#Wikimedia - Sharing all #knowledge

It is strategy time at the Wikimedia Foundation. For me the overarching theme is: "Share in the sum of all knowledge". Ensuring that knowledge, information is available is not only an objective for us, it is an objective we share with organisations like the Internet Archive and the OCLC.

One of the activities of Open Archive is the "Open Library". It provides over the Internet access to books that are free to read. At Wikidata we include links for authors that are known to the Open Library so all it takes is for a Wikipedia to have a {{authority control}} on its authors and a link to Open Library has been provided.

When you work together, a lot can be achieved. A file with identifiers for authors has been sent to the OCLC en Open Library. The reaction is that in the JSON for these authors Open Library includes a link to both VIAF (a system by the OCLC) and Wikidata. This is the JSON for Mr Richard W. Townshend.

The next step is to optimise the process of including identifiers for both VIAF and Open Library. What we bring in is our community. We have done a lot of work using Mix'n Match. We do add identifiers when it seems opportune and we already function as a stepping stone between Open Library and the OCLC. So when we can target attention in Mix'n Match per language, it already is a lot easier to make a match. It may be possible for the OCLC and Open Library to match authors through publications and in that way technology is a deciding factor.

In the end there is only one point to all this: share in the sum of all knowledge. We all have a part to play.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikidata - #Free Mazin Darwish

It is satisfying to learn that Mr Darwish has been freed. He was jailed since February 2012 and, the BBC has it that we was freed. It mentions that he is the director of the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM) and received many international awards.

Wikidata already knew about a few of those awards, finding more awards was a matter of reading the three Wikipedia articles. It is just a matter of doing the research. One of the awards Mr Darwish received was the PEN Pinter Prize in 2014. However, the Wikipedia article calls it the "Pinter International Writer of Courage Award". This award is not listed on the "List of PEN awards".

There is a reason to celebrate. Mr Darwish is free. It is satisfying to see that a lot of information is already there. Working on the data that exists on Mr Darwish connects him with more people sharing similar connections.

Every day there is someone who is worthy of attention. I can do this, you can do this. It is how Wikidata gains relevance. Relevance because it is information available for use in any language including Arabic.
Thanks,
        GerardM