#AfricaGap - #Wikidata localisation is about location, location, location

Beitbridge is both a town, a ward and a district in Zimbabwe. Particularly for Wikidata they are distinct; the town is together with other human settlements part of the ward and it is with other wards part of the district.

In Wikidata it is best practice to associate buildings, monuments, bridges whatever with the lowest local authority.

It is obvious that when you cannot find the associated item for an authority, or associated structures on maps such associations will not happen. Human settlements in Lesotho for instance will not be found because at this time they only exist as "black links".. eg here for the community council of Likhutloaneng in Lesotho.

In order to find any and all of the African local authorities in a language, there has to be a label in that language. For us, in any and all of the Wikimedia projects we rely on our own labels, titles whatever. When we want to show them on a map, the best maps available will be more and more the OpenStreetMap maps. Thanks to a very important project just finished by Wikimedia developers, we can show localised labels. Our labels. To do this properly our and the OSM data needs to be linked on the object level. This provides us with map functionality in our 280+ languages and makes it obvious that the location for localisation is at Wikidata not OSM.
Thanks,
        GerardM

#AfricaGap - A is for apple

When you watch this talk, you learn that teaching the alphabet with "A is for apple" is problematic in Africa. People do not eat apples, it is an exotic fruit, and it does not relate to the world of African children.

In my #AfricaGap project I aim to enrich information relevant to Africans. I started with African politicians and added a map of Africa with labels in the local language.

Thanks to Kelly Foster I added the 100 African women celebrated by OkayAfrica. This addresses the gender gap to some extend  and adds a healthy dose of women in the mix. Kelly is adding the 2017 women and I am not done yet with the 2018 women.

Obviously there are more politicians and, obviously the information about politicians is not complete. However, when people do add information about any of them it will update on Listeria lists on the English, the Zulu, Yoruba and Swahili Wikipedia. There must be other African awards as well.. Additional lists will happen when they do..

What the Ted talk taught me is that African food is different and, there is a point in highlighting these differences. There are categories specific for the national cuisine on the English Wikipedia. So when I am done with the OkayAfrica women African cuisine is next.

PS I am happy when people suggest other subjects particularly relevant to Africa. Collaborating on exposing them using Listeria lists and maybe info boxes is what I can achieve.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#AfricaGap - maps in Yoruba, Swahili, Hausa and Zulu

As no percent of Wikipedia is about Africans, it is great to learn how "map internationalisation" works on African language Wikipedias. The original example has Africa in Russian and with two tweaks, this same map shows really well in Yoruba, Swahili, Hausa or Zulu.

My objective is to bring focus to African content. I am still adding African politicians and this new functionality is too good to miss. It works really well, the documentation is there and it becomes a matter of localising the information for it to provide the same information properly in the languages of Africa.

While adding such information it becomes painfully obvious how much is still lacking. It would be cool to have information in long lists like this in columns. It takes more expertise than I have to make this happen. I have not figured out how to get Listeria to update these lists either.. At some stage I will or probably sooner, someone else will help me out.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#WeMissTurkey - the geography and organisation of the #Ottoman Empire

This map shows the development of the Ottoman Empire over time. Its accuracy may be disputed but it is among the best Wikimedia has to offer at this time.

This animated gif is really good at what it does. With all the basic parts available, it becomes possible to expand on these maps. The Ottoman empire was divided in "eyalets" and these were divided in "sanjaks". The size and the composition of these eyalets changed over time. An animation of these changes helps understand developments in for instance the Balkan.

At this time sanjaks are added to Wikidata and, this proves to be not that straight forward. Most of them do not have an article in any language. The spelling of the same sanjak differs in places and for some eyalets a modern interpretation is sought in order to provide some "legitimacy" of later developments; in one instance even the mentioning of the composite sanjaks is deliberately missing.

The governance of the Ottoman Empire was obviously along the line of these eyalats and sanjaks. For the eyalets there were "beylerbeys" and for the sanjaks "sanjak-beys". These offices were largely non-hereditary and during one time the composition of them was for quite some time by people originating from the Balkan.

When you consider the administrative organisation of the Ottoman Empire, there is a list of all the Sultans and their Grand Viziers. For the successions of other important functionaries there is still a lot that can be done.

When you are willing to help; please. Adding labels in other languages particularly Turkish will make a real difference. Adding missing humans in Wikidata and link them into a succession of functionaries will help a lot. It enables the provision of lists and they may be used in any language. When you are able to hack maps.. That would be really important; it is how all this information may come together.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikimedia - #Personal - there is no silver bullet

For everything that ails any of the #Wikimedia projects, there is no silver bullet. To complicate things, there is no agreement what it is that ails these projects mostly because there is hardly any collaboration.

