User talk:JMathewson (WMF)/Archive 2

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Congrats!

Congrats!
Congratulations for being "U.S. Education Program Associate".All the best for future and Global Education Program too!

Keep Updating, Keep Inspiring! AbhiSuryawanshi (talk) 18:58, 15 November 2011 (UTC)

I believe I'm a bit late to the party, but here's a welcome from me as well. :-) Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 20:51, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

USEP question

Hi Jami, and welcome to Wikipedia. I gather you're the WMF person to ask about the USEP; is that right? I ask because I'm curious to know, as we approach the end of the fall semester, what the plans are for spring. I'm sure you're aware there's been a lot of discussion on WT:USEP about the best way forward for the program. Can you tell me whether any of those suggestions are likely to be implemented, or what forums there are for discussing changes to the program with the WMF? Thanks -- Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 01:51, 1 December 2011 (UTC)

Problem with class

I am tapped out right now and need a favor. I am a long-term Wikipedian but I just do not have time to solve a problem right now. A class with which I work has complained about a lack of community feedback on their papers. I am a real-life campus ambassador; in the future I would be happy to be an online ambassador but just cannot help my people right now with this. Can you tell me how to get support? It would be great just to have a few users drop a few comments on each article talk space, no matter how small. I just want to demonstrate some community support.

Here are their articles and a description of the issue. Thanks. User:Bluerasberry/jumpqueue

Blue Rasberry (talk) 01:43, 7 December 2011 (UTC)

Thanks for reaching out, since you don't have the time to help with this. I think a great place to start is on the Wikipedia Ambassador email list. I could send out an email on your behalf, but I presume you'll receive a far better response if you reach out yourself to your fellow Campus Ambassadors. You could just send a brief email linking that exact same list and requesting their help by contributing to the discussion and edits for these students. Additionally, reaching out to the relevant WikiProjects could produce some good results. I see that a few of those articles are already associated with some WikiProjects, and I do understand that you're pressed for time. I will take a look at the articles in the next few days to see if I can connect them to the appropriate project. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 23:43, 7 December 2011 (UTC)
The time issue is not me personally checking the articles - I am a campus ambassador and it is kind of taboo for me to both support the instructors and students and directly critique their work. They need to be confident that they can come to me with Wikipedia questions without me having some influence on how their work is going to be seen by the professors, so I cannot, for example, put a lot of constructive criticism on articles which merit it. The thing I am lacking time to do is just seeking out support especially since I think that no infrastructure currently exists for doing this.
Surely I cannot be the only person who has experienced this problem - new editors need special attention, and so far as I know, despite the campus ambassador program generating lots of new editors there is no program to get them the extra community review they need to get started. One solution which I could propose is that there be a special pool for volunteers to assist with the ambassador program - when a class of new editors makes their first article, immediately those articles should all get feedback. I would be happy to participate in such a pool, but I cannot do this for classes which I personally serve.
Thanks for the advice; I actually found some support already and I think I can come up with some more, and I will try emailing out. I presume that you are the person who fields inquiries - can I make an appointment to talk with you by phone? I want to start participating in discussions about the ambassador program but I would appreciate a voice conversation to make sure that I understand how the WMF is intending for all this to work and to get me caught up on how the program has been going. Blue Rasberry (talk) 16:22, 8 December 2011 (UTC)

Questionnaires for instructors and students

Jami, I just replied to your note at the op ed talk page; thanks for your comments. I had a follow up that I don't think is as relevant there, about the questionnaires. I know I saw a note somewhere recently asking ambassadors to send out these questionnaires, but I can't find that note now. Do you know the questionnaires I'm talking about? Can you point me at them?

The reason I'm posting here, though, is to say that I didn't ask the students to fill out those questionnaires, for a couple of reasons. One is that I'm listed as online ambassador for several courses and hundreds of students, so it's not easy to do that and it would be very time consuming. Another is that as there are other online ambassadors for those classes I can't tell if someone's already done it. Another is that I don't think the students typically check their talk pages at all, and they very rarely respond, so I rather suspect it would be a waste of time. I think the best way to get responses for this is to contact the instructors directly, on their talk page and then via email if that doesn't work, and ask them to fill out the questionnaire and to encourage their students to do so too. The student questionnaire should be linked from the talk page message left for the instructor, since the students all know how to find that page. Even so I think you'll get very spotty follow through from the students.

I hope this is helpful. Let me know what you think of my response at the op ed talk page; I was glad to hear that we're already in agreement on some key points. Thanks -- Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 15:16, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

Mike, we did try to connect the students to the student surveys via the instructors. However, since we don't have every instructor's contact information (which we are working to remedy for next semester), we had to send it through Campus Ambassadors and Regional Ambassadors. I don't know of any blanket request to OAs to post to student's talk pages, though we did think this might reach out to just a few more students, which is always helpful in gathering complete data. I'm guessing your Regional Ambassador requested this of you. Either way, I'll see if I have your email address and can send the survey over to you. The instructor surveys are different, but I'll send you links to both. Please let me know if this doesn't answer your concern! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 18:43, 15 December 2011 (UTC)
Thanks, that was what I was looking for. I forwarded it to Professor Gelbman, who is teaching POL214; she's the only one I've been working with.
I also wanted to mention that Colin may be interested in helping to draft some material for the professor orientation -- he said something to that effect at the op ed talk page. I'll leave a note there for him as well, but if you're involved with creating that orientation material can I suggest you contact him directly? In fact, I'd be interested to know more about the orientation material -- I'm sure you're getting input from the ambassador steering committee and other active editors, but if those discussions included an on-wiki component I think you could get some helpful input from interested editors.
Of course I'd also like to know if you feel that any of the ideas proposed in my essay are worth following up on -- there seemed to me to be support at WT:USEP for the idea of sizing the program according to the number of available ambassadors and the number of students, for example, rather than picking a number of classes. I added some more comments after your last post at the op ed talk page and I'd like to hear your thoughts on those; I am also curious to know what kind of quality metrics, if any, you're planning for this and next semester. Thanks -- Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:17, 16 December 2011 (UTC)

