Wikimedia Foundation Board appoints world expert in women's issues, global south

In apparent acknowledgment of the urgency of two issues facing the Wikimedia movement—the need to engage both women and the global south—the WMF Board has appointed Ana Toni as one of its four expert members. Ana Toni, who lives in Rio de Janeiro, will bring rare expertise to the movement, acquired during two decades of involvement in the politics of the world economy, sustainable development, and community development projects. The Signpost understands that her skills in advocacy and her key roles in international NGOs are likely to be a natural match with the WMF as the hub of disseminating free knowledge around the world.

Since 2011, Ana Toni has been the chair of the Board of Greenpeace. From 2003 to 2011 she was the representative for the Ford Foundation in Brazil, coordinating work in human rights, racial and ethnic discrimination, and reproductive health; in 2011 the Ford Foundation approved nearly half a billion dollars in grants worldwide to reduce poverty and injustice, promote democratic values, and—of particular resonance with the WMF—to advance human knowledge and creativity. Her presentation on behalf of the Ford Foundation to the conference Innovations for Successful Societies: Building Institutions, Escaping Development Traps, displayed expertise in creating linkages between the public and private sectors, civil society, the media, and academic researchers. The address focused on innovations in reducing criminality in the favelas (shanty towns) of Brazilian cities, and how success hinges on "community integration and leadership, a multidisciplinary approach, academic engagement in public security studies, and replacing political positioning with professional expertise" (a full audio interview from the conference is available). She has also been involved in the World Economic Forum, the non-profit that is committed to improving the state of the world by bringing together business, political, and academic leaders to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Ana Toni's career, however, has encompassed not just policy development, but its local application. After five years as policy advisor to ActionAid UK, she held the role of executive director of ActionAid Brazil from 1998 to 2002. From this time, it has been clear that "macro–micro linkages"—of big-picture policy and on-the-ground work—have been an important part of her approach. In the 2005 ActionAid publication Stories of change, Andrea Cornwall, director of a research program on women's empowerment at the Institute of Development Studies, recounted the search for likely partners after ActionAid opened its Brazil office in 1999. Ana Toni told her: “I saw [Silvia Cordiero, director of the Women's Centre do Cabo] first at a meeting in Brazilia. She impressed me. She was strong and articulate. And she was there from an organisation that worked with women at the grassroots, articulating with national policy debates. It was what their experience of linking macro–micro might offer us that excited me most.”

Ana Toni brings to the Board a strong track-record in research and writing. She serves on the editorial board of the Portuguese-language monthly, Le Monde diplomatique Brazil, which provides analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. It is not hard to find a string of scholarly publications that acknowledge her advice. The 2010 book Intellectual property and human development: current trends and future scenarios, to take one of many examples, expressed appreciation for her "wonderful support and insights" towards broadening the scope of the research "to cover important areas of human development". In the light of increasing knowledge of how environmental and market-based policies interact with economic development and the role of women in developing countries, her advice has played an important role in the preparation of papers such as "Trade and environment: conflict or compatibility" for the Proceedings of the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

In announcing the appointment, Kat Walsh, chair of the WMF Board, said: "As we aspire to nearly double the number of people who use Wikipedia over the next few years, and build a larger and more diverse movement of active volunteers, Ana’s leadership experience and insight on the management and growth of non-profit organizations will be invaluable in guiding us." In the WMF's press release, director of communications Jay Walsh pointed out that Toni has coordinated "a regional Latin America Initiative on Economics and Globalization, an IBSA initiative (joint work between Brazil, South Africa and India) and the International Initiative on Intellectual Property Rights."

The challenge for the Board and the movement as a whole may be how to pose the right questions to gain the greatest benefit from this new Board member.

Editor's note: The ed17 and Tony1, the other two authors of this "News and notes" and participants in these discussions, had no part in authoring this article.

