User talk:Varnent/Archive 15

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Wikimedia Education Newsletter: December 2015

Updates, reports, news, and stories about how Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects are used in education around the world.

MediaWiki message delivery (talk) 19:10, 7 December 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #187

This is an update from the Wikimedia Affiliations Committee. Translations are available.

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 consists of twelve members, six of whom are selected every twelve months for staggered two-year terms.

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 try to get a healthy mix of different skill sets in our members. The key skills and experience that we look for in candidates are:

  • Excitement by the challenge of helping to empower groups of volunteers worldwide.
  • 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 affiliations, and similar questions.
  • Availability of up to 5 hours per week, and the time to participate in a monthly ~2 hour voice/video meeting.
  • International orientation.
  • Very good communication skills in English.
  • Ability to work and communicate with other languages and cultures.
  • Strong understanding of the structure and work of affiliates and the WMF.
  • Knowledge of different legal systems and experience in community building and organising are a plus.
  • Effective communication skills in other languages are a major plus.
  • Experience with or in an active affiliate is 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 not afraid of the workload and are motivated by helping other volunteers to get organized and form communities that further our mission around the world.

Selection process

As a reflection of our commitment to openness, transparency, and bilateral engagement with the Wikimedia community, the 2015 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/2015), 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, WMF staff and board liaisons, and the community. A final decision will be made by mid-January 2016, with new members expected to join later that month.

How to apply

If you are interested in joining the committee, please send an application to affcom@lists.wikimedia.org by 31 December 2015. You will get a confirmation that your application was received.

Your application should include the following:

  • Your full name
  • Your contact information (including e-mail address and username)
  • A statement describing your relevant experience, skills, and motivation for joining the committee.

Your statement will be published for community review and feedback, so please do not include any information that you are not comfortable sharing.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to email 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,
Carlos Colina
Chair, Affiliations Committee

Posted by MediaWiki message delivery on behalf of the Affiliations Committee, 16:52, 9 December 2015 (UTC) • Please help translate to your languageGet helpSubscribe or unsubscribe.

New Wikipedia Library Accounts Available Now (December 2015)

Hello Wikimedians!

The TWL OWL says sign up today!

The Wikipedia Library is announcing signups today for, free, full-access accounts to published research as part of our Publisher Donation Program. You can sign up for new accounts and research materials from:

  • Gale - multidisciplinary periodicals, newspapers, and reference sources - 10 accounts
  • Brill - academic e-books and journals in English, Dutch, and other languages - 25 accounts
  • Finnish Literature Society (in Finnish)
  • Magiran (in Farsi) - scientific journal articles - 100 articles
  • Civilica (in Farsi) - Iranian journal articles, seminars, and conferences - 50 accounts

Many other partnerships with accounts available are listed on our partners page, including EBSCO, DeGruyter, and Newspaperarchive.com. Do better research and help expand the use of high quality references across Wikipedia projects: sign up today!
--The Wikipedia Library Team 01:01, 11 December 2015 (UTC)

Help us a start Wikipedia Library in your language! Email us at wikipedialibrary@wikimedia.org
This message was delivered via the Global Mass Message tool to The Wikipedia Library Global Delivery List.

This Month in GLAM: November 2015





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Wikidata weekly summary #188

18:29, 21 December 2015 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #189

Wikidata weekly summary #186

Wikidata weekly summary #190

Wikidata weekly summary #186

I really need your assistance

Hello, hope you are well. I have been editing on Wikipedia till earlier today. I use Internet Explorer, Opera Mini and sometimes I use the UC browser. I tried editing using Internet explorer and UC browser when I went back after sometime to edit. I can only edit using Opera Mini. Can you,please check my account because to be honest, I know nothing about Proxies. Please help me understand because I've tried to read about them but I cannot understand about them (Proxies). I have also added an unblock request on my talk page. Thank you.Nyanchoka (talk) 14:12, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #191

16:59, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

This Month in GLAM: December 2015





Headlines
Read this edition in fullSingle-page

To assist with preparing the newsletter, please visit the newsroom. Past editions may be viewed here.

Help decide the future of Wikimania

The Wikimedia Foundation is currently running a consultation on the value and planning process of Wikimania, and is open until 18 January 2016. The goals are to (1) build a shared understanding of the value of Wikimania to help guide conference planning and evaluation, and (2) gather broad community input on what new form(s) Wikimania could take (starting in 2018).

After reviewing the consultation, we'd like to hear your feedback on on this survey.

In addition, feel free to share any personal experiences you have had at at a Wikimedia movement conference, including Wikimania. We plan to compile and share back outcomes from this consultation in February.

With thanks,

I JethroBT (WMF) (talk), from Community Resources 21:32, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

Sweet mistakes...

I don't know if she noticed it or if she cares, however I restored her correct name, just in case she does :-) --g (talk) 23:26, 30 December 2015 (UTC)

If you didn't ignore repeat requests of not burying your edits under a mass of bot edits, your edits would probably be more transparent and the impact of errors reduced. Nemo 17:15, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
@Nemo bis: Can you provide an example of the last time this was ignored? Both you cited were in fact followed, and not ignored. It has been awhile since I did mass edits on Meta in AWB - and I do use the bot tag when I do so. To my knowledge, no one has ever requested I do so when not doing mass edits in AWB. The two examples you point to were related specifically to that. --Varnent (talk)(COI) 17:32, 14 January 2016 (UTC)
As an aside, I have received complaints on IRC when I switched on bot tag for non-AWB editing. So I tend to not do that anymore. There does not seem to be a solution I can find that satisfies people except to use the bot flag when using AWB (which again - for me on Meta - is rather rare). Certainly welcome your input, but I absolutely disagree with your assessment that I've ignored anyone's requests. In fact, it has been the opposite, I have spent time pondering and talking with others about how to honor people's requests on this topic. --Varnent (talk)(COI) 17:35, 14 January 2016 (UTC)

Wikidata weekly summary #192

17:55, 18 January 2016 (UTC)