Awesomeness

Thanks! Hope you're feeling better...I was able to get out of the house yesterday and today to do my under-24-hours Christmas shopping. Finished and got some really great deals! Bob the WikipediaN (talk • contribs) 22:42, 22 December 2011 (UTC)

What do you think of asking professors if they plan to edit Wikipedia themselves?

Jami, I'd be interested to know what you think of the idea I posted here just before Christmas. I think it would be worth asking the professors if they're planning to edit, so we can preferentially direct resources to them. Is this something you'd be interested in doing for the spring semester? Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:32, 4 January 2012 (UTC)

use Wikipedia assignments in class

Dear Jami,

I am a Psychology college professor and I am starting to use Wikipedia assignments for the first time this semester.

I already created a course page and I have an account. To make things easier I am using the instructor's tools offered by APS Wikipedia Initiative. However, I am relatively new to Wikipedia and I would definitely appreciate some guidance. I am also interested in contacting an ambassador to help my students with their assignment.

Thanks for your time.

S.mereu (talk) 16:58, 9 January 2012 (UTC)

Follow up question

Hi -- I asked a question before Christmas, but I figure it was probably lost over the Christmas period, so I thought I might post it again. I posted an idea here about asking professors who sign up for the USEP if they're interested in editing Wikipedia themselves. I assume the professors who want support fill out some information giving their school affiliation, size of class and so forth? Can we add a question to that asking whether they would be interested in significantly improving an existing Wikipedia article? I think if a professor answers yes to that question, we should give them preference for ambassador support, and we should follow up to offer collaboration with that professor on an article of their choice -- I'd love to work with a professor on an article, and I'm sure other ambassadors would like that opportunity too. Of course none of them may be interested, but it doesn't hurt to ask. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 05:20, 13 January 2012 (UTC)

Mike, I apologize for the delay in getting back to you. I have been coordinating a few Campus Ambassador orientations (one going on right now and one next weekend) over the past few weeks. I have read your messages and wanted to make sure I take the appropriate amount of time to consider your suggestions and figure out how we can implement this into the program. I can get back to you early next week, when this training dies down a bit. We'll be in touch! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 18:38, 14 January 2012 (UTC)
Thanks -- I look forward to hearing about the plans. I understand it's a bit hectic at the start of the semester. Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 00:36, 18 January 2012 (UTC)
Jami, I read your answer and I can see your point. I left another message for you at that talk page. Thanks -- Mike Christie (talk - contribs - library) 14:19, 21 January 2012 (UTC)

Birthday wishes

Thanks! My sister and her friends came over and iced a cake for me-- they accidentally turned the whole BOWL of icing pink instead of just a little...they managed to come up with a dark shade of green by playing with it, so I got a green cake with a pink Tyrannosaurus on it. Bob the WikipediaN (talk • contribs) 16:53, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Re: Online Ambassador, Spring 2012

I regret to say that I want to withdraw my name from this program. I simply don't have the patience to properly help these students. J04n(talk page) 19:48, 6 February 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for updating me, and I'm sorry it's been frustrating for you. I will remove your name from the OA page, so you hopefully won't receive any more requests. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 19:52, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
Hello. I think I'm on the list as an available ambassador. I had one good experience and one bad experience with the Ambassador program: this has led me to feel that I would only be interested in working with a class where either the professor was very communicative or the course design ensured that the students would begin learning to edit early in the term. I am also available to work with individual students if they would like editing assistance. -- Ssilvers (talk) 22:18, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm on the list and will be happy to engage with students this semester. I'll have a look at the Online Ambassador talk page tomorrow (it's currently somewhat past my bedtime) and see where I can fit in. --GuillaumeTell 00:40, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the message, JMathewson. Yes, I would like to assist students (see above). -- Ssilvers (talk) 03:36, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

I'm responding to your message on my talk page. I'm willing to give it another go, but I have to say that this program has been frustrating for me in the past as well. My two main irritants have been a lack of on-wiki student communication or activity and the use of sandboxes. I hate sandboxes. They are evil. --Geniac (talk) 05:55, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

Re: Online Ambassador, Spring 2012

Hi, thanks for updating me about the program. I will be taking a break from being an Online Ambassador this semester, though I will return in the summer or fall. Should I remove my name from the list of ambassadors? — Yk Yk Yk talk ~ contrib 02:11, 7 February 2012 (UTC)

