It should come as no shock to a reader of any of the Wikimedia projects that volunteers are chronic inter-communicators. Whether it’s on any of the millions of article discussion pages, or via Wikimedia’s dozens of contributor-maintained email lists, conversation and communication is central to the success of the projects.

But among that mix, you may not be aware of four projects that contributors have been working on for a number of years.

One is Wikizine, an independent, internal news bulletin which has been around since late 2005. Wikizine, under the confident helming of long-term volunteer Walter, provides a Wikimedia wide view of new technologies, challenges, and editorial observations from the projects. Other volunteers are welcome to contribute, and it’s also routinely translated into German and Spanish.

The Wikipedia Signpost, which started in 2005, is decidedly Wikipedia focussed, hence its name. Founded by one of our current board members, the Signpost, like all of Wikimedia’s projects, is 100% volunteer driven. Regular WP users can insert scripts into their user page, or on any relevant page to have the Signpost delivered right to their door. Aside from diving into WP related stories, there’s also WikiWorld, a regular comic strip, featured media, and reports of ongoing wiki dispute resolution and arbitration.

If audio is more your flavor, also consider subscribing to the Wikipedia Weekly podcast, or the aptly named sister project, Not-The-Wikipedia-Weekly podcasts. Two well-programmed approaches to user-generated discussions.

Beyond that there are dozens, if not hundreds of further discussions about the projects both in-wiki and in other off-line formats. Add a comment with your links and additions to this not exhaustive list.

J. Walsh
Head of Communications

Wikipedia fans and Google maps users may have heard recently that Google has unveiled a handsome new feature for its ubiquitous mapping system.

Alongside the familiar ’satellite’ and ‘terrain’ viewing options for maps, you can know click on ‘more’ then click the Wikipedia check box. In a flash the big serif W you know and love blankets mother earth, offering thousands of links to articles with geographic coordinates.

A great feature, and another novel way to explore the depths of Wikipedia’s millions and millions of articles.

J. Walsh, Head of Communications

Earlier today I sent a note to some of our public mailing lists to advise that our 2006 IRS Form 990 (covering the fiscal year of July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007) was filed electronically with the IRS on May 12. This is a required annual filing related to our status as a U.S. non-profit, charitable foundation.

This form, in a slightly amended version, must be available publicly at our office site. As a service to the community and the public, we are pleased to be sharing a PDF version of the filing on the Wikimedia Foundation website.

In anticipation of any questions, we have also prepared a Question and Answer sheet also posted on the Foundation wiki.

Of course we’d be happy to field any other questions you might have.

Regards,

Véronique Kessler
Chief Financial and Operating Officer

Earlier this month Wikimedia Foundation General Counsel Mike Godwin participated in the latest Berkeley Cybersalon event. Alongside recently published author and journalist Farhad Manjoo and blogger Zo Spencer, Mike tackled the topic of life in a “post fact” society; one which is punctuated by the belief that truth may be in the eye of the masses, and not with the traditional intellectual authorities.

The talk was taped by Fora.tv and is now available for free viewing on-line.

J. Walsh, Head of Communications

Greetings from Palo Alto, California!

Some folks from Wikimedia have joined the ranks of numerous wiki enthusiasts at this year’s Recent Changes Camp.  Big questions and conversations circulate…

Among dozens of great discussions and presentations, Ed Chi of PARC talked about some of their recent research on the users of Wikipedia, how they edit, and what that looks like - including the WikiDashboard.

Lots of photos on the Wikimedia Commons.

The camp continues tomorrow!  Still time to drop by. Thanks to Socialtext, Wikihow, Aboutus, WIkia, SolSeed.net, and Atlassian - and to all the volunteers who are making it happen.

J. Walsh, Head of Communications

Over at his fine blog, Jakob Voss has highlighted some neat work by design students at Texas State University.

From Jakob’s blog:

Nice work! Let us know if you’ve seen any other creative treatments…

Jay Walsh, Head of Communications

Greetings from Maker Faire 2008 here in San Mateo, California! This busy event is attracting hordes of people from all over the Bay Area and beyond. The Wikimedia booth, manned by volunteers and staff alike, is getting a constant barrage of persons interested in all of the Wikimedia sites.

A number of people are shocked when they find out they can edit themselves, and for a few, their first experience in editing is taking place today, right here at the Wikimedia booth.

I’ve included a few photographs to demonstrate a bit of what took place. More photos are available at the Maker Faire gallery on Wikimedia Commons.

Cary Bass, Volunteer Coordinator.