Wikipedia:Lectures

We get some savvy people to give lectures about Wikipedia. Details of how Wikipedia works, how to Get Things Done, dealing with editor conflicts and related topics are the primary focus, but any helpful analysis of Wikipedia is welcomed.

The place is #wikipedia-en-lectures, on irc.freenode.net and also our public chat on Skype. IRC and Skype meetups are recorded and/or logged for those who did not make it to the lecture.

If you're interested in attending, leave a message here. If you'd like to give one of the lectures, leave a note here too.

Lecture 1: The Five Pillars and their history
"The Five Pillars and their history" by Kim Bruning.

Lecture concluded. Some folks are still in the channel. Logs will be posted later today. We'll cover more fun topics next time! --Kim Bruning (talk) 16:48, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

/log

Lecture 2: The (infamous) AGF Challenge
"The (infamous) AGF Challenge"; a general Q&A and discussion about the questions posed by Filll's AGF Challenge.

Sunday April 13, 15:00, irc.freenode.net, #wikipedia-en-lectures

/lecture2-questions /Lecture2-log

Lecture 3: Madness, sprawl and dispute resolution
"Madness, sprawl and dispute resolution" by Kim Bruning, with general discussion of the topic.

Sunday April 20, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

Location: To be determined.
 * Option 1: irc.freenode.net, #wikipedia-en-lectures as per usual
 * Option 2: Skype: Voice lecture has been recorded, is now in editing. We'll also try to release a transcript.

Lecture3-Log, /Lecture3-Log cleaned up

Lecture 4: Silence, consensus and sanity
"Silence, consensus and sanity"; a general discussion further exploring the consequences of the previous discussion and the consensus model.

Sunday April 27, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

What might help Location:

/Lecture4-log

Lecture 5: Life Happens: A change of plan.
Vassyana can't make it due to personal circumstances, so I've moved his lecture up one. We'll still have a short lecture dealing with questions from previous lectures, and recaps, for those who would like them.

Sunday May 4, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

Lecture 6: Difficulty of discussing disputes with difficult disputants
"Difficulty of discussing disputes with difficult disputants" by User:Vassyana. A talk about the usefulness of engaging in discussion and soliciting clear explanations, both in general dispute resolution and for distinguishing disruption from more benign concerns (such as simple miscommunication or a editor's difficulty in expressing herself). There will be a focus on how to solicit discussion and respond to various general behaviors.

Sunday May 11, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

Lecture 7: How source experts judge source reliability.
Sunday May 18, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

How source experts judge source reliability by User:DGG. A talk about how librarians judge the reliability and usefulness of sources. Knowing how people who make organizing and judging sources their life's work look at sources is probably a very wise idea.

Lecture 8: No lecture this week
Sunday May 25, 15:00 UTC (11:00 US East coast, 17:00 Europe)

Lecture 9: TBA (scheduled)
No lecture, today. Instead, please place requests for future lecture topics on the talk page. (or suggestions on who should speak)

Interested in attending

 * Yep, I am interested. Caveat - I do not do IRC, I don't like private communication channels, and do not have the technical know-how, either. So, if you convince me otherwise, KimB... Newbyguesses - Talk 01:20, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * IRC is a public system. Unlike some wikipedia channels, this is supposed to be an open discussion, so channel-rules for this particular channel will be that logs will be posted to wikipedia. IRC is the most appropriate system for public many-to-many communications with logging. --Kim Bruning (talk) 18:02, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I'll be either there or square, if I can. IRC is least private alternative, I think...  open to all comers unless locked by a channel op, insecure, and logs can be posted to Lectures/Transcripts.  Although "Seminar" might be a better word. 69.49.44.11 (talk) 16:14, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Yes please! I'm still pretty green :) Sunday sounds fine. Xavexgoem (talk) 20:32, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Definitely something i would be interested in attending. Im sure that there is something everyone could learn. Seddon69 (talk) 22:30, 5 March 2008 (UTC)
 * I would like to attend. &mdash; Xiutwel ♫☺♥♪ (speech has the power to bind the absolute) I would like to know what software would be required to participate. My main interest would be: how to create consensus when two sides hold totally different viewpoints on what the truth is, how the guidelines should be interpreted, and what DUE coverage of a minority viewpoint implies, especially when there is a systemic bias in the reliable sources, such as on 9/11. 17:15, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
 * If you use Firefox as your browser, try the ChatZilla add-on/extension. It's what I intend to (try to) use. Sardanaphalus (talk) 14:37, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Interested in attending, although a more interactive version would probably be more interesting to me. habj (talk) 22:06, 20 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Possibly, if I'm free at the time and remember (and manage) to find the channel. In other words, if I don't show up, it won't be because I've decided it's unlikely to be worthwhile after all. How about a less formal-sounding name than "Lectures"? (That PR advice just cost you US$1,000, btw.) Sardanaphalus (talk) 14:22, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * It's a steal at only €637. What would you recommend as a replacement name? --Kim Bruning (talk) 14:28, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Just seen 69.49.44.11's "Seminar" suggestion above, so maybe that. Still a bit college-y though. I guess "Discussions" would be too straightforward/ambiguous. ("Discussions (IRC)", "IRC Discussions", ...?) Sardanaphalus (talk) 14:34, 3 April 2008 (UTC) PS Which server/channel on IRC? (Sorry, I'm green about that kind of stuff.)
 * "Discussions" is many-to-many, while this is more an informal one-to-many with the ability to ask questions. :-) server is irc.freenode.net, channel is #wikipedia-en-lectures . I'll work out the Sunday lecture contents on Saturday afternoon.  --Kim Bruning (talk) 14:41, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Thanks. "Wikipedia Q&A"? And for any acronym-lovers, "WIRCQA", pronounced "weir-ka". Sardanaphalus (talk) 20:20, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Yep, I'll be here watching. Steve Crossin   (talk)   (anon talk)  17:47, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I am ready to attend the lectures. Suyogaerospace-- Suyogaerospace talk to me! 06:41, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Interested in speaking

