Wikipedia:WikiProject Organized Labour/Photography

Welcome to the Photography department of the Organized Labour WikiProject! We're much more than photography, though: This department focuses on building the number of and enhancing the quality of Wikipedia's photographs, graphic images, sound and video files, and other images regarding trade union and organized labour articles.

Wikimedia Commons
The Organized Labour Project strongly encourages users to upload images, video clips and sound clips to Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia Commons is a media repository that is created and maintained not by paid-for artists, but by volunteers. It provides a central repository for freely licensed photographs, diagrams, animations, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts that are useful for any Wikimedia project.

Wikimedia Commons uses the same wiki-technology as Wikipedia and everyone can edit it easily and without advanced technical skills directly in the web browser. Unlike media files uploaded on other projects, files uploaded to Wikimedia Commons can be embedded on pages of all Wikimedia projects without the need to separately upload them there.

Unlike traditional media repositories Wikimedia Commons is free. Everyone is allowed to copy, use and modify any files here freely as long as the source and the authors are credited and as long as users release their copies/improvements under the same freedom to others. The Wikimedia Commons database itself and the texts in it are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. The license conditions of each individual media file can be found on their description pages.

Contributing your work or your skills
If you're a good photographer, don't hesitate to contribute your valuable images. If you're a good designer, look which diagrams and animations are badly needed. If you're a good sound or video/film recordist, do not hesitate to publish your own recordings on Wikimedia Commons.

In order to be able to upload files on Wikimedia Commons, you need to be logged in. You can register at the "Log in / create account" link in the upper right corner and enter a user name that will be used at all of your uploads/edits on images and texts. However, if you just want to edit pages you don't need to be logged in (although it is strongly encouraged). If you have taken advantage of unified login, then you are already signed up at the Commons.

The first steps help file and FAQ will help you a lot after registration. They explain how to customize the interface (for example the language), how to upload files and basic licensing policies. You don't need technical skills in order to contribute: Be bold contributing here and assume good faith for the intentions of others. This is a wiki—it is really easy.

More information is available at the Community Portal. You may ask questions at the Village Pump or on IRC channel #wikimedia-commons.

Don't have any images or recordings of your own to upload? You can still help! There is plenty of other very important work to do:
 * Translate help texts accompanying images or recordings into a language other than English.
 * Improve images.
 * Identify unknown objects.
 * Contribute your legal knowledge on copyright questions and Deletion requests.

You do not need to be an artist or good at writing text, either. Commons can still use your helping hand!
 * Anytime you see a file with incomplete licensing or source information, tag it.
 * Fix an orphan file (Give an image a category or gallery).
 * Give Uncategorized pages a category.
 * Free media resources are waiting for an inclusion into this project.
 * Nominate or vote for Featured Pictures (registration required).

If you are still afraid that it is too complicated for you or if you want to upload larger amounts of your own stuff, you can use the Commons file upload service to let other people upload your files for you. If you want to upload larger amounts of images by yourself, the program Commonist will be helpful. If you need specific information on tools for viewing or editing Wikimedia Commons content, please see the software page.

Categories on Wikimedia Commons
Files on Wikimedia Commons are organized in categories and galleries. An incomplete overview of the categories generally used by the Wikipedia Organized Labour Project is below. Please consider expanding these categories, and uploading or assigning images to them. This is by no means a complete list. Categories are often interlocking, and are not designed to be hierarchical.

