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Hello all,
just wanted to let you know I created articles about two free-access biographical dictionaries that helped me with articles I created or contributed to:
Just tested out the first one and its pretty rad, and from that, I ended up finding a document mentioning Isabelle Kendig, whose biography I recently updated! Anyway, the first one, especially, seems like a good resource. The second one too, I just don't know much German language. Historyday01 (talk) 00:09, 8 March 2023 (UTC)
ITNRD candidate
Sadly American disability rights activist Judith Heumann has died. I am unlikely to be able to bring the entry up to snuff in the next few days (tho I will pitch in as much as possible!), so I wanted to flag her as a great WiR WP:ITNRD candidate. Innisfree987 (talk) 03:35, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
@Thriley I've just overwritten your stub with my incomplete draft. At the moment it overfocuses on her short stint at the formation of Essence magazine, mainly because I wanted to be able to demonstrate the existence of independent reliable sources outside of her employers (The New York Times and The Washington Post) conferring notability. Some of those sources aren't exactly independent either, but there is definitely enough to satisfy WP:BASIC. The real money is in the actual articles she wrote for The Washington Post as well as the NYT that turned out to be important (and widely cited to boot). Some of the coverage about her is extremely chauvinistic and make for cringeworthy reading; she was very attractive in addition to being a good journalist, and it is evocative of the environment she was up against. Cielquiparle (talk) 12:08, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
I've just created Emilie West and tried to update Q62080005 but somehow an additional Q95246989 was created. Can anyone help with merging these or is there anywhere on Wikidata that the problem can be mentioned?--Ipigott (talk) 14:19, 12 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you, TSventon. This is the first time I have experienced this kind of duplication. I had already found the existing entry in Wikidata and had tried to update it but somehow a new entry was created. I'm glad you have been able to restore all the former sources. I tried to access your Merge gadget but was unsuccessful and ran into all kinds of logon problems. Wikidata seemed to be treating me as a completely new user. Thanks anyway for your help. It's good to know we have experts who can deal with out incompetence.--Ipigott (talk) 15:12, 12 March 2023 (UTC)
@TSventon: Did the original items describe the same subject? I cannot see a source which ties one to the other.
Q62080005 was created in March 2019 as part of an import from Dansk kvindebiografisk leksikon, and appears to be the needlework expert described in the WP article.
Q95246989 was created in May 2020 as part of an import from Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, and describes "a contemporary youth writer, from whom the youth writing: “The Werner family or twelve pictures from German life, together with the Aspini family in six pictures from northern Italy. For children from seven to ten years. With 8 col. Lithogr.” (Vienna 1863)". [2]
@Ipigott and Tagishsimon:, the two items appeared to describe the same subject when I merged them, but the Danish Emilie West is unlikely to have been the subject of a biography in Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich, so I have undone my merge. Several other edits which confuse the two women will need to be undone as well. TSventon (talk) 16:11, 12 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you @Tagishsimon:, I have added that the author was female, as BLKÖ describes her as Jugendschriftstellerin, with the female suffix -in. There seems to be very little information online on her or her book. TSventon (talk) 18:54, 12 March 2023 (UTC)
For those who don't see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red/Article_alerts, today's list is swollen by a large batch of AfDs for women who appear to have in common that they are in Category:Association footballers' wives and girlfriends. I looked at a random one who seems to have a substantial article in Italian Wikipedia. PamD09:20, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks so much @Lajmmoore I have had a couple of entries pushed back into draft entries that I want to find a way of publishing. I can work on Maggie Harris's myself as I think there are other sources to explore and which might offer replacement citations but Inez Sibley is much trickier as she has been almost completely ignored critically. If anyone has any tips on how to improve this for publication I would be so grateful. Alijdonnell (talk) 16:17, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
We had an update on the 9th and we are not expecting another until the 16th so as far as I can see there's really no problem.--Ipigott (talk) 20:52, 15 February 2023 (UTC)
I beg to differ; it still seems to be broken. Its absence is a problem b/c it is more widely used than merely to furnish WiRs weekly statistics; which is to say, WiR is not its only user. --Tagishsimon (talk) 08:17, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
Still down now, when I tried to update the statistics for this week. Hopefully it will be back fully operational soon. Oronsay (talk) 18:21, 16 February 2023 (UTC)
Hello. Max informed members of the Humaniki project one hour ago that the Humaniki server has been permanently deleted, related to this purge (it seems that nobody from the project received direct notification beforehand). There is no backup. We'll see what we can do. Envlh (talk) 20:22, 10 March 2023 (UTC)
Adding Sadads/Astinson (WMF) to the conversation as we've been chatting about tech issues that we face at Women in Red, e.g. Listeria (our redlists), Humaniki (our metrics). To enable a handshake, also pinging @Tagishsimon, Headbomb, and Gamaliel who have been quite helpful with workarounds; there are additional helpful editors when we face tech issues but I don't want to start with an over-spam. --Rosiestep (talk) 17:22, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks @Rosiestep -- saw this come up on twitter, and saw that it was also restored and resolved. @Tagishsimon @Headbomb @Gamaliel -- I would love to hear more about what you think the best way to make these more sustainable systems -- the decentralized nature of of the volunteer dev network supporting the tools is consistent with gaps we encounter in other parts of the movement. Astinson (WMF) (talk) 17:27, 13 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks, Astinson (WMF), for taking an interest in this. I've been following and encouraging the involvement of Maximilianklein in his efforts to provide statistics on the proportion of women's biographies over a number of years, first under WHGI and more recently under Humaniki. It seems to me to be expecting a great deal of a developer like Max if he is forced to take sole responsibility for keeping such systems up and running when he is tied up with other important research projects. Would it not be possible for the WMF to provide some kind of additional support, especially in cases when the system is scheduled for removal? There used to be a kind of backup with the WDCM statistics (see above) but these too have now been removed. I hope you are in a position to bring this to the attention of your colleagues in the hope that further problems can be avoided.--Ipigott (talk) 07:20, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
Hi @Ipigott I have been asking about the requirement for humans to be involved in the review for critical tools-- it seems there is a larger security/maintenance concern underlying that process -- I am going to encourage them to find a way to get a process improvement on how that was communicated to non-tool owners (so critical infrastructure doesn't get taken down). I get both sides of the concern here. You might also try the Wikipedia Diversity ObservatoryAstinson (WMF) (talk) 13:10, 14 March 2023 (UTC)
Many editors had edited this article without spotting that it had a link to a disambiguation page: I've now retargetted the redirect Medical aid in dying to go to Assisted suicide instead of the dab page at Assisted dying, as the term seems to be used in US legislation with exactly that meaning.
