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Wikimedians in Residence Exchange Network/2026-02-17

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February 17, 2026 - Tuesday - (3pm – 4pm Eastern Time - New York)

Agenda

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SEE ETHERPAD FOR MOST RECENT VERSION

  • Rotating schedule for WREN calls
  • Conferences
  • Reports
  • Joint actions
  • Peer help

Attendees

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  • Lane Rasberry / user:bluerasberry
  • Siobhan Leachman / User:Ambrosia10... - Bioeconomy Science Institute in New Zealand
  • Mike Dickison / Giantflightlessbirds - Wikimedian at Large New Zealand
  • Richard/Pharos - City University of New York
  • Andrew Lih/ User:Fuzheado - Washington DC, with Smithsonian
  • Johanna Janhonen - Finland, prior WiR appointment, seeking another
  • Jonathan Zimmerman/ User:7804j - Open Knowledge Association (OKA.wiki)
  • Asuru Lutherking Petercan - Wikimedian covering architecture
  • Oscar Costero / User:Oscar_. - Wikiatinos
  • John P. Sadowski - former Wikimedian at National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
  • Z Blace - in Bosnia
  • David Engelman/ User:Emtmec
  • Tamsin - DrThneed - WiR at University of Otago, NZ
  • Orange Mike - Milwaukee Michael J. Lowrey
  • Robin Isadora Brown / User:RobinIsadorable - WiR at the Trans Music Archive, sponsored with Wikimedia Foundation rapid fund [1]
  • John Cummings - WiR at UN Food and Agriculture and with other UN agencies
  • Sandra Fauconnier / User:Spinster - Wikidataian in Residence last year at the Network Archives Design and Digital Culture - [2]
  • David Engelman - at CUNY, doing documentation of Wikimedia projects

Notes

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ETHERPAD NOTICE

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  • All Etherpads on etherpad.wikimedia.org may be erased in April because of database scalability issues.
  • The community may be coming together for a solution to preserve them, but please transfer any important info immediately.

Conferences recap

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  • Wikimedia Futures Lab
    • Who was there from WiR community, report and outcomes? [3]
    • WMF invited about 100 people in Frankfurt, in January 2026.
    • Comparable to the former Wikimedia Summit which happened annually for many years in Berlin.
    • Many attendees were associated with Wikimedia chapters and the WMF staff team called "Futures".
    • Much of the discussion was about AI.
    • Insights:
      • Wikimedia metrics show declines in key indicators across all projects (fewer readers, fewer editors, decline in power users).
      • Wikimedia still is in a good place compared to other platforms, but this is a serious alert and existential threat.
      • This trend line is happening in other platforms as AI takes attention.
      • Case study of recent collapse: StackOverflow now perhaps has collapsed and does not exist as a community of humans.
    • Lane invited submissions about the Future conference or any other WiR projects to the Signpost in English Wikipedia.
    • John Cummings: Contacted by organizations who want to put structured data into Wikidata as a way of presenting it as a source for AI. [4]

Wikimania UPDATE

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  • Submissions for presentations due soon – end of this month (March 1) [5]
  • Significant changes/challenges:
    • No more "solo talks" – only long-form content are panels and discussions. This may be a challenge for finding collaborators.
    • Limit of "3 submissions" per person to increase participation.
    • Any sessions must have at least 2 people on-site in Paris.
    • Lightning talks and posters may be a good outlet, though remote-only status is unclear.
  • Discussion:
    • Does WREN want to submit a panel or discussion?
    • What other GLAM-related panels and discussions might we want to nurture?
    • Sandra: many wiki events have a GLAM-preconference. Andrew: Nicolas Vigneron is organizing a preconference and is a GLAM ally.
    • Siobhan: Having a good moderator with experience and training makes a big difference. Successful panels don’t just happen.
    • Mike: Panel discussions are often the worst part of a conference; often three short PowerPoints with no discussion.
    • Tamsin: Will be in Paris and wanting to talk about Wikifying conferences as a way of engaging with academics and experts.
    • Sandra: Coordinating with the GLAM group could be helpful: [6]

Presentation of Open Knowledge Association (OKA)

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  • Presentation by 7804j: [7]
  • Details:
    • OKA has 15 full-time staff translators publishing Wikimedia content.
    • Prioritize hiring in Latin America in low cost of living areas.
    • Impact: 10,000 published Wikipedia articles, 25M pageviews.
    • How it works:
      • Recruits non-Wikimedians; trains them; pays per hour.
      • Editors have editorial freedom, though OKA provides optional lists of suggested articles.
    • Wikipedians have been concerned about paid editing:
      • However, no brands or companies are promoted; articles are for general knowledge.
      • Complying with Wikipedia paid editing disclosure requirements.
    • Other initiatives: Destubathon (300 participants destubbed 8500 articles).
    • Challenges:
      • Fundraising and quality control (errors harm OKA's reputation).
      • Sentiment against translation, AI/LLMs, and wealth-gap pay rates.
    • Comments:
      • German Wikipedia passed an RfC restricting AI use: [8]
      • Related AN thread: [9]
      • Historical note: English Wikipedia has not allowed the translation extension since 2009.

Additional Updates

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  • Siobhan: Biodiversity Heritage Library Annual meeting London in April/May. [10]
  • John Cummings: Osaka World Expo [11]

WiR role

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  • Evolving nature of GLAM and more WiR work with university/higher-education.
    • Examples: Lane Rasberry, Richard Knipel, Andrew Lih, DrThneed.
  • Andrew: Working with MIT on bringing OpenCourseWare materials (already freely licensed) to Wikimedia projects.
    • Topic areas include: women in science, climate change, history of colonialism in Philippines, architecture.
  • Expanding the GLAM acronym:
    • LUMA? Libraries, Universities, Museums, Archives?
    • CAKE? Cultural And Knowledge Entities (OrangeMike).
    • "Knowledge institutions" (John Cummings).
    • "Institutions for knowledge in the public interest" (Andrew).

Wikidata Notability & Signpost

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  • Wikidata Notability policy reform and implications: [12]
  • Wikidata about to have first backend update since 2015, capacity to expand 10x.
  • Revamped conflict of interest guidelines may be problematic for WiR.
    • Proposal: "We should make it explicit that people should not create Items about themselves, their business, etc."
    • How might this affect Wikimedians in Residence who often edit items about their "business"?
    • Andy Mabbett spoke out against this in the discussion.
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