The Wikipedia Organized Labour Project encompasses "organized labour"—which includes all organized labour movements, not just trade or labor unions. Thus, there are two main, broad categories under which an image or recording may fall, "Trade Unionism" and "Labour." A file may belong to either, or both, broad category (or its subcategories). For example, an image of the American labor organizer Mother Jones would belong under Commons:Category:Trade unionists for her work with labor unions, but also under Commons:Labour movement in the United States for her non-union related work with labor issues (such as child labor). Commons:Category:Trade unionism
 * Commons:Anarcho-Syndicalism
 * Commons:CGIL
 * Commons:IAFF
 * Commons:Industrial Workers of the World
 * Commons:Pinkerton National Detective Agency
 * Commons:SEIU
 * Commons:Strikes
 * Commons:Trade unionism by country
 * Commons:Trade unionism of Argentina
 * Commons:Trade unions of Belgium
 * Commons:Trade unions of Canada
 * Commons:Czech trade unions
 * Commons:Trade unionism of Finland
 * Commons:Trade unionism of France
 * Commons:Trade unionism of Germany
 * Commons:Flags of trade unions in India
 * Commons:Trade unionism of Norway
 * Commons:Trade unions of Spain
 * Commons:Trade unionism of the United States
 * Commons:Category:Trade unionists
 * Commons:Ernest Bevin
 * Commons:Trade unionists from France
 * Commons:Trade unionists from Germany
 * Commons:Bob Hawke
 * Commons:Trade unionists from Norway
 * Commons:James Scullin
 * Commons:Trade unionists from Finland
 * Commons:Ella Vogelaar
 * Commons:Vakbondsmuseum

Commons:Category:Labour
 * Commons:History of social movements
 * Commons:Honor Boards
 * Commons:Labour in India
 * Commons:Labour movement
 * Commons:Internationale
 * Commons:Karl Marx
 * Commons:Labour movement by country
 * Commons:Labour movement in Germany
 * Commons:Labour movement in Hong Kong
 * Commons:Labour movement of Norway
 * Commons:Labour movement in the United States

Wikipedia
''The text here relates primarily to English Wikipedia. If you are posting to a non-English Wikipedia, consult your project's guidelines.''

Wikipedia has a media repository for images which are not freely licensed. However, since these images and recordings are used under the "fair use" legal provisions of international copyright law and the copyright laws of various nations, their use must be severely limited to the fair use rationale provided by the person uploading the file.

Wikipedia accepts photographs, diagrams, animation, music, spoken text, video clips, and media of all sorts that are may be used by the Wikipedia Organized Labour Project. However, files uploaded to Wikipedia may not be used on other Wiki projects.

Images and recordings uploaded to Wikipedia are not free. You may not copy, use and/or modify files uploaded to Wikpedia. The license conditions of each individual media file can be found on their description pages.

Categories on Wikipedia
Files on Wikipedia are organized in categories and galleries. An incomplete overview of the categories generally used by the Wikipedia Organized Labour Project is below. Please consider expanding these categories, and uploading or assigning images to them. This is by no means a complete list. Categories are often interlocking, and are not designed to be hierarchical.

The Wikipedia Organized Labour Project encompasses "organized labour"—which includes all organized labour movements, not just trade or labor unions. Thus, there are two main, broad categories under which an image or recording may fall, "Trade Unionism" and "Labour." A file may belong to either, or both, broad category (or its subcategories). For example, an image of the American labor organizer Mother Jones would belong under Commons:Category:Trade unionists for her work with labor unions, but also under Commons:Labour movement in the United States for her non-union related work with labor issues (such as child labor).

Very few images on Wikipedia appear to be correctly categorized. Please consider helping with image categorization! Category:Labour movement images
 * Category:Labour movement in Canada images
 * Category:Labour movement in the United States images
 * Category:Trade union logos
 * Category:Labour movement in Poland images
 * Category:Strike images
 * Category:Trade unionism images
 * Category:Trade unionism of Canada images
 * Category:Trade unionism of France images
 * Category:Trade union logos
 * Category:Strike images
 * Category:Trade unionism of Australia images
 * Category:Trade unionism of the United States images

Tehnical specifications and help
Wikimedia Commons maintains a Commons:Graphics village pump which provides help and information about the several Graphic Labs spread across the various Wikipedias; hosts technical support forums for all the local Labs; supports graphists (graphic artists) and users interested in Graphic editing and improvement; and is a page where graphists and users from all the Labs can talk about graphics, tutorials, graphic software, help to build new Graphic Labs, etc. As of yet, there is no comparable "Audio Lab" or "Video Lab."

