[Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread John Vandenberg
Dear Cr McInerney,

On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.

Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
- the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
policy.

The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
important people, places and events have been integrated into
Wikipedia, including but not limited to:

Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )

Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )

Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )

We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
access, this content simply would not have been available to the
online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.

Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
funding and support for this project, without which the global
appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.

If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
based members for further information on this or related matters we
would welcome your enquiry.

Sincerely,
John Vandenberg
President,
Wikimedia Australia

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[Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread John Vandenberg
Dear Cr Doutney,

On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.

Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
- the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
policy.

The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
important people, places and events have been integrated into
Wikipedia, including but not limited to:

Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )

Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )

Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )

We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
access, this content simply would not have been available to the
online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.

Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
funding and support for this project, without which the global
appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.

If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
based members for further information on this or related matters we
would welcome your enquiry.

Sincerely,
John Vandenberg
President,
Wikimedia Australia

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[Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread John Vandenberg
Dear Cr Burgmann,

On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.

Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
- the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
policy.

The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
important people, places and events have been integrated into
Wikipedia, including but not limited to:

Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )

Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )

Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )

We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
access, this content simply would not have been available to the
online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.

Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
funding and support for this project, without which the global
appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.

If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
based members for further information on this or related matters we
would welcome your enquiry.

Sincerely,
John Vandenberg
President,
Wikimedia Australia

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[Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread John Vandenberg
Dear Cr Mallard,

On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.

Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
- the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
policy.

The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
important people, places and events have been integrated into
Wikipedia, including but not limited to:

Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )

Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )

Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )

We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
access, this content simply would not have been available to the
online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.

Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
funding and support for this project, without which the global
appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.

If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
based members for further information on this or related matters we
would welcome your enquiry.

Sincerely,
John Vandenberg
President,
Wikimedia Australia

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Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread JF
I'm going to assume sending this to the list eight times was a mistake? ;)

Joe

On 27 Jul 2012, at 15:04, John Vandenberg wrote:

 Dear Cr Mallard,
 
 On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
 the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
 Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.
 
 Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
 officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
 - the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
 educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
 Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
 has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
 in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
 vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
 license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
 very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
 consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
 Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
 be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
 USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
 Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
 policy.
 
 The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
 collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
 ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
 practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
 website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
 important people, places and events have been integrated into
 Wikipedia, including but not limited to:
 
Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )
 
Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )
 
Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )
 
 We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
 Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
 Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
 Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
 access, this content simply would not have been available to the
 online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
 to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.
 
 Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
 funding and support for this project, without which the global
 appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.
 
 If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
 based members for further information on this or related matters we
 would welcome your enquiry.
 
 Sincerely,
 John Vandenberg
 President,
 Wikimedia Australia
 
 ___
 Wikimediaau-l mailing list
 Wikimediaau-l@lists.wikimedia.org
 https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaau-l
 


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Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Expression of support for Dictionary of Sydney from Wikimedia Australia

2012-07-27 Thread John Vandenberg
Hi Joe,

This was intentional, done as part of the following proposal

http://www.wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Dictionary_of_Sydney_support_letter

There was also a private discussion happening at the same time on the
WMAU members mailing list, where it was recommended that we send the
email out to each recipient individually with a personal salutation,
and we CC the public list so that there is a public record and also
the recipients may wish to reply in public also.

My apologies for the noise resulting from this.

--
John Vandenberg

On Fri, Jul 27, 2012 at 5:33 PM, JF unclemontez...@hotmail.com wrote:
 I'm going to assume sending this to the list eight times was a mistake? ;)

 Joe

 On 27 Jul 2012, at 15:04, John Vandenberg wrote:

 Dear Cr Mallard,

 On behalf of Wikimedia Australia, I write to express our concern about
 the imminent closure of the Dictionary of Sydney due to the City of
 Sydney's delays in releasing sponsorship funds.

 Wikimedia Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation,
 officially recognised as a national Chapter of the Wikimedia movement
 - the volunteer community behind Wikipedia and other online
 educational resources. We would like to express our support for the
 Dictionary of Sydney project not only for the quality content that it
 has produced but also for the globally pioneering role it has played
 in its use of free-licensing. The Dictionary of Sydney provides the
 vast majority of its content with a Creative Commons copyright
 license that ensures the material can be used by third parties under
 very open terms. This is considered world's best practice and is
 consistent with the principles espoused by the Open Educational
 Resources and Open Source Software communities globally. It should
 be noted that the official State history project of Minnesota in the
 USA, entitled MNOpedia http://www.mnopedia.org/ has used the
 Dictionary of Sydney as the inspiration for their comparable copyright
 policy.

 The strong stance of the Dictionary of Sydney on open access and
 collaboration with historians both locally and further afield has
 ensured that the content it has created is both legally and
 practically compatible with Wikipedia, the world's fifth most visited
 website. As a result, many of the Dictionary's articles about
 important people, places and events have been integrated into
 Wikipedia, including but not limited to:

Florence Violet McKenzie
(Australia's first female electrical engineer:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Violet_McKenzie )

Glebe Island
(a crucial part of Sydney's economy for centuries:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glebe_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29 )

Sydney Artists' Camps
(one of the most significant art movements in Australia's history:
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_artists%27_camps )

 We draw your attention to the comprehensive acknowledgement of the
 Dictionary of Sydney at the bottom of each Wikipedia article that uses
 Dictionary material as the source of its content. Without the
 Dictionary of Sydney, and without its pioneering efforts in open
 access, this content simply would not have been available to the
 online encyclopaedia and its wider audience. It would be a great shame
 to see this outstanding collaborative digital history project fold.

 Wikimedia Australia urges the City of Sydney to ensure the continued
 funding and support for this project, without which the global
 appreciation of Sydney's history would be very much poorer.

 If you would like to contact Wikimedia Australia or one of our Sydney
 based members for further information on this or related matters we
 would welcome your enquiry.

 Sincerely,
 John Vandenberg
 President,
 Wikimedia Australia

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-- 
John Vandenberg

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