This week saw a lively discussion on Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates and in several other forums about the role of director Raul654 and several other issues facing the featured article (FA) process at large. Prolific FA writer Brianboulton began a discussion about the future of the JSTOR account donation process, that quickly devolved into questioning Raul's role in the featured content processes.

Several users expressed views that Raul's title should be changed to "Director Emeritus", while others believed that he should retain his title as Director in honor of his contributions to the process over the years, and another subset of users thought he should be removed from the process entirely due to his inactivity over the past few months. The discussion intensified after David Fuchs removed Raul's name and role from Template:FAC-instructions; he was reverted by SandyGeorgia, a former FAC delegate. An edit war began as several users became involved and reverted one another. After several reverts from both sides, Crisco 1492 fully protected the template to end the conflict.

The 2012 FA RfC, where there was consensus for keeping the status quo of the FA process as it stood, was cited by participants on all sides of the discussion.

Two requests for comment have been started as a result of the discussions: Tony1's proposal to make Raul a director emeritus and rename the delegates "coordinators", and PumpkinSky's proposal to eliminate the directorship and move for direct elections of the delegates.

• Wikimedia Foundation's 2013/14 plan: The Foundation's financial plan for the 2013/14 fiscal year has been published on the WMF wiki, though not on the Commons. The Foundation has also issued a lengthy Q&A, while discussion and copyediting of the plan is taking place on Meta.
• Russian Wikipedia: As reported in the Signpost almost exactly one year ago, the Russian Wikipedia blacked itself out to protest a proposed bill that was being considered in the Russian parliament. While that effort failed, a recently passed anti-piracy law "allow[s] copyright holders to get a Russian court to block access [and hyperlinks] to allegedly pirated content ... whole websites can be blacklisted under the law", according to RIA Novosti. The head of Wikimedia Russia, the local chapter affiliate, has declared that without the resources to check every hyperlink on the Russian Wikipedia, the entire encyclopedia could be blocked. Russian-language Wikipedians have created a request for comment on the issue, but they have limited time; the law comes into effect on 1 August of this year.
• Quarterly reviews: The mobile contributions team's second quarterly review has been published on Meta. Quarterly reviews are aimed to ensure accountability and allow senior Foundation staff to offer specific guidance to their proliferous and diverse initiatives.
• In the media:
  • Wikipedia Fertile Ground for Libel: Lawyers.com posted an article about the possibility of libel occurring due to Wikipedia’s open nature, and the legal implications of libelous vandalism.
  • Don’t cite Wikipedia, but contribute: The Stanford Daily published an op-ed encouraging students to satisfy their creative urges by writing Wikipedia articles.
  • My Strange Addiction: Novelist Amanda Filipacchi wrote an extended blog post for the Wall Street Journal's website about her experiences reading Wikipediocracy, the fallout of the Qworty scandal (see previous Signpost coverage), and her adventures with a treadmill desk.
  • Russian Wikipedia Faces Ban Due to Anti-Piracy Law, Director Says: The Moscow Times reported on the Russian Wikipedia’s ongoing political struggles with censorship, this time regarding allegations of facilitating piracy. This story was also reported on in RAPSI.
  • Spooky entry: The Indian Express discussed inaccuracies in the article on West Bengal governor M.K. Narayanan.
  • Hebrew Wikipedia Celebrates 10th Anniversary: Israel National News posted an article on the Hebrew Wikipedia’s latest milestone.
  • Is This the Most Interesting Opening Paragraph Wikipedia’s Ever Published?: Foreign Policy's Elias Groll blogged about Adrian Carton de Wiart and its action-packed first paragraph, which has received much adulation on Twitter and social media this week.
  • Wikimedia Unwraps WYSIWYG Visual Editor for Logged-In Users: TechZone 360 continued the media coverage of the recent Visual Editor release.
  • Barking and Dagenham College gets a visit from Wikipedia: The Enquirer covered Jimmy Wales’ visit to Barking and Dagenham College.
  • Wiki users: Much ado about ’coup’: Politico published an article on Wikipedia’s coverage of the recent political turmoil in Egypt. Foreign Policy, Geekosystem, The Verge, Vice, and the Houston Chronicle.
  • Wimbledon Champion Marion Bartoli Has An, Um, Explicit Wikipedia Page: Sportsgrid covered vandalism to Marion Bartoli in the wake of her Wimbledon win.
    
