Talk:Wikimedia Ireland

Discussion about establishment of a Wikimedia Ireland chapter

Can everyone willing to participate in the establishment of an Irish Wikimedia chapter, or willing to join after the establishment of a chapter (at least in principle), please add their names to the list on the Wikimedia Ireland page.

The current stage is simply to gather a "critical mass" interested people. The next stage will be to draft bylaws. (If we are to register as a "Friendly Society" in Ireland, there are specific requirement with regards to the bylaws.)

Comments on What could a Wikipedia Ireland do? are very welcome. As are, of course, general comments on the idea of setting up a chapter at all. --rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid (coṁrá) 21:27, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Media contact

Is there anyone here who would be willing to be a media contact for Ireland? I've just done a radio interview with Dublin's Radio 4 and it although I'm ore than happy to do this it would be preferable if there was a local contact who we could refer requests like that to. AndrewRT 13:04, 26 August 2009 (UTC) (Secretary, Wikimedia UK)

The State

Hi there, wow the Wikimedia Ireland chapter looks very interesting! I had a read over some of the stuff. It seems that the north is not a part of the Ireland in this chapter. Also it seems that the main theme is to have a lot of beer and start your own Wikipedia! Very funny. Well, good luck with all that! ~ R.T.G 01:05, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

Hi RTG, it doesn't look like this is going to happen but, WRT "[i]t seems that the north is not a part of the Ireland in this chapter", the idea I had was (see page):

• Geographical base: "The chapter is geographically based/anchored in a legal jurisdiction."
  • Geographically based in the island of Ireland
  • Legally based in the Republic of Ireland

WRT "it seems that the main theme is to have a lot of beer and start your own Wikipedia", see What could a Wikimedia Ireland do?. It doesn't look like there is much interest in this though. Maybe a case of trying to run before being able to walk. Has there ever even been an Irish meet up? --rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid (coṁrá) 01:55, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

I think that Irish are less prolific on the internet than most western coutries like Britian, Germany and USA etc.. The Aussie chapter looks great getting special museum prevelidges and stuff. The UK chapter seemed to have canvassed themselves and discussed membership fees but all I can see from their is some sort of cabal. USA has one only, listed under NYC and seem to be a bit of a dinner party group. Some of them take notes of those who would spare a sofa for travelling visitors. (it's very popular now I don't know if you have ever seen <str>couchsurfers.org</str> make that www.couchsurfing.org) I think if a lot of people joined up it would be much easier in Ireland to arrange some nice events. ~ R.T.G 20:23, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Benefits! ... Daw! Didn't think of that ... museum discounts, that's a good one, we might be able to convince a university/library to allow us to piggy back their access to JSTOR etc. too. I recall that there may be some initial beer money forthcoming from the Foundation too (I don't know if "beer money" is the best choice of words though if time did come to go cap in hand asking for it though).

To be honest, I'm all on for ideas. We are a small in number and could do with firming up a little. A Ireland-based support structure could help a lot with that. (Couch surfing included, of course!) --rannṗáirtí anaiṫnid (coṁrá) 22:13, 8 November 2009 (UTC)

Saying hello...

Hi, just dropping a quick one-liner to introduce myself. (Hopefully I won't end up speaking to an empty room.) My main interest in starting a Wikimedia chapter in Ireland is to support the work of the Wikiproject on the en.wiki in practical ways (e.g. requesting donations of images, mapping data, co-ordinating off-line work like taking photographs, organising meet-ups, etc.) I'd also be interested in promoting the "Wikimedia ideals" of freely available information.

Nothing that cannot be done without forming a chapter but I guess I'd feel more confident make requests and doing things from under the cover of an organisation with a name.

In some ways, I would be kind of "weirded out" to bring the Wikipedia world into the real world but think it might be worth a chance.

-- RA (pléigh) 20:51, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

The last time we had a meet-up only three showed; embarrassing; outnumber by Germans

I can be found hanging around the Maritime Museum in Dún Laoghaire. - ClemMcGann 22:58, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi, I love what Wikimedia does and think a Wikimedia chapter in Ireland could be very good, but I think we are a long way from having the 'critical mass' to get properly started. We'd need to either have closer to the 20 people, or the small number we do have would need to be a lot more radical.

My interests are as a way to help education in Ireland and to a lesser extent to better put Ireland on the map. A chapter would enable us to work with small grants for specific projects. There are synergies possible with Educate Together, Google, College of Surgeons, IFB, UCD, Chester Beatty Library, Bord Failte...

