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Talk:Wikimedia and Libraries User Group/Archive 1

< Talk:Wikimedia and Libraries User Group
Latest comment: 5 years ago by Alexmar983 in topic WikiClassics

Initial discussions

Latest comment: 7 years ago19 comments10 people in discussion

What should this group be called? Wikipedia Library User Group, or something else?

  • WeWikiNLib User Group just a thought. Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 16:05, 17 March 2017 (UTC)
  • Wikimedia Library User Group --- let's not forget the sister projects! Amqui (talk) 04:10, 23 March 2017 (UTC)
    +1 for Amqui's suggestions. — regards, Revi 12:03, 2 April 2017 (UTC)
  • A small group of us were discussing this at WMCON17, and we liked both 'Wikipedia + Libraries' and 'Wikibrarians+' We envision this Usergroup not as a group of librarians that work with the Wikipedia Library (although we hope everyone does!), but as a means for librarians and library staff working with Wikipedia to connect with each other. 'Wikipedia + Libraries' gets at this. 'Wikibrarians+' is nice in that it doesn't mark librarians as separate from Wikipedians or vice versa. Megs (talk) 17:49, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
    Megs, why always Wikipedia ? I have personally used local librairies holdings to contribute to Wikivoyage and they can be useful to so many other Wikimedia projects, why exclude them by using Wikipedia instead of Wikimedia, I do not understand? And if we include archives as some suggest below and not only traditional librairies, then here our biggest partnership is Wikisource and it's very successful. You do not want to exclude librarians from being also Wikipedians, but why not wanting librarians to not be excluded from being also Wikimedians? Amqui (talk) 13:46, 14 April 2017 (UTC)
@Amqui: I certainly don't want to exclude sister projects. My focus here is on choosing a name that doesn't so directly map to the Wikipedia Library. I view them as separate, but mutually supportive projects. The 'Wikibrarians' and 'Wikibrarians+' suggestions are project agnostic. Megs (talk) 20:15, 20 April 2017 (UTC)
@Megs: Thanks :-) I can see the name "Wikibrarians" hard to translate in many languages though. Unless this group is English-specific, I think this is an aspect we should consider. For example, we already have a working local "Wikipedia Library" on the French Wikipedia with resources in French, and I hope more are to come in many languages. Amqui (talk) 22:07, 20 April 2017 (UTC)
@Amqui: That's a good point! It'd be great to get more suggestions from the group. Megs (talk) 19:10, 24 April 2017 (UTC)

What do you think of the logo? Should it include the owl? Do you have an alternative proposal?

Heh, an amusing thought. :) Personally, I like the logo as it stands -- it's attractive and uncluttered, although if I have a concern, it's just a question of how clear it will be at smaller sizes. But assuming folks who are smarter about graphics than I am expect that it will be fine, I certainly like the look of it. Jwrosenzweig (talk) 20:13, 27 March 2017 (UTC)
  • What about a logo that Wikifies an image like this? I'd love to see something that focuses on people.Megs (talk) 17:52, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
  • I would prefer a logo that doesn't have the owl as I think that speaks well to public libraries but not academic, archive, etc. I would like the logo to look similar to the wiki logos but represent the diversity of the group. Emefie (talk) 9 April 2017‎
  • In the Italian culture, the owl is a decidedly negative figure since the dawn of time; ancient Romans thought it could bring death, today it is used to label people who always can at least foresee misfortune and catastrophes. Additionally, very recently it was the subject of a political controversy, so "owls" could also be a political unofficial faction. I personally like it and I think I'm immune to superstition, yet presenting the project in Italy I still would feel a bit more comfortable without it... :-) --g (talk) 20:19, 23 July 2017 (UTC)

Is there anything you'd like to add or change about the main page?

  • Many thanks to everyone who created the main page! I think it'd be helpful to have a discussion about the mission of the usergroup. Is it for Wikipedians, librarians, and wikibrarians to extend the work of the Wikipedia Library? Or for Wikipedians to connect with libraries and librarians? Or to connect and support the very active community of wikibrarians? Or all of these things? I don't think the current mission excludes any of these approaches, but I'd like to parse this out. Megs (talk) 18:00, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
  • I personally would be interested in adding details about the advocacy and accessibility elements to this group. Adding citations, etc. progress information access and free knowledge sharing. I think there is a connection to open education here as well. Emefie (talk) 9 April 2017‎

How should the group be organized and organize?

Who should be part of this group? What role would you like to play?

This came up in conversation among a few of us at ACRL, so I thought I'd add it here -- can we position this group to include all the letters in the GLAM world, or is it intended just to be for libraries/librarians as narrowly defined? My work with Wikipedia in a library context has almost always involved (fruitful) collaboration with archives and archivists, and I think including them (and galleries and museums) would be advantageous. Does that make sense to others? (If so, it would certainly impact naming.) Jwrosenzweig (talk) 20:17, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

There has been an incidental historical distance between Galleries and Museum work, and Libraries. Archives have fell inbetween. There are plans for a separate GLAM group, which would focus on the typical work of bulk image donations and WikiData representation of objects. The lines are not strict--of course there are special libraries with their own collections, rare books and manuscripts, and archives within libraries. The reason this is a libraries group specifically is twofold: 1) In GLAM's history libraries have often been given less attention, used as spaces for editathons but not as outreach targets in themselves (of course there are notable exceptions, but it's the trend). Secondly, librarians as a profession are experts in a different way than museumists. Librarians are reference experts and ideally situated to both contribute content, help others research content, and teach others to contribute themselves. Librarian training happens typically in separate degree programs with their own curricula and there is a bond among librarians that is quite tight. We are not 'removing' libraries from GLAM, merely giving a spotlight to the librarians within GLAM. That's my thinking and so far it seems to make sense to others. As you can see we already have over 100! people signed up who want to work on Wikipedia + Libraries specifically. I think that's a good sign that this is a potent niche that deserves its own focus. Cheers, Jake Ocaasi (WMF) (talk) 11:37, 5 April 2017 (UTC)
+1 to Jake's comments. Megs (talk) 17:54, 5 April 2017 (UTC)

I agree it can and should be an inclusive group. I have to admit I had to look up the acronym GLAM though! (Galleries, libraries, archives, and museums, for others who don't know.) I wonder if it is best to represent that inclusion in the name or if it can be covered in the description of the group. Brookfre (talk) 19:21, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

I think inclusion is important here and agree with the discussion above. Emefie (talk) 9 April 2017‎

I think this group's core focus would be on libraries. Not that the GLAM enthusiasts would not be welcome to participate here, but as Jake said, libraries have historically operated differently from galleries and museums. TWL has never been closer to libraries than it is now. TWL always has precisely focused on libraries, since the goal of TWL and libraries are closely aligned. To improve the relationship amongst Wikipedians and librarians, TWL has been constantly pursuing new initiatives, some of which we think the Wikimedia + Libraries community should be leading instead. One instance of the many initiatives is the #1lib1ref campaign which encourages librarians all over the world to add one reference to an article. This absolutely does not mean the "GAM" part of "GLAM" doesn't mean anything to TWL; galleries, museums and archives are just as important for making knowledge available to all. Another fact that impedes us from intervening in "GAM" is that there already is a dedicated program "GLAM" that looks after just that, but with a much bigger scope. And GLAM already has initiated the process of creating a GLAM user group. Two groups with the same goals would be a tad redundant I believe. Also, I believe limiting the scope of the group helps us not only in not getting bogged down by too much to do, but also in planning effectively.--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:41, 18 April 2017 (UTC)

What should be the group's scope? What activities should it take part in?