But in passing, can I remind you all of a lovely useful Gadget: you can spot links to disambiguation pages if you go to Preferences, Gadgets, scroll down to Appearance, and 5th from last is "Display links to disambiguation pages in orange". Just click to select it, and you should never again accidentally link to a dab page, or let one go past your eyes without spotting it.
I've also gnomishly added a surname redirect from Klaich as she is the only name-holder with a link-worthy mention. (There is a composer who gets a very minor mention but not worthy of a redirect or surname page entry, I reckon). PamD20:29, 15 March 2023 (UTC)
On This Day main page section
Hi all. I've recently (with Eddie891) started putting some time into Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries which manages the "On This Day" (OTD) section of the main page. The section highlights significant dates in history and the births and deaths of important figures. This section had lain abandoned for some time, leading to a lack of new content and errors appearing on the main page, I am hoping we can rejuvenate it.
Candidates for inclusion are stored in the edit pages of individual dates (for example, you can see the days for March here: Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March). However many of the candidates have referencing or other issues and so cannot be included, leaving a pool of perhaps 10-15 to choose from. At the moment these tend towards European or US topics and male figures. I am keen for the section to include diverse content from across the world and, where possible, to feature a good mix of male and female figures. I think this project would be well placed to assist with this and would welcome any help members can provide.
Ways you can help:
Add event and birth/death date entries to the Wikipedia articles for individual days (eg. March 31). Note that this doesn't add them as candidates for the OTD section but I sometimes look for new entries here when short of candidates.
Add event and birth/death date entries to the OTD pages (eg. Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March 31), these should added to the "Eligible" section of the edit page in date order. Note that entries must comply with the Selected anniversaries criteria for article quality, referencing etc.
If possible have a go at curating a set of OTD entries for an upcoming day. This involves rotating the old events and births/deaths out (return them to the "Eligible" section), adding new entries and checking they comply with the criteria (in particular that the facts in the entry are cited in the article). You can see upcoming dates that need this doing at Wikipedia_talk:Selected_anniversaries#March_checks.
This is a really easy way of featuring good content on the main page so please do get stuck in! I am happy to help out with any queries or questions you might have - Dumelow (talk) 08:42, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
Sabine Marcelis DYK
The article about the Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis which was recently published thanks to the efforts of this group was also featured on DYK. (Thought this might be relevant to those who are interested keeping WiR statistics up to date.) Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 17:25, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you, Ipigott. I am still getting to know my way around this vast WiR universe. Appreciate your pointing me in the right direction (again). Once the Marva Griffin article is ready for publication (see above), I will submit that one for DYK as well. -- Cl3phact0 (talk) 07:31, 18 March 2023 (UTC)
I'm also keeping a WiR list in my Userspace where I try to keep track of the people who I have added to this Talk page. (Someone who's been helping me here suggested this, possibly even you!) -- Cl3phact0 (talk) 07:51, 18 March 2023 (UTC)
I've kept a list of all the new articles I've created, on my user page, and I'm so glad I started doing so right from my earliest editing as I sometimes see an article and can't remember what inspired me to create it (sometimes filling a red link or fixing a disambiguation problem, as well as lots of WiR editathons, topics heard about in the news, etc)! A lot are just solid little stubs, but well sourced and with the relevant incoming redirects, dab page entries etc. I've got a separate table of all the WiR contributions too. It's fun to have records to look back at. Happy Editing. PamD08:47, 18 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks! You are very well organised indeed—much more so than I am (but then, I note that you're a librarian, so I suppose that says it alla lot). I'm still building-up my wikitext toolbox, wondering how I might apply it to improve my (admittedly minimalistic and cryptic) presence here, and mustering the courage to actually do something different. Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 08:11, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
Cl3phact0: If it's any consolation, I rely on Xtools to list the articles I have created. You can see yours with their current ratings here. I mention a few of the articles I have really helped to improve on my user page, where I also keep a list of the DYKs I have been involved in. PamD is one of our most active members and an inspiration to us all.--Ipigott (talk) 11:02, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
Not so sure on quality: I tend to produce solid little stubs, and do lots of gnomish redirect and dab page stuff, while many of our colleagues on this project produce really substantial articles. But we all make our own little niche. Welcome to WiR, however you decide to keep your records. With an increasingly-sievelike memory, I value having a quick reminder of how each article came into being - though I suppose the edit summary of the initial creation is another good place to note that, and will stay with the article permanently. I always note WiR editathons in that first edit summary, and have probably usually recorded other reasons for article creation too. PamD11:37, 19 March 2023 (UTC)
Celebrating Penny Richards!