 * Kim Bruning (talk) 18:32, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Vassyana (talk) 04:26, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Redmarkviolinist 18:02, 20 June 2008 (UTC)

"I think I already know this stuff, but I'd love to sit in anyway"

 * Kim Bruning (talk) 18:32, 25 January 2008 (UTC) (in cases where I'm not doing the speaking :-P)
 * Triona (talk) 05:38, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
 * T/@ Sniperz11  editssign 23:17, 31 January 2008 (UTC)
 * – Luna Santin  (talk) 23:22, 5 March 2008 (UTC) (if you build it, they will come; might be more able to speak in a more Q&A format; Signpost tutorials might be good inspiration)
 * -- tiny plastic Grey Knight  ⊖  14:19, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Zginder(talk) (Contrib) 17:57, 6 March 2008 (UTC)
 * - Pureblade  | Θ 18:59, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Seems like this could be productive, more than happy to contribute in some way. Carom (talk) 06:16, 9 March 2008 (UTC)
 * --Jashhagl (talk) 23:01, 11 March 2008 (UTC) Sounds like an amazing idea to me!! I would love to watch something like this obviously the first run will kind of get the bugs out but eventually this will evolve into a great polished service. Sorry I made this so long! :)
 * Vassyana (talk) 04:26, 11 April 2008 (UTC) I'm active in the feedback and dispute resolution areas of Wikipedia. I am also sporadically active in metapedian and policy discussions. This is of significant interest to me. Vassyana (talk) 04:26, 11 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I'm active in the forums of edit warring (as an observer on the ethnic edit warring work group), in mediation (as a medcom member), in arbitration (as a frequenter of numerous arbcom pages, and as an arbcom clerk), and in general administrator activities. I'd be happy to talk about any, via Skype or IRC (I'd like to pick which, though :) Anthøny  18:42, 11 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Suyogaerospace-- Suyogaerospace talk to me! 06:41, 12 May 2008 (UTC)
 * Mm40 (talk | contribs) 21:45, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

Topics

 * 5 pillars
 * Consensus
 * Wiki-editing model
 * Interacting with other Wikipedians
 * Licensing and Freedom
 * Our Mission
 * Dispute resolution basics (where to go for what)
 * Dispute resolution techniques (when you want to try it yourself)


 * I"d suggest contacting User:DGG and User:ScienceApologist they've expressed interest in this sort of thing before.  MBisanz  talk 20:15, 25 January 2008 (UTC)
 * ScienceApologist even has a nice PowerPoint about Pseudoscience, which I've seen. MessedRocker (talk) (write these articles) 05:45, 26 January 2008 (UTC)


 * For those not in the know, both of these discussed their presentations at our most recent New York City Meetup. You can see ScienceApologist's presentation here and DGG's presentation here.--Pharos (talk) 01:49, 29 January 2008 (UTC)


 * Do significant minority opinions need to receive support from the majority opinion in order to warrant inclusion?  &mdash; Xiutwel ♫☺♥♪ (speech has the power to bind the absolute) 01:41, 20 May 2008 (UTC)