Thank you SJ, thank you all, for your very welcoming words, and your congratulations!
Regarding Wikispore, yes, this is one of the first conversations that we will have - where the preparatory discussions should happen. I am very much in favor of Wikispore for that, as it is literally meant for that, but we need to figure out a few things together. I'll kick that off next week :) And I agree, this way we can help each other to create even more fertile ground for new ideas. I am very excited about that! On Thu, Jul 2, 2020 at 10:25 AM Samuel Klein <[email protected]> wrote: > Best news all year. Thank you for moving swiftly on this :) > > It has been a fine thing too, to see WikiLambda experiments on Wikispore. > https://wikispore.wmflabs.org > > I hope this may Herald a new wave of new and complementary projects. > There are yet so many types of knowledge that have not found a home in our > wikiverse -- we are devising more every year (here's looking at you, > thingiverse & ML model hubs) -- and most of them do not naturally end up > with free knowledge platforms of their own. > > SJ > > 🌍🌏🌎🌑 > > On Thu., Jul. 2, 2020, 12:04 p.m. Katherine Maher, <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> (A translatable version of this announcement can be found on Meta [1]) >> >> Hi all, >> >> It is my honor to introduce Abstract Wikipedia [1], a new project that >> has been unanimously approved by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of >> Trustees. Abstract Wikipedia proposes a new way to generate baseline >> encyclopedic content in a multilingual fashion, allowing more contributors >> and more readers to share more knowledge in more languages. It is an >> approach that aims to make cross-lingual cooperation easier on our >> projects, increase the sustainability of our movement through expanding >> access to participation, improve the user experience for readers of all >> languages, and innovate in free knowledge by connecting some of the >> strengths of our movement to create something new. >> >> This is our first new project in over seven years. Abstract Wikipedia was >> submitted as a project proposal by Denny Vrandečić in May of 2020 [2] after >> years of preparation and research, leading to a detailed plan and lively >> discussions in the Wikimedia communities. We know that the energy and the >> creativity of the community often runs up against language barriers, and >> information that is available in one language may not make it to other >> language Wikipedias. Abstract Wikipedia intends to look and feel like a >> Wikipedia, but build on the powerful, language-independent conceptual >> models of Wikidata, with the goal of letting volunteers create and maintain >> Wikipedia articles across our polyglot Wikimedia world. >> >> The project will allow volunteers to assemble the fundamentals of an >> article using words and entities from Wikidata. Because Wikidata uses >> conceptual models that are meant to be universal across languages, it >> should be possible to use and extend these building blocks of knowledge to >> create models for articles that also have universal value. Using code, >> volunteers will be able to translate these abstract “articles” into their >> own languages. If successful, this could eventually allow everyone to read >> about any topic in Wikidata in their own language. >> >> As you can imagine, this work will require a lot of software development, >> and a lot of cooperation among Wikimedians. In order to make this effort >> possible, Denny will join the Foundation as a staff member in July and lead >> this initiative. You may know Denny as the creator of Wikidata, a long-time >> community member, a former staff member at Wikimedia Deutschland, and a >> former Trustee at the Wikimedia Foundation[3]. We are very excited that >> Denny will bring his skills and expertise to work on this project alongside >> the Foundation’s product, technology, and community liaison teams. >> >> It is important to acknowledge that this is an experimental project and >> that every Wikipedia community has different needs. This project may offer >> some communities great advantages. Other communities may engage less. Every >> language Wikipedia community will be free to choose and moderate whether or >> how they would use content from this project. >> >> We are excited that this new wiki-project has the possibility to advance >> knowledge equity through increased access to knowledge. It also invites us >> to consider and engage with critical questions about how and by whom >> knowledge is constructed. We look forward to working in cooperation with >> the communities to think through these important questions. >> >> There is much to do as we begin designing a plan for Abstract Wikipedia >> in close collaboration with our communities. I encourage you to get >> involved by going to the project page and joining the new mailing list[4]. >> We recognize that Abstract Wikipedia is ambitious, but we also recognize >> its potential. We invite you all to join us on a new, unexplored path. >> >> Yours, >> Katherine Maher >> >> Executive Director, >> Wikimedia Foundation >> >> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Abstract >> Wikipedia/June 2020 announcement >> [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Abstract_Wikipedia >> [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Denny >> [4] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/abstract-wikipedia >> -- >> >> Katherine Maher (she/her) >> >> Executive Director >> >> Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately >> directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia >> community. 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