What is the Wikimedia Foundation?
The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports and oversees the operations of various projects, including the famous Wikipedia. It was established in 2003 with the goal of providing free and accessible knowledge to everyone worldwide. The foundation is based in the United States and is run by a dedicated team of staff members and volunteers.
Wikipedia is undoubtedly the most well-known project under the umbrella of the Wikimedia Foundation. It is a vast, collaborative online encyclopedia that allows anyone to create and edit articles on a wide range of topics. Since its launch, Wikipedia has grown exponentially and now boasts millions of articles in numerous languages, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive sources of knowledge ever created.
In addition to Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation also supports several other noteworthy projects. One of these projects is Wikimedia Commons, an online repository of freely usable media files, such as images, videos, and audio clips. These files are made available under various licenses, allowing them to be used for educational, informational, and creative purposes.
Wikidata is another important venture by the Wikimedia Foundation. It is a free and open knowledge base that acts as a central hub for structured data used in various Wikimedia projects. Through Wikidata, information from different language versions of Wikipedia and other projects can be interconnected, ensuring consistency and improving the accessibility and usability of data.
The Wikimedia Foundation also supports the development and maintenance of other projects such as Wiktionary (a collaborative multilingual dictionary), Wikibooks (a collection of open-content textbooks), and Wikiquote (a repository of quotations).
The power of the Wikimedia Foundation lies in its commitment to the principles of openness, collaboration, and the democratization of knowledge. By harnessing the collective efforts of volunteers from around the world, the foundation empowers individuals to contribute their expertise and share information in a way that benefits humanity as a whole.
In conclusion, the Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports, develops, and oversees a multitude of projects aimed at creating and disseminating free knowledge. Through initiatives like Wikipedia and Wikidata, the foundation has revolutionized the accessibility and availability of information, making it an invaluable resource for people of all ages and backgrounds.
References:
1. Wikimedia Foundation. (n.d.). About Wikimedia Foundation. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved from https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/
2. Wikimedia Foundation. (n.d.). Our Projects. Wikimedia Foundation. Retrieved from https://wikimediafoundation.org/our-projects/
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