Today we are celebrating an amazing Wikimedian (and a contributor to this project), Penny Richards. You can discover more about Penny on Diff or on a dedicated celebratory Meta page, where you can also comment, congratulate and wikicelebrate her incredible work. NSzafran-WMF (talk) 17:01, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
Well it's like that in Britain a lot, so you'd be more likely to need a waterproof coat. I'm glad editors like you and Rosie keep this project going and highlight what diversity can do. Ritchie333(talk)(cont)18:20, 17 March 2023 (UTC)
While updating The Museum of Curiosity I'm delighted to see that Jess Wade will be one of the guests on this BBC Radio 4 show on Monday 20 March, 6.30pm. It's one of my favourite programmes, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by radio: three intelligent and varied guests arrive at the imaginary museum, chat generally abot their specialisms in the first half, then each choose, and discuss, what they wish to donate to the museum. Being radio, mere problems of size and feasibility don't come into it: the last episode featured gifts of the missing second half of Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan, a white hole, and a jar of marmalade. Highly recommended. PamD22:56, 4 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks, PamD, I'll certainly watch out for the related podcast. Johnbod has indeed pointed out discrepancies in the stats she has presented (e.g. in February 2021) but most of us considered these to be of minor importance compared to her enthusiasm for promoting Women in Red and for her own contributions to articles about women. I don't think it would be useful to go into further details here.--Ipigott (talk) 07:02, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
Well, if you like - it was her first appearance on Women's Hour. I don't think it's too much to ask for someone who regularly appears on UK media on this topic to make sure they have their basic facts right (or at least avoid repeating "facts" they've been told aren't right). But by all means listen on 20 March, and fact-check. Ipigott, where do you stand on Sandi "90% of Wikipedia is about men" Toksvig? Johnbod (talk) 12:24, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
After all the advice you have given her about checking out her "facts", I don't expect any shortcomings. But even if there are, having someone who has gained worldwide recognition for her work in support of women scientists is exactly what we are striving to achieve. Unlike you and me, she has a strong following and is an effective recruiter. What's even more important is that she is a woman!--Ipigott (talk) 14:24, 5 March 2023 (UTC)
Twenty-five women architects and designers you should know (dezeen)
Hello WiR, this article lists a number of architects and designers (and others in related fields) who may merit articles in this encyclopaedia — both the women mentioned, and in some cases, their "nominator" as well. Some are already covered, though may be good candidates for the sister project Women in Green, others are likely of interest for inclusion in various WiR sub-sections here. Rather than adding them willy-nilly to the thread at the top of this page (which, admittedly, has become a bit of a jumble in lieu of my proper understanding of how best to categorise correctly by WiR sub-section), I thought it best to start a new discussion. Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 07:55, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
Cl3phact0: As you've written biographies of male architects and designers, perhaps you would like to make a start on some of these yourself.--Ipigott (talk) 10:30, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
Yes, yes, I intend to! I have started one (very rudimentary) draft, and I helped out with Sabine Marcelis quite a bit (including a DYK nomination). I also have most of the names I've added here on my list too (which needs an update: pretty messy place "my list" — please don't think poorly of me). I'm also pretty slow when confronted with a blank page. I've been doing this for a bit over six months and have only published two from-the-ground-up articles. When I get rolling, I generally roll and roll until I run out of steam. (I know that all sounds like a bunch of excuses — point taken.) Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 10:59, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
@Cl3phact0 I would recommend signing up for a Women in Red event, like #1day1woman. Contrary to the name, you don't actually need to contribute 1 new article a day, just share whatever are working on when you are ready. (You can also post links to existing articles you have "upgraded".) It is a great way to get more notice for works-in-progress, pick up suggestions and contributions from other editors, and also see all the interesting content that other editors are working on. Cielquiparle (talk) 11:29, 9 March 2023 (UTC)
Hello Ipigott, thanks again for the nudge. No more excuses. I've just moved Marva Griffin article to mainspace. Any help you can give to make sure it stays there would be very much appreciated! Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 11:25, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
Hi all, a new user has been creating articles on notable women, and has nominated Ruth Scott Miller for DYK here. Would anyone be interested in helping them out? (there's a tag on the 'career' section of her article, and possibility for new hooks to be suggested on the DYK nompage). Cheers, Eddie891TalkWork12:10, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
Hello WiR. An IP account has added a notability tag to the recently created Elise Wortley article. Personally I think the sources meet WP:NBIO, but as the article creator I might be a bit biased!