For general information on quality specifications and properly describing files, see Wikimedia Commons' Commons:First steps/quality and description page.

Before you upload your file, please read the Wikipedia guide on preparing images and files for upload. The current (as of July 2008) size limit for uploads is 20 megabytes (so choose your file quality carefully, especially those of you uploading sound or image files).

Photographs
Generally speaking, photographs should only be in the JPEG format. (Do not save JPEG images as "progressive.") The GIF format should only be used for images which require animation. Other formats should be used where the image best fits them. TIFF and BMP file formats are not permitted on Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia. PNG should be reserved for images that require high quality and do not work well with other formats, such as computer screenshots. For more information on these and other file types used on Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons, see the file types page.

Generally speaking, image quality and resolution should be as high as possible. As of October 19, 2005 the Wiki software can't handle PNGs larger than exactly 12,500,000 pixels (12,500.000 kilopixels, 12.500000 megapixels, 12,207.031 kibipixels, or 11.920929 mebipixels)—3535×3536 pixels square, 4082×3061 pixels in the 4:3 ratio, or 4497×2779 pixels in the golden ratio—but otherwise images in such high resolutions are fine.

Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons have a special need for photographs where the subject is on a white or monochormatic background.

Graphic images
Non-photographic images such as charts, maps, drawings, etc., should be in PNG, GIF (animations only), or SVG formats. There is a special need to have images with transparent backgrounds.' SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics, file extension .svg) is the preferred type for non-animated graphic images.

The Wiki software is currently unable to scale animated GIF images, so these must be scaled to the desired size before uploading.

Sound
The recommended file types are: Ogg (using FLAC, Speex, or Vorbis codecs) or MIDI (with extension .mid). Other formats such as MP3, WMV, Tracker and sound fonts contain one or more patented components, and should not be used on Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons. Commons cannot accept MP3 sound files—there are numerous patent claims on MP3, making it illegal in some countries to use open source software with MP3, and even proprietary software companies are being threatened with various lawsuits. Such files may be used on Wikipedia under the fair use ratiionale, but it is strongly discouraged.

Non-free formats and lesser-known free formats must be converted before uploading. There is currently no legitimate way to store pristine original data for conversion to future formats or for use when patents expire, even if the license of a given work requires distributing such pristine original data.

If it is important that a musical passage be heard with specific instrument definitions that General MIDI does not provide for, and the license allows it, use the Tracker software to render the passage to RIFF WAVE, and then encode it to Ogg Vorbis.

Video
Videos must be Ogg files using the Theora video codec. Again, non-free formats must be converted before uploading.

Scanned documents
Scanned text documents must use DjVu. For help in creating, saving, and uploading DjVu files, see Commons:DjVu. PDF files may not be used, as they contain patented software.

Requests
Do you have a request for an image? Either you can't find an image on Wikipedia or Wikimedia Commons, or there is no image available on either site? List your request here.

The aim here is to make bring existing articles alive by the use of interesting images. This can be accomplished by:
 * photographs of people, places or things or logos to give readers an idea of what is being described or discussed
 * photographs of labor movement- or trade union-related items such as buttons, contract covers, pins, pens, song books, novelty items, etc.
 * maps of places, events, locations, etc.
 * sound files, especially of songs, chants, picket line activity, or historical events
 * video files, especially of historical events but also marches, rallies, picket lines, strikes, etc.

Requested items

 * Need a free picture (not drawing) of the face of William Green (labor leader) (not urgent)

Contributors willing to take image requests
Contributors: Please consider placing all your images on Wikimedia Commons, so other wikipedias can benefit from your hard work! Please provide a link to your talk page, so requesters can make the request on your Talk page.


 * Tim1965 - Photographs only (maybe I can help with simple maps or architectural drawings); Washington, D.C., United States area only (will put on Commons)