-- JC (JamesCrook) 20 July 2010.

Hi everyone :)Howth575 12:22, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi folks, I was at the meeting with Clem when we discussed setting up a chapter with a German visitor, who had lots of good ideas. Unfortunately, as Clem said, the turn-out was poor. I don't know why more Irish Wikipedians don't come forward. I agree that a larger number would be needed to form a critical mass, as people tend to get taken up with work, studies, holidays, family, etc. If anything comes out of an initial meeting I'll contact other Irish Wikipedians to try to encourage them to participate. I'm interested in Dublin history and architecture, music, writing, travel, and also take an interest in Italian and German articles. Hohenloh 23:06, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

Grudgingly have to admit to the "critical mass" point :-) but it is fantastic to see people posting! Gives hope to the possibility. In case not everyone is on mailing list, I've posted a suggestion for a meet-up. -- RA (pléigh) 10:22, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Connor suggested September 4 in Dun Laoghaire. If we want access to the Maritime Museum (currently closed) then I can arrange. ClemMcGann 12:52, 22 July 2010 (UTC)

Hi! Thanks for the invite! I will list as an unconfirmed guest, circumstances determining. I think it's great, cheers :)! I don't have a car but I thought ye should discuss car pooling if trains are expensive. Bus does for me. Make sure someone has a camera for the museum :) ~ R.T.G 11:35, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Ouch! sorry - I'm away until Sept 7 - having said that I could still get you in. - [[[User:ClemMcGann|ClemMcGann]] 20:52, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

What could a Wikimedia Ireland do? Concerns.

The establishment of an Irish Wikimedia chapter seems like a useful idea and potentially fun. I will not be able to take part for now owing to restrictions, but good luck with it.

I want to express concern about two chapter activities proposed by User:Rannpháirtí anaithnid: 1. "Convince the Department of Communications to have as a requirement for state-aided broadband, that operators have a Wikipedia search box on their customer start pages" and 2. "Work with Irish teachers' organisations to create curriculums around Wikimedia content."

I think both of these are excessively ambitious and presumptuous, and exceed Wikipedia's role in the world.

It could be very counterproductive to attempt to coerce broadband operators to offer a Wikipedia search box. Why be so aggressive and intrusive as to make it an obligation? It is none of Wikipedia's business. Wikipedia is certainly not short of site visitors, and it is not as if Wikipedia has demanding shareholders banging shoes on the table and baying for more success; it is one of the most visible and visited websites in the world. I don't think Wikipedia should try to set rules in the world outside its own operation. To do so would create justified reaction and public friction, which could harm the reputation of the encyclopaedia. We need to keep our nose out of other organizations' affairs. We are not an empire-building organization seeking to promote its brand aggressively; we are a freely-offered information source, not a coercive force which expects the government to put our brand (why ours?) on ISP start pages, even if state assisted. Why should the state care? The word "requirement" is dangerous and can only make people angry at Wikipedia's arrogant mission creep, if such were allowed. It is not hard to imagine Department of Communications mandarins putting "Wikipedia" and colourful profanities in the same sentence when they have their Friday sherries or car bombs, or whatever these creatures gulp down.^{[citation needed]}

I think the idea of attempting to incorporate Wikipedia into the academic curriculum is misplaced because teachers and academics already go to some length to discourage students from relying on what is admittedly a very unreliable source, much as we may work hard and sincerely to perfect it. Teachers and students are very busy with densely packed curricula into which many interests seek already to pack more content because society grows more complex and the education system is expected to cover everything a frenetic society can dream up. Why should Wikipedia intrude into that process and contribute to the stress? How would Wikipedia benefit? It is already madly successful, if public exposure and awareness is the criterion. It is none of our affair, and we cannot in all honesty claim to offer a reliable educational product, packed as it is with vandalism, errors, points of view, disputes over content, not forgetting sheer bloody ignorance (even Bózó can edit with his gob wide open).

Teachers have to spend time assessing and choosing expensive textbooks and supplementary material for their students. Why would they be interested in taking on more work to evaluate which parts of a mercurial and fractious website to incorporate into their busy assessment procedures, and then find more time in class to shoehorn Wikipedia reading assignments into packed student schedules? The quality of textbooks is commonly superior to Wikipedia because they are created by bespoke didactic specialists who tailor the content to the needs of the curriculum and of the the students at their different levels of development. Like 24-hour news, Wikipedia offers one advantage only over textbooks: timeliness; the latest hot developments. Most educational needs, however, are not based on the very latest news; students are taught content which educators have had time to digest, evaluate and translate into thoughtful lectures. It seems to me that teachers would not welcome interfering distraction from Wikipedia, with its uneven mosaic of always-unpredictable content.

