[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Mexico. Report of Activities of April 2014

[Carmen Alcázar]

Dear community:

Below you will find the report of activities of the month of April 2014
done by the volunteers of Wikimedia Mexico. Please don't hesitate to get in
touch with us if you require extra information about this activities or
only to make some suggestions.

The report is also available on Spanish and English in our wiki:

https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Abril_2014/ (Spanish)
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Abril_2014/en (English)

Kindly regards on behalf our chapter.

Carmen Alcázar (User:Wotancito)
WMMX Secretary.


==Migrahack Mexico City==

Wikimedia Mexico was part of the initiative of running a migrahack in
Mexico City and supported the organization. The point of the event was to
gather together journalists, academics, students, NGOs and programmers to
collect and put order to disperse data about migration in Mexico and to do
some data mining to obtain new knowledge on that topics, and generate
statistics. Wikimedia Mexico, trough our volunteer and Board member Alan
Lazalde gave some talks to show the importance of free knowledge and open
access to data in order to create new knowledge based on that.

The results of the Migrahack are in the web page ot the Institute for
Justice and Journalism.

==Aldea Digital 2014==

For the second year in a row, Aldea Digital was held at Mexico City, a
digital inclusion event at the main square of Mexico City, with a very high
attendance. A strategy covering the full 17 days of the event was planned,
but a few days before the event its organizers made changes to its program
and thus only required Wikimedia Mexico's presence during only one day of
talks and a keynote by Iván Martínez.

On April 11, the Wikimedia Mexico team gave a full day of introductory 20
minutes talks of Wikipedia. According to organizers stats, about 1,300
people attended to our program of talks given by volunteers Omar Sandoval
(10 talks), Christian Cariño (5 talks), Andrés Cruz y Corro (5 talks),
Adrián Cerón (5 talks), Rodolfo Galicia (5 talks), Anny Garcia and Gustavo
Sandoval Kingwergs (5 talks). This event required a high effort on our
part, but was a very grateful experience for our chapter. In order to avoid
the fatigue of talking for several hours in a row, our volunteers took
turns giving the talks, reducing the overall tiredness and encouraging
everyone to become a better speaker for future Wikimedia Mexico events.

On April 21, Iván Martínez gave the keynote "Freedom in the Free
Encyclopedia. The Foundations of Wikipedia's Freedom". The talk, with a
duration of an hour and a half, was attended by 131 participants and was
presented as one of the main contents of the event by Aldea Digital's
organizing staff. In the same stage Steve Wozniak, Moshe Hogeg (Mobli
creator), Walter Bender (MIT researcher) and Yin Lou (Coursera) gave a
keynote each. -

// Photo: Andres Crúz y Corro during a talk in Aldea Digital:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Andres_Cruz_en_Aldea_Digital.jpg

==Children's Day at Biblioteca Vasconcelos==

The Biblioteca Vasconcelos (Vasconcelos Library), venue for the next
Wikimania 2015, held an event organized on occasion of Children's Day,
celebrated annually in Mexico on April 30. The Library gave us the option
to read stories to children. However, when the Wikimedia Mexico community
realized the public was expected to be aged 3 to 10 years, we decided to
innovate and make an original story based on the core values ​​of
Wikipedia: free knowledge, sharing, curiosity and freedom.

Our volunteer Andrés Cruz y Corro, also a NaNoWriMo participant, wrote a
story called "An adventure called knowledge". This story was told on April
27 and was very well received by the children as a way to convey the values
​​behind Wikipedia in a fun and different way. We encourage other Wikimedia
colleagues to use this story as a way to reach out to younger children and
instill the seed of free knowledge. A translated copy of the story to
English will be available in a few days.

// Watch the gallery in Commons:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Children%27s_Day_at_Biblioteca_Vasconcelos
==Journal==

- April 1
*Second day of the Wikipedia workshop by Nohemí Chilpa at the Universidad
Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa (UAM-I) as part of CEUAMI's Semana
de Talleres del Capitulo de las Ciencias de la Computacion de la
UAM-Iztapalapa (Worhshop Week at the Computer Sciences Chapter of UAM)
*Meeting of Wikipedistas en Puebla with SocialTic.