I just moved you to the inactive OA page. Thanks for the update! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 02:27, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
OK, I can help Prof. Wadewitz. I'll let her know. -- Ssilvers (talk) 21:43, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
I saw that. I thought you were saying that they needed 2 OAs. Now I've added all kinds of postings to the course page and left a message for the professor. Oy. Can you help clear this up? I'd rather stick with A. Wadewitz's class, now. -- Ssilvers (talk) 21:56, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
That's fine; you can just join that class--it definitely doesn't hurt to have more ambassadors involved! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 23:27, 7 February 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for leaving a message on my talkpage. I've signed up to express interest in two programs: Introduction to Mass Communication - University of Southern Indiana and Introduction to Psychology, Part II - University of Toronto at Scarborough. Please point me to the necessary updating, as I still am interested in participating, and to the MOU and any other documents. My tenative limited was set at three. As well, I may be interested in the Cairo Pilot Project, though that too is tenative. Do I need to contact the respective professors on usertalk? Thanks again! ~AH1 (discuss!) 01:25, 8 February 2012 (UTC)
Jami, see my response here, essentially the same as Yk Yk Yk. /ƒETCHCOMMS/ 02:50, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, JMathewson (WMF). You have new messages at Swarm's talk page.
Message added 05:28, 9 February 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Swarm X 05:28, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

And another. Swarm X 02:01, 10 February 2012 (UTC)

Canadian Regional Ambassador application

Hi Jami, I sent you an email on Monday but haven't got a reply back from you. Please let me know if you received the application. OhanaUnitedTalk page 04:20, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Email sent. Please check. OhanaUnitedTalk page 06:40, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

Letter of support

Thanks for your offer here. I could certainly use it in my attempts to get the idea heard! --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| talk to me 20:57, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Piotr, when do you think you'd need this letter? JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 19:48, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

User talk:Moonriddengirl aka User:Mdennis (WMF) suggested I contact you

Hello,

I've had a problem with one of your online ambassadors, User:Cindamuse, who got very angry because I reviewed an article she submitted to GAN and the lede was plagiarised/compyvio/close paraphrased. See Talk:Douglas W. Owsley/GA1. Because User:Cindamuse refused to acknowledge the problem, even though everyone whom she consulted for a second opinion agreed with me, I'm concerned that she doesn't understand was plagiarism/close paraphrasing is. She has continued to be defensive and attack me e.g.[1][2], accusing me of bad faith, and has not acknowledged the problems with her article. I'm not interested in anything bad happening to her, but I am concerned about her understanding of her role as online ambassador. User:SandyGeorgia has said the copyvio and other problems in psychology articles stemmed in particular from editors this Online Ambassador supervised. I'm sure you're aware of the bad feeling caused in the en:wp community by these sorts of problems being dumped on it. I urge you to make sure User:Cindamuse understands that close paraphrasing and plagiarism is not acceptable in en:wp article. Thanks, MathewTownsend (talk) 01:39, 29 February 2012 (UTC)

Also, I suggest that you look through Wikipedia talk:United States Education Program/Archive 1 and Wikipedia talk:United States Education Program/Archive 2 and search for "cindy" you will get an inkling of the degree her approach disrupted the en:wp community. Please, I urge that efforts be made to ensure that these Online Ambassadors are competent. MathewTownsend (talk) 16:35, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
Hi, Mathew. Thank you for bringing your concerns to my attention. I'm going to reach out to the Steering Committee members to address your concerns, so some of them should be in touch with you soon. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 20:10, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm not the only one who has a problem with "cindy". See that same online ambassador is in charge of the single class that has given me the most headaches - SandyGeorgia Thanks, MathewTownsend (talk) 23:39, 29 February 2012 (UTC)
I'm also concerned that Cindy is playing a role in selecting Online Ambassadors. In the wake of the IEP, the community is concerned that students need careful direction and review with regard to copyright, so OAs need to understand copyright policy. If Cindy doesn't clearly understand these concepts herself, she can't evaluate how well others understand them. Dcoetzee 21:36, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
Derrick, thank you for voicing your concern. I believe this issue needs to go through Chris and the Steering Committee, as they are in charge of that selection process for OAs. I don't want to step on their toes, as I'd like decisions like this to be community-driven. Thanks, and let me know if there is anything you think I can do. Input always welcome! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 21:39, 7 March 2012 (UTC)
Per Chris's talk page, the only place this can be discussed is with the Online Ambassadors Selection Committee itself, of which Cindy is a member. He says there is no "higher power" or apparent supervision of this committee and no apparent recourse. Any other suggestions? (The Selection Committee is not transparent; the meeting notes contain no information and there is no specific information any other place regarding their procedures.) MathewTownsend (talk) 12:47, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Mail question

Hi Jami, did you get the email that I sent to you last Friday? I haven't heard back from you yet. Thanks. Pine(talk) 07:44, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

Hey, Pine. Thought I'd responded to your last questions but must've missed those. :) Responding now. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 22:04, 8 March 2012 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue One - Recent news from the Teahouse

Hi! Welcome to the first edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

Spring has sprung! Stop by the Teahouse for a cup of tea under the cherry blossoms.
  • Metrics are out from week one. Week one showed that the need for Teahouse hosts to invite new editors to the Teahouse is urgent for this pilot period. It also showed that emailing new users invitations is a powerful tool, with new editors responding more to emails than to talk page templates. We also learned that the customized database reports created for the Teahouse have the highest return rate of participation by invitees. Check out the metrics here and see how you can help with inviting in our Invitation Guide.
  • A refreshed "Your hosts" page encourages experienced Wikipedians to learn about the Teahouse and participate. With community input, the Teahouse has updated the Your hosts page which details the host roles within the Teahouse pilot and the importance that hosts play in providing a friendly, special experience not always found on other welcome/help spaces on Wikipedia. It also explains how Teahouse hosts are important regarding metrics reporting during this pilot. Are you an experienced editor who wants to help out? Take a look at the new page today and start learning about the hosts tasks and how you can participate!
  • Introduce yourself and meet new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. New & experienced editors to Wikipedia can add a brief infobox about themselves and get to know one another with direct links to userpages. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, they'll surely be happy to feel the wikilove!

