely with a full-time distributed team, and need to overlap (UTC-4 to UTC+2) working hours. We are looking for someone who is comfortable working and communicating in a highly collaborative, open environment; is passionate about connecting people; and eager to develop a broad understanding of Wikimedia’s diverse technical communities, technical areas, and ways to contribute….”

Head of Finance and Operations | Wikimedia UK

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Wikimedia UK is seeking a Head of Finance and Operations.

The overall purpose of the role is to lead the finance and operational function of Wikimedia UK. Reporting to the Chief Executive, you will work closely with other members of the Senior Management Team and the Honorary Treasurer, and line-manage the Finance and Operations Coordinator.

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UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science – Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU

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“In late 2021, the UNESCO General Assembly approved a new Recommendation on Open Science. All the member states agreed on a final version, that for the first time provides an official definition of what open science is, and that calls for legal and policy changes in favor of open science. As a recommendation is the strongest policy tool of UNESCO, “intended to influence the development of national laws and practices”, this is important news for the entire scientific community. 

The recommendation presents a framework on, and principles for, open science. It aims to build a common understanding on the topic, and calls for publicly funded research to be aligned with the principles: transparency, scrutiny, critique and reproducibility; equality of opportunities; responsibility, respect and accountability; collaboration, participation and inclusion; flexibility, and sustainability. 

It asks for more dialogue between the public and the private sector, and for new, innovative means and methods to be developed for open science. Finally, the recommendation stresses the importance of citizen science and crowdsourcing, and the need for cooperation between different kinds of actors, nationally and internationally.

In Sweden, the recommendation is currently being discussed with stakeholders. A few weeks ago, Wikimedia Sverige was invited by the Swedish National UNESCO Commission to a round table conversation on the subject. Other than Wikimedia Sverige, organisations and institutions such as the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions, the Swedish Research Council, the Ministry for Education and the National Library, took part – many of those who will bear the largest responsibility for putting the recommendations in practice. …”

Job: Wikimedian in Residence @ National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

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Are you passionate about helping people and organisations share knowledge? Do you have experience of team working, developing partnerships and managing projects?

At the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) we’re recruiting our first Wikimedian in Residence and are looking for a proactive and enthusiastic individual with excellent communication skills to join us.

This six month post is part of a pilot to help NIHR evaluate the opportunities to use Wikimedia to support dissemination of NIHR funded research. We’re looking for someone who can help us to actively engage with the Wikimedia platforms and communities, provide training and write and edit Wikimedia content. While knowledge of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia initiatives is valued it is not essential.

 

Duties and responsibilities:

 

Scoping and development work

Support the establishment of a “pilot steering committee” with key representatives from across NIHR including Central Communications, Research Design Service and NIHR Academy.
Work with NIHR CED and the pilot steering committee to identify priority areas of NIHR’s research that could enrich Wikipedia and sister projects – thereby supporting the dissemination of NIHR funded research. 
Identify and propose solutions to any barriers to promoting NIHR funded research including copyright or compliance with Wikipedia guidelines. 
Advocacy: be an advocate for open knowledge within NIHR.
Reporting: produce ongoing updates and a summary report on the outcomes of the residency.

 

Writing/Editing Wikipedia articles

Create/improve Wikimedia projects content for identified NIHR outputs and research
Encourage and increase the direct participation of NIHR researchers in the provision of content for Wikimedia projects, and encourage creation (and improvement) of Wikimedia projects relating to NIHR’s content.

 

Training

Provide training on Wikimedia editing, best practice and Wikimedia volunteer community engagement. 
Develop guidance on the use of Wikipedia for NIHR staff addressing key issues related to copyright and Wikipedia best practice.
Organise and host workshops for NIHR staff, researchers and PPI representatives to enable them to directly contribute their knowledge and expertise to develop Wikipedia articles. 

 

Collaborating with Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia volunteer community

Support collaboration between NIHR, Wikimedia UK and Wikimedia community – potentially leading to a sustainable relationship and joint projects in the future. Do this in collaboration with NIHR CED and other NIHR staff, relevant partner organisations and volunteers from Wikimedia movement. 
Establish links between NIHR staff, Wikimedia volunteers and others, helping NIHR with Wikimedia volunteer engagement.
Share Wikimedia’s values and act as an advocate for its mission and ethos.

Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge – open access version now available

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Open Access version available as PDF

The vision statement of the Wikimedia Foundation states, “Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.” Libraries need not see Wikipedia as competition; rather, failing to leverage its omnipresence in the online world constitutes a missed opportunity. As a senior program officer at OCLC, Proffitt has encouraged collaboration between Wikipedia and cultural heritage institutions, leading to increased visibility and user engagement at participating organizations. Here, she brings onboard a raft of contributors from the worlds of academia, archives, libraries, and members of the volunteer Wikipedia community who together point towards connecting these various communities of knowledge. This book will inspire libraries to get involved in the Wikipedia community through programs and activities such as  

hosting editathons;
contributing content and helping to bridge important gaps in Wikipedia;
ensuring that library content is connected through the world’s biggest encyclopedia;
working with the Wikipedia education community; and
engaging with Wikipedians as allies in a quest to expand access to knowledge.  

