



Inaugural L 2 Research Hackathon

Saturday, November 9th, 2013

(Locations are approximate)

The inaugural L2 research hackathon day is an opportunity for anyone interested in research on wikis, Wikipedia, and other open collaborations to meet, share ideas, and work together. It's being organized by researchers in academia and the Wikimedia Foundation, but we want anyone interested in research to participate. Whether or not you consider yourself a researcher, or would ever want to be one, come with questions, answers, data, code, crazy ideas... or just your insatiable curiosity.

We will meet both virtually via google hangout and locally for those who are able to attend local meetup groups. You can take part through a persistent google hangout and IRC channel ( ) throughout the day, even if there is no local meetup in your neck of the world.

Who can participate? [ edit ]

Everyone who is interested is welcome to participate. You don't have to be a researcher or a programmer to get involved. We need your ideas, your questions, and your insights into how wikis work, where wiki-work breaks down and how things can be helped. Just find a meetup group (local or virtual) that works for you and add your name to the list of attendees.

How will we meet? [ edit ]

In order to be inclusive as possible, we'll be organizing both local and virtual meetups. Local meetups are organized by Wikipedians all over the world. Anyone is welcome to become a local host We currently have local meetups confirmed for:

Virtual meetups will happen online only. We've organized virtual meetups to take place in synchronization with local meetups.

Hosts will be responsible for determining how they'll organize their own events and how they'll synchronize with others. It's generally recommended that hosts organize their events around the global synchronization periods described below, but that may be impractical in certain circumstances. Check with your host about how he/she plans to hand synchronization.

When will it happen? [ edit ]

It turns out that "When will it happen?" is a complicated question. Since this hackathon is a global event, participants will be joining all over the world, and due to the way that global time (and thus timezones) works, many of us will be awake while others are sleeping.

In order to deal with pain due to timezones, local and virtual meetups will be synchronized in sync groups based on similar timezones within the Americas, Europe/Africa and Asia/Oceania. These groups share at least an hour of overlap with nearby group(s). Meetup hosts can take advantage of these overlapping periods to share ideas and results with neighboring sync groups. If you are participating virtually, you are welcome to join whichever local meetup(s) and synchronization groups fit your location/schedule best.

What will we do? [ edit ]

Suggested meetup agenda [ edit ] Below is a suggested agenda for meetup groups to work from. Times are based on a 9AM start time. Start times will depend on your timezone what your host has planned. 0900-0915 — Meetup begins Introductions, ice-breakers, discussion of the event format, schedule and goals. 0915-1000 — Idea sharing (sync) Participants review, share, and refine the project ideas in a lighting presentation format. Synchronization with the other meetups is optional. 1000-1200 — Morning Work Session Project groups begin pursuing their projects for the remainder of the morning. 1200-1215 — Preliminary project reporting Each project reports back to the group about what they've been doing. 1215-1400 — Lunch break Eat and/or continue their work over lunch. 1400-1630 — Afternoon Work Session Project groups re-convene to continue working. 1630-1715 — Final project reporting (sync) Project groups report on their activities for the day. Synchronization with the other meetups is optional. 1715-1730 — Event closing Coordinate project reporting, discuss ideas for subsequent meetups or events and reflect on what worked and what didn't. 1730-1900 — Socializing! Participants are invited to join each other at a nearby cafe or restaurant for drinks, food, etc.

The Wiki Research Hackathon is an opportunity for anyone interested in research on wikis, Wikipedia, and open collaboration to meet, share ideas, and work together. It is targeted at Wikimedians, students, researchers, coders and anyone interested in crunching and visualizing data, designing new tools, and producing new knowledge about Wikimedia projects and their communities.

The goal of this event is to:

share knowledge about research tools and datasets (and how to use them)

(and how to use them) ask burning research questions (and learn how to answer them)

(and learn how to answer them) get involved in ongoing research projects (or start new ones)

(or start new ones) design new data-driven apps and tools (or hack existing ones)





Why are we doing this? [ edit ]

The scholarly research community studying Wikimedia projects, the Wikimedia Foundation, and the Wikimedia community all have a shared interest in answering research questions about Wikimedia projects using public datasets, developing new tools and sharing their work with others. This hackathon is intended to kick start L2, a space for improved collaboration between Wiki editors, Researchers and Foundation staff.

Resources [ edit ]

There is a long list of research resources available here

there is also a list of data resources and datasets

More information about Labs2 can be found here, including links to existing ideas pages.

Participant information [ edit ]

Pre-event checklist [ edit ]

Communication [ edit ]

Communication/coordination will happen mostly via IRC and a Google Hangout. If you already have an IRC handle, please join the #wikimedia-research channel. Otherwise, you can use the web-based IRC client.

Google hangouts will be set up for conference sessions that cross meetup groups. Many meetups will be participating in conference sessions. Participants who have filed an idea will have an opportunity to present it and ask for help. Coordinate with your local host in order to make sure that you have a slot.

We need your help! [ edit ]

We need hosts for local events and help writing documentation about how to create a Wikimedia Labs account and getting access to datasets. If you'd like to get involved, feel free to be bold or contact the event organizers.

Event organizers [ edit ]

For any question about the event (including volunteering for a local meetup), you can reach us at wrh@wikimedia.org or leave a message on the talk page.