Report on the Commons Categorisers Meetup
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On August 8, 2024, the 6th Commons Categorisers Meetup, which I organized together with my tandem partner user:BugWarp, took place at Wikimania in Katowice. The event, which was attended by about 20 people, served to exchange experiences and challenges around categorization on Wikimedia Commons. In a brief review of past meetings, the lack of documentation of the 2023 meetup was discussed in particular. Fortunately, User:Waldyrious shared his personal notes.
A central point of the discussion was the usefulness of structured data on Commons and their lack of practical applicability so far. It was emphasized that searching for images using structured data is not yet fully developed, which limits the added value of this approach. Likewise, the lack of user-friendly interfaces for querying this data was seen as a major problem. Another important topic was the translation of categories, where it was noted that while there are approaches to this on Wikidata, they are not yet fully utilized on Commons.
An exciting contribution came from Waldyrious, who presented the tool Wikidata Image Positions, which can be used to locate “depicts” statements in images. It was clear that many of the participants – myself included – took new ideas away from this session. BugWarp and I are now planning to offer this format more regularly to further promote the exchange.
What did my personal participation in Wikimania achieve for me, and was I able to pass something on to others?
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Attending Wikimania 2024 was personally extremely beneficial for me. In addition to the opportunity to network with old acquaintances and make new contacts, I was able to engage in some exciting discussions and gain new inspiration for my work on Wikimedia Commons. In particular, the exchange with the Commons Photographers User Group motivated me to actively raise the issue of improving the media database at the Wikimedia Foundation.
A particular highlight for me was the Commons Categorisers Meetup, which I organized myself. This not only highlighted the potential of using structured data, but also the obstacles that still need to be overcome. After Wikimania, I even applied for a place on the Product and Technology Advisory Council to further advance these topics – unfortunately without success. Nevertheless, I will continue to focus on improving Commons and engaging new volunteers, as this is key to sustainable growth in the community.