  • Although Open Access Week is an obvious place for this groups activity, I would like to also consider some work around Open Education Week as the work of adding content to Wikipedia really impacts education. Think about the number of students served in a two hour reference shift versus the number of "students" served by improving or writing a Wikipedia article. I really connect my wiki activity to opening education, showcasing hidden collections through citations, and improving research practice. With that in mind, I would like us to consider Open Education Week (March) as a time for engaging in wiki events by this group. Emefie (talk) 9 April 2017‎


Thank you all for providing your input on the questions above. Although the responses weren't overwhelming from a group with 130 signups, the points made here are solid and things that we will still have to discuss. Because participation was a tad on the low side, we're going to go forward with the existing name--Wikipedia Library User Group, and the existing logo. That does not mean the discussions here are discounted. The steering committee (~20 people responsible for directing the group after approval), will start the discussions on the name and logo once formed. The group's objectives, approaches, target etc., will also be shaped by the steering committee, taking into account the points made here. We'll submit our application soon to the affiliations committee and keep you in the loop. Once again, thank you for your valuable opinions. Regards--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:36, 9 May 2017 (UTC)

User Group approved

Latest comment: 7 years ago13 comments10 people in discussion

Hello everyone! I'm glad to announce that our application has been approved and the Wikipedia Library User Group has officially been recognised by the Affiliations Committee. I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has been part of this initiative, helping it conceptualise, shape and progress. The founding members will meet soon to discuss the initial setup and tasks of the user group. We have a lot of interesting and important things planned for the group, which we will let you know in the near future. In the mean time, you can share with us any interesting ideas you might have. Once again, thank you for being a part of this group! --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 14:23, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 14:25, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 14:26, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 14:26, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Kudos--Alexmar983 (talk) 15:13, 5 July 2017 (UTC)

Congrats Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 10:06, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Suggestions for new resources

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

All Africa

Latest comment: 7 years ago5 comments2 people in discussion

Are there any librarians in this group that have full-text access to All Africa? Thanks! Megalibrarygirl (talk) 18:58, 29 July 2017 (UTC)

@Megalibrarygirl: We have All Africa, what do you need from it? Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 16:09, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
@Rachel Helps (BYU): I need access to this article for another editor, Alanna the Brave who is writing about Kimberly Anyadike on English Wikipedia. I'm so glad someone has access! I rarely need it, but when I do, it's so frustrating. >:) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 19:17, 10 August 2017 (UTC)
@Megalibrarygirl: We have a book called All Africa but it's not the same as the database you mentioned. We have a really good inter-library loan team though, and I put in a request for the article. Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 03:00, 13 August 2017 (UTC)
@Rachel Helps (BYU): Thank you so much! :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 17:31, 14 August 2017 (UTC)
Latest comment: 7 years ago3 comments1 person in discussion

Wikimania 2017 in Montreal is going to be a great event for libraries and Wikipedia! We put together a list of events that are Wikipedia and library related for your convenience and scheduling help. So, here it is!

The main gathering, where everyone will attend, is:

Birds of a Feather Meetup: Wikipedia + Libraries meetup on August 11th, 13:00 to 14:00 in Joyce/Jarry (level A) There will be a buffet lunch set up outside starting at 12:30 - get your lunch and then gather in Joyce/Jarry.

If you're in town early, there is a scan-a-thon at the National archives, and various other training and editing activities on Wednesday.

Name of the Event Time Venue
Friday, August 11th
Wikipédia, les bibliothèques publiques et Montréal (head of the Montreal Public Library, translation provided 11:00 - 11:30 Ballroom West (level 4)
Creating a local digital community. Prototyping a collaborative workshop in libraries / Création d'une communauté numérique locale. Prototypage d'un atelier contributif en bibliothèque translation provided 11:30 - 12:00 Ballroom West (level 4)
Centering Knowledge From The Margins 11:30 - 12:30 Drummond West (level 3)
Birds of a feather meetups: Wikipedia + Libraries meetup 13:00 - 14:00 Joyce/Jarry (level A)
The Internet Archive and Wikimedia - Common Knowledge Goals 14:00 - 15:00 Drummond Center (level 3)
Growing a User Group, a roadmap for survival 16:00 - 17:00 Drummond Center (level 3)
Saturday, August 12th
Interview with Alexandra Elbakyan, founder of SciHub 11:00-12:00 Ballroom West (level 4)
Structured Commons: what changes are coming? 11:30 - 12:00 Drummond Center (level 3)
Wikipedia Visiting Scholars 11:45 - 12:30 Salon 5 (level 2)
Wikicite: Citations needed for the sum of all human knowledge 14:00-14:30 Drummond West (level 3)
Journals Cited by Wikipedia: Evaluating the Impact of Journals on Wikipedia 14:30 - 15:00 Drummond West (level 3)
Is Wikipedia ready for videos? 16:00 - 16:30 Drummond East (level 3)
Dana Wager - FactsCan, political fact checking 16:00 - 17:00 Ballroom West (level 4)
State of Video in the Wikimedia Movement 16:30 - 17:00 Drummond East (level 3)
Sunday, August 13th
Frédéric Giuliano & Hélène Laverdure, Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec: Libraries, Archives and sharing knowledge 09:00-10:30 Ballroom West + Center
Brick by Brick: Libraries and Wikimedia building on each other 11:00 - 11:30 Ballroom Center (level 4)
Libraries and Wikipedia: Global perspectives and opportunities 11:30 - 12:30 Ballroom Center (level 4)

You can find the list of all programmes on the Wikimania programmes page. Hope to see many of you there!

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:00, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:00, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:03, 4 August 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia + Libraries Meetup

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Hi everyone! A gentle reminder on the Birds of a feather discussion: Wikipedia + Libraries Meetup that will happen in Wikimania 2017 on Friday, August 11.

If you are coming in-person, come join us in the venue at the time given below!

Venue: Joyce/Jarry (level A)

Time: Friday August 11, 13:00 - 13:30 EDT (17:00 - 17:30 UTC)

You'll be getting a chance to meet librarians, Wikipedians, publishers and other community leaders. You'll also learn how to get involved in your community, how to collaborate and how to take upon projects and create an impact.

If you won't be able to join us in-person, we'll also be taking your questions from the Wikipedia + Libraries Etherpad and the Wikipedia + Libraries Facebook group. Please ask your question in the above forums and we'll try our best to bring them into the discussion.

For more information on the event, please refer to the submission page. Thanks--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:28, 10 August 2017 (UTC)

Wiley Online Library access

Latest comment: 7 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Hi! Another reference request. I can't access this article. It's available on the Wiley Online Library. It's for Jana585. Here's the link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1651-2227.1954.tb04000.x/abstract. Any help is appreciated! Megalibrarygirl (talk) 16:49, 21 August 2017 (UTC)

Wikipedia Library User Group meetup

Latest comment: 7 years ago7 comments2 people in discussion

Hi everyone! The founding members are organizing an open user group meeting (using GoogleHangouts On Air) tomorrow to discuss:

  • The user group members
  • User group activities happening so far
  • The user group name and possible name change
  • Governance structure
  • Steering committee nominations and selection

For the convenience of the user group members who are from different parts of the world, the meeting is being held in two different times. The times and the YouTube links are:

Tuesday September 26th 14:00 UTC, which is 7 am Pacific / 10 am Eastern /  3 pm London / 5 pm Tel Aviv/ midnight Syndey (on Wednesday)

Link to the first meeting

AND

Tuesday September 26th 22:00 UTC, which is 3 pm Pacific / 6 pm Eastern / 11 pm London / 1 am Tel Aviv (Wednesday) / 8 am Sydney (Wednesday)

Link to the second meeting

You can use this Etherpad or the YouTube video comments section to post your comments and views on topics.

Please join us in making some key decisions to shape the user group! Thank you--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:57, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:15, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:15, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:16, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:16, 25 September 2017 (UTC)

@AVasanth (WMF): I would suggest next time, send a google calendar invite to the potential participants list. The world timezone is very difficult to cope with, and I personally think to google calendar help to deal with timezone confusion nicely. --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 11:39, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
@Shangkuanlc: Thanks for the suggestion Shang. The problem with that though is we don't collect the emails of user group members. Perhaps we could send a mass message with a link to a timezone converter (such as this). Open to suggestions :) Thanks--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 14:18, 30 September 2017 (UTC)

User Group rename poll!

Latest comment: 7 years ago87 comments61 people in discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
The user group's name will be officially changed and announcement be made soon --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 12:11, 28 October 2017 (UTC)

This user group's name, The Wikipedia Library User Group, was chosen initially by the TWL team primarily as a placeholder due to low participation in discussions at that time. Based on early discussions among the user group's founding members, we've decided to open a poll about renaming the group. What should we call ourselves? How do we want others to identify us?

Things to consider:

  • Independence from the WMF's Wikipedia Library program
  • Global inclusiveness and recognizability
  • Wikipedia or Wikimedia
  • Wikimedia and Libraries, or Wikimedians and Librarians

Below are the names that have been suggested. Please add a 'support' vote for each option that you would be happy with (you can vote for more than one), and you are welcome to add your own suggestions. Voting will remain open for an entire two weeks.

To voice your support for a particular name, click "edit" (where you'd like to add support) and add "# {{Support}} ~~~~" at the bottom of the section. If you'd like to add a comment after your signature (~~~~), you can explain why you prefer one name above the others.