Other than those two fears, my attitude to the other proposals is either agnostic or supportive. It seems to me that Wikipedia needs no promotion activity whatsoever because is hums along wonderfully well without exceeding its remit in society or attempting to throw its weight around by picking unnecessary fights with broadband providers. The other proposed activities, which might harvest useful media for Wikipedia use, are good ideas, so best wishes with all that. --O'Dea 15:14, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

The list of examples that I gave of what a Wikimedia Ireland could do is just that: a list of examples, not a list of suggestions or a road map of ideas.

About working with educationalists, the mission statement of the Wikimedia Foundation is "to collect and develop educational content". That mission isn't always immediately obvious on Wikipedia but Wikimedia has at least two projects of immediate relevance to educationalists:

• Wikiversity
• Wikibooks

A lot of reading material from the English curriculum, and many items of interest to the History curriculum, are also available on a third project:

• Wikisource

Vicipéid might also be a resource of interest to Irish language teachers.

These resources need further developing of course. Collaborating with educationalists in Ireland and organising seminars with educationalists on how to use these tools (both as both users of and contributors to them) is one way in which that could happen. -- RA (pléigh) 17:15, 9 September 2010 (UTC)

Teachers can make use of any sort of project. You wouldn't have to use Wikipedia as a text book in order to make a useful, and unique, teaching/learning tool out of it. Although I would agree that these two goals are wildly ambitious I do not agree that they are excessive or outside the remit in any way at all. The least such fingers out in the world could do, if well propositioned, is to stick the Wikimedia foundation on more maps and they should all be tried. How many teachers have thought nothing of Wikipedia until someone tried to convince them to make something of it in their classrooms or read about some controversy then used it as a tool to test and evaluate a students writing and publishing skills via picking out some obscure uncared for article and having it turned into a much better article? Why not ask broadband providers to include Wikipedia on their pages? They do for anyone else who pays money, don't they? They all give to charity, right? Charity is big charity but it is also big business. The largest margin of all solid business put their names on community improvements (roundabouts, seats, flowerpots etc) or they make a nice big cheque out, often getting their whole consumer base involved to maximise returns both in charity amount and community opinion of their products. So, coming along to a big business of any kind and suggesting a way of garnering support by using their front pages is not unwelcome let alone not something they would consider. What is the bet that 50% of broadband providers who have not had this idea put to them before go away after and evaluate it at least? At very least that puts it in their mind. Only they can evaluate it and letting them know about something is better than not. If you can convince them to put something, anything, on their front page, they are all ears, that is business isn't it? Thinking of *compulsory inclusion* of anything is a bit (naive?), but not as a measure of the worth of the goal and it's got to be best to use any excuse to contact government departments and businesses and so on. Even getting a broadband company to claim anything good about Wikipedia is a 1-0 up on getting nothing at all. So long as you do nothing to hurt the image, do everything. ~ R.T.G 08:23, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

I feel like doing it myself now after re-reading all that (sorry) but to be fair, if you got past the writing phase I would not be the pretty most face, but I think it is great to see those ideas. If you don't come out with it, you can never be sure that everyone else thought it through for it's inspiration or whatever. More, if you are writing letters to government, the taoiseach should get one and anyone inbetween in standing. As well as anyone you could think of with some say in the matter, even if it is only a request to promote or honour the projects. It's up to him or his office if it is interesting or not but it's rude not to extend the opportunity and same again, if you want them to talk about it, it's best to invite all that may apply. He could be jotting away Wikipedia in his laptop every time he flys off to Europe or America and be waiting for quite some time for a bit of contact from this chapter. I would try to add a push to the letter such as "Have you or some of your close family learned something from Wikipedia?" or "It is very likely that you or someone close to you, like so many people, appreciates Wikimedia very much, but it's advertisement is usually limited to personal promotions or web searches while it's benefit is universal and charitable." They are weighing heavily on IT investment now so this is the crux of it, or the ripe time, perhaps... Don't know if I'm helping with all this writing... Vicipeid should certainly be of interest to many. ~ R.T.G 22:53, 15 October 2010 (UTC)

Best luck to the Irish chapter!