Could someone uninvolved please take a look and remove the tag if warranted. Any improvements to the article would also be greatly appreciated. Regards, MrsSnoozyTurtle21:20, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
The glass barnstar is made in Scotland by FrogArt in Hawick (pronounced Hoyk). James was the only person to get a "real" WIR barnstar in 2022. Notable volunteers like Penny, Rosie, Ewan and Jess already have one (other deserving volunteers await an opportunity). James was nominated for upcoming UK Wikimedian of the year 2022 and missed out to Lucy (a very deserving winner). James has taken thousands of photos of notable women footballers as they play his (and my!) favourite club Lewes F.C. Women. His photos are all over dozens and dozens of articles. The club are notable for paying their women and men players from an equal budget. The whole award thing got messed up as it was meant to happen a year ago as part of a large WIR campaign (but the Ukraine war messed up our plans.) We have just caught up! The photo you see was taken in the last few days. James has just been interviewed by the Sky Sports channel about his work and award. (The underdog Lewes team had a run for the cup and got knocked out by ManU in the Quarter finals). James told them about Women in Red and the reporter said that they "knew all about us". I'm not a footy fan, just a fan of Lewes and their gender equality. If anyone sees us on the UK telly then do flag it up. Victuallers (talk) 17:35, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
Draft feedback
Hi Women in Red! Is it acceptable for me to ask for some feedback on improving an AFC draft that is within the scope of this WikiProject? 110.227.19.227 (talk) 14:05, 7 March 2023 (UTC)
Hi, this is the draft. I have been working on it for a few months now. It was previously declined because I made the repetitive use of the word "praise" when paraphrasing the sources which I have now fixed in subsequent edits. The topic is also a prior AfD from 2017, but I don't know what that article contained. My best guess is that it was likely a WP:Too Soon because nearly all the in-depth coverage on the subject is post 2018. While it is resubmitted for review, I would like some feedback on whether it's worth the effort or best left alone until it can be improved later. Thanks in advance! 2405:201:1006:E279:A1DB:8B99:5358:2703 (talk) 20:43, 7 March 2023 (UTC)
I think this writer and activist is interesting. Here is her Washington Post obituary (local coverage?). I'd love to know more about the 1976 documentary How We Got the Vote narrated by Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker). I came across her working on Draft:Post-Newsweek Productions.
Reportedly the film won two Emmys (as well as other accolades) but I haven't yet found good sources for it or the awards. Here's a listing on Amazon for the VHS tape. FloridaArmy (talk) 15:56, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
She would be a perfect subject for April's gender studies editathon. Clearly she helped develop the field and there are tons of sources about her.[4],[5] (Note a lot call her Nancy Gager Clinch.) About the film, see [6] at 3:30 SusunW (talk) 13:51, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
I've done a bit more work on this article and have just moved it to mainspace. Please have a look to make sure I have done this properly. Thank you, Cl3phact0 (talk) 10:51, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
PS: I wasn't sure if appropriate for the primary editor to also rate the article, so I've left that blank (though added a bio-stub tag).
How about another "Marva Griffin"?(!) While searching for good sources for this article, I came across Marva Griffin Carter (musician, composer, musicologist) [7][8]. I've added her to my list (though it may take me some time to actually write anything). Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 08:34, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
You might have difficulties with Marva Griffin Carter as she's not yet a full professor. How about creating articles in English on some of the biographies you've been improving on other language versions of Wikipedia? Or picking someone from our March or April priorities (see Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red/Events)?--Ipigott (talk) 12:45, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
Please DO create an entry on Marva Griffin CarterUser:Cl3phact0. Her life and work are fascinating. She received a lifetime achievement award and featured as a webinar subject. Her writings are also worth including here. I read a summary of her career here and would love to know more about her including her upcoming book. FloridaArmy (talk) 15:05, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
That she is only an associate professor may speak to other things (though I'll stay away from WP:OR, or theorising about matters in which I remain wholly unqualified). The more I read, the more evident it seems that she should be represented in this encyclopaedia.
Also, FloridaArmy, the blank page is my nemisis in Room 101. I find it much less stressful to add to and/or improve articles rather than initiate them (and it takes donkey's years to do so when I do). -- Cl3phact0 (talk) 16:53, 23 March 2023 (UTC)
PS: I've tidied-up the draft quite a bit. With a little more work and a few other pairs of eyes on this, it may be nearly ready for mainspace (as a solid stub).
As an editor who often faces AFDs from older articles, one thing I've noticed is that if it's a women's bio I rarely see anybody from this project at the AFDs comment, even when notability is very clear. I believe there are editors here who do often comment on AFDs, and editors are often very busy with their own research, so don't want to be critical of them, but I think protecting (notable) Women's bios from deletion should be as important as creating new ones. Perhaps a department and a few editors commit to patrolling AFDs, or at least some kind of rota to spread the monitoring of them for a day or two. In my experience the AFD ers wanting to delete articles I've started are almost always wrong. I've witnessed women's bios from other editors being deleted which can be expanded which would never have been deleted if they were being monitored. ♦ Dr. Blofeld10:43, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
Dr. Blofeld: There are indeed many AfDs related to women, often in connection with articles submitted by inexperienced editors. It can be quite a time-consuming job to check them out, enhance them with pertinent sources and take part in the discussions. Then there are all those re-attempts at creating biographies which for one reason or another were previously deleted. There always seems to be quite a gang ready to club together and try to get those articles deleted again even if they clearly deserve to be kept. And then there are bunches of mass deletions for sock puppets, etc. Nevertheless, if you come across any you think have a chance of survival, it would be good if you could draw our attention to them. It might also be useful to check through the Scheduled AfDs at WP Women, many of which are not to be found under WP Women in Red. I'm always happy to provide support if there's a realistic chance of preventing deletion.--Ipigott (talk) 15:09, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