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 16:05, 9 March 2012 (UTC)

Reminder! Women's History Month edit-a-thon

Just a friendly reminder about the Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for Women's History Month :)

Date: Saturday, March 17, 2012 from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM (PT)

Location: Wikimedia Foundation Offices 149 New Montgomery Street, 6th floor San Francisco, CA 94105

Bring: Your laptop and charger (we'll have some extra computers available), your questions, and your friends!

What to expect: A fun, laid-back environment with food, drink, a great mix of people, and a wealth of knowledge and resources.

Public transport: BART to Montgomery station and walk 1 block down New Montgomery St.

Reminder: The St. Patricks Day parade will be starting at 11:30 on Market Street. Market street will most likely be closed to cars so please plan your journey accordingly ;-)

When you arrive: A volunteer will be at the front of the building to greet everyone arriving 12:40 - 1:20. You will take the elevator up to the 6th floor.

If you are early: If you expect to come earlier than 12:40 to help set-up, please let us know, so we can give you a contact number.

If you arrive later: No problem. There will be a phone number posted to the front door of the office building. A volunteer will run down and let you in.

We can't wait to see you on Saturday! Maryana (WMF) (talk) 23:31, 15 March 2012 (UTC)

HighBeam

Hello, I am sending this message to editors who signed up for the Women's History Month Edit-a-thon. Please help spread the word. HighBeam Research--an online, pay-for-use search engine for newspapers, magazines, academic journals, newswires, trade magazines and encyclopedias has agreed to give free, full-access, 1-year accounts for up to 1000 Wikipedia editors to use. HighBeam has access to over 80 million articles from 6,500 publications, most of which are not available for free elsewhere on the internet. Aside from a free 7-day trial (credit card required), access to HighBeam would cost $30 per month or $200 per year for the first year and $300 for subsequent years, so this is a wonderful, free, no-strings-attached opportunity. To qualify, editors must have at least a 1 year-old account with 1000 edits. Please add your name to the WP:HighBeam/Applications account sign-up page if you are interested. Cullen328 Let's discuss it 18:39, 18 March 2012 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Two

Hi! Welcome to the second edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

  • Teahouse celebrates one month of being open! This first month has drawn a lot of community interest to the Teahouse. Hosts & community members have been working with the project team to improve the project in many ways including creating scripts to make inviting easier, exploring mediation processes for troubling guests, and best practices regarding mentoring for new editors who visit the Teahouse.
Springtime means fresh tea leaves...
  • First month metrics report an average of 30 new editors visiting the Teahouse each week. Approximately 30 new editors participate in the Teahouse each week, by way of asking questions and making guest profiles. An average of six new questions and four new profiles are made each day. We'd love to hear your ideas about how we can spread the word about the Teahouse to more new editors.
  • Teahouse has many regulars. Like any great teahouse, our Teahouse has a 61% return rate of guests, who come back to ask additional questions and to also help answer others' questions. Return guests cite the speedy response rate of hosts and the friendly, easy to understand responses by the hosts and other participants as the main reasons for coming back for another cup o' tea!
  • Early metrics on retention. It's still too early to draw conclusions about the Teahouse's impact on new editor retention, but, early data shows that 38% of new editors who participate at the Teahouse are still actively editing Wikipedia 2-4 weeks later, this is compared with 7% from a control group of uninvited new editors who showed similar first day editing activity. Additional metrics can be found on the Teahouse metrics page.
  • Nine new hosts welcomed to the Teahouse. Nine new hosts have been welcomed to the Teahouse during month one: Chicocvenancio, Cullen328, Hallows AG, Jeffwang, Mono, Tony1, Worm That Turned, Writ Keeper, and Nathan2055. Welcome to the Teahouse gang, folks!
  • Say hello to the new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, as being welcomed by experienced editors is a really nice way to make new editors feel welcome.

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. -- Sarah (talk) 21:41, 5 April 2012 (UTC)

Speaking at TLA Conference 2013

Hello, JMathewson (WMF). Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.— Bhoya (talk) 19:24, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Hey - just sent you a message about TLA 2013. Let me know if it's something ya'll might be interested in. - Bhoya (talk) 19:24, 12 April 2012 (UTC)

Request for comment at Ambassadors talk page

Your comments would be appreciated at Wikipedia talk:Ambassadors#Policy for compensation from universities. Pine(talk) 21:14, 16 April 2012 (UTC)

Hey, Pine! I saw there was a long discussion there this morning but will have to read through/comment later this afternoon/early evening. Sorry about the delay! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 21:20, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
Could you also comment at Talk:Dimensional_models_of_personality_disorders#Conflict_of_interest_tag?Smallman12q (talk) 13:11, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
...Smallman12q (talk) 22:53, 19 April 2012 (UTC)
Hi, Smallman12q! Thanks so much for flagging this issue for me; I'm still looking into what exactly is going on but will respond as soon as I can cover everything. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 23:07, 19 April 2012 (UTC)

You've got mail

Hello, JMathewson (WMF). Please check your email; you've got mail!
It may take a few minutes from the time the email is sent for it to show up in your inbox. You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{You've got mail}} or {{ygm}} template.

