• From the editor: NINETEEN MORE YEARS! NINETEEN MORE YEARS!
  The Signpost can now drink beer and chant slogans in Canada. What slogans should we chant for the next nineteen years?

• Special report: Public Domain Day 2024
  Mickey & You: What can you do?

• Technology report: Wikipedia: A Multigenerational Pursuit
  A techie looks at the big questions.

• News and notes: In other news ... see ya in court!
  Let the games begin! The 2024 WikiCup is off to a strong start. With copyright enforcement, AI training and freedom of expression, it's another typical week in the wiki-sphere!

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate
  The first of two installments, regarding a process of many installments.

• In the media: What is plagiarism? Oklahoma Disneyland? Reaching a human being at Wikipedia?
  Watch out for those space ships!

• WikiProject report: WikiProjects Israel and Palestine
  What are the editorial processes behind covering some of the most politically polarizing and contentious topics on English Wikipedia?

• Obituary: Anthony Bradbury
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: The most viewed articles of 2023
  Around the world in 365 days (with many stops in India).

• Crossword: everybody gangsta till the style sheets start cascading
  The good news is that I've perfected the templates that allow other people to make actually good crosswords.

• Comix: Conflict resolution
  Getting down to brass tacks &c.

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 60, November – December 2023

• Three new partners
• Google Scholar integration
• How to track partner suggestions

Read the full newsletter

• News and notes: Wikipedian Osama Khalid celebrated his 30th birthday in jail
  Plus WMF child rights impact assessment, Chinese Wikipedia changes admin rules

• Opinion: Until it happens to you
  A stream of consciousness about plagiarism on Wikipedia from the perspective of a user who directly witnessed it.

• Disinformation report: How paid editors squeeze you dry
  And how you can stop them!

• In the media: Katherine Maher new NPR CEO, go check Wikipedia, race in the race
  Another wobble, more Ackman, our usual pathological optimist, and football in dirty pants!

• In focus: The long road of a featured article candidate, part 2
  Everything you really wanted to know about writing featured articles.

• Recent research: Croatian takeover was enabled by "lack of bureaucratic openness and rules constraining [admins]"
  And other new research publications.

• Comix: We've all got to start somewhere
  Writing a good subheading for a one-sentence joke is basically like writing an entire second joke so I'm not going to do it.

• Traffic report: DJ, gonna burn this goddamn house right down
  Job changes, death, sex, murder, suicide and a vacation!

• News and notes: Wikimedia Russia director declared "foreign agent" by Russian gov; EU prepares to pile on the papers
  "the exact extent of the obligations" unclear... many such cases!

• Disinformation report: How low can the scammers go?
  Lower, trust me!

• Gallery: Before and After: Why you don't need to touch grass to dramatically improve images of flora and fauna
  Finding the right bumblebee among all the bumblebees!

• In the media: Speaking in tongues, toeing the line, and dressing the part
  The usual odd articles about Wikipedia.

• Serendipity: Is this guy the same as the one who was a Nazi?
  The hunt for Bertil Ragnar Anzén.

• Traffic report: Griselda, Nikki, Carl, Jannik and two types of football
  Plus films, Grammys and a rumble!

• Crossword: Our crossword to bear
  &c.

• Comix: Strongly
  That's more than weakly!

• News and notes: Wikimedia enters US Supreme court hearings as "the dolphin inadvertently caught in the net"
  Plus, the U4C Charter keeps planting seeds, the RfA process is set to become more sustainable, and more news from the Wikimedia ecosystem.

• Recent research: Images on Wikipedia "amplify gender bias"
  And other new findings

• In the media: The Scottish Parliament gets involved, a wikirace on live TV, and the Foundation's CTO goes on record
  Plus, naughty politicians, Federal judge not a fan, UFOs and beavers.

• Obituary: Vami_IV
  Rest in peace.

• Traffic report: Supervalentinefilmbowlday
  If you say it loud enough the views will come your way!