Agreed. That's the thing though, most editors are genuinely busy writing articles and it can be time consuming perusing AFD, particularly if the articles need work to save them. We can't expect editors to commit to anything but wish there was a way we stop articles which can be improved or meet requirements being deleted. Many people at AFD are deletionists and don't make an effort to try to find sources first!♦ Dr. Blofeld18:29, 20 March 2023 (UTC)
I agree that it's useful to check AfD every so often, for me personally there seems to be a cyclical pattern whereby I do that for a while and then I run out of time/energy. I tend to check Wikipedia:WikiProject Deletion sorting/Women and to be fair there are definitely articles on women that deserve deletion (non-notable sports practitioners in particular). I do enjoy saving an article sometimes. For ways forward, perhaps we can brainstorm putting a link somewhere more prominent so that people know about AfD? Plus Dr. Blofeld maybe you could sometimes do what others do and leave a notification here about a particular discussion (without encouraging brigading obvs)? Mujinga (talk) 10:44, 21 March 2023 (UTC)
There are several Australian ambassadors currently on the women's AFD list because serving as an ambassador is not in itself notable. Perhaps we need to warn contributors to the Peace and Diplomacy year-long initiative about this? Oronsay (talk) 03:09, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
@Dr. Blofeld I skim through either Wikipedia:WikiProject Women in Red/Article alerts or Wikipedia:WikiProject Women/Article alerts most days, choosing the one which my Watchlist tells me has more new AfD nominations (they largely overlap). But I don't look at every AfD: I hover my mouse over the article titles, and don't follow up on porn stars, sportswomen, diplomats where the lead doesn't show any likely notability, actresses, spammy-sounding entrepreneurs, etc, and I tend to leave Americans to the Americans to look after. When I do go to look at an AfD I'll sometimes end up improving the article, or suggesting it needs to be moved if not deleted, etc, as well as !voting. I glimpse at the column showing the number of participants in discussions and sometimes click to look at discussions with more than 5 or so participants. Life is too short to check every AfD.
That's great Pam, I did think there were a few who did that. Yes, it is true that some nominations are valid and should quite rightly be deleted. Perhaps we could compile a report on how many women bios get nominated on average every week and month and what percentage are deleted and if certain professions like sportswomen are worst affected.♦ Dr. Blofeld09:21, 22 March 2023 (UTC)
Late comment: I try to support articles at AfD by just adding stuff to them. Discussion at AfD results in v. odd views. On that subject: I was moved to comment because "ambassadors are not notable".... who says! Bloke kicks ball so well that his city decided to try him out for a few matches .... notable. Country of millions of people decide to choose someone to represent them to discuss trade, peace and war. Notable? obviously. IMO Ambassadors should be considered notable unless there is evidence to the contrary. AfD fans like the idea that no one is inherently notable as it gives them more to chip at. It keeps editors like DrB busy defending the notable against editors who claim AfD noms are mispelt, lack refs, are untidy etc etc when they key idea at AfD is notability. Victuallers (talk) 14:08, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Help find a home for this orphan
I've created an article on Jessica Spring. I can usually add an artist to the lists of 20th or 21st century women artists, but I need a year of birth to do that. Any suggestions or help getting her integrated into Wikipedia would be appreciated! WomenArtistUpdates (talk) 00:29, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
For what it's worth, I don't think we need her birthdate. I think it's more important to know when she was active, and we do know that, so I'd include her in 21st century artists. pburka (talk) 16:58, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Harriet Tubman
Harriet Tubman is at WP:FAR, with the nominator expressing concerns over prose and sourcing. It would be a bit of shame to delist such an important article. It's far out of my wheelhouse, so posting here in the hopes that someone will see it and attempt to fix the issues. I can chip in a little with prose, but not much else I'm afraid. Vanamonde (Talk)15:14, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks, Vanamonde93, for drawing our attention to this. I see significant improvements have already been made to the article. If you feel further work is necessary, it might be useful to alert WikiProject Women in Green which is dedicated to quality improvement rather than to creating new articles.--Ipigott (talk) 07:44, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
Improvement of kinyarwanda wikipedia
Hello team, with collective efforts from the Wikimedia community in Rwanda, more than 100 articles about Notable women have been created however, the interface and structure of the Wikipedia where these articles are put is still poor and less encouraging to the editors, For-instance : There is info box, most of the existing templates on other language wikis such as the stub template doesn't exist on Kinyarwanda Wikipedia, This wiki is not administered and monitored at all, which also results in other issues,
Hi Ndahiro derrick and thanks for joining the conversation here. It's lovely to hear that Kinyarwanda Wikipedia (RW-WP) is making progress in creating more than 100 articles about notable women! Mike Peel has helped me in the past with EN-WP infoboxes, but I don't know if that expertise crosses over to infoboxes in other languages. Also pinging @Fuzheado, Gamaliel, Sadads, and Tagishsimon. --Rosiestep (talk) 15:35, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
Ndahiro derrick: I've been reading some of the recent news items about your progress and your enthusiastic user group. It looks as if you are advancing much more quickly than expected. I haven't much experience with African languages but if you haven't already contacted them, you may be able to obtain technical support from the Africa_Wikimedia_Technical_Community. Perhaps you could also contact those involved in other Aftican-language versions of Wikipedia, for example Kiswahili which seems to be progressing well.--Ipigott (talk) 15:47, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
Can we improve coverage of Italian women?