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2013-07-10

Infoboxes: time for a fresh look?

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By Brian Boulton

Brianboulton is a British Wikipedian and has been editing since 2007. Aside from his prolific reviewing at peer review and featured article candidacies, he has contributed to 73 featured articles on the English Wikipedia.

This week sees the return of the dispatches section, which was last published in 2010. Volunteers with a proposal for a future dispatch can note it on the Signpost's talk page or email the editor.

What are infoboxes for? As a regular reviewer at PR and FAC I look at a lot of articles, which means that I see plenty of infoboxes. They have been a feature of WP articles for years now, and it seems obvious that they can provide a useful service to readers who want a few specific facts about a subject, rather than an in-depth study. What is the population of Salzburg? Who was Henry II of England married to? How many first-class wickets did Jack Hobbs take? The infoboxes are there to give these answers.

The initial MOS guideline on infoboxes was posted on 10 March 2006; by 1 January 2007 a number of WP projects were incorporating them into articles, and on that date the WP:Infobox project was started, designed to foster encyclopedia-wide cooperation. The project page summarises the nature of infoboxes as: "a quick and convenient summary of the key facts about a subject, in a consistent format and layout". The particular words "quick", "convenient", and "key facts" all imply a degree of selectivity in information. The MOS guideline gives broadly the same message, while adding a significant rider: "The less information [the infobox] contains, the more effectively it serves that purpose".

The fundamental idea is clear: keep the box simple, and limit it to essentials. At some point down the line, however, these basic principles seem to have been abandoned, in favour of an approach akin to "the more the merrier". As I go through my reviewing duties I can't help noticing just how big some infoboxes have become, how much room they take up and how much detail is crammed into them. Some are simply enormous; far from being convenient, quick-reference points conveniently placed in the top right-hand corner of their parent article, they have become huge columns reaching deep into the body of the article. Apart from anything else, this can foul up presentation by squeezing the text and mispositioning images. In some cases, the article itself appears to be almost subordinate to the box.

Let's look at a few specifics. Articles on countries are, I imagine, frequently consulted by casual readers in search of basic facts: location, population, capital city, language, currency, form of government. Unfortunately, most "country" articles have infoboxes which go way beyond the provision of these essentials. Denmark is one example, typical of many. Its infobox includes mottoes, anthem titles and translations, two sets of GDP calculations, Gini ranking, HDI ranking, ISO code and much else besides. Some of this information will require the use of links, often to articles that aren't at all easy to follow – try this one. While all these extra facts obviously are relevant, few of them could be said to represent the "key" information on the subject. Another problem area that I encounter in my reviewing travels is political biographies, where infoboxes are often of inordinate length and complexity. Way back in 2008 I cut my reviewing teeth on the Shimon Peres article, and I commented then that the infobox was confusing and overcomplicated with detail. It still is, and the same criticism can be made of most articles for statesmen who enjoyed long and active careers. Winston Churchill is another example. A particular issue is the dubious practice of recording in the infobox not only every political office ever held by the subject, but also the names of each predecessor and successor in these offices. Much of this information is entirely inconsequential; is it a key fact that Lord Weir preceded Winston as Secretary for Air in 1919?

