The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 30, August – Septmeber 2018

• Library Card translation
• Spotlight: 1Lib1Ref spreads to the Southern Hemisphere and beyond
• Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
• Global branches update
• Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available in meta!
Read the full newsletter

• From the editors: The Signpost is still afloat, just barely
  A slightly thinner issue, but out on time.

• Op-ed: Wikipedia's Strickland affair
  Is a missing article on a Nobel laureate a fail? What if her draft biography was declined as non-notable?

• News and notes: WMF gets a million bucks
  And it's richer than ever.

• In the media: Bans, celebs, and bias
  Breitbart begone; rescued by archivists; celebrating trolls?

• Discussion report: Mediation Committee and proposed deletion reform
  Plus: two pending changes-related discussions, notability, and naming conventions.

• Traffic report: Unsurprisingly, sport leads the field – or the ring
  Who's reading what?

• Technology report: Bots galore!
  Bots can do anything you want – well, almost.

• Special report: NPP needs you
  WMF continues to stonewall development; NPP wishes again relegated to stocking fillers.

• Special report 2: Now Wikidata is six
  SPARQL adds sparkle to WMF projects.

• In focus: Alexa
  We are all writing for Amazon.

• Gallery: Out of this world!
  No special effects here, just beautiful celestial images.

• Recent research: Wikimedia Commons worth $28.9 billion
  If it weren't free, of course.

• Humour: Talk page humour
  Wikipedia has a long history of talk page tomfoolery.

• Opinion: Strickland incident
  The reviewer who declined the article gives his perspective.

• From the archives: The Gardner Interview
  The "holy-shit" slide.

• From the editor: Time for a truce
  Lay down your verbal weapons.

• Op-ed: Looking back, looking forward: A beginner's experience on Wikipedia
  The experiences of a new user on Wikipedia, told in their own words.

• Special report: The Christmas wishlist
  What do the WMF devs have in store for the community?

• Opinion: The blogosphere migrates to Galaxy WMF
  Suppose they gave a blog and nobody came?

• News and notes: Reviewer of the year, WikiCup winner, and the 2019 Wikimedia Summit
  Looking both backward and forward to events concerning the community.

• Reflections: Wikipedia, history, and the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day
  A personal reflection on Wikipedia's role as a repository of history.

• In the media: Court-ordered article redaction, paid editing, and rock stars
  Real-world news competes with the usual celeb fascination for Wikipedia's commentators.

• Discussion report: Farewell, Mediation Committee
  It was a good 15 years. Plus: admins, notability, substubs, and new padlocks.

• Arbitration report: A long break ends
  Arbcom takes its first new case since June.

• Traffic report: Queen reigns for four weeks straight
  The "Queen" of stage and screen, that is. Is there another?

• Gallery: Intersections
  Biology or technology? Form follows function in nature and the constructed world.

• Recent research: Why do the most active Wikipedians burn out?; only 4% of students vandalize
  And other new research results.

• Essay: No one cares about your garage band
  Nope, don't care!

• Humour: The dark side of our favorite root vegetable
  Wonky carrots invoke terror.

• From the archives: Ars longa, vita brevis
  ARS might continue, but some Wikipedians might not.

The Wikipedia Library

Books & Bytes
Issue 31, October – Novemeber 2018

• OAWiki
• Wikimedia and Libraries User Group update
• Global branches update
• Bytes in brief

French version of Books & Bytes is now available on meta!
Read the full newsletter

• From the editors: Where to draw the line in reporting?
  Tell us what you think!

• Op-ed: Wikipedia not trumped by Trump appointee
  Did World Patent Marketing pay to get Wikipedia to include flattering information on their board member, now the Acting United States Attorney General?

• Special report: The Signpost got 380,000+ views in 2018, sounds reasonable enough, right?
  A statistical insight into the English Wikipedia's very own online community newsletter.

• News and notes: Some wishes do come true
  NPP wins the wish list poll; Wikipedia editors will be able to work better at night; new WMF appointments and new arbitrators; and who wants to be an admin?

• In the media: Political hijinks
  Wikipedia says 'ta' to British M.P. and 'buh-bye' to U.S. President's image vandals.

• Discussion report: A new record low for RfA
  Plus: reliable sources, notability, and fallout from the self-blocking software changes.

• WikiProject report: Articlegenesis
  Discovering how new and unregistered users make articles with the members of WikiProject Articles for Creation.

• Arbitration report: Year ends with one active case
  GiantSnowman asked to chill, and other disputes addressed by Arbcom (or not).

• Traffic report: Queen dethroned by U.S. presidents
  The band relinquishes its first place hold; Aquaman is swimming into view for late December.

• Gallery: Sun and Moon, water and stone
  Happy solstice, and happy New Year!

• Blog: News from the WMF
  In and around the WMF and its projects from the WMF's web site.

• Humour: I believe in Bigfoot
  Are you a believer?

• Essay: Requests for medication
  When the desire to continue to have the privilege of editing Wikipedia overrides the body's innate desire to choke the living shit out of some bastard who really has it coming.

• From the archives: Compromised admin accounts – again
  Compromised accounts – especially those of inactive admins.