- April 3
* Q & A session by Christian Cariño with Prof. Adriana Álvarez' class under
WMMX's Education Program at National Autonomous University of Mexico's
(UNAM) Philosophy and Letters Faculty within the Historical Analysis
Seminar.

// Read the full report:
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes_abril_2014_Seminario_FFyL_de_la_UNAM

- April 8
* WMMX's Participation at Universidad Tecnológica Emiliano Zapata's
Technology Fest 2014 event in Morelos State: Omar Sansi imparted a
Wikipedia workshop and Christian g

[Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Andy Mabbett]

Jimmy Wales was recently asked, on Twitter:

   How do you collaborate with Universities?
   

to which he replied:

   Right now mostly through our GLAM programs (galleries,
   libraries, museums).
   

While it's nice go see GLAM recognised (the "A" stands for "Archives",
BTW), that's a bit of a slap to our colleagues who work on education
projects.

-- 
Andy Mabbett
@pigsonthewing
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Fæ]

If Universities or GLAMs want to talk about our best practices for
running open knowledge projects that include Wikimedia projects, they
ought to be asking some of the many people who have successfully
delivered these projects.

Tip: ** Always recommend they visit https://outreach.wikimedia.org **
plenty of contacts and useful case studies are maintained there, both
for GLAMs and education.

Fae
-- 
fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Leigh Thelmadatter]

I think this speaks to how little is known and how poorly education projects 
have been promoted, especially outside the US and Canada. There is even the 
assumption on the part of many that this is the purview of chapters.

The Education Program has just convened an Education Cooperative with 
representatives from education projects in various parts of the world. Article 
in the Education newsletter (yes there is one) is here 
http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Newsletter/March_2014/Education_Cooperative_Kickoff_Meeting_in_Prague




> Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 11:23:10 +0100
> From: fae...@gmail.com
> To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities
> 
> If Universities or GLAMs want to talk about our best practices for
> running open knowledge projects that include Wikimedia projects, they
> ought to be asking some of the many people who have successfully
> delivered these projects.
> 
> Tip: ** Always recommend they visit https://outreach.wikimedia.org **
> plenty of contacts and useful case studies are maintained there, both
> for GLAMs and education.
> 
> Fae
> -- 
> fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Newyorkbrad]

Is there one place, perhaps on Meta, where a Wikipedian/Wikimedian could
find a summary/briefing on the various different programs that exist?

Newyorkbrad


On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 10:24 AM, Leigh Thelmadatter wrote:

> I think this speaks to how little is known and how poorly education
> projects have been promoted, especially outside the US and Canada. There is
> even the assumption on the part of many that this is the purview of
> chapters.
>
> The Education Program has just convened an Education Cooperative with
> representatives from education projects in various parts of the world.
> Article in the Education newsletter (yes there is one) is here
> http://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Newsletter/March_2014/Education_Cooperative_Kickoff_Meeting_in_Prague
>
>
>
>
> > Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 11:23:10 +0100
> > From: fae...@gmail.com
> > To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities
> >
> > If Universities or GLAMs want to talk about our best practices for
> > running open knowledge projects that include Wikimedia projects, they
> > ought to be asking some of the many people who have successfully
> > delivered these projects.
> >
> > Tip: ** Always recommend they visit https://outreach.wikimedia.org **
> > plenty of contacts and useful case studies are maintained there, both
> > for GLAMs and education.
> >
> > Fae
> > --
> > fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae
> >
> > ___
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>
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Fæ]

On 6 May 2014 15:28, Newyorkbrad  wrote:
> Is there one place, perhaps on Meta, where a Wikipedian/Wikimedian could
> find a summary/briefing on the various different programs that exist?
>
> Newyorkbrad

Hi Brad,

Yes, this is the purpose of https://outreach.wikimedia.org. Admittedly
it always needs updating, however Romaine's excellent work keeping the
GLAM newsletter going should provide everything you would like to know
about what is happening -
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter.

Anyone can edit the outreach wiki, and people running education or
GLAM projects should make a point of adding their projects to the
site, it is our long term central repository of knowledge and should
be the reference point for communications about our projects.