I am not a Wikipedian. I love Wikipedia but I do not identify with it. I have been involved in many projects including Wikipedia and my global account is testament to that. My involvements have been substantial and central in my motivation is: how can we share the sum of all knowledge, how will we reach the biggest audience and have the biggest effect.

I have been called "monomaniacal with my silver bullet du jour". Over time several topics have occupied me and this has resulted in an evolving understanding of what I perceive as issues with what we do and how we do it. When you are interested in how my opinions evolved, read my blog, it runs from 2005.

The English Wikipedia is Wikimedia's success. Its biggest problem; over 50% of its target audience does not speak English. At that, organisational attention in any project attention is mostly for English. There are several solutions possible that help us "share the sum of the knowledge that is available" more widely.

• localisation of the user interface makes our software better usable and more user friendly
• the user interface of Wikidata makes it easy and obvious to add labels in *your* languages
• the data of Wikidata is used to generate texts that are cached, not saved, when there is no Wikipedia article on the subject
• Advertise the information we have; things like finished books in Wikisource

I do promote translatewiki.net for the localisation of the MediaWiki software and I would love to see the Internet Archive and the OCLC to use translatewiki.net and have their services localised in all the languages that Wikipedia supports.

Reasonator is still the best interface on the Wikidata data. Data becomes informative and it makes it easy to add labels in *your* language. In essence this is again all about "sharing in the sum of all available knowledge". Hidden gems are the "Concept cloud" and the QRcode available on every Reasonator page. Reasonator is just one of the many tools by Magnus that makes Wikidata usable.

My main motto is "what is the purpose". When I was particularly involved in Wiktionary, I collaborated with many people in many Wiktionaries and this is where I learned to appreciate the lack of coordination that exists between projects. Thanks to wonderful people like Sabine Cretella, I developed the ideas and in the end a data model for a project that became the basis for OmegaWiki. This data model was inspected and approved by among others Alan K. Melby. Thanks to Jimbo I got into contact with Barend Mons and became involved in bio-medical data and science. The development of OmegaWiki happened parallel to the main work in Wikiproteins.

At this time Wikidata and the opportunities it presents has my interest. Contrary to some, I am not an apologist for everything Wikidata and contrary to what some say, I do not blame the development team but the group pressures that so often result in unhappy compromises and decisions. It is for instance an acknowledged fact that Wikidata descriptions are problematic and that automated descriptions are superior.. "Never mind; it is what we do" is the prevailing sentiment.. (as always).

There is no silver bullet and consequently a result is only achieved after a lot of work. I want functionality that mimics an Algerian project I blogged about way back in 2013. To achieve this I am adding dates to the governorships of all USA states. It allows for queries like this. A next stage will be when a map of the USA is shown with all its states and a slider to move in time. It is then easy to show the governors at that time..

I am not sorry that I keep on returning to issues mentioned it the past, what some people miss is the amount of continuous effort that goes into achieving them.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#OSM - Districts of #Kerala

A Wikipedian asked me to blog about this map. The map is shown from within the English Wikipedia. It works really well on my mobile (an i-phone). The next step, integrating multi layered maps in articles.. and on a mobile?
Thanks,
       GerardM

For some documentation..

#Maps - Where did they live?

This map is in many ways perfect. It tells us a story. It helps visualise what happened in the past. The map is simple, they are the contours of present day Europe, more or less and in it you see roughly where what happened.

Obviously the map could be improved but typically it makes little difference for understanding what it is that is shown when it is seen in isolation.

When this map is part of a continuum of maps, it will show the movements over time. It will show where they are at a given time. They will show where the Vandals settled down and show where they fought their battles. Better understanding will emerge but it may get complicated. The Vandals were not the only ones around. It was a time of turmoil and only when the shape of former countries and battles are shown a better understanding emerges.

For many "former countries" maps are not available and when they are they are of a similar quality as the map of the Vandals. What I would love is maps as an overlay and just add maps and facts as they are available. Many maps will only over time get some credibility but it is an improvement over nothing to see.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikidata year 4; What Gupta year is that?

Wikidata is celebrating its fourth birthday. It is celebrated by some mighty fine gifts. It is a time to reflect on what has gone before and what is ahead of us. Obviously there are challenges we face and my gift are some queries / questions I do not know how to address. I focus on the Gupta empire because it currently has my interest.

During the era of the Gupta empire there was a "Gupta year". An article refers to it and my first question is: what date would the birthdate of Wikidata be in Gupta years?

