Last summer at Wikimania in Hong Kong, the annual global Wikimedia conference, we (a group of Wikipedia researchers) discussed how we could make wiki research more impactful. In our work in academia and on Wikimedia projects, we saw a host of missed opportunities to share ideas, hypotheses, code, and research methods. We set out to create a space to bring researchers together with Wikipedians and facilitate problem solving, discovery and innovation with the use of open data and open source tools. Labs2 (L2) aims to build this space, by providing infrastructure and venues for collaborative wiki research.
Today we’re thrilled to announce the inaugural Wiki Research Hackathon – a global event hosted by Wikimedia Foundation researchers, academic researchers and Wikipedians from around the world on Saturday, November 9, 2013.
What
This hackathon is an opportunity for anyone interested in research on wikis, Wikipedia, and open collaboration to meet, share ideas, and work together. It is targeted at Wikipedia editors, students, researchers, coders and anyone interested in designing new tools, statistics and data visualization, and producing new knowledge about Wikimedia projects and their communities.
The goal of this event is to:
- share knowledge about research tools and datasets (and how to use them)
- ask burning research questions (and learn how to answer them)
- get involved in ongoing research projects (or start new ones)
- design new data-driven apps and tools (or hack existing ones)
Where
This hackathon will be held both as a series of local meetups (Perth, Mannheim, Oxford, Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Seattle, etc.) and virtual meetups (Asia/Oceania, Europe/Africa & The Americas) for those who can’t make it to the local events. An IRC channel (#wikimedia-labsconnect) and a Google Hangout open throughout the day will allow attendees to connect online.
How
Interested attendees can sign up for the event on Meta-wiki.
Local and virtual meetups are listed on the event page. All you need to do is add your name to the list of participants for the event that makes sense for you.
Who
For any question about the event (including volunteering for a local meetup), you can reach us at wrh@wikimedia.org or leave a message on the hackathon’s talk page on Meta-wiki. We look forward to seeing you on November 9.
- Aaron Halfaker, Wikimedia Foundation
- Jonathan Morgan, Wikimedia Foundation
- Morten Warncke-Wang, University of Minnesota
- Aaron Shaw, Northwestern University
- Dario Taraborelli, Wikimedia Foundation
- Taha Yasseri, Oxford University
- Henrique Andrade, Wikimedia Foundation
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