Infoboxes should not be the repositories of any odd bits of information related to the subject. Indeed, sometimes information that is not just inessential but downright absurd finds its way into them. I had reason recently to look at the London Coliseum article, where the infobox is relatively short. Among the "essential" information it provides are the theatre's geographic co-ordinates! In what sense is this "key information" about the theatre? It is about as pointless as it gets. I thought this might be a once-off aberration, a case of editorial over-enthusiasm, so I checked the articles for other well-known buildings—the Eiffel Tower, and St Paul's Cathedral—and found that these landmarks, too, have their co-ordinates proudly displayed in their infoboxes, as does the Empire State Building, whose infobox records the co-ordinates twice, for no clear reason. I am sure that a general audit of infoboxes would throw up many similar instances of redundant or insignificant information.

The issue of concern is the extent to which infoboxes are becoming generally less efficient in fulfilling the function for which they were initially introduced. I believe it is time to reconsider the tendency towards overdetailing that has developed in recent years, and to look for a new approach. In the short term we could reestablish first principles by the adoption of a mechanistic formula whereby the number of parameters in any one infobox are limited to, say, eight (or even six). This is not a revolutionary idea; it is similar in purpose to the existing MOS guideline that restricts the number of paragraphs in an article's lead, with the aim of keeping the lead in brief summary form. If infoboxes were likewise limited, editors' minds would focus on what really needed to be included, rather than on how to extend the box. In the longer term, however, an altogether more fundamental change might be considered, along the lines of an idea that has already been floated by Dr. Blofeld: the development of a Micropedia version of the encyclopedia, that would obviate the need for infoboxes altogether. Now, that would indeed be revolutionary.

 

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2013-07-10

The week of the birds

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By Armbrust

Three new featured bird pictures

The Hooded Pitta at Si Phang-nga National Park

The Inca Tern at the Weltvogelpark Walsrode

The Bar-throated Minla at the Doi Inthanon National Park

This Signpost "Featured content" report covers material promoted from 30 June through 6 July 2013.

Featured articles

Obverse of the three-dollar piece

Two examples of Tylopilus felleus

Chandler Massey is the 2013 winner of the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series

William Hull was the first territorial Governor of Michigan

The two iterations of the PlayStation 2 console, the large and the slimline

Moshe Ya'alon is the current Defense Minister of Israel

Lee Ann Remick in her Maida Vale, London home in 1974

Five featured articles were promoted this week.

• Lie Kim Hok (nom) by Crisco 1492. Lie Kim Hok (1853–1912) was a peranakan Chinese teacher, writer, and social worker active in the Dutch East Indies and styled the "father of Chinese Malay literature". Lie is considered influential to the colony's journalism, linguistics, and literature. According to Ahmad Adam, he is best remembered for his literary works. Several of his writings were printed multiple times, and Sair Tjerita Siti Akbari was adapted for the stage and screen.
• Artur Phleps (nom) by Peacemaker67. Artur Gustav Martin Phleps (1881–1944) was an Austro-Hungarian, Romanian and German army officer, who held the rank of SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS in the Waffen-SS during World War II. In addition to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross, Phleps was awarded the German Cross in Gold, and after he was killed in September 1944 he was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross.
• Three-dollar piece (nom) by Wehwalt. The three-dollar piece was a gold coin produced by the United States Bureau of the Mint from 1854 to 1889. Authorized by the Act of 21 February 1853 the coin was designed by Mint Chief Engraver James B. Longacre. The obverse bears a representation of Lady Liberty wearing a headdress of a Native American princess and the reverse a wreath of corn, wheat, cotton and tobacco.
• Tylopilus felleus (nom) by Casliber and Sasata. The Tylopilus felleus, commonly known as the bitter bolete or the bitter tylopilus, is a fungus of the bolete family. Its distribution includes east Asia, northern Europe and eastern North America, extending south into Mexico and Central America. A mycorrhizal species, it grows in deciduous and coniferous woodland, often fruiting under beech and oak.
• Thomas Ellison (nom) by Shudde. Thomas Rangiwahia Ellison (c. 1867–1904) was a New Zealand rugby union player and lawyer. He led the first New Zealand representative rugby team organised by the New Zealand Rugby Football Union on their 1893 tour of Australia. Ellison also played in the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team on their epic 107-match tour, scoring 113 points and 43 tries with the side.