Pine(talk) 21:43, 1 May 2012 (UTC)

Check In

I know it's a busy time of the year, but haven't heard from you for awhile and wanted to check in. Bhoya (talk) 15:14, 3 May 2012 (UTC)

Hey, I have something important I'd like to speak with you about but am trying to finalize a few things. I'll shoot you an email to see if there's a time next week you would want to speak. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 18:03, 3 May 2012 (UTC)
Sweet! Look forward to it. Bhoya (talk) 20:37, 7 May 2012 (UTC)

You're invited: San Francisco WikiWomen's Edit-a-Thon 2!

San Francisco WikiWomen's Edit-a-Thon 2! You are invited!
The San Francisco WikiWomen's Edit-a-Thon 2 will be held on Saturday, June 16, 2012 at the Wikimedia Foundation offices in San Francisco. Wikipedians of all experience levels are welcome to join us! This event will be specifically geared around encouraging women to learn how to edit and contribute to Wikipedia. Workshops on copy-editing, article creation, and sourcing will be hosted. Bring a friend! Come one, come all!
EdwardsBot (talk) 23:29, 22 May 2012 (UTC) · Unsubscribe

San Francisco Wiknic 2012

San Francisco Wiknic at Golden Gate Park
You are invited to the second Great American Wikinic taking place in Golden Gate Park, in San Francisco, on Saturday, June 23, 2012. We're still looking for input on planning activities, and thematic overtones. List your add yourself to the attendees list, and edit the picnic as you like. —Max Klein {chat} 18:35, 21 May 2012 (UTC)
If you would not like to receive future messages about meetups, please remove your name from Wikipedia:Meetup/San Francisco/Invite.

The Tea Leaf - Issue Four

Hi! Welcome to the fourth issue of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter for the Teahouse!

  • Teahouse pilot wraps up after 13 weeks After being piloted on English Wikipedia starting in February, the Teahouse wrapped up its pilot period on May 27, 2012. We expect this is just the beginning for the Teahouse and hope the project will continue to grow in the months to come!

Thank you and congratulations to all of the community members who participated - and continue to participate!

  • What you've all been waiting for: Teahouse Pilot Report is released! We look forward to your feedback on the methodology and outcomes of this pilot project.
  • ....and if a pilot report wasn't enough, the Teahouse Pilot Metrics Report is out too! Dive into the numbers and survey results to learn about the impact the Teahouse has made on English Wikipedia.
  • Teahouse shows positive impact on new editor retention and engagement
  • 409 new editors participated during the entire pilot period, with about 40 new editors participating in the Teahouse per week.
  • Two weeks after participating, 33% of Teahouse guests are still active on Wikipedia, as opposed to 11% of a similar control group.
  • New editors who participated in the Teahouse edit 10x the number of articles, make 7x more global edits, and 2x as much of their content survives on Wikipedia compared to the control group.
  • Women participate in the Teahouse 28% of Teahouse participants were women, up from 9% of editors on Wikipedia in general, good news for this project which aimed to have impact on the gender gap too - but still lots to be done here!
  • New opportunities await for the Teahouse in phase two as the Teahouse team and Wikipedia community examine ways to improve, scale, and sustain the project. Opportunities for future work include:
  • Automating or semi-automating systems such as invites, metrics and archiving
  • Experimenting with more ways for new editors to discover the Teahouse
  • Building out the social and peer-to-peer aspects further, including exploring ways to make answering questions easier, creating more ways for new editors to help each other and for all participants to acknowledge each other's efforts
  • Growing volunteer capacity, continuing to transfer Teahouse administration tasks to volunteers whenever possible, and looking for new ways to make maintenance and participation easier for everyone.
  • Want to know how you can lend a hand at the Teahouse? Become a host! Learn more about what makes the Teahouse different than other help spaces on Wikipedia and see how you can help new editors by visiting here.
  • Say hello to the new guests at the Teahouse. Take the time to welcome and get to know the latest guests at the Teahouse. Drop off some wikilove to these editors today, as being welcomed by experienced editors is really encouraging to new Wikipedians.

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. Sarah (talk) 16:44, 13 June 2012 (UTC)

Your photo

That is a landscape not your portrait. Why be shy? Post a picture of you lording over the countryside from that mountaintop, sternly looking out with your face to the camera ready to command the world. Or otherwise just leave that picture... it is cool but I am not sure I will recognize you at Wikimania from that. Blue Rasberry (talk) 02:17, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Hmm. I like your style. First of all, I actually won't be at Wikimania, so that is probably a bigger obstacle to you recognizing me. :) I actually have a few pictures that are precisely what you're suggesting...so maybe I'll take a look and replace it. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 02:19, 15 June 2012 (UTC)
Alright; edited. Just for you! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 02:27, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Re: Still need reviews for the Wikipedia Education Program research project

I'll try to help. Can you tell me who is doing the research? I don't seem to be able to find a name of any particular researcher or group on the pages linked from my talk page. --Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus| reply here 12:06, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! Mike and James are leading the qualitative research project. This is to determine which classes are "successful", according to the Wikipedian standard. The results will be used in various projects down the road. Right now, an analyst will be comparing those results with the quantitative information about those same classes (i.e. Number of students, number of edits for the professor prior to the course, etc.) to unearth patterns in the factors that lead to the most successful classes. That's the project that I'm concerned about, since the results can help us recruit classes that have better experiences and benefit Wikipedia more. Hope that's a good summary for you :)! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 17:35, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Re: Still need reviews for the Wikipedia Education Program research project