Thank you! --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 02:46, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

This poll will end on 28th of October

1) BiblioWiki

  1. Support Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:03, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

2) Bibliowiki: The Wikimedia and Libraries User Group

  1.   Support Merrilee (talk) 20:10, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support Liang(WMTW) (talk) 06:58, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  3.   Support --Susanna Giaccai (talk) 07:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  4.   Support I'm divided between this title and the option with out "Bibliowiki" Wikimedia and Libraries User Group. Shameran81 (talk) 15:57, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  5.   Support Bibliowiki is catchy! Megalibrarygirl (talk) 20:51, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  6.   Support Sodapopinski7 (talk) 14:20, 19 October 2017 (UTC)
  7.   Support--African Hope (talk) 12:18, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

3) Bibliowiki: The Wikipedia Library User Group

  1.   Support Gamaliel (talk) 04:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

4) Wikimedia and Libraries User Group

  1.   Support Shani Evenstein. 18:14, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support Jessamyn (talk) 01:55, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  3.   Support Dan scott (talk) 03:17, 17 October 2017 (UTC) because "Wikimedia" includes Wikidata, Commons, and many other relevant projects beyond Wikipedia
  4. +1. This is the name of a group I could be interested in joining, unlike anything that contain "Wikipedia". --Nemo 06:29, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  5.   Support Liang(WMTW) (talk) 06:58, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  6.   Support Luigi Catalani (talk) 07:10, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  7.   Support --Susanna Giaccai (talk) 07:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  8.   Support Uomovariabile (talk to me) 09:25, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  9. Support. Stryn (talk) 12:21, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  10.   Support Lirazelf (talk) 12:38, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  11.   Support AllyD (talk) 12:42, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  12.   Support Gewild (talk) 12:53, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  13.   Support Jaireeodell (talk) 13:22, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  14.   Support Samat (talk) 15:07, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  15.   Support Shameran81 (talk) 15:59, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  16.   Support MassiveEartha (talk) 18:01, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  17.   Support Quiddity (talk) 18:23, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  18.   Support -Another Believer (talk) 01:15, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  19. I'd say this is the second choice. — regards, Revi 09:49, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  20.   Support. --Csisc (talk) 13:50, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  21.   Support Jscammel (talk) 12:00, 20 October 2017 (UTC)
  22.   Support Regards, Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (talk — mail) 09:23, 21 October 2017 (UTC)
  23.   Support Gaurav (talk) 19:17, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
  24.   Support Aubrey (talk) 15:40, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
  25.   Support Geraki TL 06:47, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
  26.   Support Ofek Jerassi - talk 17:15, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  27.   Support Tramullas (talk) 17:42, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  28.   Support Mardetanha talk 19:20, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  29.   Support -Hasive • talk • 19:14, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  30. Support.—Teles «Talk to me ˱C L @ S˲» 19:22, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  31.   Support Jason.nlw (talk) 07:23, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

5) Wikimedians and Librarians User Group

6) Wikipedia + Libraries User Group

  1.   Support Shani Evenstein. 18:11, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support Mylee Joseph. 18:11, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
  3.   Support JacintaJS (talk) 00:46, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  4.   Support Mauricio V. Genta (talk) 00:55, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  5.   Support Liang(WMTW) (talk) 06:58, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  6.   Support Ouvrard (talk) 9:40, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  7.   Support -Another Believer (talk) 01:15, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  8.   Support Gamaliel (talk) 17:05, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
  9.   Support Clifford Anderson (talk) 22:57, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
  10.   Support Geraki TL 06:47, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
  11.   Support -Hasive • talk • 19:17, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

7) The Wikipedia Library User Group (existing name)

  1.   Support Mardetanha talk 13:56, 13 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support --Xabier Cañas (talk) 05:31, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  3.   Support Uberlibris (talk) 06:40, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

8) WikiLib User Group

  1.   Support Mardetanha talk 13:57, 13 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support Gharouni 07:22, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  3. "#   Support Wshyam (talk) 19:24, 31 October 2017 (UTC)" This combines Wikipedia and Library and is short and sweet.

9) Wikimedia + Libraries User Group

  1.   Support Proposer. Amqui (talk) 18:51, 16 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support Dan scott (talk) 03:20, 17 October 2017 (UTC) because "Wikimedia" includes Wikidata, Commons, and many other relevant projects beyond Wikipedia; I also like the "+" because it implies math, as in the sum of the two parts results in something greater
  3.   Support Liang(WMTW) (talk) 06:58, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  4.   Support Uomovariabile (talk to me) 09:28, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  5.   Support Thepwnco (talk) 11:41, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  6. Support Deloebrenti (talk) 12:06, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  7.   Support Lirazelf (talk) 12:38, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  8.   Support AllyD (talk) 12:43, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  9.   Support Ouvrard (talk) 9:41, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  10.   Support --Mohammed Bachounda (talk) 15:04, 17 October 2017 (UTC) seems and sound good aka Wiki LUG en:Lugh :)
  11.   Support MidwestCuttlefish (talk) 19:30, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  12.   Support -Another Believer (talk) 01:15, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  13.   Support -- Daniel Mietchen (talk) 01:19, 18 October 2017 (UTC) — I would be fine with a "&" instead of the "+" as well
  14. I like this most. — regards, Revi 09:49, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  15.   Support Jamie Tubers (talk) 13:03, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  16.   Support Artchivist1 (talk) 16:42, 19 October 2017 (UTC)
  17.   Support This is a Wikimedia-affiliated user group. The name should indicate such. Chris Troutman (talk) 05:21, 21 October 2017 (UTC)
  18.   Support, though I'd prefer not having "user group" in the name. ~ Rob13Talk 15:04, 22 October 2017 (UTC)
    Having "user group" in the name is pretty much a requirement of the Affiliates Committee. Amqui (talk) 20:25, 24 October 2017 (UTC)
  19.   Support Geraki TL 06:47, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
  20.   Support 2001:56A:7425:C400:974:7702:2FCC:63C0 14:52, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  21.   Support -Hasive • talk • 19:18, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

10) Wiki Loves Libraries

  1.   Support --Cameron11598 (talk) 04:29, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support --Mohamed Ouda (talk) 06:37, 17 October 2017 (UTC)
  3. Comment This might get confused with the Wikipedia Loves Libraries campaign, which I believe is planned to be run again. Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 12:06, 17 October 2017 (UTC)

11) WikiLibrary

I favor this name or any name with these characteristics -

  • No use of the term "user group". There are a few hundred Wikimedia insiders who understand the term "user group" but outside the wiki community, no one knows what this means nor is it easy to explain. "User group" is not a standard English term so it confuses English speakers and international audiences.
  • No use of the terms "Wikipedia" or "Wikimedia". The WMF gets more involved in groups which use these terms. If this group wants to take up wiki community issues outside the scope of the WMF, then using a name which does not require WMF-brand compliance is better. Some activities which this group might wish to do which could conflict with WMF include stronger partnerships with the Internet Archive, Creative Commons, or other allied organization (equal to the partnership with WMF) or speaking up on political issues which are beyond what WMF does like addressing library censorship, lobbying for open access, or advocating for privacy for library service users.
  • The name should include the term "wiki", which is broadly recognized and does not carry the obligations of using the terms "Wikimedia" or "Wikipedia"
  • The name should be simple and convey a meaning
  • I would prefer that from the beginning, the group not have different official names and nicknames. With many of the suggestions there, the official name is a phrase. Any choice of a phrase will from the beginning be converted to a nickname. I would prefer that the short nickname just be the official name. No one will speak or type phrases consistently.
  1.   Support Blue Rasberry (talk) 17:03, 18 October 2017 (UTC)
  2.   Support--Jamie Tubers (talk) 02:12, 21 October 2017 (UTC)
  3.   Support--Suricatem 17:44, 23 October 2017 (UTC)
  4.   Support African Hope (talk) 12:17, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  5. Support.—Teles «Talk to me ˱C L @ S˲» 19:23, 27 October 2017 (UTC)

11) <Your suggested name here>

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Endorsing the Wikimedia 2030 Strategic Direction?

Latest comment: 6 years ago19 comments13 people in discussion
The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.
Endorse the strategy as a group --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:29, 6 November 2017 (UTC)

Hello everyone! We'd like to inform you about the Wikimedia 2030 Strategic Direction. If you haven't already heard about that, it is a deep look into our future as a community, where do we see ourselves in the next 15 years, what do we want and what changes should we make?