Fae
-- 
fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Risker]

On 6 May 2014 11:45, Fæ  wrote:

> On 6 May 2014 15:28, Newyorkbrad  wrote:
> > Is there one place, perhaps on Meta, where a Wikipedian/Wikimedian could
> > find a summary/briefing on the various different programs that exist?
> >
> > Newyorkbrad
>
> Hi Brad,
>
> Yes, this is the purpose of https://outreach.wikimedia.org. Admittedly
> it always needs updating, however Romaine's excellent work keeping the
> GLAM newsletter going should provide everything you would like to know
> about what is happening -
> https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter.
>
> Anyone can edit the outreach wiki, and people running education or
> GLAM projects should make a point of adding their projects to the
> site, it is our long term central repository of knowledge and should
> be the reference point for communications about our projects.
>
>
I think Newyorbrad's point is that this is sectioned off into a distant
project that few people know about - as I recall, it's not even part of the
SUL so one has to log in separately there - and it seems not to be
mentioned very often anywhere else.

Risker/Anne
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Fæ]

On 6 May 2014 16:53, Risker  wrote:
> On 6 May 2014 11:45, Fæ  wrote:
>> https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter.
...
> I think Newyorbrad's point is that this is sectioned off into a distant
> project that few people know about - as I recall, it's not even part of the
> SUL so one has to log in separately there - and it seems not to be
> mentioned very often anywhere else.
>
> Risker/Anne

Fortunately https://outreach.wikimedia.org is included in the unified login.

On meta, https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM directs you to it. On
the English Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:GLAM
directs you to it as well.

Fae
-- 
fae...@gmail.com https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Fae

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[geni]

On 6 May 2014 15:28, Newyorkbrad  wrote:

> Is there one place, perhaps on Meta, where a Wikipedian/Wikimedian could
> find a summary/briefing on the various different programs that exist?
>
> Newyorkbrad
>

The ones that are relevant to the english wikipedia can be found ad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Student_assignment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Education_noticeboard
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Historical_page_for_school_and_university_projects


-- 
geni
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[LiAnna Davis]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 7:28 AM, Newyorkbrad  wrote:

> Is there one place, perhaps on Meta, where a Wikipedian/Wikimedian could
> find a summary/briefing on the various different programs that exist?
>

For education specifically: You can also go to
http://education.wikimedia.org, which takes you to the education portal on
Outreach wiki, and then click on "Programs" to see all the education
efforts around the world:
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Education/Programs

I had the privilege of working with the program leaders from the education
program over the last few years, and there's some truly amazing work
happening in education around the world.

LiAnna
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Mathias Damour]

Le 06/05/2014 16:24, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :

(...) There is even the assumption on the part of many that this is the purview 
of chapters.


Why shouldn't it be ?

--
Mathias Damour
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Leigh Thelmadatter]

Where chapter support is wanted and helpful, no problem.  What I mean here is 
that universities should not be "required" to work "under" a chapter just 
because one exists.  

> Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 20:08:58 +0200
> From: mathias.dam...@laposte.net
> To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities
> 
> Le 06/05/2014 16:24, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :
> > (...) There is even the assumption on the part of many that this is the 
> > purview of chapters.
> 
> Why shouldn't it be ?
> 
> -- 
> Mathias Damour
> https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays
> 
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Mathias Damour]

Le 06/05/2014 20:15, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :

Where chapter support is wanted and helpful, no problem.  What I mean here is that universities 
should not be "required" to work "under" a chapter just because one exists.


I mean that universities should be "able" to work "with" a chapter when 
it exists, because it's the most convenient way. :-)



Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 20:08:58 +0200
From: mathias.dam...@laposte.net
To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

Le 06/05/2014 16:24, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :

(...) There is even the assumption on the part of many that this is the purview 
of chapters.

Why shouldn't it be ?