In the light of the discussions on this page in connection with WikiDonne and the Italian wiki, I have been looking at the categories connected with women from various European countries. I was surprised to see from the subcategories to Category:Women by nationality and century that our coverage of Italian women is rather poor, especially as Italy is one of Europe's most important countries, not only in terms of population but for history and culture too. Proportionally, Germany and France have significantly better coverage of women while little Sweden, with about a fifth of the population of Italy, has about two-thirds as many women's biographies. One of the problems may well be that the proportion of women's biographies on the Italian wiki is still less than 16.5%. We may not be able to write biographies in Italian but we could certainly try to improve coverage of Italian women in English. Would it be useful to devote special attention to this over the coming months, either by including Italian women specifically in our monthly priorities or simply by giving them special attention in connection with priorities such as writers, artists, politics and sports? There are almost 400 editors listed under Category:Italian Wikipedians and over 2,000 mother-tongue Italians on Category:User it-N (twice as many as the number of mother-tongue Swedes). --Ipigott (talk) 11:41, 20 January 2023 (UTC)
Thank you from an Italian user, it's thoughtful of you! I think that Italian users concerned by the gender gap - like me - should start to think about some serious effort on this Wikipedia. Mickey (talk) 18:59, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
@Ipigott & @Mickey83 I think having a focus on Italian women in solidarity with Italian Wikipedians who work on the gender gap is a really good idea. I would be happy to support this. Lajmmoore (talk) 20:33, 21 January 2023 (UTC)
This sounds like an interesting idea – this might be a good opportunity to develop a (somewhat) formal rubric to measure the footprint of a particular women's group on English Wikipedia and Wikidata. I know we probably have our favorite casual or heuristic ways of determining this through categories, navigation boxes, metrics tools, SPARQL queries, etc. However, this might be a good way to turn lemons into lemonades and make the recent situation into a catalyst for documenting these better, or even making a better dashboard concept for tracking them. - Fuzheado | Talk13:28, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
Fuzheado: Thanks for your support. As you brought up lemonade in connection with Italy, I couldn't help remembering Benito Mussolini's constant cries of "Una grande limonata!" in relation to his successes (or aspirations). More seriously, it might indeed be useful to give more attention to the coverage of women from different countries using all the tools available to us. Projects like Humaniki provide an excellent basis for a general overview but it is often in the detail where we can observe important differences. I pay particular attention to coverage of women in the languages I can deal with and have been concerned for some time that we have not given sufficient attention to Italy. Of course the Italian language does not enjoy the support of substantial coverage outside of Italy which may be why more attention is given to German, French and Spanish speakers. Nevertheless there are Italians all over the world, including Wikipedians who do not necessarily identify as Italian, and many of us have close associations with the country as a result of travel, education and cultural interests (music, literature, fashion, cinema). I think it would be useful to see what we can do about making improvements. It would be useful if we could have some feedback on how we should go forward: simply by drawing attention to the problem, by including Italy as a specific monthly priority (geofocus or other), by trying to rally interest from Italian-speaking Wikipedians, or perhaps by sensitizing cultural organizations such as Istituto Italiano di Cultura which has an effective presence around the globe? I also think, in common with you, Fusheado, that it would be interesting to explore new avenues for assessing coverage of women by country or language.--Ipigott (talk) 17:13, 23 January 2023 (UTC)
Please also see note above concerning possible additions (eightnineeleven of whom are Italians, and one has based her professional practice in Italy for over 20 years). Thank you, Cl3phact0 (talk) 18:50, 12 February 2023 (UTC)
Thank you! Will (try to) do. I'm adding them here because I haven't figured out how to properly categorise the names within the main project sections and didn't want to bodge this. I'll have a look at the link you've shared and see if I can make sense of it (just looked — oh my, there are so many, a veritable sea of red). -- Cl3phact0 (talk) 07:12, 3 March 2023 (UTC)
PS: The "Italy" link leads here. I find this confusing: "This list is automatically generated from data in Wikidata and is periodically updated by Listeriabot. Edits made within the list area will be removed on the next update!"
This is our main Wikidata list for Italian women, based on Wikidata entries whether or not there are articles in other languages. You will see from our Redlist index that we also have Italy lists for actresses, painters, poets, politicians and writers.--Ipigott (talk) 07:36, 7 March 2023 (UTC)
It seems as if Wikidata might be the place to add the names, however, I'm not certain what to add, where to add it, or how to do so. Is there a specific WiR data point that should be created in Wikidata for each? Cheers, Cl3phact0 (talk) 09:10, 8 March 2023 (UTC)
Oh cool thanks for posting :) "Looking for inspiration? You can read through all the Wikipedia articles SusunW has written"! Mujinga (talk) 09:51, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
@Lajmmoore, Mujinga, and Rosiestep: Thank you for your kind words. I was surprised that Ed wanted to write about me and very happy that his piece stayed true to our discussions. None of us works alone and each of you, and so many others, have helped me time and time again create articles and sort through issues encountered in writing them. I appreciate all of you and this project so much. SusunW (talk) 12:57, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Well done on writing so many serious articles: my own stubs seem very superficial in comparison. And what a nice article about you! PamD13:11, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you PamD. Your articles and your help are so important. I often wish that I could write stubs, but it isn't in my DNA. Once I discover someone, I am on a hunt to find out everything I possibly can about them. Writing for me is very selfish, it's truly about learning. It's a constant battle in my head, do I learn more by writing in-depth about one person or a little about a lot of people? Ultimately for me, the questions of context, who, what, when, where, why, always