• WikiCup report: High-scoring WikiCup first round comes to a close
  135 battle it out; 67 advance

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 61, January – February 2024

• Bristol University Press and British Online Archives now available
• 1Lib1Ref results

Read the full newsletter

• Technology report: Millions of readers still seeing broken pages as "temporary" disabling of graph extension nears its second year
  Much effort was spent drafting a movement charter about becoming "essential infrastructure of the ecosystem of free knowledge". How much is spent maintaining it?

• Interview: Interview on Wikimedia Foundation fundraising and finance strategy
  Signpost interviews Wikimedia Foundation leadership on fundraising banners

• Special report: 19-page PDF accuses Wikipedia of bias against Israel, suggests editors be forced to reveal their real names, and demands a new feature allowing people to view the history of Wikipedia articles
  And does it have anything to do with the unusual decision to let a zero-edit user open an arbitration request?

• Op-Ed: Wikipedia in the age of personality-driven knowledge
  Can we compete with social media? Will aoomers forget Wikipedia?

• Recent research: "Newcomer Homepage" feature mostly fails to boost new editors
  And several papers look at climate change on Wikipedia

• News and notes: Universal Code of Conduct Coordinating Committee Charter ratified
  WLM winners announced, Wikimania 2024, a new Wikimedia movement affiliate, and active enwp admins reach a record low.

• In the media: "For me it’s the autism": AARoad editors on the fork more traveled
  Worldwide women turned blue and controversies on Serbian & French Wikipedia.

• Traffic report: He rules over everything, on the land called planet Dune
  Let me take you to the movies.

• Humour: Letters from the editors
  The only worthwhile grievance is the one that prompts satire.

• Comix: Layout issue
  margin: 0 auto !important;

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 62, March – April 2024

• IEEE and Haaretz now available
• Let's Connect Clinics about The Wikipedia Library
• Spotlight and Wikipedia Library tips

Read the full newsletter

• In the media: Censorship and wikiwashing looming over RuWiki, edit wars over San Francisco politics, and another wikirace on live TV
  Plus, tribute songs and shout-outs outweighing vandalism and hoaxes, a dispute about the real king of the platform and other bits of news.

• News and notes: A sigh of relief for open access as Italy makes a slight U-turn on their cultural heritage reproduction law
  Plus, new updates on the privacy and research ethics whitepaper and the graphs outage situation, and an Iranian former steward is globally banned from Wikimedia projects

• WikiConference report: WikiConference North America 2023 in Toronto recap
  Outcomes of the event including newly published videos and photos, the archived conference website and program, and some attendee reflections on its significance.

• WikiProject report: WikiProject Newspapers (Not WP:NOTNEWS)
  A WikiProject report on the 📰🌍 globe's finest news source!

• Recent research: New survey of over 100,000 Wikipedia users
  And other recent research publications

• Traffic report: O.J., cricket and a three body problem
  Plus Godzilla meets Francis Scott Key!

• News and notes: Democracy in action: multiple elections
  WMF trustee elections, U4C results, Italian ArbCom, WMF and Endowment annual reports.

• Special report: Will the new RfA reform come to the rescue of administrators?
  We don't know yet, but there is some encouraging news, nevertheless.

• Arbitration report: Ruined temples for posterity to ponder over – arbitration from '22 to '24
  Some go out with a bang, some with a whimper, few with much of a comprehensible explanation.

• In the media: Deadnames on the French Wikipedia, and a duel between Russian wikis
  Plus, the WMF joins the Unicode Consortium, Chris Albon talks about AI tools on Wikipedia, communities address under-representation on the site.

• Op-Ed: Wikidata to split as sheer volume of information overloads infrastructure
  More queries are failing, and more frequently, so what is to be done?

• Comix: Generations
  It do be like that sometimes.

• Traffic report: Crawl out through the fallout, baby
  With cricket and some cute baby reindeer!

• News and notes: Wikimedia Foundation publishes its Form 990 for fiscal year 2022-2023
  The Form 990, as well as highlights and FAQs, are now available for review.

• Technology report: New Page Patrol receives a much-needed software upgrade
  A new model for collaboration between the WMF and the community?