Today is Endorsement day for the strategy, and we would like to know whether we should as a usergroup, endorse this direction or not. Endorsement doesn't mean 100% agreement but support for continuing the process with this document as a foundation. Please post your thoughts and we'll close the discussion in 7 days.

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:12, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:12, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:13, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:14, 26 October 2017 (UTC)

Should Endorse

  1. Mardetanha talk 19:19, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  2. Mauricio V. Genta (talk) 20:00, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  3. Gharouni 23:40, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
  4. --Regards, Krishna Chaitanya Velaga (talk — mail) 00:30, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  5. Pru.mitchell (talk)
  6. Lirazelf (talk) 11:16, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  7. --Cameron11598 (talk) 16:05, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  8. Clifford Anderson (talk) 17:36, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  9. -Hasive • talk • 19:19, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  10. —Teles «Talk to me ˱C L @ S˲» 19:24, 27 October 2017 (UTC)
  11. --JacintaJS (talk) 01:55, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

Should Not Endorse

Discussion

  • What parts (or what general point beyond specific parts) do you think is relevant to this user group? An endorsement from some group carries more weight if there's a connection to the specific contribution the group can make to the discussion. --Nemo 18:44, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
    • @Nemo bis: thanks for bringing that up. I think the strategic direction is quite generic and we can choose to implement them in whatever way that would suit us. "We will break down the social, political, and technical barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to free knowledge." Of all the things mentioned, I think this fits us the best. Us endorsing the strategy just means we are committed to open knowledge and we are eager to know and participate in what is in store for us. But that doesn't necessarily mean we will have to implement and follow the steps that comes out of phase 2, as stated here. Thanks--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 19:24, 26 October 2017 (UTC)
The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Librarians meeting with "real" Wikipedians

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

In the YouTube recording "Wikipedia Library User Group meetup #2", someone (my apologies I don't recall the name) said that many librarians had never met a "real Wikipedian" and what might be done about it? As a "real Wikipedian" (but not librarian), there are some real barriers to attending events like library conferences, such as the cost (for travel, accommodation, registration, etc) and in getting the time off from other real-life roles (job, child/elder care, etc). It's a pretty big ask for volunteer Wikipedians, so I think we need to find other ways to make it happen. Kerry Raymond (talk) 07:32, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

  • @Kerry Raymond:One of the best ways I would think to get dialogue between librarians and "real Wikipedians" is to get more librarians to admit that they're Wikipedians - or get them to become Wikipedians. The outreach at conferences, etc., can then be more organic. However, I was at one American Library Asssociation Annual Conference one time a few years ago, and there was a Wikipedia table in the vendor area. I can't remember what specific aspect of Wikipedia - or if it was the Wikimedia Foundation - but they were there with stickers, info, etc. I think it may have been back in 2011. I strongly feel that more librarians need to be Wikipedians to be able to better explain to their patrons how the resource works, and outreach would be a natural outcome of this.

Mentorships/buddies

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Again in the YouTube video "Wikipedia Library User Group meetup #2" there was discussion about mentorships/buddies. While I realise that there might be issues of scale, I see no reason not to give it a go. I'd encourage use of email (being familiar to the new person ) plus it is much easier to share screenshots in email than via Talk. I'm willing to be a mentor/buddy. But I would suggest trying to assign mentors/buddies by topic area (to the extent possible), as generally it is easier to advise on notability and conventions in one's own topic area. I would be no help to someone wanting to write about baseball. Kerry Raymond (talk) 11:35, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Updates on the user group election and #1lib1ref

Hi everyone, two quick but important updates:

Timeline for nominations and voting

  • Nominations are extended until 12 January 2018.
  • Candidates will be lightly vetted by the Founding Members (excluding those who are candidates) to help form a well-functioning committee.
  • Vetting will happen from the 13th up to 21 January 2018.
  • Voting will begin on the 22nd of January and end on the 4th of February.
  • To be able to vote, editors must have joined the usergroup before the 21st of January.
  • Results will be announced on or before the 10th of February.

How you can support #1lib1ref

Inviting you to participate in the women editing contest "The women you have never met"

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Dear Wikipedia Library User Group!

Hope this message finds you all well :) On behalf of Iberocoop network I want to invite you to be part of the women editing contest we are organizing along with many other chapters and user groups in the movement. You are doing an excellent work on your local context and we will be so pleased to have you on board. In this very early stage, we are asking the organizations to add their interest in the following meta page Hope to see you there soon! Hugs----Anna Torres (WMAR) --Anna Torres (WMAR) (talk) 15:31, 25 January 2018 (UTC)

Wikimedia and Libraries User Group Steering Committee Election Results

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

The steering committee election for the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group is over and the results are here! We had many great candidates with awesome skillsets and experience, unfortunately not everyone could make it to the final eight. We are grateful to all the candidates for stepping up and boldly throwing their hat in the ring. It was a difficult choice and they made it. The candidates who made it to the final eight are,

On behalf of the founding members, the TWL team and the user group members, we congratulate the candidates on their successful run and welcome them to the committee. The steering committee and the founding members will soon meet to discuss the handover and next steps of the user group. Thank you--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:59, 20 February 2018 (UTC)

March 12 (and 1st) meeting minutes of the steering committee

Latest comment: 6 years ago6 comments2 people in discussion

March 12-13, 2018

Intro

For the first meeting of the new steering committee, we started by going over the history of the user group, and the role of the WMF (to assist not lead or vote). An official handoff from was made from the user group founders to the newly elected, independent steering committee. Everyone introduced themselves, shared their Wikipedia/Library backgrounds and what they’d like to do and see in the user group.

Brainstorm: "What do we want to accomplish?"

  1. Roll out the Wikipedia + Libraries OCLC-style course on a global scale, not necessarily as one big event, but as multiple events in different regions/timezones (in 3 modules: reading and usage, editing, programming)
  2. Move towards Wikipedia work being Business As Usual in libraries
  3. Build the international community of Wikipedian librarians as a social professional and activist network, not just a reference resource
  4. Educate librarians that Wikipedia is a community first, a research resource second
  5. Educate librarians about how Wikipedia fits in with their profession, tenure and promotion requirements, open access movement, codes of ethics, etc
  6. Make use of social media channels to help each other out during edit-a-thons, to exchange expertise and resources
  7. Improve Wikipedia outreach and remote participation to rural libraries
  8. Promote what Wikipedia Library actually provides to researchers and libraries--a lot of librarians don’t know that this exists.
  9. Relieve anxiety about 'doing Wikipedia wrong' and get people excited to join
  10. Present at library conferences and events
  11. Explain "The Wikipedia Library" and how can it help those who already have resource access
  12. Deepen understanding of how to engage with Global South libraries and librarians
  13. Disseminate information about library news and trends happening on an international level
  14. Highlight local, regional benefits from participating in Wikimedia
  15. Showing library institutions how to build Wikipedia into their workflows and even their marketing (reference desk, skills & promotions, programming)
  16. Get global access to Wikipedia Library resources with a single, unique account for all Wikimedians
  17. Develop a consensus approach for the user group strategy itself
  18. Make the usergroup a center of professional engagement, proactively coordinating outreach to library professionals and attendance at events
  19. Changing perception of Wikipedia as an enemy or a competitor, but rather as a collaborator
  20. Revive Wikipedia Loves Libraries
  21. Expand campaigns like # 1lib1ref, and get librarians more involved in other campaigns
  22. Turn # 1lib1ref from a campaign into a year-long, 24/7 branch (Or at least shift it so it isn’t in the middle of the southern hemisphere summer school holidays)

Communications

The group decided to continue using the pre-existing founding members' google group mailing list for official business. A new fully open list will be formed or selected for all user group members to participate in. The user group rename from "Wikipedia Library" to "Wikimedia and Libraries" is pending Affcom's next decision. The official user group contact at the moment is Gamaliel. The next meeting will be held in late March.

You can also check the meeting minutes page for past meetings. Thanks--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 07:50, 20 March 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:54, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:55, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:55, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:55, 21 March 2018 (UTC)

Well explained.. -- Sumita Roy Dutta (talk) 08:55, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

March 27 meeting minutes of the steering committee

March 27-28, 2018

The meeting started with a few introductions from members who couldn’t make it to the last meeting. After which, the committee worked on the details of managing the user group.

Processes for the group

Discussion about what constitutes a quorum considering that we are a busy and distributed group.

