Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/Single/2005-11-07
From the editor
This week, the Signpost has made a few backend changes. While the site will remain the same, our newsroom has been de-cluttered and organized for clarity. In addition, the Signpost now accepts e-mailed suggestions for story ideas for those editors who wish to remain anonymous. The e-mail address is WikipediaSignpost@GMail.com (you can also use this link) Any comments are welcomed here.
Also, we'd like to remind readers that your input is welcomed. If you have an event you'd like to publicize, feel free to leave a note on the tip line — or even write the article yourself!
Thank you for continuing to read the Signpost; we're proud to have such a great readership.
— Ral315 and the Signpost staff
ArbCom duties and requirements
A chat with the elected Arbitrators
6 February 2006
Jimbo Wales appoints 11 arbitrators, increases committee size
23 January 2006
Arbitration Committee elections continue; ArbCom member resigns
16 January 2006
ArbCom candidates (part two)
9 January 2006
ArbCom candidates
2 January 2006
Straw poll closes
19 December 2005
Jimbo starts new poll regarding election
5 December 2005
Last chance to run for ArbCom
28 November 2005
ArbCom voting process
14 November 2005
ArbCom duties and requirements
7 November 2005
A closer look: the calls for reform of the ArbCom
31 October 2005
A look back: the 2004 ArbCom elections
24 October 2005
Current ArbCom members
17 October 2005
Criticism of the ArbCom
10 October 2005
About the Arbitration process
3 October 2005
The history of the Arbitration Committee
26 September 2005
Introduction to a special series: A look at the upcoming Arbitration Committee elections
19 September 2005
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A chat with the elected Arbitrators |
This week, the Wikipedia Signpost examines the requirements to become an Arbitrator and the duties of an Arbitrator.
The Wikipedia Arbitration Committee does not have any official requirements for becoming an Arbitrator. However, all Arbitrators have been administrators, and one is currently a bureaucrat. Though there are no official requirements, it is highly unlikely that someone who is not an administrator could gain the amount of community support necessary to become an Arbitrator.
After a "large number of clearly unsuitable candidates" and non-administrators applied in the December 2004 elections, Jguk proposed several changes to the 2005 elections in August of this year. The first of the proposed modifications to the rules involved restricting candidates to admins. Despite having some support initially, the community rejected the proposal later. Said Arbitrator Theresa Knott: "I oppose this. It's unnecessary. Let innapropriate (sic) candidates run and fail. This looks cabalistic." Many others agreed with her, stating that it would be highly unlikely that a non-admin would win, making the rule unnecessary.
Arbitrators also have several duties, most of them unofficial. Besides deciding whether to accept or reject a case, Arbitrators must listen to arguments from both sides, look through evidence and diffs, and decide on findings of facts, remedies, enforcements, and other decisions. In addition, Arbitration policy also states that Arbitrators have a duty to recuse themselves when they are either involved or may be biased in a certain case.
Besides recusals, Arbitrators also discuss cases with themselves, often on the Arbitration mailing list. In addition, Arbitrators must also deal with community reaction and respond accordingly. For example, a recent Requests for adminship for Stevertigo, mandated by the ArbCom, was met with such community opposition that the ArbCom agreed to re-open the case and consider alternative remedies.
ArbCom member resigns
A chat with the elected Arbitrators
6 February 2006
Jimbo Wales appoints 11 arbitrators, increases committee size
23 January 2006
Arbitration Committee elections continue; ArbCom member resigns
16 January 2006
ArbCom candidates (part two)
9 January 2006
ArbCom candidates
2 January 2006
Straw poll closes
19 December 2005
Jimbo starts new poll regarding election
5 December 2005
Last chance to run for ArbCom
28 November 2005
ArbCom voting process
14 November 2005
ArbCom duties and requirements
7 November 2005
A closer look: the calls for reform of the ArbCom
31 October 2005
A look back: the 2004 ArbCom elections
24 October 2005
Current ArbCom members
17 October 2005
Criticism of the ArbCom
10 October 2005
About the Arbitration process
3 October 2005
The history of the Arbitration Committee
26 September 2005
Introduction to a special series: A look at the upcoming Arbitration Committee elections
19 September 2005
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A chat with the elected Arbitrators |
On Thursday, 4 November of this week, Sannse resigned from the Wikipedia Arbitration Committeee, citing health concerns and a lack of time. Sannse first announced her resignation on the Arbitration Committee mailing list, and Arbitrator Raul654 later announced the resignation on Wikipedia by removing Sannse's name from the list of Arbitrators, citing her resignation.