--
Mathias Damour
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays


--
Mathias Damour
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays

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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities

[Leigh Thelmadatter]

Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

> Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 20:46:23 +0200
> From: mathias.dam...@laposte.net
> To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities
> 
> Le 06/05/2014 20:15, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :
> > Where chapter support is wanted and helpful, no problem.  What I mean here 
> > is that universities should not be "required" to work "under" a chapter 
> > just because one exists.
> 
> I mean that universities should be "able" to work "with" a chapter when 
> it exists, because it's the most convenient way. :-)
> 
> >> Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 20:08:58 +0200
> >> From: mathias.dam...@laposte.net
> >> To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> >> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia and Universities
> >>
> >> Le 06/05/2014 16:24, Leigh Thelmadatter a écrit :
> >>> (...) There is even the assumption on the part of many that this is the 
> >>> purview of chapters.
> >> Why shouldn't it be ?
> >>
> >> -- 
> >> Mathias Damour
> >> https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays
> 
> -- 
> Mathias Damour
> https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utilisateur:Astirmays
> 
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[Wikimedia-l] WikiConference USA - almost here!

[Pharos]

I am very pleased to announce that WikiConference USA is less than 30 days
away!  Over the last few months, Wikimedia NYC and Wikimedia DC have been
collecting curated submissions on a diversity of wiki and free/open
knowledge-related topics (with tracks on Community, Tech, Outreach, GLAM,
Education), and recruited some excellent keynote speakers who can speak to
their personal activism and leadership in these domains.

But this is a "Wiki" conference, and what it thrives on most is your
participation, your differing areas of experience and expertise, to enliven
and enrich all of the sessions we have planned together.  And, exciting
too, there still will be numerous opportunities for "unconference" sessions
led by participants on the fly, and we encourage you to bring the ideas
from your domain for these sessions as well.

Here are the details for the conference:

Dates: Friday, May 30, 2014 - Sunday, June 1, 2014
Location: New York Law School (185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013)
Website: http://wikiconferenceusa.org
Email: wiki...@wikimedianyc.org
Registration: http://wikiconusa.eventbrite.org/

And our distinguished and dynamic roster of keynote speakers:

*Phoebe Ayers - Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*Sumana Harihareswara - Wikimedia Foundation Engineering Community Team;
Advisor, Ada Initiative
*Christie Koehler - Community Building Education Lead, Mozilla Corporation
*DC Vito, Executive Director - The LAMP/MediaBreaker

For more information, please review our official press release below! We
hope you will join us and help us spread the word!

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WikiCon_USA_2014_Press_Release_v1.pdf

Thanks,
Richard Knipel (User:Pharos)
Wikimedia NYC
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Timothy Sandole and (apparently) $53, 690 of WMF funding

[Pete Forsyth]

Pine, I think you raise some important questions below. Obviously there has
been a lot going on in the last week, so I'd like to give this a "bump" and
add a couple points:

On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 12:17 AM, ENWP Pine  wrote:
>
> Will the Foundation prohibit chapters and other thematic organizations
> from the "creation of paid roles that have article writing as a core
> focus, regardless of who is initiating or managing the process" as a
> condition of receiving WMF funding and using the WMF trademarks?
>

I am not up to date on how often the WMF funds pass-through projects that
include Wikipedian-in-Residence-like roles. But to whatever extent it does,
I absolutely agree with Pine -- applying a litmus test of whether article
writing is a core focus would be an inappropriate oversimplification of a
complex subject. There are certainly cases where roles that are centrally
focused on article writing could strongly advance to the Wikimedia mission.
(In case anybody is surprised to hear me say this -- the concerns I voiced
about the paid editing aspect of the Belfer Center project were very much
based in the specifics of that case.)

I think carefully managed article writing can be done successfully by
> chapters and other organizations, for example if a Wikimedia DC wanted to
> sponsor a Wikipedian in Residence at the National Institutes of Health to
> improve articles about cancer. The responsibility for training and
> supervision could rest with the chapter and the host organization, and the
> edits could be tagged for community review.
>
Excellent example. There are of course ways such a project could be
designed that would be problematic -- for instance, insufficient
disclosure, or a bullish attitude in adding controversial points -- but
under the guidance of Wikimedia DC, whose board and staff include many
longtime Wikipedians, I would have a high degree of confidence they would
avoid such problems.

