2. “ Imagine a world in which every single human being on the planet is given free access to the sum of all knowledge. That's what we're doing.” Jimmy Wales
3. Wikimedia is in the top 5 most-popular web properties in the world. Source: comScore Media Metrix, global unique visitors monthly in 000s, March 2009
4. Wikipedia Audience Compared With Other Information Sites Measured using unique visitors. Data from comScore Media Metrix.
24. Mission The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.
Notes de l'éditeur
We are grateful and honored to have the opportunity to engage in conversations with esteemed institutions like yourselves. The Wikimedia projects couldn't exist without Galaries, Libraries, Archives and Museums. My presentation will introduce the Wikimedia Foundation, its projects, the community culture and the mission that drives it.
How does this vision correspond with the vision of your institutions? The Sum of all knowledge is only possible with the unique stories that you as custodians of our cultural artefacts have collected. What is the sum of all knowledge? It can't be just my story or the stories of all those I have known - or evan of all of those I've heard of. The sum must include the stories of those that I have never known. You serve the world by collecting this knowledge and experience. You care for it, keep it safe and faithful to its original state and guard against its degradation over time. You protect it from vandals, from periods of disinterest. You protect the knowledge that otherwise would be distorted or completely forgotten. And you tell these stories back to us. That is what we want to help you do. Freedoms and Pillars
WP is huge Over 300 million hits a month (note comscore as of March 08)
The public gets its information from us
This is not the WM Foundation office
This is our office
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit that supports several projects such as Wikipedia Wikimedia Commons Wikinews WikiSource WikiVersity WikiIncubator -for new language versions MediaWiki – software to run wikis – open and free for any website to use WikiSpecies WikiQuote MetaWiki – where people and projects organize WikiBooks Wikimania
Given that the sites are huge and the Foundation is not- Who is behind all this anyway?
Volunteers have also collaboratively developed the governance structure, policies and guidelines for participating. Like: NPOV, Free Content So it may seem to Wikipedia novices as if they have come into a room in the middle of a conversation. Sometimes it can be hard to carve a place for yourself if the discussion is already going strong and there is history and context behind it that you're not completely aware of. So we've created some safe places for people new to Wikipedia to connect with help, ask for advice, make mistakes, find advocates etc..
The answer to “who is in charge here anyway” isn't “nobody” Its “everybody” 100,000 + active volunteers contribute text and media to our projects, develop content policies and conducting governance, and support the work of WMF and the chapters. The Wikimedia Foundation hosts the projects, maintains and improves the software, implements outreach and partnership programs, and secures funding for special initiatives and ongoing operations. Local chapter organizations implement outreach, partnership and technology activities on the ground. Other Contributors – educators, scientists, students, affiliate organizations whose interests vary.
It is a global movement Chapters are independent entities that share the same mission.
*Each language version has its own culture, policies and content (not all English articles are on other lang sites and vice versa. *More than 20 times larger than Britannica (why that matters) * There isn't a single small group of people deciding what is important enough to be documented in an encyclopaedia. Notability is a factor for Wikipedia as it is for other Encyclopedia, but it is transparently discussed. * What is “Free” and why does it matter? Wikipedia is free in that it does not charge for access and it is also free in that all the material included may be reused without charge. Helpful to see Wikipedia as a Wiki & a Pedia It is an encyclo pedia so Wikipedia aims to be organized, neutral, credibly sourced, notable, information written to be understandable to a wide audience. But its also a Wiki , which means that the way in which this information is developed is important as well. It means that there are a variety of perspectives represented but that Points of Views are not present in the content. *That contributors are working together to continually discuss and improve content. *That experts in a topic can contribute their expertise without content that is promotional or presents Conflict of Interest.
Wikimedia Commons Licenses ranging from: CC-by; CC-by-SA, Gnu; GFDL, Public domain, Copyleft. Some restrictions may include: All rights released can be re-released under any license Attribution only Releasing under same license Non-commercial WM Commons Governance Copyright patrols of recent uploads / technical tools / common sense flags (picture from space and description says I took it myself; watermarks; screen shots; complaints) Versioning ensures access to the original Allows for Restoration partnerships like Troppenmuseum
Reach: quote by the founder- Jimmy Wales “ where every single human being has access... “ = a lofty mandate. The Foundation's current programmatic focus in the area of reach is: expand global awareness, expand into other wireless applications like mobile phones and exploring wiki-to-print options. Participation: The vision is not only aspire to reach every human being , but now we have to track down the Sum of ALL knowledge. unattainable notion of this mandate is important. Because in education, if we ever think that we are done, then we are done for. It is fundamental to our principles that educational resources not just be generated by a particular population of the world and just read by another part of the world. Sum of knowledge requires the participation of many perspectives. “ Everyone brings their crumb to the table” Quality: Mature system of governance Tools for quickly identifying content in question Role of participation in quality Org – maturity : services developed 1 st and projects are huge. WMF is still small and young. We are growing. 1 st ever public & strategy planning process open to the participation of all. Financial sustainability: Re- stress non-profit aspect which is important to WP success – no profiteering
Useability: text and media Bots etc. Wiki- to- print Outreach like this
Shared missions Custodians of cultural heritage &Community curated knowledge