Speaking directly to librarians, this book shows how libraries can partner with Wikipedia to improve content quality while simultaneously ensuring that library services and collections are more visible on the open web.

Leveraging Wikipedia: Connecting Communities of Knowledge edited by Merrilee Proffitt (Chicago: American Library Association, 2018). © 2018 American Library Association. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.

Job: Education Graduate Fellowship @ Wikimedia Foundation. Deadline: Aug 20, 2021.

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Application deadline

Friday, August 20, 2021

IMPORTANT: How to apply

Fill out all required information below
Attach an expression of interest that answers the following questions:

In your opinion, how does the Wikimedia movement contribute to the sustainable development goal for education (SDG4)? 
How will this fellowship help you further your academic and career goals? 
What excites you about working with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Education team? 

Attach a recommendation letter from your academic advisor or a relevant professor. 

Background 

The Wikimedia Foundation’s Education team works with the education sector and a global community of volunteers to ensure that free knowledge projects like Wikipedia make a meaningful impact on global education goals. We are building a world where knowledge is available and equitable for everyone, and people have the skills and information they need to thrive in the digital age.

Purpose of this fellowship

To provide a professional experience for exceptional graduate students interested in the fields of education, technology, and development that will mutually benefit the student’s professional learning and contribute to furthering the work of the Education team at the Wikimedia Foundation.

You can learn more about the experience of our previous fellows here.

Time commitment

October 2021-June 2022 36 weeks 20 hrs/week

Benefits

This is a paid Fellowship. The Fellow will be hired as a contractor for the duration of the fellowship at $30/hr or the equivalent in local currency. 

The student may also be able to arrange for course credit for their work. Upon completion of the fellowship, the fellow will be provided with a letter of reference outlining their deliverables and outcomes.

Deliverables

The fellowship manager will work together with the fellow and their academic advisor to determine the scope of work based on the student’s interest and the current projects that the education team has prioritized. Current projects and research needs include:

Wikimedia in global Higher Education 
Positive youth engagement 
Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom/ Media and Information Literacy 
Wikidata for Education / curriculum digitization & machine learning  

Deliverables will correlate with the learning outcomes outlined in the below section.

Learning Outcomes

The student will be able to explain the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation and how the work of the education team supports the Wikimedia movement’s strategy while contributing to global education goals through grassroots community engagement and strategic projects and partnerships. 
The student will be able to navigate working with a global volunteer movement aimed at ensuring free access to the world’s knowledge and will be able to employ tested strategies to support online communities with offline programmatic work.
The student will develop a deep understanding of 21st century skills, and will be able to articulate how reading and editing Wikipedia supports the development of those skills. 
The student will develop their ability to manage time effectively in a non-structured work environment while collaborating with a globally distributed team.

Qualifications:

Graduate student focusing on comparative education, education & technology, or similar fields of study 
Fluent in at least one language other than English
Experience working in a diversity of cultural contexts 
Experience working in educational institutions
Experience contributing to Wikimedia projects highly desired

How to apply: 

Fill out all required information below
Attach an expression of interest that answers the following questions:

In your opinion, how does the Wikimedia movement contribute to the sustainable development goal for education (SDG4)? 
How will this fellowship help you further your academic and career goals? 
What excites you about working with the Wikimedia Foundation’s Education team? 

Attach a recommendation letter from your academic advisor or a relevant professor. 

More about the team 

Who we are

Developing a scalable framework for partnerships between health agencies and the Wikimedia ecosystem

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Abstract:  In this era of information overload and misinformation, it is a challenge to rapidly translate evidence-based health information to the public. Wikipedia is a prominent global source of health information with high traffic, multilingual coverage, and acceptable quality control practices. Viewership data following the Ebola crisis and during the COVID-19 pandemic reveals that a significant number of web users located health guidance through Wikipedia and related projects, including its media repository Wikimedia Commons and structured data complement, Wikidata.

The basic idea discussed in this paper is to increase and expedite health institutions’ global reach to the general public, by developing a specific strategy to maximize the availability of focused content into Wikimedia’s public digital knowledge archives. It was conceptualized from the experiences of leading health organizations such as Cochrane, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other United Nations Organizations, Cancer Research UK, National Network of Libraries of Medicine, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Each has customized strategies to integrate content in Wikipedia and evaluate responses.

We propose the development of an interactive guide on the Wikipedia and Wikidata platforms to support health agencies, health professionals and communicators in quickly distributing key messages during crisis situations. The guide aims to cover basic features of Wikipedia, including adding key health messages to Wikipedia articles, citing expert sources to facilitate fact-checking, staging text for translation into multiple languages; automating metrics reporting; sharing non-text media; anticipating offline reuse of Wikipedia content in apps or virtual assistants; structuring data for querying and reuse through Wikidata, and profiling other flagship projects from major health organizations.

In the first phase, we propose the development of a curriculum for the guide using information from prior case studies. In the second phase, the guide would be tested on select health-related topics as new case studies. In its third phase, the guide would be finalized and disseminated.

IFLA signs the WikiLibrary Manifesto

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“IFLA has endorsed the WikiLibrary Manifesto, aimed at connecting libraries and Wikimedia projects such as Wikibase in order to promote the dissemination of knowledge in open formats, especially in linked open data networks….”