win out, because it doesn't seem finished until those are answered. It's a conundrum. o.0 In the long run, we all contribute what we can and what suits us and it all adds to our knowledge. SusunW (talk) 14:07, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Wonderful article that highlights a remarkable Song. Susun, your beauty, something that is unique to you, radiates through your writing. It is amazingly colorful and vibrant. YOU are the masterpiece! The articles you write simply reflect that like a mirror. Thank you for the time and effort you and others put in to improving the encyclopedia. --ARoseWolf15:56, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Like It was such a wonderful feeling to open Wikipedia this morning and be greeted with the news that someone who has done so much to raise the profile of women on Wikipedia has received recognition for her research, writing and Women in Red advocacy. Congratulations, Susun! Thank you for all you've done and will continue to do. - 47thPennVols (talk) 17:00, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Thank you so much @47thPennVols and Vanamonde93:. I try. Don't always succeed, and the recognition part is hard for me, but I know we are making a difference in how women are and have been represented in the historic record. SusunW (talk) 18:05, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Bit late for a pile on but good to see your work be recognised .... although we all know of your wonderful contributions. Thank you Victuallers (talk) 18:56, 24 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks, Ed Erhart (WMF), for this well deserved write-up. I'm always amazed at the depth of Susun's biographies. She manages to turn up so many interesting details from old newspapers, photographs, historical accounts and more recent studies which never seem to come up in my own searches. It's always a pleasure for me to do the odd bit of copy editing on her articles. I learn so much from each and every one of them and really appreciate discovering how much the long forgotten efforts of historical women have led to such significant improvements for us all. Wikipedia and the world at large have benefited so much from her dedication and will no doubt continue to do so for years to come.--Ipigott (talk) 10:58, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Ipigott you get me so well and I admire and appreciate you so much. It isn't about the biography of one woman, it is about how she fits into the work that thousands of women did and were largely unrecognized for, that made our world more inclusive and more equitable. Despite limited opportunities, their work shaped the world we live in. SusunW (talk) 13:41, 25 March 2023 (UTC)
Yes, the interview with Rosie is well worth reading. It not only presents her own background, aspirations and achievements but explains how easy it is for Wikipedians to join WikiProject Women in Red and start contributing. This series of articles, Ed, is just what we need to draw attention to all the efforts which are being made to reduce the gender gap. I particularly appreciated the interview with Eric Luth (WMSE) with whom we have collaborated for a number of years. It's a pity there is not more general awareness of these interviews. I think it would be useful to explore ways of making them more easily accessible, perhaps by publicizing them through The Signpost or through the social media. Victuallers may be able to help out by posting links from Twitter and Anthere, who has done so much in support of women's coverage, may have some ideas too.--Ipigott (talk) 06:53, 26 March 2023 (UTC)
Very nice interview indeed. I was going to ask « but why would not those be shared on twitter ? « ; When I found out this is the case. However, it make me realize that, for some reasons, since a handful of months... I never see Wikimedia Foundation posts in my timeline or list of recommended. This is odd... I am going to retweet a collection of posts to see if that changes the tendency. Anthere (talk) 18:06, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
Women in Red April 2023
Women in Red Apr 2023, Vol 9, Iss 4, Nos 251, 252, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266
Hello! I thought I would help the 'books by women' effort by tackling 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives' (one of the titles on the suggested red list.) The author Lola Shoneyin has a page of her own. But when I searched, I found that the title has a page for a stage play that was produced based on the book. So, do you think that this makes a page on the book itself unnecessary or...? I am unsure what to do. Thanks for any advice. Balance person (talk) 14:16, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
If the book is notable then you could write an article draft. Then if the book is the primary topic, the article about the play could be moved to 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives (play)' and the draft to 'The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives'. TSventon (talk) 14:31, 27 March 2023 (UTC)
Anyone interested in helping this one along? Oliver was a Nova Scotia civil rights activist and likely notable but currently the sources are primary. However a quick Google Books search suggests secondary sources are available (example). S0091 (talk) 20:21, 29 March 2023 (UTC)
I came upon this earlier today via an upload over on Commons - I tinkered a tad with syntax, but it has since been draftified. Given that I'm not in the least qualified to examine an article about science I wondered if anyone here might be interested in taking a look and see if it's expandable and/or salvageable? It looks, also, as if it was created by a new(ish - came as a student and was away for a while before returning) editor. --Ser Amantio di NicolaoChe dicono a Signa?Lo dicono a Signa.04:30, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
Unfortunately I think it’s probably a tough sell unless WP:GNG can be met; I don’t see an SNG criterion that she ticks. Love to hear someone say I’m wrong tho. Innisfree987 (talk) 04:50, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
Did you know that...
...in March 2023 there were no less than 71 DYKs about women, the highest number since March 2019? Sincere thanks to all those who have contributed and worked on the approval process during Women's History Month.--Ipigott (talk) 06:19, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
Hey everyone! If you all could give some more eyes on this page, that would be great. I just created the Arryn Zech page and updated the Barbara Dunkelman page recently, but I'm not altogether sure about Kara's page, so any help and thoughts on this would be great, as I'd love to move it from a draft to the mainspace if possible. Thanks! Historyday01 (talk) 01:06, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
As Women's History Month 2023 comes to a close...
Congratulations to everyone for a wonderful, successful Women's History Month!!!
