Annual report (2011–2012)

Key activities and events

Wikimania 2012

Along with other Wikimedia institutions the chapter hosted the 8th annual Wikimedia conference, Wikimania, at George Washington University in Washington, DC, on July 12–15, 2012. There were over 1400 attendees from 87 countries. The U.S. Department of State hosted one of its regular Tech@State conference jointly, calling it Tech@State:Wiki.Gov and focusing on "Collaborative knowledge and the use of wikis in the public sector".

Ongoing programs

Academic and educational outreach

2012 was an active year for editathons, workshops, and hackathons:

March:

• She Blinded Me with Science: Smithsonian Women in Science Edit-a-Thon

May:

• The second Smithsonian Institution Archives Edit-a-thon

July:

• ArtBytes hackathon at the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore

August:

• Masterpiece Museum Editathon

October:

• Wikipedia Loves Libraries: Backstage at the Smithsonian Libraries 2012
• Wikipedia Loves Libraries: George Washington University, Global Resources Center
• Wikipedia Loves Libraries: George Washington University Labor History Research Center
• Remote participation in the Ada Lovelace Day Editathon

December:

• 2 Wikipedia Workshops at the Baltimore Free School

[Some may move into other sections ... missing U. MD event]

Cultural outreach

Attendees at GLAMCamp 2012 in February at the National Archives were Sarah Stierch, Katie Filbert, Dominic McDevitt-Parks, User:Slowking4, User:Jarekt, User:jeremyb, and Kristin Anderson, and local guest Jefferson Bailey.

GLAMCamp participants rewrote the GLAM documentation, and assisted with the Walters Museum upload.

Government outreach and engagement

An informal "Wikipedia Lunch Group" has begun meeting at the Library of Congress, consisting of staff and other visitors.

Three Wikipedians at the Library of Congress participated in the OCLC "Linking Library Data to Wikipedia" webcasts by Max Klein.

Wikipedian-in-Residence Dominic McDevitt-Parks gave a one-hour talk at the Library of Congress on Wikipedia and the National Archives. He was introduced by Kristin Anderson, of the Wikimedia DC Board of Directors.

International and diplomatic outreach

Nicholas Bashour, Wikimedia DC President, and Board member Kristin Anderson attended the Wikimedia Conference – Chapters' Meeting 2012 in Berlin, Germany.

Katie Filbert stepped down as President of Wikimedia DC, to accept a position with WikiData, in Berlin, Germany.

Kristin Anderson attended Choctaw Days at the National Museum of the American Indian to confer with tribal members about the current state of the Choctaw Language Wikipedia, and started a Mohegan Language Wikipedia in consultation with a Mohegan speaker at Wikimania 2012. She has also received e-mails from linguists expressing interest in the Shoshoni and Pipil language Wikipedias, and discovered a Cheyenne language translation of Martin Luther's Small Catechism for Wikimedia Commons. The Library of Congress "Native by Native" events, which showcased rare books and Native American flutes in honor of Native American Month, provided several uploads for Commons. Kristin thanks WLL staffer Amir Ahironi, LC staffer Bodhan Kantor, Amqui of Wikimedia Canada, and Paulette of the Missoula Public Library for their assistance with Native American fonts, especially Cheyenne and Salish. And a big shoutout to Dthomsen8, a new friend from Wikimania, who pitched in to help clear the 1800 article assessment backlog at WikiProject Indigenous peoples of North America! Now all those little kids in Kenya reading the Kiwix offline Wikipedia will get to read about the Native Americans.

Also, a shoutout to the manager of the World Bank Infoshop for her help in assembling materials for the InfoShop article. The Infoshop is a wonderful place to sit and edit, if you're downtown on a weekday, and has plenty of material about the Global South!

The Estonian Embassy event was a great success ...

[And, The concert at the Austrian Embassy ...]

An outreach tip for Wikipedians in large US cities: Cab drivers who come from countries you don't know much about are sometimes quite knowledgeable about Wikipedia's coverage of their hometowns. Some are pleasantly surprised to discover that they can read about the US on Wikipedia in their native language. Striking up conversations about Wikipedia with these folks can be very interesting. If you ask questions about whether they're satisfied with the accuracy and quality of coverage about their country/culture on the Wikipedia, and about how they use the Internet and mobile phones, you may well learn some new things.

Public outreach and education

Editing for the Blind, three events at the DC Martin Luther King Public Library Adaptive Services Division. Using the JAWS screenreader, a group of blind library patrons learning computer skills created book reviews for three titles, including Hard Revolution and Fallen Grace.

The Great American Wicknic met at Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, and in Frederick, Maryland.

Our December reception at the National Press Club has given us a head start on our January 2013 Professional Outreach and Retention Initiative goal of reaching out to professionals involved in Public Policy, Public Affairs, and Political Science. We showcased the winning photos from Wiki Loves Monuments, and discovered that Wikipedians and the young journalists group have a great time together, with many complimentary skills and interests to share. During this event, we also had productive discussions with a fellow who is working towards development of a local wiki for Washington DC, to serve as a clearinghouse for information about social services.

[this needs expansion]