Science and Wikipedia: Wikimedia UK published a
blog post this week summarizing recent research on the place that Wikipedia has as an information directory in the scientific sphere. The post is worth reading in its entirety for anyone interested in information science, academic open access, and Wikipedia in medicine. The
Wikipedia Science Conference is happening soon; see also
previous Signpost coverage.
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The current publication model for medical research “needs a kick up the bum” in the direction of openness. New research appears at a torrential rate that overwhelms any human reader ... this requires the scientific community to tear down barriers to access. Wikipedia, Wikidata and related projects are increasingly showing us what that transformed world of open science will look like.
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VisualEditor: A
discussion of interest occurred on the wikimedia-l mailing list this week, the topic of which was VisualEditor's much-improved usability for chapter-organized editing workshops. VisualEditor is now on slow roll-out on the English Wikipedia and elsewhere.
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Endowment director: The Wikimedia Foundation published a
call for candidates for an endowment director, fulfilling board and executive-level discussions about the creation of an endowment as a future financial security for the Foundation that have been ongoing for some time. Fundraising department concerns about future campaign returns, continued decline in community participation metrics, and a large-and-growing WMF cash pile form the backdrop.
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Netherlands conference: Wikimedia Netherlands has
published a
call for speakers for their annual conference.
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German chapter progress report: Wikimedia Germany is far and away the largest of the movement affiliate chapters, and so it publishes
equally mammoth progress reports, as per the requirements of the
annual plan grants funding process. These reports are
now available for review. Such reports, published regularly, are indexed at
Reports.
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Wikimedia Bangladesh: Wikimedia Bangladesh published
a post to the Wikimedia Blog highlighting the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the
Bangla Wikipedia.
Jimmy Wales was in attendance.
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Ada Initiative closing: The
Ada Initiative, a non-profit organization that sought to increase women's participation in open source technology and culture, announced it would be shutting down because of their inability to find a suitable new executive director. A number of their efforts focused on Wikimedia projects, most recently the Ally Skills Workshop at Wikimania 2015. Former Wikimedia Foundation director
Sue Gardner and current WMF conference coordinator
Ellie Young were members of their board of advisors.
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