Hi Jami!
I am very busy at the moment with work, but I hope to be able to contribute to the Wikipedia Education Program research project and review all other articles very soon.
All the best! –pjoef (talk • contribs) 17:30, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Thanks! We'd appreciate any help at all, and we definitely already appreciate the many articles you reviewed. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 17:36, 15 June 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for attending the second SF WikiWomen's Edit-a-thon

Thank you for attending the second SF WikiWomen's Edit-a-thon
Thanks Jami for all your help in the edit-a-thon this past week - from helping out throughout the event, to collaborating with other editor's to improve content and coverage about women's subjects. Thank you! :) Sarah (talk) 20:49, 18 June 2012 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Five

Stop by for a tasty glass of wiki-iced tea at the Teahouse, today!

Hi! Welcome to the fifth edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

  • Guest activity increased in July. Questions are up from an average of 36 per week in June to 43 per week in July, and guest profile creation has also increased. This is likely a result of the automatic invite experiments we started near the end of month, which seeks to lessen the burden on hosts and other volunteer who manually invite editors. During the last week of July, questions doubled in the Teahouse! (But don't let that deter you from inviting editors to the Teahouse, please, there are still lots of new editors who haven't found Teahouse yet.)
  • More Teahouse hosts than ever. We had 12 new hosts sign up to participate at the Teahouse! We now have 35 hosts volunteering at the Teahouse. Feel free to stop by and see them all here.
  • Phase two update: Host sprint. In August, the Teahouse team plans to improve the host experience by developing a simpler new-host creation process, a better way of surfacing active hosts, and a host lounge renovation. Take a look at the plan and weigh in here.
  • New Teahouse guest barnstar is awarded to first recipient: Charlie Inks. Using the Teahouse barnstar designed by Heatherawalls, hosts hajatvrc and Ryan Vesey created the new Teahouse Guest Barnstar. The first recipient is Charlie Inks, for her boldness in asking questions at the Teahouse. Check out the award in action here.
  • Teahouse was a hot topic at Wikimania! The Teahouse was a hot topic at Wikimania this past month, where editor retention and interface design was heavily discussed. Sarah and Jonathan presented the Teahouse during the Wikimedia Fellowships panel. Slides can be viewed here. A lunch was also held at Wikimania for Teahouse hosts.

As always, thanks for supporting the Teahouse project! Stop by and visit us today!

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. SarahStierch (talk) 08:28, 4 August 2012 (UTC)

Talkback

Hello, JMathewson (WMF). You have new messages at The ed17's talk page.
Message added 07:15, 8 August 2012 (UTC). You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 07:15, 8 August 2012 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Six

Hi! Welcome to the sixth edition of The Tea Leaf, the official newsletter of the Teahouse!

  • Teahouse serves over 700 new editors in six months on Wikipedia! Since February 27, 741 new editors have participated at the Teahouse. The Q&A board and the guest intro pages are more active than ever.
A lovely little teahouse nestled in Germany from Wiki Loves Monuments
  • Automatic invites are doing the trick: 50% more new editors visiting each week. Ever since HostBot's automated invite trial phase began we've seen a boost in new editor participation. Automating a baseline set of invitations also allows Teahouse hosts to focus on serving hot cups of help to guests, instead of spending countless hours inviting.
  • Guests to the Teahouse continue to edit more & interact more with other community members than non-Teahouse guests according to six month metrics. Teahouse guests make more than twice the article edits and edit more talk pages than other new editors.
  • New host process implemented which encourages anyone to get started as a Teahouse host in a few easy steps. Stop by the hosts page and become a Teahouse host today!
  • Host lounge renovations nearing completion. Working closely with Teahouse hosts, we've made some major renovations to the Teahouse Host Lounge - the main hangout and resource space for hosts. Learn more about the improvements here.

As always, thanks for supporting the Teahouse project! Stop by and visit us today!

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here. EdwardsBot (talk) 00:08, 6 September 2012 (UTC)

You're invited! - Wiki Loves Monuments - San Francisco Events

Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco

Hi! As part of Wiki Loves Monuments, we're organizing two photo events in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in Yosemite National Park. We hope you can come out and participate! Feel free to contact User:Almonroth with questions or concerns.

There are three events planned:

We look forward to seeing you there!

You are receiving this message because you signed up on the SF Bay Area event listing, or have attended an event in the Bay Area. To remove yourself, please go here. EdwardsBot (talk) 00:43, 7 September 2012 (UTC)

WikiWomen's Collaborative

WikiWomen Unite!
Hi JMathewson (WMF)! Women around the world who edit and contribute to Wikipedia are coming together to celebrate each other's work, support one another, and engage new women to also join in on the empowering experience of shaping the sum of all the world's knowledge - through the WikiWomen's Collaborative.

As a WikiWoman, we'd love to have you involved! You can do this by:

We can't wait to have you involved, and feel free to drop by our meta page (under construction) to see how else you can get involved!