• Deletion report: The lore of Kalloor
  Hoaxes and the genesis of information.

• In the media: National cable networks get in on the action arguing about what the first sentence of a Wikipedia article ought to say
  First line, sixth paragraph, body text or unified Reich?

• News from the WMF: Progress on the plan — how the Wikimedia Foundation advanced on its Annual Plan goals during the first half of fiscal year 2023-2024
  Outlining progress against the four key goals

• Opinion: Public response to the editors of Settler Colonial Studies
  A letter.

• Recent research: ChatGPT did not kill Wikipedia, but might have reduced its growth
  And various research findings about Wikidata and knowledge graphs.

• Featured content: We didn't start the wiki
  No we didn't write it, but we tried to cite it

• Essay: No queerphobia
  An essay.

• Special report: RetractionBot is back to life!
  ... and flagging your articles with big ugly red notices! (This is a good thing.)

• Traffic report: Chimps, Eurovision, and the return of the Baby Reindeer
  Movies, deaths, elections (but no cricket).

• Comix: The Wikipediholic Family
  Some stuff's only okay in the privacy of the home.

• Humour: Wikipedia rattled by sophisticated cyberattack of schoolboy typing "balls" in infobox
  Project in shambles – "it had never occurred to us that this was possible".

• Concept: Palimpsestuous
  Hypertext.

• News and notes: WMF board elections and fundraising updates
  Three new admins, but overall numbers still shrinking.

• Special report: Wikimedia Movement Charter ratification vote underway, new Council may surpass power of Board
  Will we weather the storm?

• In focus: How the Russian Wikipedia keeps it clean despite having just a couple dozen administrators
  Unbundling, automation, fighting spirit, and a bot named Reimu Hakurei.

• Discussion report: Wikipedians are hung up on the meaning of Madonna
  Debate unsettled after seventeen years.

• In the media: War and information in war and politics
  Advocacy organizations, a journalist, mycophobes, conservatives, leftists, photographers, and a disinformation task force imagine themselves in Wikipedia.

• Sister projects: On editing Wikisource
  A journey to a sister project.

• Obituary: Hanif Al Husaini, Salazarov, Hyacinth, and PirjanovNurlan
  Rest in peace.

• Opinion: Etika: a Pop Culture Champion
  An article about Etika's appeal and legacy in pop culture.

• Gallery: Spokane Willy's photos
  A virtual visit to the Inland Northwest.

• Op-Ed: Why you should not vote in the 2024 WMF BoT elections
  "Simply not good enough".

• Crossword: On a day of independence, beat crosswords into crossploughshares
  How well do you know the main page (no peeking)?

• Humour: A joke
  ...!

• Cobwebs: Counting to a billion — manuscripts don't burn
  Special:Diff/1 and related techno-trivia more complicated than you'd think.

• Recent research: Is Wikipedia Politically Biased? Perhaps
  And other new publications on systemic bias and other topics.

• Traffic report: Talking about you and me, and the games people play
  Elections, movies, sports.

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 63, May – June 2024

• One new partner
• 1Lib1Ref
• Spotlight: References check

Read the full newsletter

• Discussion report: Internet users flock to Wikipedia to debate its image policy over Trump raised-fist photo
  Iconic photograph, invalid fair use exemption criterion #3a claimant, or both?

• News and notes: Wikimedia community votes to ratify Movement Charter; Wikimedia Foundation opposes ratification
  Establishment of power-sharing agreement between WMF corporation and volunteer user community in limbo.

• News from the WMF: Wikimedia Foundation Board resolution and vote on the proposed Movement Charter
  Natalia Tymkiv, Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Wikimedia Foundation, on the Charter vote results, the resolution, meeting minutes, and proposed next steps.

• Essay: Reflections on editing and obsession
  A lost Signpost submission from fifteen years ago brought into the light, as good and true now as it was then.

• In the media: What's on Putin's fork, the court's docket, and in Harrison's book?
  Failing forks, smart and well-researched stories, LGBT rights, and oral sex!

• Obituary: JamesR
  Rest in peace.