Obviously there are many maps including the Gupta empire, Can I have them sorted by date please? What other countries border the Gupta empire? Who were its rulers and how does the map change over time?

To get answers is nice but for me it is important that the algorithms involved are relevant to any country old and new. Relevant to timelines old and new. When we can express dates in the "Year Gupta", we can check if dates in Wikidata are indeed Julian or maybe Gregorian..

When we have continuance in maps over time, we will know if a location, a city for instance or the land of a tribe is part of what country; what culture.

Wikidata live long and prosper :)
Thanks,
      GerardM

#WMHack #Maps and #Wikidata II

This hackathon had many people with an interest in maps come together in Zurich. There were several challenges they faced; how to represent maps in a wiki, how to store them and what do we need to know about them in Wikidata. In this mix of challenges the differences between contemporary maps and historic maps feature as well.

Wikidata needs to know several specific things; it needs to know that something is a map, it needs to know the four corners of a map, the location where that map can be found and finally it is nice to know what type of map it is. More attributes are possible but this was considered the minimum for Wikidata.

The thought process about Commons was forward looking; it is going to be "Wikidatafied" and this will surely affect current practices. Information that is currently in templates will move into Wikidata and many of the galeries and categories will surely become redundant because queries will provide a more reliable and complete result.

For Wikis, current best practices were analysed and, it was found that information on a map exists in many layers. There is a base layer and on top of that you can show a contemporary or historic map. On top of it you may want to show the shapes of countries or districts. These may be sprinkled with pointers that reflect the result of a query. To finish it off, you may want to add even more that demonstrates a point made in a particular article.

All this information needs a place. It needs a special place because you may want to use a map several times. In Zurich we ended of a working example of a map that included all these complications by inserting information in a namespace. The next challenges are to make it robust and user friendly enough.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#WMHack #Maps and #Wikidata

This hackathon and many maps put #Zurich on the map. When you consider maps and, particularly historic maps, they have four corners and a date. That is the minimal approach to a map.  You can add to this what a map intends to show, it can be a thematic map or a generic map.

When you add the four corners of a map as properties to a map, you can query for the maps that include Zurich.. When the maps are dated, you can show them in order..

It is really exciting that it has been decided what we need in a map on Wikidata.
Thanks,
     GerardM

#WMhack - last years demo

At last years hackathon, one highlight was the map showing the history of Islamic states. It makes clever use of Wikipedia and it makes information available in Arabic and English.

This year the hackathon will be in Zurich and one of the main subjects are maps and how it relates to Wikidata. The history of Islamic states is relevant in all languages and it would be cool when we can update this application to make use of Wikidata.

In this map,  all the different states have an overlay. There must be a map for each state at each interval. This app shows the different rulers at a time.

When we have such overlays available to us, we can do more than show the rulers, the centres of power. We could show the battles, the wars, the conquests. They happen in between the changes of the maps.

Maps that show areas grow and wane in time are another area where Wikidata can be a real help if only because it links to information in so many languages.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikidata, #maps and #sprites

Maps are static but many maps define something that is very much alive. Take the "raid on the Medway". It shows two flotillas, it indicates how they move. It does not show anything happening of the other side of this battle. It does not show positions.

A sprite is a two-dimensional image or animation that is integrated into a larger scene. It can be put on a map. Picture this, the same map of the raid on the Medway and two little sprites moving in time along the indicated lines.

Technically it is not much of a challenge. It becomes interesting when it starts moving on a real map, an OpenStreetMap for instance. Add the moments when we have images that show scenes of a battle, an occurrence and we get something that becomes relevant.

Technically it seems doable. It seems like a challenge that brings together the parts that already exist. It will be really exciting when it brings Wikidata, Commons, OpenStreetMap together. It will help us explain about events. It is part of sharing the sum of all knowledge.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Reasonator - #Cambridge revisited IV

Reasonator is very much user-centred; you are in the driving seat. You decide in what language you want to see the information. You decide if you want to look at any of the sources provided. You decide if you want to look at a map.

The latest improvement to Reasonator includes an icon for a map in the "hover boxes". Hover boxes are everywhere in Reasonator and maps are now one click closer.

The logo we use for a map is the best we could find. Our current choice is the only one at Commons that does not have a black background. An alternative would have been the OpenStreetMap logo, we use OSM to project our Wikidata items on. If you have a suggestion, it has to be recognizable as a globe/map at 16px height.
Thanks,
      GerardM

Friends - Where they live

Lately #maps are more often the topic of conversation. A friend of mine send me this to indicate where he works. When you compare it with where I live, you get an idea of how much bigger Australia is compared to the Netherlands. Both maps show items that are within a radius of 15km.