Can't wait to have you involved! SarahStierch (talk) 00:59, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

You're invited! Ada Lovelace Day San Francisco

October 16 - Ada Lovelace Day Celebration - You are invited!
Come celebrate Ada Lovelace Day at the Wikimedia Foundation offices in San Francisco on October 16! This event, hosted by the Ada Initiative, the Mozilla Foundation, and the Wikimedia Foundation. It'll be a meet up style event, though you are welcome to bring a laptop and edit about women in STEM if you wish. Come mix, mingle and celebrate the legacy of the world's first computer programmer.

The event is October 16, 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm, everyone is welcome!

You must RSVP here - see you there!
SarahStierch (talk) 19:53, 13 October 2012 (UTC)

Education working group mailing list

Hi Jami, would you be willing to add a couple of Wikipedians to the education working group mailing list? I realize it may be ending soon, but I think it would be helpful to have a couple of community reps on it. It's not something I'd want to volunteer for myself, but I'm hoping others from the education noticeboard might be willing. Mike Christie said he had no objection but couldn't approve it unilaterally, and Mike Cline said it was up to you. SlimVirgin (talk) 16:33, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Hey, SlimVirgin. Kind of them to think it's up to me :), but the Working Group as a whole would need to approve, via their 3-day voting process. That would, unfortunately, bring us to the exact day when the Working Group is disbanding. However, the Working Group does have User:Mike Christie, User:Mike Cline, User:Brianwc, User:The Interior, User:Rjensen, and User:Pharos, all of whom are very experienced and passionate Wikipedia editors. I think the group you'll want to work with are going to be the new Board of the proposed organization, as they will have most of the "decision-power" about changes to make to the program moving forward. Mike Christie is on that Board, and I'm sure he'd be more than happy to set up a channel of communication with you to help sort out needs for the community. In fact, I know one of the key goals during the transition period is to integrate better with the community and ask community members who have not yet been a part of our community to help come up with constructive suggestions about how to do so. Let me know if that helps! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 18:23, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
Thanks for the reply. In that case, could you ask the group to consider opening the archives? That would allow us to see what was discussed and when. One of the major problems is the lack of transparency, which is causing real confusion about who has done what. If the community could read the archives, it would at least give us a toehold. SlimVirgin (talk) 19:18, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
I think the group could only do this if they had unanimous consent from all who posted (about 20 people altogether, I think). I don't see why they wouldn't, though I actually can't figure out whether Google Groups has a way to release archives; perhaps you know? Also, the vast vast vast vast vast majority of the work the Working Group has done (and the conversations that are probably of interest to you) have not been done over that mailing list or even in text. Since they are a large group and otherwise very busy, they hold a lot of small group conference calls and have done a lot of work in-person. If we figure out how to do it and they don't mind, though, I don't see why they wouldn't agree to do that. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 19:33, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
Thank you; will you go ahead and ask their permission? Also, is there a list anywhere of the members? I don't know how Google Groups archives work. Normally there is an option in mailing lists to have a private or public archive. Just looking around on Google, I see 'Go to the main page of your group and click the "Group settings" link on the right hand side of the page. You should now see seven tabs (links): "General", "Access", "Appearance", "Navigation", "Email delivery", "Categories", and "Advanced".' Would it be under "access"? SlimVirgin (talk) 20:26, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
Here is the list of members. I will ask one of the Mikes to pose this vote to the group. JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 20:30, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
Jami, Slim, I posted a request to this effect on the Google Group. --Mike Cline (talk) 20:48, 14 December 2012 (UTC)
That's great, many thanks to you both. SlimVirgin (talk) 21:18, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Finance plan

Hello, JMathewson (WMF). You have new messages at Wikipedia:Education_noticeboard#Finance_plan_for_the_new_nonprofit.3F.
You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template.

. --Pine✉ 18:55, 14 December 2012 (UTC)

Edit-a-thon tomorrow (Saturday) in Oakland

Hi, I hope you will be joining us tomorrow afternoon at the Edit-a-thon at Tech Liminal, in Oakland. We'll be working on articles relating to women and democracy (and anything else that interests you). It's sponsored by the California League of Women Voters, Tech Liminal, and me.

If this is the first you are hearing of this event, my apologies for the last-minute notice! I announced it on the San Francisco email list and by a banner on your watchlist, but I neglected to look at the San Francisco invitation list until this evening. If you can't make it this time, I hope to see you at a similar event soon! -Pete (talk) 04:45, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

The tree is watching

I see someone got some shiny new user rights. Is there a page that explains the details of this new course management system? I recall seeing some different rights for RAs, CAs, and OAs, but the terms seem to have changed for these user rights. I'm not sure that I'd trust just any ambassador with some of these tools.

Also, was there ever an RA orientation this year? I recall asking about it at least once.

Thanks, --Pine✉ 00:29, 18 December 2012 (UTC)

Hi, Pine. There was never an official in-person RA training; just CA online orientations and skype calls. We did have an in-person meeting last weekend, with a lot of the RAs, to develop some assignment design best practices.
As for the user rights, I just got those temporarily because my username was banned from sending too many emails :). I am emailing some editors in the program via Wikipedia email to send our end-of-semester survey link. I also have some user rights so as to help instructors use the new Education MediaWiki extension, though I'm not positive who officially gave me them! I am not sure if there is a page that explains those details, but I suggest you ask Sage. Please let me know if you have any other questions or if I missed something! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 00:34, 18 December 2012 (UTC)


Thanks

Hi Jami, thanks for the barnstar, much appreciated. It's always nice to get a message that doesn't start "Why did you delete... " (: Jimfbleak - talk to me? 06:47, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

WEP

Not to be ungrateful, but it would be useful if we found out why someone found us helpful, if only to re-enforce that behaviour in the future. Someone found you helpful at somepoint doesn't give one much to build on. WilyD 11:04, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

Thanks!