Featured lists

Six featured lists were promoted this week.

• Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series (nom) by SoapFan12. The Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series is an Emmy Award that originated at the 12th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony in 1985. It is presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of a young actor below the age of 25, who has delivered an outstanding performance in a role while working within the daytime drama industry.
• List of Indian submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film (nom) by Vensatry. India has submitted films for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film since 1957, a year after the incorporation of the category. The Film Federation of India appoints a committee to choose one film among those released that year to be submitted as India's official entry to the Oscars for a nomination for Best Foreign Film the following year. The chosen films, along with their English subtitles, are sent to the Academy, where they are screened for the jury. As of 2013 three films were accepted as nominees, but none of them won the award.
• List of sieges of Gibraltar (nom) by HJ Mitchell. There have been fourteen recorded sieges of Gibraltar, but only five resulted in a change of rule. The modern territory of Gibraltar occupies a peninsula, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) long and 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) wide, on the southern Iberian coast. Despite its size, Gibraltar's strategic location at the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea and just across the eponymous Strait from Morocco in North Africa, as well as its natural defensibility, have made it one of the most fought-over places in Europe.
• 30 Seconds to Mars discography (nom) by Earthh. The discography of 30 Seconds to Mars, an American rock band, consists of four studio albums, three extended plays, eleven singles, three promotional singles and eleven music videos. The band was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by brothers Jared and Shannon Leto, with Tomo Miličević joining the band later. The band's eponymous debut album was released through Immortal and Virgin Records in August 2002.
• List of Governors of Michigan (nom) by Dana boomer. The Governor of Michigan is the chief executive of the U.S. state of Michigan, and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's militia forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws; the power to either approve or veto appropriation bills passed by the Michigan Legislature; the power to convene the legislature; and the power to grant pardons, except in cases of impeachment. He or she is also empowered to reorganize the legislative branch of the state government.
• List of Kings Island attractions (nom) by Dom497. Kings Island is a 364-acre (147 ha) theme park located in Mason, Ohio, 24 miles (39 km) northeast of Cincinnati. Since the opening of the amusement park in 1972, at least one attraction has been added every year except four years. The park is known to have attractions such as Flight of Fear, which was the world's first linear induction motor launched roller coaster, and The Beast which has held the record for the world's longest wooden roller coaster since its opening in 1979.

Featured pictures

Ten featured pictures were promoted this week.