• Crossword: Vaguely bird-shaped crossword
  Do you know these Wikipedia quotes?

• Humour: Joe Biden withdraws RfA, Donald Trump selects co-nom
  Dems in disarray, GOP in chaos — analysts say news expected, but few can predict how race will shape up from here.

• In the media: Portland pol profile paid for from public purse
  A STORM over an AI that writes articles. And other notes of interest.

• Recent research: STORM: AI agents role-play as "Wikipedia editors" and "experts" to create Wikipedia-like articles, a more sophisticated effort than previous auto-generation systems
  And other findings.

• In focus: Twitter marks the spot
  Musk's Twitter acquisition and rebranding have caused long debates on Wikipedia.

• News and notes: Another Wikimania has concluded.
  And Movement Charter ratification vote comments have been published

• Special report: Nano or just nothing: Will nano go nuclear?
  Possibly paid articles.

• Opinion: HouseBlaster's RfA debriefing
  HouseBlaster's reflections on his RfA. In particular, do not ask superlative questions.

• Traffic report: Ball games, movies, elections, but nothing really weird
  Just normally weird!

• Humour: I'm proud to be a template
  Come in, you whippersnapper, have a cup of tea.

• News and notes: WikiCup enters final round, MCDC wraps up activities, 17-year-old hoax article unmasked
  JCW compilation now tracks free DOIs, Wiki Loves Monuments getting started, WMF's status as UN observer stymied by China for fourth time.

• In the media: AI is not playing games anymore. Is Wikipedia ready?
  Updates from the Portland pol's case, the war in Gaza, and other Wiki-related reports.

• Recent research: Simulated Wikipedia seen as less credible than ChatGPT and Alexa in experiment
  And other new research findings

• News from the WMF: Meet the 12 candidates running in the WMF Board of Trustees election
  Who are they, why are they running and what are they bringing to the Board?

• Wikimania: A month after Wikimania 2024
  What all happened in Katowice?

• Serendipity: What it's like to be Wikimedian of the Year
  Hannah Clover shares her fondest memories of her first Wikimania.

• Traffic report: After the gold rush
  The Olympics (yay!) and the American election (oh no).

• Humour: Local man halfway through rude reply no longer able to recall why he hates other editor
  "I can't remember whether he is an incompetent moron, or an incorrigible POV warrior, or some other thing, but either way, to hell with him."

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 64, July – August 2024

• The Hindu Group joins The Wikipedia Library
• Wikimania presentation
• New user script for easily searching The Wikipedia Library

Read the full newsletter

• In the media: Courts order Wikipedia to give up names of editors, legal strain anticipated from "online safety laws"
  ANI (but probably not the one you're thinking of), bias and bans, crisis and Clover, Engelhorn's euros, and will the zoomers inherit the project?

• Community view: Indian courts order Wikipedia to take down name of crime victim, editors strive towards consensus
  In response to a takedown request, Wikipedia editors reached a consensus on how to handle it appropriately.

• Serendipity: A Wikipedian at the 2024 Paralympics
  User Hawkeye7 opens up on his experience as a media representative following the Australian team at the latest Summer Paralympics in Paris.

• Opinion: asilvering's RfA debriefing
  User asilvering reflects on their recent successful request for adminship.

• News and notes: Are you ready for admin elections?
  More changes to RfA on the way in October, final results for the U4C elections revealed, and other news from the Wikimedia world.

• Gallery: Are Luddaites defending the English Wikipedia?
  Picture this: medicine, drugs, JFK, Cleopatra, anachronism, and global catastrophe.

• Recent research: Article-writing AI is less "prone to reasoning errors (or hallucinations)" than human Wikipedia editors
  And other recent research publications.

• Traffic report: Jump in the line, rock your body in time
  Band reunions and Beetlejuice!

The Wikipedia Library: Books & Bytes
Issue 65, September – October 2024

• Hindu Tamil Thisai joins The Wikipedia Library
• Frankfurt Book Fair 2024 report
• Tech tip: Mass downloads

Read the full newsletter