Thanks a lot! Glad to be of help. Anyway, may I know who the user is who found me helpful? Sainsf <^>Talk all words 12:33, 19 December 2012 (UTC)

WikiProject Medicine

Hi Jami. I've made several suggestions to Professor Potter on how to improve the assignment (course page User:Biosthmors/Intro Neuro) for Fall 2013. In regards to your post here, I would also like to consult with Professors on course design to optimize Spring 2013 class assignments, if possible. (I assume some courses will likely edit articles related to WikiProject Medicine.) What is the group that helps consult on article assignments? Thanks. Biosthmors (talk) 05:07, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Hey, Biosthmors! I will post some info about the group ("Totally Awesome Transition Team" :) ) on-wiki today and let you know when I have. I was planning to connect User:LaneRasberry with any medical classes, and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to work with you in their assignment design. Let me write their plans up; are you in touch with Lane on- or off-wiki? JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 19:27, 21 December 2012 (UTC)
I am in touch with Lane both ways. That sounds great. I'll leave him a note. Biosthmors (talk) 20:05, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Survey notifications

Hello. It appears as though you added a feedback request note on a number of talk pages that appeared to be meant for user talk pages. I'm sure it was just a simple mistake, but just letting you know they have all been tagged for speedy deletion under CSD:G8. -- Patchy1 08:05, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Yes, I was coming here to say the same. You sent out 19 survey requests on the 18th, but you addressed them to "Talk:Jcarr19" etc rather than "User talk:Jcarr19", so they have ended up as talk pages of non-existent articles. Can I leave you to re-send them? When I have cleared those, there are 118 more pages waiting in the speedy-deletion queue this morning...
There was one more on the 17th, User talk:Jxb025, which I have fixed. The names from the 18th are: Suzanseem, Mchaggis79, Ksmedi3, RU53SK34, Dmatkin, Dmpetro4, Vaughn42sv, Kehilles, Anpherknee, Cmberringer, Lisam0003, Michelle92131, JLMoy, Jjoej, Gregory0925, Cljesko, KaiCeeK, Kjholt01, Jcarr19.
Regards, JohnCD (talk) 11:57, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Hi Jami. Thanks for the opportunity to fill out a survey re Red Deer College's HIST 208 Wikipedia Project. Since I am the Campus Ambassador and not a student in the class I'll refrain from filling it out. Pgboultbee (talk) 15:13, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Oops, so sorry about that, guys. I sent so many in a hurry that I probably accidentally created sections on the wrong page. Thanks very much for deleting and letting me know! Pgboutlbee, thanks also for clarifying! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 19:29, 21 December 2012 (UTC)

Merry Christmas!

TheGeneralUser (talk) is wishing you a Merry Christmas! This greeting (and season) promotes WikiLove and hopefully this note has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by wishing another user a Merry Christmas, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past, a good friend, or just some random person. Happy New Year!

Spread the cheer by adding {{subst:Xmas2}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

Hello JMathewson! Wishing you a very Happy Merry Christmas :) TheGeneralUser (talk) 23:47, 25 December 2012 (UTC)

Regarding Molecular Biology classroom project

Regarding this, I just learned about IRC and FreeNode. I can hang out on the #wikipedia-en-classroom channel sometime if they need help. Let me know the times and if I have time I'll see what I can do. • Jesse V.(talk) 22:28, 29 January 2013 (UTC)

Thank you! I did give the professor your user information but am waiting to hear back from him about setting up a page where his students can access the materials better! I will keep you updated; we actually are not using the classroom chatroom anymore but are promoting the general #wikipedia-en-help, as more people are there regularly. Also, very few students actually use IRC, which is why we try to get Online Ambassadors and other interested WikiProject volunteers to reach out to them. I'll let you know when I have any update! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 22:32, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
Well either way. I just helped out someone on wikipedia-en-help, so I can hang out there too. Your post on the WikiProject talk page indicated that you wanted someone there personally, and I'm unable to do that. But I'm still willing to help them out in my spare time. :) • Jesse V.(talk) 22:47, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
Thanks, so much! Having someone there personally is always helpful, but they definitely need online support. You should consider applying to officially become an Online Ambassador, if you're interested. Then you can stay up-to-date on anything going on in the program but can still support based on your availability. Either way, though, thanks so much! JMathewson (WMF) (talk) 22:56, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
Good idea. I just applied to be an Online Ambassador; I think I can do that. If you'd like to endorse me, please visit my application page. :) • Jesse V.(talk) 00:22, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

Ping

Please check your talk page on the Outreach wiki. Thanks. --Pine✉ 19:31, 30 January 2013 (UTC)

The Tea Leaf - Issue Seven

Check out the Teahouse Easter Egg Badge, awarded for helpful suggestions about improving the Teahouse.
Check out the Teahouse Genie Badge, awarded for solving issues on the Teahouse Wishlist.

Hello again! We have some neat updates about the Teahouse:

You are receiving The Tea Leaf after expressing interest or participating in the Teahouse! To remove yourself from receiving future newsletters, please remove your username here

Thanks again! Ocaasi 02:21, 9 February 2013 (UTC)

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