For voting, a quorum of 5 is required, and if voting, simple majority would suffice. Can vote via email. Can hold a meeting with fewer people than a quorum, just not make decisions. Discussion of major topics should be announced ahead of time so that people have a heads up as to what is on the table for a given meeting. Also, announce major topics to the wider community for feedback with the deadline for feedback (typically next WLUG meeting)

Guidelines for running a meeting - how to take turns as we are all equals?

Instead of having a formal chair, rotate facilitation among the group, the facilitator assembles agenda and is responsible for organising the next meeting time slot and handover to next facilitator (based on expected availability).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
  1. Diverse group: countries, gender
  2. Diversity in library types: “state”, “academic/research”, no public librarian but some of us work with public librarians
  3. Library knowledge, Wikipedia knowledge
  4. Support of other members of the User Group
  5. Experience in working in the Library+Wikipedia intersection, lots of know-how
  6. some WMF staff support
  7. One of the strengths of this group is the fact that there are some founding members still here and could pass on some experiences
  8. Representation from a variety of institution types (in terms of how they are structured, audiences served), gender diversity, the range of Wikipedia experience (including long-term and active Wikipedians).
  9. Support of our user group
  10. Demonstrated experience working in outreach / with the library and broader heritage community
Weaknesses
  1. No resources, no budget, all volunteers (with other busy lives)
  2. Just advisory. No capacity to enforce decisions, only to influence
  3. Multiple time zones, makes it harder to hold meetings
  4. Newness of the group, most of us have never worked together before
  5. Coming from different backgrounds, timezones, cultures and having different temperaments
  6. Inability to meet in person
  7. Relationship with Wikipedia Library is somewhat unclear (goals are somewhat different?)
  8. Inability to resource Wikimedia projects that libraries might want to undertake, difficult to locate local Wikipedians to engage with them
  9. Could be more geographically diverse, particularly representation from the global south [need a better term - feel free to supply!]
  10. Lack deep experience with public libraries
  11. Perception of people who are “paid” to do work - “being accused of conflict of interest crimes”
Opportunities
  1. Spreading the message to the wider library community (staff and patrons) and engaging with them to shift attitudes
  2. Advocating for Wikimedia projects before librarians themselves and the academics
  3. Creating ways for more joint projects between libraries and Wikipedians (edit-athon, digitization, etc)
  4. Roll out more of OCLC course “Wikipedia + Libraries: Better Together” (or things like it)’
  5. Engaging a professional workforce and getting them to see their work as reflected in and important to their future
  6. Chance to extend knowledge about work on Wikipedia to broad audiences that are served by libraries
  7. Attitudes have changed so that librarians are really open to the message of collaboration
  8. Librarians can be great advocates for Wiki work
  9. Opportunity to model peer behaviour
Threats
  1. Conflict of interest on-wiki as paid editors. Need to remind everyone (librarians and Wikipedians) of en:WP:CURATOR (ok for librarians to write about collections, not a collection)

Brainstorm

Latest comment: 6 years ago5 comments1 person in discussion

The question: What makes a good user group work?

  1. A good user group hosts meeting at varying times so members have a chance to attend when it is convenient for them
  2. A good user group reports out to its members and the broader community regularly and on multiple channels
  3. A good user group provides meeting agendas in advance with an opportunity to provide input (eg. adding some dot points, comments or links to the agenda / minutes document) for group members who can't make the meeting time slot but still want to contribute to the discussion or have particular expertise on a topic.
  4. A good user group assumes that members of the user group have very different experiences of both the library sectors (public, academic and research etc.) and Wikipedia.
  5. The group spends time exploring those differences and unpacking assumptions to ensure communication on WLUG projects is effective.
  6. A good user group recognises that "library world time-frames" are often much slower than "Wikimedia world time-frames" - a smart user group respects this difference and learns how to use that to our advantage.
  7. A good group is one that gets stuff done.
  8. Prioritisation of initiatives with a view to picking a very small set (could be just one) that seem feasible with the resources available to the group and then making that happen.
  9. It’s also important to understand when to declare victory and when to declare failure. There is a difference between quality (fit for purpose) and perfection.
  10. A group cannot always be unanimous. If, after a reasonable discussion that has drawn out all issues and there is no consensus, it is time to vote.
  11. having a shared understanding of how decisions are made
  12. having a shared understanding of when a decision has been made (in other words, when to stop discussing and act.)
  13. Acting in a business-like manner (agendas, notes, action items with people identified who will drive those actions forward).
  14. Picking a small number of manageable goals and then following through
  15. Is one that involves its members in decision making and at all times makes them feel a part of the decision process.
  16. Is a group that has a clear plan of what they want to achieve in the short term (preferably in a year) and maps strategies on how to achieve them.
  17. Is the one that constantly reviews the opinions of the community and provides fair judgement in arising conflicts.
  18. Is a group that provides opportunities to its members and don't come across as selfish (create opportunities for members to lead in certain capacities, allows active members to represent the group when opportunities come up (WMCON, regional-based conferences, etc.)
  19. Four C's: Caring Community, Commitment and Communication
    • Caring Community. We should take the time to get to know each other as best as we can so that working together is more fun, so that we forgive each other more easily if we make mistakes or misspeak, and that we feel committed to each other as a community as well committed to the cause.
    • Commitment. If people in the user group say that they will commit to completing a task, a plan, or what have you, they should commit to it and see it through.
    • Communication. We need to communicate well with each other, with members of the user group, and people who may be interested in what this user group does. Part of this communication includes leaving a "paper trail" of our activities.
  20. Clear and achievable goals. It is necessary to select and prioritize what we want to achieve.
  21. Participation and inclusivity. Allow people to speak their mind and participate actively. Make people feel part of a whole and encourage them to step up.
  22. Communication / Outreach. As a good practice, there should be, whenever possible, records of what we do and discuss, eg: minutes of meetings, archives of mailing list discussion. Additionally, for the purpose of engaging more members in the UG, our activities should be shared among our audience with intent to call to action.
  23. Accountability. We should acknowledge people's merits. It might be by giving star banners on user pages, highlighting some members' work in our channels (Facebook, e-mail, etc).
  24. We need an internal policy to handle inappropriate behaviours.
  25. It reaches out to its target audience on multiple mediums, makes it easy for them to participate and keeps them engaged it plans well ahead.
  26. It makes sure the plans are realistic and sets targets it acts on its plan by distributing the workload among its members and gives them a sense of ownership of the group
  27. It listens, it learns and it grows.
  28. It provides a spectrum of resources. The strength of a group of librarians is that we can help one another with our goals and projects on various Wiki platforms.
  29. Recognizing member's efforts.

What do you think makes a user group work? Please feel free to add your thoughts to the brainstorm and (or) comment on the existing points! Thanks--AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 07:57, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 07:59, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:02, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:02, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:09, 12 April 2018 (UTC)

#1Lib1Ref from The Wikipedia Library

Latest comment: 6 years ago7 comments2 people in discussion

  The Wikipedia Library – #1Lib1Ref

#1Lib1Ref is happening again in May!

#1Lib1Ref, the annual campaign where librarians add references to improve Wikipedia, is coming back again this year, running from May 15th to June 5th, 2018.

  • Why twice? We heard from you a desire to run it again out of excitement, because May is not summer vacation for the southern hemisphere, and because Spanish Wikipedia's birthday also falls in May. This is a great expansion of the event and it means that there is another opportunity to make Wikipedia more factual and verifiable by leveraging the expertise of librarians around the world.
  • How does this relate to the main campaign in January? We encourage librarians, community members, and affiliates to make 1Lib1Ref their own. So whether we call this 1Lib1Ref May, 1Lib1Ref for the Southern Hemisphere, or 1Lib1Ref Strikes Back, the point is the excitement is building again, and we'd like you to be a part of it.
  • If I participated in January, do I have to do it again in May? It's entirely up to you, this is just another chance if you want to do more, or if you couldn't get around to January activities. This is a pilot for us, too, so we'll see how it goes and discuss what we learned after the May campaign.
  • How can you get involved?

Sincerely,

On behalf of The Wikipedia Library Team --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:55, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

For any questions or suggestions, please contact wikipedialibrary [at] wikimedia [dot] org.