Words are expressive but maps, illustrations are really powerful.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Reasonator - #Cambridge revisited III

Putting #Wikidata #data on a #map is one way of providing #information. Collecting geo-coordinates and not giving it a use is at best "anticipatory". Putting items on a map has been done before but it has all been incidental. It showed off the promise of "Yes, we can". Reasonator does go beyond the promise; it delivers. When an item has a geo-coordinate, you will have the option to look for all the items that are in a range of 15km of that item.

It works for any place on any continent. You will get a map and, you can alter the radius, you can zoom in and zoom out. You can do this for Rio de Janeiro, Cambridge, Almere and Disney land.

The magic of maps is brought to Reasonator and consequently, it is for you to make the most of it. You can put more items on the map by adding geo-coordinates where they are missing. That is obvious. What we are interested in what you will come up with.

As always with a first iteration of functionality, it could do with improvements.. Any ideas??
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikidata - #Cambridge revisited II

When you are interested in #maps, projecting the results of a Wikidata query on a map will become increasingly exciting. It seems obvious but only those items that have a geo-coordinate will find their place on a map. When I blogged about Cambridge revisited, the message was very much that we can find all items within a certain radius and, that we can process them with AutoList and WD-Fist.

Magnus is now providing us with something new. The results of a WDQ query are projected on a map. When you run a query, it could result in every item with geo-coordinates in a municipality, a county. It could be all the castles of the United Kingdom.. Just give your imagination some room.

As always, this is the first iteration of functionality. It makes use of components that we have been using for a long time. What will be interesting for us is to learn if the map functionality is able to cope. We learn by trying things out and at that, this is the perfect environment for you.
Thanks,
       GerardM

#Wikidata - #Cambridge revisited

When you are interested in #maps, it helps that Wikidata includes more and more geo-coordinates. So yes, you can put Cambridge on a map. This is old news, but somewhere hidden in the documentation of WDQ, it says that you can query for all items that are within a specific radius (in km) from a given coordinate.

When you apply this to Cambridge, the API result can be found here. The query definition can be used to produce an AutoList but you may also be interested in adding a missing image.

For me these tools and Wikidata is where we are "getting a job done". The job is being able to share the sum of all knowledge with our public. Wikipedia is great as far as it goes. Wikidata has the potential to inform in any language about any subject whether there is an article or not. It is becoming less of a potential as more data becomes available because Wikidata is increasingly potent.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikipedia is static ... that is ok-ish

Dobrodole is a village in Montenegro. There is no article in the English language Wikipedia. All that was known at Wikidata was the existence of an article in three languages and its coordinates.

That is enough to present these three maps. Actually, it is the same map but each has a slightly different orientation. When you want to use a map, all you need are coordinates. It is that simple.

Theoretically it is not much different in a Wikipedia. It starts with ... do I want to show a map. When you do, you can. When you want to do it "right" and scalable, it may be that you want to be able to cache the maps. However, before that becomes a problem, the wish for a map has to be expressed in some way in an article.

Yes, there are templates that can turn this on rather quickly. The question is not can this be done but how long does it take for a community to agree to anything.
Thanks,
      GerardM

#Wikidata - #Shahrud County, a sharestan from #Iran

When attention is given to detail, details like what refers to Shahrud County, you will find that much of it is in either English or in Persian. People who know both languages can assess the quality of the information.

More things that can be located on a map are being placed on the lowest level of an "administrative entity". As a result the number of items associated with that entity are manageable. You can identify what is missing, you can identify what has duplicates.

It may be of interest to see what is on the map for the "administrative entity" you are living in.
Thanks,
      GerardM

United we stand strong, divided we still are

This is a #map of Elburg, a municipality in the Netherlands. It shows its monuments and when available it will show a picture for them thanks to Wiki loves Monuments. There is a pop up for every individual monument and it shows a wealth of information.

According to the Wikipedia article, there are 293 monuments in Elburg alone. The information is rich; it includes descriptions, geo-locations, external sources and a link to Google Maps. This is a great choice because it allows you to see all the monuments while virtually travelling through this small town.

When this information becomes available in Wikidata, it becomes possible to find translations for many of the data items in use. The monuments in the Elburg can be found with a query like this one. The existing list article can be defined like this. For all the 293 items a new Wikidata has to be created and populated with the existing data.

This blog post indicates that it can be done. The problem is that it requires a retooling of Wikimedia loves Monuments. To the people who worked so hard to build the existing tooling the message is: it is the work you did that makes it possible to have quick results in Wikidata in the first place.
Thanks,
       GerardM