Wikimedia Foundation
Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that operates a range of collaborative online projects, most notably Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The Foundation is dedicated to fostering the growth, development, and distribution of free, multilingual content, and to providing the full content of these wiki-based projects to the public free of charge.
History[edit | edit source]
The Wikimedia Foundation was established in 2003 by Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, and Larry Sanger. The Foundation was created to support the operations of Wikipedia and its sister projects, which had grown rapidly since Wikipedia's inception in 2001.
Mission and Vision[edit | edit source]
The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to "empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally." The vision of the Foundation is "a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge."
Projects[edit | edit source]
The Wikimedia Foundation hosts several major projects, including:
- Wikipedia: A free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation.
- Wiktionary: A collaborative project to produce a free-content multilingual dictionary.
- Wikibooks: A collection of free, open-content textbooks that anyone can edit.
- Wikinews: A free-content news source that anyone can edit.
- Wikiquote: A collection of quotations from notable people and creative works.
- Wikisource: A free-content library of source texts.
- Wikiversity: A project dedicated to learning resources, learning projects, and research for use in all levels, types, and styles of education.
- Wikivoyage: A free travel guide that anyone can edit.
- Wikimedia Commons: A repository of free-use images, sound, and other media files.
Governance[edit | edit source]
The Wikimedia Foundation is governed by a Board of Trustees, which is responsible for overseeing the Foundation's operations and strategic direction. The Board is composed of community-elected members, appointed members, and the Wikimedia Foundation's Executive Director.
Funding[edit | edit source]
The Wikimedia Foundation is primarily funded through donations from individuals, with additional support from grants and sponsorships. The Foundation conducts annual fundraising campaigns to support its operations and the development of its projects.
Controversies and Challenges[edit | edit source]
The Wikimedia Foundation has faced various challenges, including issues related to content accuracy, vandalism, and the balance between openness and quality control. The Foundation works continuously to address these challenges through community engagement, technological improvements, and policy development.
Also see[edit | edit source]
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Credits:Most images are courtesy of Wikimedia commons, and templates, categories Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY SA or similar.
Contributors: Prab R. Tumpati, MD