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:56, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:56, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:56, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 08:56, 16 April 2018 (UTC)

April 9 steering committee meeting minutes

Latest comment: 6 years ago4 comments1 person in discussion

April 9-10, 2018

1. The committee voted in favour of using the existing libraries lists.wikimedia.org mailing list for open communication

2. Following the first meeting of the new steering committee on March 12-13, 22 ideas were expressed regarding the results we wanted to achieve as a User Group. Later on, discussion among the steering committee surfaced the need to break down these ideas into means and ends while limiting it to 5 most relevant ones. The result of the poll conducted to determine the most relevant ones are given below:

What should be our 5 primaries? (Means)

  1. Present at library conference and events (4)
  2. Make use of social media channels to help each other out during edit-a-thons, to exchange expertise and resources (4)
    • Where are the events? Can we use the user group landing page as a place to direct people to people or events that would be helpful?
  3. Showing library institutions how to build Wikipedia into their workflows and even their marketing (reference desk, skills & promotions, programming) (4)
  4. Roll out the Wikipedia + Libraries OCLC-style course on a global scale, not necessarily as one big event, but as multiple events in different regions/timezones (in 3 modules: reading and usage, editing, programming) (4)
  5. Expand campaigns like 1Lib1Ref and get librarians more involved in other campaigns (4)

What should be our 5 primary goals? (Ends)

  1. Changing perception of Wikipedia as an enemy or a competitor, but rather as a collaborator (4)
    • Means:
      • present at library conferences and events
        • Needs money unless funded by employer
      • Twitter possibly may be “super communicators”
        • Backchannel during the conference on hashtags
        • New graduate librarians, identify librarian chat sessions (eg. @ALIANewGrads
        • IFLA groups (eg @IflaPls  ; @IFLA_FAIFE ; @IflaAsiaOceania ; @wil_ifla ; …) other professional groups (eg @LIBEReurope ; @lianzaoffice ; @ALIANational ; @ALALibrary ; @NMLib_Assn; @LIASANews ; @AfLIACon …. )
      • Email (the mailing list discussed above)
      • Facebook
      • Can see engagement from #1lib1ref in Africa. Pointing to blog posts on the website. Sharing posters and flyers.
      • Library journals (eg Journal of New Librarianship; Evidence Based Library and Information Practice journal ;
      • International Community of Wikipedian Librarians
      • Important that the message is coming from other librarians rather than Wikipedians
      • Some kind of promotional campaign to get people onto our mailing list or Facebook or Twitter etc, which probably means using existing non-Wikipedia related channels to reach librarians
      • Build up a library of resources to re-use (re-use existing GLAM case study materials?) Create a new portal into it from our website, etc, selecting only those which are directly relevant
      • Librarians who Wikipedia material, first-person “I’m Wendy. I’m a librarian and I’m a Wikipedian”, could be text/podcast/video
      • Try to title them to draw the attention of particular groups: university librarians, programs for middle school etc
  2. Build the international community of Wikipedian librarians as a social professional and activist network, not just a reference resource (4)
    • Draws on some of the above
  3. Educate librarians about how Wikipedia fits in with their profession, tenure and promotion requirements, open access movement, codes of ethics, etc. (4)
    • Need to target library bosses and library educators
  4. Make the user group a centre of professional engagement, proactively coordinating outreach to library professionals and attendance at events (3)
    • Draws on some of the above
  5. Move towards Wikipedia work being Business As Usual in libraries (3)
    • Need to target library bosses and library educators
  6. Deepen understanding of how to engage with libraries and librarians from under-represented regions (3)
    • We need a full discussion here
  7. Educate librarians that Wikipedia is a community first, a research resource second(3)
    • Draws on some of the above

3. Consideration overall for communications: thinking about messaging: what is the message and what is the call to action? How can they find out more? Need a communications plan:

  • Who do we want to communicate with?
  • What channels should we use to talk to them?
  • What messages do we want to give them?
  • What call to action do we want them to do?
  • Some messaging is aimed at practitioners, some at leaders and library educators?

4. Timing of #1lib1ref

  • One time of year where there are excitement and momentum, but also an event that could happen at any time.
  • In June, will be a discussion about when #1lib1ref will land if it will continue to be in January or be repositioned in May or some other time of year.
  • Need a discussion about how to improve #1lib1ref -- going beyond CitationHunt, build competitive spirit.
  • [Incomplete]

5. Strategic plan - [yet to be devised]

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 15:59, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:00, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:00, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:04, 23 April 2018 (UTC)

April 24 steering committee meeting minutes

Latest comment: 6 years ago6 comments2 people in discussion

April 24-25, 2018

Agenda

  1. Poll discussion - expand to user group? If so, what needs to be done next
  2. Reports from Wikimedia Conference
  3. Would we like to schedule some time for lead programs manager, WMF, to meet with this group?
  4. Status of the name change and consequences (Wiki pages, mailing lists?, whatever)
  5. GLAMWiki Conference 3-5 November 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel m:GLAMTLV2018/Welcome
  6. #1lib1ref (May 15 - June 5, 2018) m:1Lib1Ref

Discussion

  1. Poll discussion needs more input from membership (possibly not all steering committee members have responded at this point).
    1. What do librarians want from this group, how do we translate some of the ideas in “means and ends” into projects that we can ask stakeholders to provide input on? We could put out the things that are rated as priorities (4) for discussion to stakeholders (eg. Facebook group, mailing list, wiki space). Would be useful to find out what’s already been done in library settings, lessons learned or blocks people found. We may get a low level of input. Connecting librarians (eg #1lib1ref new editors) into communication channels. ##Could we send a message out to their userpages/talk pages to let people who contributed to #1lib1ref to let them know about Facebook and the mailing list?
    2. How does mass messaging work, what would be possible? Autowikibrowser can be used to add messages. The goal to generate meaningful, doable and engagement points > developing community and conversation. Provide options for feedback.
    3. Can we identify any edits to the poll and pass them on to TWL’s partnership coordinator who developed the original poll in Google doc forms? Also, ask if he’s available to assist or to provide edit access.
    4. What is the best way to achieve what we need, a survey may not be the best tool? If we take the means and ends poll out to the larger group we need to narrow it down before wider engagement as some items are only of relevance to the steering committee. Would it be useful to collect some data about librarians contributing information (eg. library type, geographic location)?
    5. Can we investigate what assistance WMF can provide to the information gathering exercise?
    Agreed actions:
    Scrape the poll questions, drop into a Google doc to circulate to the steering committee to provide edits/suggestions for circulation to a wider user group audience. (Perhaps express it in terms of libraries, librarians, their community rather than this user group or its steering committee)
  2. Wikimedia Conference report
    1. Wikidata is a big topic, and a user is designing tools for delivering Wikidata workshops/training to librarians (we noted more training is needed in this space particularly for our User Group members - part of our communication role should be spreading this information out to libraries/librarians/library school students and faculty)
  3. Structured data on Commons
    1. Meetups - GLAM and also Libraries; lead programs manager, WMF is interested to connect with this group in future - perhaps via a Google hangout?
  4. Lawsuit en:Wikimedia Foundation v. NSA there will be information relevant to US librarians. Can our user group assist with the communications plan?
    Agreed actions:
    Invite lead programs manager to our next meeting hangout (2 weeks or so); check with him re. what he wants to talk with us about to determine the timing for meeting and where the group is up to.
  5. Name change
    1. Still in progress (followups to be done)
  6. GLAMWiki Conference 3-5 November 2018, Tel Aviv, Israel m:GLAMTLV2018/Welcome submissions close in next 3 days. (30 April, midnight UTC); could we do a workshop or a presentation about WLUG; a meetup?
  7. #1lib1ref new campaign has been announced for May 15 - June 5, 2018 m:1Lib1Ref
    1. Add a link to FB page and listserv to promotional emails that are circulated.
  8. (Coming out of the Wikidata discussion). Should we have an “ends” to engage with library schools/educators to get Wikipedia etc into the education of new librarians?

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:51, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:52, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:53, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 16:58, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

@User group members (5th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 17:08, 14 May 2018 (UTC)

Thank you for the notice, I have read the content, if you need to spread the survey into East, South East Asia and Pacific region, let me know, I can help with that. --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 03:24, 15 May 2018 (UTC)

Parceria com a Biblioteca da UFSC

Latest comment: 6 years ago2 comments1 person in discussion

Olá, me tornei membro permanente de uma comissão da biblioteca da Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) sobre Fake News e estou em contato com a diretora da BU para novos projetos. Gostaria de ajuda principalmente no que concerne a ideias para projetos conjuntos. Obrigado, --Felipe da Fonseca (talk) 17:29, 21 May 2018 (UTC)

Hi, I became a permanent member of a library committee at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) about Fake News and I am in direkt contact with the director of BU for new projects. I would like to ask for help, mainly with ideas for joint projects. Thank you, --Felipe da Fonseca (talk) 17:29, 21 May 2018 (UTC)

Daily Express access

Latest comment: 6 years ago2 comments2 people in discussion

Hi! Does any librarian here have access to the Daily Express (London)? Megalibrarygirl (talk) 17:14, 30 May 2018 (UTC)

It looks like we have access to some old issues on microfilm. Do you still need it? What date do you need? Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 15:15, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

2018 plan for user group activities - implementation discussion

Latest comment: 6 years ago4 comments3 people in discussion

Please share your views and suggest actionable ways to implement the top two ideas on user group activities for 2018. The poll results can be viewed on the resources page.