Sannse had already been listed as away for several weeks; the official reason was an extended wiki-break. However, last Monday, 31 October, Sannse had indicated on her talk page that she hoped to resume her ArbCom activity soon. First elected in the December 2004 Arbitration Committee elections, Sannse had been active for several months. Her term was not up for re-election until 2007.
Later, Sannse confirmed her resignation on the mailing list. "I came back from an extended wikibreak last week, and hoped to get back to arbitration work as soon possible. Unfortunately, it became clear as I tried to catch up that I am just not well enough at the moment to put in the time and commitment that the job needs. I didn't feel it fair to my colleagues on the committee to continue with that being the case," she stated. "I still fully support the arbitration committee and believe strongly in the job the committee does. In fact, I would very much like to rejoin the committee one day - if the opportunity arises and if my health improves."
Her resignation brings the total number of seats up for grabs in this year's election up to eight.
In other election news, two Wikipedians withdrew from the December 2005 elections and one user announced his candidacy. Carbonite and Jtkiefer both withdrew from the race, though for different reasons. Carbonite, in a brief statement on his user page, stated that he would be leaving Wikipedia. Jtkiefer, meanwhile, withdrew, saying that it would be highly unlikely that he would be picked by Jimbo Wales under the new elections procedure and that his statement was only "clog[ging] up the page".
Kim Bruning (statement), however, announced his candidacy this week. He stated that he wished to become involved and that he would "wait and see what happens with the appointment procedure first though, since there will likely be some changes."
News and notes
800,000th article created
The English Wikipedia celebrated their 800,000th article this week. It is believed that the milestone article was History of Sudan (Transitional Military Council).
Merriam-Webster creates Open Dictionary
Merriam-Webster, a Britannica subsidiary, has created a new Open Dictionary. Despite the name, the copyright status of entries is not given, and entries with profanities are not accepted. At press time, the dictionary included 1,697 entries.
Wikipedia breaks Alexa Top 40
Wikipedia has entered the Alexa Global Top 40, ranking in at #38. Wikipedia has eclipsed Google Spain, and is poised to pass Google Canada and the popular online weblog site Xanga.
Conventional news media scooped
When Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand co-leader Rod Donald died on Saturday, Wikipedia was the first major news source to recognize his passing. At 11:47 UTC on 5 November, Alan Liefting first updated Donald's entry with the news. According to Google News, the first conventional news source to confirm his death was an Auckland radio station, who first posted the story at 2:35 UTC on 6 November. ([1])
Wikiversity vote ended
The vote on whether to create a new Wikiversity project ended today. Wikiversity, which currently resides on Wikibooks, started a vote on 15 September to move to wikiversity.org, currently hosting a near-dormant German Wikiversity project. A two-thirds majority, required to submit the proposal, has been reached, and board approval is all that is required to start a project beta period. The issue is on the agenda for the next board meeting, scheduled for 12 November.
Briefly
- The English Wikipedia has reached 800,000 articles.
- The Breton Wikipedia has reached 2,000 articles.
- The Azeri Wikipedia has reached 100 articles.
- The Turkish Wikipedia now has over 5,000 registered users.
In the news
Reuters talks print with Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia's main exposure in the news this week was a Reuters piece by Paul Holmes called "Wikipedia may go to print, says founder". The article ran on October 31, and was reprinted by CNN.com, USA Today, CBC, ABC News Australia, and numerous other newspapers and technology magazines.
Accuracy in South African articles
The South African newspaper Mail & Guardian Online conducted a rating exercise similar to the Guardian's October analysis, using the same article title, "Can You Trust Wikipedia?". The article was published on 7 November.
