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Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2009-11-02/News and notes

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News and notes

Strategic planning, November conference, brief news and milestones

Strategic planning update

Several task forces for the strategic planning project are beginning their work, with the first round of task forces being assigned people and questions. The task forces that have begun so far are:

Many other task forces are still in the planning stage. Task forces are tasked with synthesizing data and information relating to their area, answering a set of broad questions relating to this area and Wikimedia's work, and presenting a few proposals to the strategic planning team. The task force work will take place over the next two months.

Community involvement is still requested for strategic planning. The Call for Proposals is still open; current proposals can also be rated and discussed. There is also a current call for discussion of some of the key questions that have been developed. Finally, there is also a wiki to-do list.

Community events planned for November

The deadline for registration for Wikimedia Conference Japan is November 11; more information can be found on the conference website. The conference will be held on November 22, in Tokyo.

Wikimedia Brasil is planning a series of unconferences, on November 18 and 25. The themes are "Building Free Knowledge Through Collaboration," with a sub-theme of "Outreach, Participation and Quality in Wikimedia projects." They are also planning a series of workshops for the general public and Wikipedia volunteers.

So far, community meetups are planned in November for London (Nov. 8); Cambridge (Nov. 14); New York City (Nov. 15); Bangalore (Nov. 22); and Karachi (Nov. 22).

Briefly

Wikipedia in the news

  • Barry Newstead of the Wikimedia strategy project blogged about the strategy project, and how it is trying to be open to non-community members.
  • The Huffington Post has recognized Sue Gardner, Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation, as one of their top 10 media game-changers of the year; the top place is determined by reader votes. Her Wikipedia article was consequently nominated for deletion and speedily kept.
  • Writing in the The Spectator, James Hannam suggests that there is a "subtle campaign on Wikipedia to overstate the contribution of Islamic sages to scientific scholarship." Hannam highlights the comparative length and specific claims made in articles such as Avicenna, Al-Kindi, Alhazen, Rhazes, Al-Farabi and Geber compared with those of Western thinkers.

Milestones

This week in history