Engage with libraries in communities with historically low participation in Wikimedia projects

Ideas

  1. We need to recruit people who speak other languages fluently. It's nearly impossible to work with marginalized communities without being fluent in other languages in my experience. I'm in El Paso, TX and Hispanic communities are often underserved. However, if you aren't bilingual in English and Spanish, you are not going to be as successful in your efforts. As for myself, I speak a little Spanish and have to bring in people who are fluent to help me in my outreach efforts. So that's my idea. Megalibrarygirl (talk) 18:17, 15 July 2018 (UTC)
  2. My idea is to contact library associations to identify those efforts in other latitudes. I am a Spanish speaker and I know some people that can help to do what Megalibrarygirl propose. --Hiperterminal (talk) 10:39, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

Discussion

Serve as ambassadors for the idea that Wikimedia work is business as usual in libraries by sharing case studies and communicating the benefits of engaging with Wikimedia

Ideas

  1. My own experience in public libraries is just to do it. And by that, I mean, set up editathons (I usually partner with the History Museum next door). Talk about Wikipedia whenever you can. Show fellow librarians (especially in your archives) how their resources can become more visible by writing articles about local history. It's a slow burn, but worth it. Megalibrarygirl (talk) 18:21, 15 July 2018 (UTC)
  2. As a library director type, I've found that most librarians and library leaders don't realize how much community engagement statistics are available from Wikipedia on many levels (groups, GLAM projects, individual articles). Also, it is important to know how much referral traffic to your library website comes from Wikipedia and track important topics in your institution's collection. I've been sharing this for my institution. So, let's share this data for other individual libraries. Perhaps, the user group could host a survey to ask what percentage of referral traffic to your library website comes from Wikipedia? TeriEmbrey (talk) 14:32, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

Discussion

Internet Archive

Latest comment: 6 years ago4 comments3 people in discussion

Hi! Does anyone on this User Group know any of the folks who work with the Internet Archive? Megalibrarygirl (talk) 18:21, 15 July 2018 (UTC)

Are you referring to Wikipedians who have worked with Internet Archive? I'm pretty sure Andrew aka Fuzheado helped with Archivebot. Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 15:10, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Yes, Rachel Helps (BYU). I'd love to make some connections and pick some brains. :) So, Fuzheado, can we talk? Megalibrarygirl (talk) 16:28, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Hi, yes we've worked closely with Mark Graham and Wendy Hanamura of Internet Archive, so I can certainly send an introduction. Ping me by email if you can and I'll send an intro. -- Fuzheado (talk) 01:21, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Wikimedian in Residence at the Scottish Library and Information Council

Latest comment: 6 years ago8 comments3 people in discussion

Hi! I just wanted to introduce myself. I'm the Wikimedian in Residence at the Scottish Library and Information Council and you can find out more about my project on my Wiki GLAM page Wikipedia:GLAM/SLIC. My role is to work across all the public libraries in Scotland to establish public libraries as quality content creators in the digital sphere, and to provide open access to freely usable content about Scottish culture via Wikipedia. The residency started in August 2017 with my colleague Sara Thomas (WMUK) and I took over from her in May 2018. I'm currently helping public libraries access training and kickstart their own Wikipedia projects in a number of locations across Scotland. I've been following the work of Merrilee and Wikipedia + Libraries project, it's given us some great resources to tap into. I also wanted to flag that we'd like to use the Wiki Loves Libraries campaign in October to activate a number of Scottish Libraries to run Wikipedia events or create new pages on Wikipedia. If anyone has an objection, please feel free to get in touch on here or on my talk page. I look forward to hearing from you. Delphine Dallison (talk) 08:57, 16 July 2018 (UTC)

Hi @Delphine Dallison: Is Wiki Loves Libraries making a comeback? I think it died out for a while. Best of luck to you. Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 15:12, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Hi @Rachel Helps (BYU):! Yes, I know Wiki Loves Libraries died out back in 2014, but we'd be keen to bring it back (maybe as a small pilot in Scotland?) because we think it's a great initiative and for me it would fit in well with my project. So I'm throwing it out here to see if there are any objections and also to see if anyone would like to take part in it outside Scotland. @Merrilee: has been doing a fantastic job of training up librarians in the US, so maybe they would be interested in a cross-Atlantic collaboration? Just seeing what might stick... ;-) Delphine Dallison (talk) 16:35, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
@Delphine Dallison:, that sounds interesting! I confess that I don't know exactly what a Wikipedia Loves Libraries event entails. Is it mostly promoting Wikipedia and Wikipedia literacy in a library? Rachel Helps (BYU) (talk) 18:38, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Rachel Helps (BYU) The Wiki Loves Libraries campaign used to run throughout October with events culminating around Open Access Week, which this year will be from the 22nd till the 28th October. The idea is to get as many libraries as possible taking part in Wikipedia events and promoting Open Knowledge, which ticks all the boxes for my residency. I'm going to try and contact the Wiki Loves Libraries previous organisers and find out what they say. Delphine Dallison (talk) 21:58, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Delphine Dallison if you are doing editathons with libraries in the area, that's awesome. Would you be interested in partnering with Women in Red do some virtual work? (We'd run all the virtual stuff on our end.) We also help editors clean up references and can guide newbies. The only catch is that we focus on women, women's works and people who are in gender minorities. But I don't think we've focused on Scotland in a while. Just an idea. :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 20:24, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Hi Megalibrarygirl! So one of the objectives of my residency is to promote the creation of content of underrepresented topics, which falls under two categories: content about Scottish culture and content about women. Although we haven't run yet any Women in Red events per say, I promote it during every training session and it's part of the metrics I get measured on. Ewan McAndrew also runs monthly Women in Red editathons in Edinburgh as part of his residency at the University of Edinburgh. At the moment, I'm letting the libraries choose the topics they wish to work on, but it's good to know that I can offer them the opportunity to partner up with people like you if they want to run a specific Women in Red event in future. We might have one of those coming up in October on the Isle of Skye, looking at the history of Suffragettes from the island and the surrounding area. I'll keep you posted once I know more. Delphine Dallison (talk) 21:58, 16 July 2018 (UTC)
Delphine Dallison thanks! :) Megalibrarygirl (talk) 00:02, 17 July 2018 (UTC)

Research about unsourced statements and their rapid identification

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

You can sign in here if you are interested.--Alexmar983 (talk) 15:22, 19 August 2018 (UTC)

Notification of User Group Expiration - Renewal pending submission of reporting

Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Greetings, This is a notification to bring to your attention that your organization is currently past due on its required annual reporting. Wikimedia User Groups are required to submit an annual activity report covering the entirety of the 12-month agreement period in order to prompt review for a renewal. Reports must be written in English, posted to meta, and linked on the meta Reports page. This page is used to track how organizations and groups are meeting reporting requirements described in their agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation (e.g. chapter agreements, thematic organization agreements, user group agreements). It is the central place where affiliates can add reports about their activities, share their plans, and even news or social media channels with the wider movement. When new reports are available, organizations and groups should add them to this page to keep their columns up to date.

As noted on the meta Reports page, your organization’s 2016-2017 annual reporting became past due in July. Please be sure to

  1. Post your 2016-2017 annual reporting to the meta Reports page as soon as possible to return to compliance with your user group agreement.
  2. Check that your group’s page is also up to date with past report links for historical record-keeping, and
  3. Please send an email to Wikimedia-l in order to share with a movement-wide audience.

If you have any questions or need any further guidance, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Best regards, DNdubane (WMF) (talk) 19:20, 23 August 2018 (UTC)

Applied for Wikimedia Foundation grant - seeking comment and support

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

See

Since March 2018 I have been Wikimedian in Residence (Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network) at the University of Virginia. Among other things I organize collaborations with the library. Some notes on my projects are at University of Virginia.