• PlayStation 2 (nom, related article) created by Evan-Amos and nominated by Crisco 1492. The PlayStation 2 is a video game console manufactured by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released on 4 March 2000 in Japan, followed by North America and Europe later the same year. The sixth-generation console competed with the Sega Dreamcast, Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube. It went on to become the best-selling video game console of all time, selling over 150 million units.
• Moshe Ya'alon (nom, related article) created by Reuven Kapuscinski and nominated by Tomer T. Moshe Ya'alon (born 1950) is an Israeli politician and former Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces. He currently serves as Defense Minister.
• Inca Tern (nom, related article) created by Fiorellino and nominated by Brandmeister. The Inca Tern (Larosterna inca) is a seabird in the family Sternidae, and is the only member of the genus Larosterna. This uniquely plumaged bird breeds on the coasts of Peru and Chile, and is restricted to the Humboldt current. It can be identified by its dark grey body, white moustache on both sides of its head, and red-orange beak and feet.
• Bar-throated Minla (nom, related article) created and nominated by JJ Harrison. The Bar-throated Minla (Minla strigula) is a species of bird in the Leiothrichidae family. It has traditionally been placed in the genus Minla. It is found in the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Its natural habitat is subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.
• Hooded Pitta (nom, related article) created and nominated by JJ Harrison. The Hooded Pitta (Pitta sordida) is a passerine bird. It is common in eastern and south-eastern Asia and Maritime south-east Asia, where it lives in different types of forests as well as on plantations and other cultivated areas.
• Ekaterina Skudina (nom, related article) created by Platon Shilikov and nominated by Tomer T. Ekaterina Skudina (born 1981) is a Russian sailor, who reached fourth place at the 2012 Olympic Games with her team.
• Lee Remick (nom, related article) created by Allan warren, cleaned up and nominated by Keraunoscopia. Lee Ann Remick (1935–1991) was an American film and television actress. Among her best-known films are Anatomy of a Murder, Days of Wine and Roses and The Omen.
• Snow leopard (nom, related article) created by Tambako The Jaguar and nominated by Nikhilb239. The snow leopard is a moderately large cat native to the mountain ranges of Central Asia. The classification of this species has been subject to change, and as of 2000, it is still classified as Uncia uncia by MSW3 and CITES Appendix I. However, with more recent genetic studies, the snow leopard is now generally considered as Panthera uncia and classified as such by IUCN.
• Muammar Gaddafi (nom, related article) created by Jesse B. Awalt and nominated by Cowtowner. Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi (c. 1942–2011) was a Libyan revolutionary and politician, who de facto ruled Libya for 42 years. Taking power in a 1969 coup d'etat, he ruled as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the "Brother Leader" of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011, when he was ousted in the Libyan civil war.
• The Pearl and the Wave (nom, related article) created by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry and nominated by Crisco 1492. The Pearl and the Wave is a painting by the French artist Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry created in 1862. It was the subject of contemporary curiosity, and was met with praise from art critics for its technique and distinguishing quality.

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2013-07-10

Featured article process governance, signature templates, and more

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By Pine

This is mostly a list of Non-article page requests for comment believed to be active on 10 July 2013 linked from subpages of Wikipedia:RfC, and recent watchlist notices and SiteNotices. The latter two are in bold. Items that are new to this report are in italics even if they are not new discussions. If an item can be listed under more than one category it is usually listed once only in this report. Clarifications and corrections are appreciated; please leave them in this article's comment box at the bottom of the page.

Style and naming

• Naming conventions (U.S. state and territory highways); proposed page moves
• Style of closing quotation marks
• "Should BLPs contain a duplicate name in basic ASCII character set?"
• Manual of Style/Road junction lists
• Manual of Style/Trademarks
• Dates in the Citation Style 1 family of citation templates
• WP:CITE; Variation in citation methods

Policies and guidelines

• Public domain signature template; legal issues with signatures
• Public domain-ineligible signature template; legal issues with signatures
• Non-free content policy; quoting from non-free Bible translations
• Edit warring 3RR; content and patterns of reverts
• Notability of extrasolar planets
• Non-free content criterion 1
• Naming conventions for Australian roads

WikiProjects and collaborations

• Featured article process governance (see also this week's "News and notes")
• Mark the Article Incubator as historical or inactive?
• WikiProject Eurovision; Eurovision Song Contest

Technical issues and templates

• VisualEditor issues
• Where should the templatedata block be placed?
• Infobox Chinese; Chinese Hán and Vietnamese nôm scripts

Proposals

• Vietnamese naming conventions
• Mass removal of old indefinite rangeblocks

English Wikipedia notable requests for permissions

(This section will include active RfAs, RfBs, CU/OS appointment requests, and Arbcom elections)

• None at the time of this writing

Meta

• Make detailed information on X!'s edit counter visible by default?
• Call for input about the WMF Privacy policy
• Elections postmortem discussion
• Trademark practices
• Scope of the Ombudsman Commission
• Logo selection procedure for Wikivoyage

Upcoming online meetings

• "Snuggle's place as a tool for mentor-ship in Wikipedia", 10 July 16:00 UTC
• "Universal Language Selector and other updates from Language Engineering", 10 July 17:00 UTC
• "Wikimedia bug management: Answering your questions and discussing ideas about bug management and Bugzilla, plus explaining what's on the to-do list", 16 July 16:00 UTC
  
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