>
> Pete posted some good ideas for WiRs in general in the Signpost last week:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2014-04-23/Op-ed
> .
>
Thank you, glad you liked that :)

>
> The situation with Belfer had a lot of problems, but I don't think it
> should completely stop us from having Wikimedia-sponsored WiRs add content.
> That would be a bridge too far.
>
Agreed.

I want to point out something that stands out to me. This is not an
outright contradiction, but it's a puzzling contrast. In an unrelated
thread on this email list, Executive Director Sue Gardner recently said:

"Editorial policies [for WMF staff] are developed, and therefore also
best-understood and best-enforced, not by the WMF but by the community." [1]

That is the WMF policy as it applies to WMF staff: essentially, no special
rules, use your own judgment in interpreting how to best comply with
community standards. But here, in the report Sue authored, it seems there
is a very different standard for movement partners who seek funding or
endorsement from the WMF:

"In the future, the Wikimedia Foundation will not support or endorse the
creation of paid roles that have article writing as a core focus,
regardless of who is initiating or managing the process." [2]

Again: this is not a direct contradiction, and it is entirely within the
rights of the WMF to apply different standards to its own staff vs. to
other organizations. But I do think it deserves some careful consideration,
as to *why* such different standards would be appropriate.

Decision point #1 in the Belfer Center report is not something that is
based in any Wikipedia policy. It does have a basis in the Wikipedian in
Residence page on the Outreach Wiki.[3] That is an important page, and I
believe many in the movement consider it to have the weight of a formal
policy; but I don't. Elevating it from a best practice recommendation to an
absolute rule is a significant step, and one that I don't believe should be
taken lightly.

Pete
[[User:Peteforsyth]]

[1] http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2014-April/071161.html

[2] 
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedian_in_Residence/Harvard_University_assessment#Decisions_made

[3] 
https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedian_in_Residence#Core_characteristics_of_a_Wikipedian_in_Residence
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Timothy Sandole and (apparently) $53, 690 of WMF funding

[Nathan]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 8:18 PM, Pete Forsyth  wrote:
>
>
> I want to point out something that stands out to me. This is not an
> outright contradiction, but it's a puzzling contrast. In an unrelated
> thread on this email list, Executive Director Sue Gardner recently said:
>
> "Editorial policies [for WMF staff] are developed, and therefore also
> best-understood and best-enforced, not by the WMF but by the community."
> [1]
>
> That is the WMF policy as it applies to WMF staff: essentially, no special
> rules, use your own judgment in interpreting how to best comply with
> community standards. But here, in the report Sue authored, it seems there
> is a very different standard for movement partners who seek funding or
> endorsement from the WMF:
>
> "In the future, the Wikimedia Foundation will not support or endorse the
> creation of paid roles that have article writing as a core focus,
> regardless of who is initiating or managing the process." [2]
>
> Again: this is not a direct contradiction, and it is entirely within the
> rights of the WMF to apply different standards to its own staff vs. to
> other organizations. But I do think it deserves some careful consideration,
> as to *why* such different standards would be appropriate.
>
> Decision point #1 in the Belfer Center report is not something that is
> based in any Wikipedia policy. It does have a basis in the Wikipedian in
> Residence page on the Outreach Wiki.[3] That is an important page, and I
> believe many in the movement consider it to have the weight of a formal
> policy; but I don't. Elevating it from a best practice recommendation to an
> absolute rule is a significant step, and one that I don't believe should be
> taken lightly.


Hi Pete,

Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, and I hope you can clarify for me so that
I can follow your position. I don't see the contradiction at all between
the two policy-related statements. In the first case, the WMF says that the
editorial policies that apply to its employees are promulgated by specific
projects and their communities, not the WMF. In the second, it says
effectively that the WMF will not sponsor paid editing. The presumption in
the first instance is that the WMF already does not pay its employees to
edit, so Sue was not referring to "paid editing" at all.  Russavia's
question was about editing with a conflict of interest, not payment.

