Submissions/Wiki Makes Video - Towards a More Visual Encyclopedia

From Wikimania 2013 • Hong Kong

This is an accepted submission for Wikimania 2013.

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Submission no.
3077
Subject no.
C1
Join the Wiki Makes Video Project in improving video content on Wikipedia. See Wiki Makes Video
Title of the submission
Wiki Makes Video - Towards a More Visual Encyclopedia
Type of submission
Author of the submission
Andrew Lih, User:Fuzheado
Country of origin
USA
Affiliation
E-mail address
andrew@andrewlih.com
Username
Fuzheado
Personal homepage or blog
http://www.andrewlih.com/
Abstract

Did you know that while English Wikipedia has over 4 million articles, only 0.1% of them have video? A check of other Wikipedia language editions show similar results -- shouldn't the articles for soccer and line dancing have video explanations, and not just text and photos?

Wiki Makes Video was started in 2013 to encourage a culture of video creation in Wikipedia by creating training materials, visual standards and experimental clips as proof of concept.

We describe the past efforts to bring video to Wikipedia (such as Lights Camera Wiki, and Open Video Alliance work) and the how Wiki Makes Video project aims to bring more video to Wikipedia. A number of video examples and includes a brief workshop on how to create and upload video for Wikipedia articles.

Detailed proposal

Did you know that while English Wikipedia has over 4 million articles, only 0.1% of them have video? A check of other Wikipedia language editions show similar results -- shouldn't the articles for soccer and line dancing have video explanations, and not just text and photos?

Shouldn't the articles for soccer and line dancing have video explanations, and not just text and photos?

Wiki Makes Video was started in 2013 to encourage a culture of video creation in Wikipedia by creating training materials, visual standards and experimental clips as proof of concept.

We describe the past efforts to bring video to Wikipedia (such as Lights Camera Wiki, and Open Video Alliance work) and the how Wiki Makes Video project aims to bring more video to Wikipedia. The session includes a tutorial on how to create and upload video for Wikipedia articles. In addition to showing how to use online resources such as the Internet Archive and other free sources, there will be a survey of different equipment and techniques that can be used to create more video content

Examples

See the example videos (right hand side) as a result of Wiki Makes Video 2013.

Vietnamese spring roll, featured video on Wikimedia Commons
Berlin Wall segment in Los Angeles at 5900 Wilshire Boulevard
Airstream trailer at Santa Barbara Auto Park, California, March 21, 2013
A demonstration of the basic types of dribbling in basketball.
Brewster Kahle of the Internet Archive talks about archiving operations

Overview

Wikipedia has dominated Britannica and Encarta in recent years, but the two commercial encyclopedias still possess more high quality multimedia in video, interactive timelines and other audio/visual content. The crowd has excelled at building Wikipedia's text articles and adding photos in Wikimedia Commons. However, video would greatly enhance the usefulness of a whole range of articles but remains a weakness.

Wikipedia's video efforts have not kept pace with other advancements, and have not targeted strategic subject-areas.

The technical hurdle of video is actually a minor issue. Visual literacy and production quality are much more elusive.

Q: How do we increase community collaboration in the quantity and quality of video in Wikipedia articles?

Challenges

  • Content
    • Visual literacy of the average Wikipedian (and member of the populace) is low. How do you train a crowd of contributors to shoot high quality video?
    • Creating a video style that is consistent, compelling across articles
    • Normalizing video and audio content, so that it can be used in any language/project
  • Technical
    • Visual quality and minimum resolution guidelines
    • Formats accepted by Wikimedia community are unusual - free license, Ogg Theora and WebM formats not used by video pros in their workflow
    • Uploading to Commons is typically complex and intimidating
  • Measurement
    • Complicated to determine which articles have video or not
  • Collaboration and Participation
    • Sharing of raw video clips is limited by unusual formats. Limits re-editing possibilities
    • Collaborative editing a challenge, or non-existent - Kaltura promised this years ago, and seems to have abandoned this
    • Mobile app to shoot and upload to Commons in one step? Does it exist? Is it cross-platform?
  • Legal issues
    • Human subjects in video, right of publicity. Should we require model release forms?
    • Trademark, logos and copyright in the video. How far should we push fair use in video?

Opportunities

  • Internal
    • Build off successful Wiki Loves Monuments, perhaps Wikipedia Makes Video events?
    • Encourage "moving picture" videos. Are there a class of 5-15 second videos (essentially living photographs, such as those in Harry Potter) that would not require any editing, but would make certain articles come alive? The giraffe eating seemed like a good example of this.
  • External
    • Mozilla video effort collaboration
    • Tap into schools of journalism, communications or film for student contributions
    • Partner with GLAM for existing footage or shooting new content
Track
  • Cultural and Educational Outreach
  • WikiCulture and Community
  • Analysis and Public Engagement
  • Technology and Infrastructure


Length of presentation/talk
25 minutes
Language of presentation/talk
Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?
Yes
Slides or further information (optional)
Special requests


Interested attendees

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  1. Fuzheado (talk) 21:18, 30 April 2013 (UTC)[reply]
    See also Submissions/WikiTV
  2. Phoebe (talk) 22:39, 30 April 2013 (UTC) (Interested in the policy & outreach side, probably not in the video workshop)[reply]
  3. --  12:01, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
  4. Blue Rasberry (talk) 13:56, 3 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  5. John Andersson (WMSE) (talk) 21:44, 9 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Ovedc (talk) 09:22, 28 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  7. SandisterTei (talk) 17:30, 3 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  8. Vera (talk) 20:16, 4 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]
  9. --Jensbest (talk) 00:04, 10 August 2013 (UTC)[reply]