In the above proposal I am assisting some librarians, researchers, and our copyright lawyer in requesting US$15,000 from the Wikimedia Foundation in the November 2018 call for projects as described at Grants:Project. With this money the library would, in summer 2019, develop a tool kit and event package for more libraries to celebrate Public Domain Day and to incorporate Wikimedia engagement into their program. We will be hosting a Public Domain Day event of our own with Wikimedia engagement in January 2019 to get experience before starting the grant funded project.

If anyone can sign to support then I appreciate that. If anyone has comments of any kind please post to the talk page. Thanks. Blue Rasberry (talk) 23:32, 20 November 2018 (UTC)

HighBeam Research shutting down

Latest comment: 5 years ago3 comments2 people in discussion

Hi everyone!

Does anyone have a good idea about how Wikipedia will be affected by HighBeam shutting down? I'm assuming links will be broken and it might be important to start making sure citations from HB are complete enough to track down in other places for verification.

Any ideas? Megalibrarygirl (talk) 00:43, 21 November 2018 (UTC)

@Megalibrarygirl: We've been chatting to both Highbeam/Cengage and Internet Archive for a little while to figure out a good solution to this. Cengage were able to give us 7000 (out of 40,000) URLs that can be directly replaced by a Cengage URL containing the same record, and IA are now looking into crawling the remaining links so that we can add archive URLs. I'll update at WT:Highbeam when I know more :) Samwalton9 (WMF) (talk) 10:31, 21 November 2018 (UTC)
Thanks for the info, Samwalton9! I was really taken by surprise that HighBeam was shutting down. I'm a little upset about it going away because it was a good resource. :( Megalibrarygirl (talk) 14:56, 21 November 2018 (UTC)

Learning Quarterly: November 2018

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

L&E Newsletter / Volume 5 / Issue 17 / November 2018
 Learning Quarterly

Stay tuned
blogs, events
& more!

2018 Affiliations Committee call for candidates

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee.

 

The Affiliations Committee – the committee responsible for guiding volunteers in establishing Wikimedia chapters, thematic organizations, and user groups – is looking for new members!

The main role of the Affiliations Committee is to guide groups of volunteers that are interested in forming Wikimedia affiliates. We review applications from new groups, answer questions and provide advice about the different Wikimedia affiliation models and processes, review affiliate bylaws for compliance with requirements and best practices, and advise the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on issues connected to chapters, thematic organizations and Wikimedia user groups.

The committee can include up to fifteen members, roughly half of whom are selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms. Those joining the committee during the current process will serve a two-year term ending in December 2020.

Key skills

Being a part of the Affiliations Committee requires communication with volunteers all over the world, negotiating skills, cultural sensitivity, and the ability to understand legal texts. We look for a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members, including the following key skills and experience:

- Willingness to process applications through a set, perhaps bureaucratic process.
- Readiness to participate in political discussions on the role and future of affiliates, models of affiliation, and similar topics.
- Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly two-hour voice/video meeting.
- International orientation.
- Fluency in English.
- Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
- Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the Wikimedia Foundation.
- Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organizing are a plus.
- Skills in other languages are a major plus.
- Experience with or in an active affiliate is a major plus.
- Strong track record of effective collaboration (such as evidenced skills at facilitation, mediation, negotiation, and so forth) are a major plus.
- Willingness to use one's real name in committee activities (including contacts with current and potential affiliates) when appropriate.

We are looking for people who are excited by the challenge of empowering volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world. In exchange, committee members selected will gain the experience of supporting their world-wide colleagues to develop their communities as well as personal development in guiding organizational development, facilitating affiliate partnerships, and professional communications.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2018 member selection process will include a public review and comment period. All applications received by the committee will be posted on Meta at Affiliations Committee/Candidates/December 2018, and the community will be invited to provide comments and feedback about each candidate.

At the end of the public comment period, the applications will be voted on by the members of the committee who are not seeking re-election, taking into account comments put forward by the committee's members, advisors, Wikimedia Foundation staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2019, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please post your application on the nomination page and send an email announcing your application to affcom@lists.wikimedia.org by 31 December 2018. Your application must include the following information:

- Your full name and Wikimedia username
- A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.
- Answers to the following three questions:

  1. How do you think affiliates work best together to partner on effective projects and initiatives?
  2. What do you see as the role of affiliates in the Wikimedia movement in the next three years?
  3. What do you feel you will bring to the committee that makes you a uniquely qualified candidate?


If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me and/or the committee as a whole. We are happy to chat or have a phone call with anyone about our work if this helps them decide to apply. Please distribute this call among your networks, and do apply if you are interested!

Best regards,
Kirill Lokshin
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 06:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Updates on the user group steering committee election - 2019

Latest comment: 5 years ago5 comments1 person in discussion

Hello everyone, a quick update on the 2019 steering committee election for the Wikimedia and Libraries User Group:

Timeline for nominations, vetting and voting

  • Nominations are until 13 February 2019 (apologies for the late ping). Candidates will be lightly vetted by the steering committee and the TWL team (excluding those who are candidates) to help form a well-functioning committee.
  • Vetting will happen from the 14th up to 18th February 2019.
  • Voting will begin on the 19th of February and end on the 28th of February.
  • To be able to vote, editors must have joined the user group before the 28th of February.
  • Results will be announced on or before 3rd March.

Head over to the election page to read more about nominating yourself, discussing the candidates and voting instructions.

For the steering committee, Aaron

@User group members (1st 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:03, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

@User group members (2nd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:04, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

@User group members (3rd 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:04, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

@User group members (4th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:04, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

@User group members (5th 50): --AVasanth (WMF) (talk) 18:05, 11 February 2019 (UTC)

New Affiliations Committee appointments

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

AffCom is excited to share with you the news that the Wikimedia Foundation Board has unanimously approved the changes to the Bylaws during the last Board meeting on January 30, 2019.

This change allows the participation of User Groups in the Affiliate-selected Board seats (ASBS) 2019 process.

To read the Board's announcement, please click here

--MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 14:45, 21 February 2019 (UTC)

Help us make Wikipedia talk pages more accessible to more participants

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Hello!

Our team at the Wikimedia Foundation is working on a project to improve the ease-of-use and productivity of wiki talk pages. As an affiliate, I can imagine you’ve run into challenges explaining talk pages to first-time participants, or it is an consultation that would interest your members.

We want all contributors to be able to talk to each other on the wikis – to ask questions, to resolve differences, to organize projects and to make decisions. Communication is essential for the depth and quality of our content, and the health of our communities.

We're currently leading a global consultation on how to improve talk pages, and we're looking for groups that can discuss and report on their experiences using (or helping other people to use) wiki talk pages. We'd like to invite you to participate, with the user groups that you belong to. You can learn more about the consultation at Mediawiki.org and if you're interested in hosting a group discussion (on-wiki or off-wiki), you can sign up at the participant sign-up group.

If you’d like to participate or if you have any questions, please contact us and let us know. The more people participate from many horizons, the better the outcome will be.

Thank you! Trizek (WMF) 15:29, 8 March 2019 (UTC)

Call for complementary facilitators and more to get the ASBS 2019 process started!

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
 

Hi everyone, hope all is fine with you!

The next weeks will be intense, as affiliates figure out their participation in the process that will soon select 2 people for the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. Since new Bylaws established that the user groups are for the first time going to be involved in such process, a lot more support than before is certainly going to be necessary, among other things, for big and healthy conversations on the topic. Hence, please encourage members of your group to become a complementary facilitator, or sign up yourself! You can add yourself to the list on Meta or reply to me to flag availability. One person from the facilitators group should soon be selected to liaise with the Foundation Board’s Chair, María Sefidari, on behalf of all affiliates, and it may be wise to also find a deputy for them.

Finally, if you can think of any huge obstacles that would prevent your group from participating to the process (for instance, a language barrier, or lack of good decision-making mechanisms, etc.), please reach out to me directly: it is really important that we hear about them as early as possible. Thank you! Elitre (WMF) 15:23, 12 March 2019 (UTC)

WikiClassics

Latest comment: 5 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion

Hi. If I did not inform you yet, please take a look at the page WikiClassics User Group, it's a cross wiki cooperation that might become a WMF's UG but in any case de facto already exists as a coordination platform. If you want to take part, please join us there. The group is very open to everyone and we are setting up social media channels, which are there if someone want to make some events known around the world. Statistically, some of you might work as a librarian in some instution where many reserachers are focused on these topics, so this message is for you.--Alexmar983 (talk) 20:04, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

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