This may interest some of you... I was reviewing the @wikiwomeninred Twitter analytics ("28 day summary with change over previous period"). Seems to me that there is a lot of social media interest in the articles we are writing. ♥
Over 12,000 followers on Twitter is great. We have only 693 following our main WiR page but we can attract over 25,000 page views on articles such as Laura Bergt when it was a DYK in January. It would be great if we could persuade more of our Twitter followers to come and help us to improve our coverage of women. That said, WHM was pretty good for project membership too with 17 new registrations. And I see we have now reached 19.5% in our efforts to increase the proportion of women's biographies.--Ipigott (talk) 16:49, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
I think it's great that with social media, we have so many additional "consumers"/readers of WiR-scope articles, even if all they see/read are the 1 or 2 sentences per tweet. To me, the steady increase in TW followers signifies that we're writing what people want to read. As for turning readers into editors... well, that's for another day. --Rosiestep (talk) 00:59, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
You are of course right, Rosie. If Twitter is proving an effective way of drawing attention to the articles we write, then we should certainly continue our efforts in this direction. I'm always grateful to those who add TW or PIN to the articles I list on our meetup pages as I realize this provides wider interest. Nevertheless, in my experience, a significant proportion of our new members join the project as they have simply become interested as readers. They often comment that they have been reading Wikipedia articles in connection with their education or professional work and decide one day to start contributing themselves. As I mentioned above, we've recently been doing pretty well at recruiting new members. Quite a number join our project as soon as they register on Wikipedia and a few of them quickly come to grips with Wikipedia editing and become enthusiastic contributors. I try to devote some of my editing time each day to encouraging new members as a basis for ensuring improved coverage of women and their achievements. Maybe some of our contributors who are involved in the social media could also consider whether in addition to posting our new articles they could somehow encourage some of the "readers" to at least take a closer look at Women in Red.--Ipigott (talk) 12:57, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
Whether or not she is notable, in hindsight I see that moving the draft to mainspace and redirecting to the entry on one of her films (the only one that was mentioned in the draft) was not helpful. I wasn't able to move the page back, but I have filed a requested move. I also expanded the entry. I think it's too soon but at least we can work on her draft this way and maybe someone else will uncover substantial coverage in reliable independent sources. FloridaArmy (talk) 16:32, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
Can I tempt anyone with an underrated wife entry? Historian Lilian Handlin co-wrote some of Oscar Handlin’s most important works and I was terribly surprised she has no WP entry of her own (I discovered this because she wrote an excellent obituary for a bio I am currently working on, Barbara Miller Solomon). However I can’t immediately turn up recent newspaper coverage of Lilian Handlin (i.e. no obituaries so she must still be with us—she was at the time of his death in 2011 at least). So it’d be a project of retrieving book reviews for NAUTHOR, I think. Anyway, I likely won’t get to it all too soon unfortunately, so I wanted to float the idea in case someone else is intrigued by it! Innisfree987 (talk) 09:01, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
You can find some basic biographical information at [9] and a snippet on Lilian (Bombach) Handlin at [10]. Can't find much in the way of literary assessment but there may be something in journals, etc. She also created a memorial fund on Burma - see [11].--Ipigott (talk) 10:52, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
Seems like there's probably a fair bit to use from Newspapers.com. But I have to head to work right now, so I won't be able to check more specifically until this evening. SilverserenC12:46, 30 March 2023 (UTC)
There is a lot, lot more I could add, but I decided to stop since it's all about their joint books. And I think the Bancroft ones I listed at the beginning are best, since she wrote that book herself. Not that the others shouldn't be used as well, but I also don't feel like formatting 100 references here. :P SilverserenC00:44, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
Hello Innisfree987. Based on the above references, it seems clear that she meets WP:NBIO. I can move it from drafts to mainspace if you like, or would you prefer to do some more work on it before it is published? Regards, MrsSnoozyTurtle11:57, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
Thanks for asking @MrsSnoozyTurtle; in my view it’s important we get biographies of living people in decent shape before we move to mainspace which is why I’m writing in draft. If others make improvements on it before I do tho, I would support moving it, but not in current form. Innisfree987 (talk) 17:30, 31 March 2023 (UTC)
That is very understandable, hopefully others will chip in to get it ready for mainspace. I hope my small contribution was a help rather than a hindrance. Regards, MrsSnoozyTurtle01:13, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
Feminism and Folklore contest extended to 15 April
I happened to notice by accident on Gamaliel's talk page that the Feminism and Folklore contest has now been extended until 15 April. Their main Meta page still announces 1 February to 31st March at the top but under "Timeline", on 29 March the completion date was changed to "1 February 2023 00:01 UTC – 15 April 2023 11:59 UTC" (note 11:59 not 23:59). I find it very strange that there has been such a major change when most of us thought the contest was over. Even though our WiR focus expired on 31 March, I suppose this means that those interested can continue to submit articles for another two weeks.--Ipigott (talk) 14:15, 2 April 2023 (UTC)
Someone with technical skills needed
So I finished my article and added project banners to the talk page, but when I pressed the link to add it to the editathon page for gender studies #262, it took me to books #266. I checked my edit on the talk page and it is input correctly and states that it is for the gender studies editathon, but there seems to be a redirect gone wrong somewhere. Can someone help? SusunW (talk) 22:54, 1 April 2023 (UTC)
The article appears to have an unfinished sentence ("Over 10,000 new images in 2022"). However, several edits were made with this left unchanged, leading me to believe it may be intentional. If it is not, could someone make an appropriate change (and perhaps add a citation)? 2001:1878:404:F200:6E76:B7E4:2A43:9C8D (talk) 14:26, 3 April 2023 (UTC)