I'm not seeing any conflict between those two statements, and the WMF does
not appear to me to be applying different standards to others than to
itself. In fact, the only time paid editing by an employee has come up as
an issue, the employee was quickly dismissed. Perhaps you can explain?
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Timothy Sandole and (apparently) $53, 690 of WMF funding

[Pete Forsyth]

On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 5:34 PM, Nathan  wrote:

> On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 8:18 PM, Pete Forsyth 
> wrote:
> >
> >
> > I want to point out something that stands out to me. This is not an
> > outright contradiction, but it's a puzzling contrast. In an unrelated
> > thread on this email list, Executive Director Sue Gardner recently said:
> >
> > "Editorial policies [for WMF staff] are developed, and therefore also
> > best-understood and best-enforced, not by the WMF but by the community."
> > [1]
> >
> > That is the WMF policy as it applies to WMF staff: essentially, no
> special
> > rules, use your own judgment in interpreting how to best comply with
> > community standards. But here, in the report Sue authored, it seems there
> > is a very different standard for movement partners who seek funding or
> > endorsement from the WMF:
> >
> > "In the future, the Wikimedia Foundation will not support or endorse the
> > creation of paid roles that have article writing as a core focus,
> > regardless of who is initiating or managing the process." [2]
> >
> > Again: this is not a direct contradiction, and it is entirely within the
> > rights of the WMF to apply different standards to its own staff vs. to
> > other organizations. But I do think it deserves some careful
> consideration,
> > as to *why* such different standards would be appropriate.
> >
> > Decision point #1 in the Belfer Center report is not something that is
> > based in any Wikipedia policy. It does have a basis in the Wikipedian in
> > Residence page on the Outreach Wiki.[3] That is an important page, and I
> > believe many in the movement consider it to have the weight of a formal
> > policy; but I don't. Elevating it from a best practice recommendation to
> an
> > absolute rule is a significant step, and one that I don't believe should
> be
> > taken lightly.
>
>
> Hi Pete,
>
> Perhaps I'm misunderstanding you, and I hope you can clarify for me so that
> I can follow your position. I don't see the contradiction at all between
> the two policy-related statements. In the first case, the WMF says that the
> editorial policies that apply to its employees are promulgated by specific
> projects and their communities, not the WMF. In the second, it says
> effectively that the WMF will not sponsor paid editing. The presumption in
> the first instance is that the WMF already does not pay its employees to
> edit, so Sue was not referring to "paid editing" at all.  Russavia's
> question was about editing with a conflict of interest, not payment.
>
> I'm not seeing any conflict between those two statements, and the WMF does
> not appear to me to be applying different standards to others than to
> itself. In fact, the only time paid editing by an employee has come up as
> an issue, the employee was quickly dismissed. Perhaps you can explain?
> ___
>
>
Nathan:

Again, I don't say it's a contradiction, it's not. But I do think it's an
important contrast, and yes, I'll try to clarify why.

Does the Wikimedia Foundation create additional policies, related to
editing Wikipedia, over and above those established by the Wikipedia
community and documented on Wikipedia?

For its staff, according to the email I quoted above, the answer is "no."
(You're right, there is one case that might suggest otherwise, relating to
paid editing -- but we don't, and shouldn't, have public access to all the
specifics of that case, so it's a tricky one to draw conclusions from,
especially in a public forum.) But, there are countless ways in which
Wikimedia Foundation staff edit Wikipedia and other projects as a part of
their compensated work (and also, in their free time). There is apparently
no policy from the WMF governing that behavior beyond general trust in its
staff to abide by community-set rules.

For other organizations, though, that might seek Wikimedia funds and/or
endorsement, the answer is apparently "yes" (according to the Belfer Center
report.)

I think that's a contrast that merits some consideration. I think Pine's
example is a good one to consider: if a movement-affiliated organization
wants to guide another organization in adding content to Wikipedia, and
there is payment involved, the WMF apparently won't support that.

Is that really a good rule to have? I don't think so. Many organizations
have added material directly to Wikipedia, in some cases with the guidance
of a Wikipedian in Residence, with unequivocally positive impact to the
Wikimedia mission, and with much support from the Wikipedia community. I
don't think it's a great idea for the WMF to distance itself from such
projects on the basis of paid editing.

Pete
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