Hello, I'm Claudi Balaguer/Capsot member of the Catalan Viquipèdia and Occitan Wikiccionari. I just wanted to say hello and wish you all the best of luck to the building of your Chapter. Even though Wikimedia CAT is not a chapter you can contact our president Joan Ramon Gomà who will be pleased to tell you about our projects and might give you interesting advice. Take care, slán agat, Claudi/Capsot 12:12, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Gràcies, Claudi! Thanks for your offer of support. -- RA (pléigh) 23:14, 23 September 2010 (UTC)

Hey, I am Dimi from Bulgaria but am currently living in Vienna and a member of the Austrian Chapter. I am hoping to get a Bulgarian chapter started one day but for now I am concentrating on working on projects in Austria (trying to get some music recordings released for commons now). Anyway, I have some experience/ideas about chapters from smaller countries and think they should cooperate much closer to make up for their small size. If you need any help whatsoever or just someone to discuss ideas with don't hesitate to get in touch. I actually attended an Irish school in Libya with Irish teachers (yes, that exists) and am since then a great fan of Ireland! Also, if you need more members and paying the member fee is not geographically limited I'd be willing to help out ;).

cheers, --Dimi z (talk) 15:48, 21 July 2012 (UTC)

Wikimeet for Northern Ireland

A Wikimeet is proposed for Northern Ireland in the next few months.

If you have never been to one, this is an opportunity to meet other Wikipedians in an informal atmosphere for Wiki and non-Wiki related chat and for beer or food if you like. Most take place on a Sunday afternoon in a suitable pub but other days and locations can also work.

Experienced and new contributors from both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are all welcome. This event is definitely not restricted just to discussion of Northern Ireland topics.

More info here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Northern_Ireland/1

-- RA (talk) 13:02, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Glad to see this is being organized. If this creates momentum toward wanting to do any off-wiki activities, please remember funding is available from the Wikimedia Foundation via the Grants program. Cheers! :) Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 19:23, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Wikimedia LGBT

		Wikimedia LGBT+
		Wikimedia LGBT+ is a proposed thematic organization that seeks to promote the development of content on Wikimedia projects which is of interest to LGBT+ communities. Proposed activities include outreach at LGBT events, Wikimania and other Wikimedia events, an international campaign called Wiki Loves Pride, and work on safe space policies, among other collaborations and interwiki projects. Active Wikimedians are welcome to join this cause! Please consider adding your name as a participant/supporter. Current tasks include translating pages, building a strong framework here at Meta, and achieving user group status (with the eventual goal of becoming a thematic organization). Your feedback is welcome on the discussion page.

--Another Believer (talk) 17:47, 1 November 2013 (UTC)

Step-by-step chapter creation guide and the truth

Today, I came across the fact that the "Step-by-step chapter creation guide" is not the full truth. Wikimedia Belgium is working hard on the fundamental documents, only to get told that they have to function as a user-group for two years before they can be approved as chapter.

So, let us play it rough and start a user group Ireland. More info can be found at Wikimedia user groups and Groups/Proposals. The Banner (talk) 13:59, 5 March 2014 (UTC) Based in Co. Clare

I thought I would jump in hear as this seems the newest interaction here. I'm a PhD researcher that is looking at Wikimedia/Wikipedia as part of my work and that has led me to become very interested in working towards a Wikimedia Ireland. I'm very happy to start meeting up or have proper discussions about a plan of action including some of the nuances you've mentioned about actually making this a reality. --Smirkybec (talk) 16:13, 25 March 2014 (UTC) Based in Dublin

Getting more events in Ireland

There are various elements of logistical support that we can supply to Wikimedia Ireland outreach events as we did for the Battle of Clontarf. Our mobile WiFi hotspot works in Ireland, and we can easily post that and cheatsheets as well as show you how to set up watchlist notices for editors in Ireland. Regards Jonathan Cardy (WMUK) (talk) 10:44, 22 April 2014 (UTC)

Dublin - Swansea Universities

Just to let you know that as Wikimedia UK Manager of Wales, I'll be at Swansea University on the 28th delivering a training day; there will be a link through to Dublin. This is part of the existing AHRC-funded project: 'Women Negotiating the Boundaries of Justice'. Details of the day can be found here in Welsh and here in English. Robin Owain (WMUK) (talk) 13:48, 16 January 2015 (UTC)