The newspaper asked local experts to rate Wikipedia articles on South African subjects:
- Sangomas -- 6/10 "It needs to be placed within a bigger conceptual framework of traditional healers and the current roles need to described";
- Media in South Africa -- 2/10 "disappointing";
- South Africa national rugby league team and South Africa national rugby union team -- 10/10 "If I were to be hyper-critical, I might say that they are a little too up to date and don't care enough for history";
- African National Congress -- 7/10 "the entry was surprisingly accurate (perhaps I have low expectations): one clear factual error only is less than I would have expected";
- Braai -- 8/10 "could be a more in-depth description incorporating favourite dishes from various areas";
- Boerewors -- 6/10 "not invented by the boers";
- South African National Defence Force -- 7/10 "very useful and, surprisingly, factually very correct. There is also an absence of emotional opinions in the presentation of the [historical] facts -- something that you don't always find in South Africa these days";
- Economy of South Africa -- 6/10 "a lot of information about the current state of the South African economy and economic policy, but provides little context and is poorly organised";
- Telkom -- refused to comment on the article about themselves.
National Public Radio
"Wikipedia, Open Source and the Future of the Web" on NPR's Talk of the Nation on 2 November included interviews with Jimbo Wales, Chris Anderson and Nicholas Carr.
Wikipedia's coverage of conspiracy theories
The article "Ten years after" was published by Haaretz.com on 3 November. On the 10th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, Haaretz notes the boom in conspiracy theories and notes those on the English and Hebrew Wikipedias that claim Shimon Peres was behind it.
Citations in the news
Wikipedia was cited in the last week in the following publications:
- Al Jazeera, on gulag [2]
- Kansas City Star (Missouri), on pardon [3]
- Roanoke Times (Virginia), on metrosexual [4]
- Radar Magazine, on List of films ordered by uses of the word "fuck", page 100 and List of French hip hop artists, page 103
- The Oklahoman, on Jeff Provine (article deleted in August 2005) [5]
- Bellmore Herald (New York), on Orange, Texas [6]
- Daily Eastern News (Illinois), on color blindness [7]
- Internet News, on Usenet [8]
- MLive (Michigan), on korfball [9]
Features and admins
Administrators
Administration status was given to ten users this week: Jeffrey O. Gustafson (nom), ScottDavis (nom), Egil (nom), Shimgray (nom), Necrothesp (nom), Commander Keane (nom), Alai (nom), Physchim62 (nom), Pamri (nom), and Mysekurity (nom).
Featured content
Ten articles were promoted to featured status: Human, Doctor Who missing episodes, Sylvanus Morley, Boston, Massachusetts, November (film), War of the League of Cambrai, Waterfall Gully, South Australia, Our Friends in the North, Mandan, and Canberra.
A milestone was reached last week, when the number of featured articles hit 800.
One list reached featured list status this week: List of Final Fantasy titles.
Six pictures reached featured picture status recently:
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Blue morning glory -
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Booby chick
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Dione and Saturn -
The Report On Lengthy Litigation
The Arbitration Committee closed two cases this week.
Onefortyone
A case against Onefortyone has closed. The ruling puts Onefortyone on probation on celebrity biography articles. Onefortyone was accused of inserting information of dubious reliability into celebrity articles regarding their sexual orientation.
DreamGuy
A case against DreamGuy has closed. The Arbitration Committee made no actions on the case, citing a lack of evidence. Editors claimed DreamGuy had an unreasonable point of view, and was often mean-spirited.
Other cases
A case was accepted this week against Silverback. It is in the evidence phase.
A temporary injunction has been imposed on Jguk, prohibiting him from changing date notations on articles.
Other cases against Ultramarine (user page), Maoririder (user page), numerous editors on Bogdanov Affair, Rangerdude (user page), numerous editors on Ted Kennedy, Lightbringer (user page), and Copperchair (user page) are in the evidence phase.
Cases against numerous editors on Polygamy, Jguk (user page), REX (user page), Zephram Stark (user page), Everyking (user page), Instantnood (user page), and Stevertigo (user page) are in the voting phase.
Motions to close are on the table in the cases against BigDaddy777 (user page) and 12.144.5.2 (user page, a.k.a. Louis Epstein).