Year: 2018

Last year, the data visualization website The Pudding mapped out Miles Davis’ legacy by sorting through every Wikipedia page that mentioned the jazz legend. It was just one of dozens of visualizations that have been built on Wikipedia data over the past decade. This week, The Pudding released a new visualization that examines Wikipedia pageview increases….

When should companies that run websites be required to delete what you post online? At Wikimedia’s 11 July summer legal fellow panel, “The Future of Intermediary Liability,” legal scholars and practitioners discussed the rules for when and how online platforms are held legally responsible for what their users contribute. Under Section 230 of the 1996….

The Wikimedia Foundation has joined the Partnership on AI, an organization that brings together academics, researchers, civil society organizations, companies building and utilizing AI technology, and other groups working to better understand AI’s impacts. The Partnership on AI brings together both commercial and nonprofit organizations to study and formulate best practices on AI technologies. Their….

Whichever frog pun (or caption) you choose to label it with, the photo above is this year’s Wikimedia Commons picture of the year. It features two Phyllomedusa rohdei, frogs endemic to Brazil, with one stepping on the other’s head, seemingly reaching for something just out of the frame. The photo was taken by biologist Renato Augusto….

In the closing ceremony of this year’s Wikimania, held in Cape Town, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales announced Farhad Fatkullin as the Wikimedian of the year for 2018. Fatkullin was selected for his efforts in support of the minority language communities in Russia. “Farhad is energetically community organizing among Russia’s minority language communities,” said Wales, “going far and wide beyond his….

While Estonian museums hold nearly nine million items, only 3.5% of them are displayed in exhibitions. The case isn’t significantly different in other countries: museums have a limited display space and can only open up a fraction of their collections to the public at some occasions. Much of the preserved items may even never leave….

This week, the Wikimedia Foundation announced a new member and leadership appointments to its Board of Trustees. Tanya Pine Capuano, recently Chief Financial Officer of the digital marketing company G5 in Bend, Oregon, will be the newest member of the Board of Trustees. The Board also appointed María Sefidari as Chair, and Christophe Henner as….

More than 700 attendees from nearly 80 countries gathered today for the start of Wikimania 2018—the annual conference celebrating Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, the Wikimedia free knowledge movement, and the community of volunteers who make them possible. This marks the 14th annual Wikimania, which takes place 18–22 July at the Southern Sun Cape Sun….

The Wikimedia Foundation has supported free access to the sum of all knowledge for fifteen years. This longstanding vision would not be possible without the dedication of community members who contribute content to the Wikimedia projects. As a global platform for free knowledge, we are sometimes approached by governments and private parties with requests to….

The Wikimedia Foundation has announced a partnership with Kiwix, the free and open-source software solution that enables offline access to educational content, to expand and improve access to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects globally. This partnership will include a $275,000 contribution to Kiwix to further enhance offline access to Wikipedia in parts of the world….