Aschmidt

Maria Sibylla Merian: Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, 1705

About me

I dwell in Possibility —
Emily Dickinson

From 2005 to 2014, I was mostly active on German Wikipedia. Due to the superprotect affair I became a critical observer of the Wikimedia projects, watching developments from a distance. I support the Letter to Wikimedia Foundation: Superprotect and Media Viewer, as do over 970 other authors, as of September 2015. This also lead to my retirement from the German branch of the Wikipedia Library I had begun to launch at the time.

From 2010 to 2013, I took part in Wikimedia Deutschland's outreach programme, bringing a critical point of view on Wikipedia to both the classroom and universities. When Wikimedia Deutschland cancelled its education programme, I became a co-founder of the wiki:team network of public speakers, continuing our previous work for Wikipedia in education.

From June 2012 until May 2013, I was a member of German Wikipedia's arbitration committee. From October 2012 until July 2013, I was a sysop and bureaucrat on German Wikiversity. From February 2013 until December 2015 I was a member of the German Volunteer Response Team (then known as OTRS).

I used to be a regular contributor to our community's blog Wikipedia:Kurier, taking an interest in the relationship between Wikimedia organisations and communities.

In 2019, I resumed editing more regularly in my main areas of interest, viz. law and society, literature, and LIS. I also contribute to our resource exchange on German Wikipedia as best I can.

I support the Community open letter on renaming the Wikimedia Foundation, as do over 1000 other authors and over 70 Wikimedia affiliated and not affiliated organisations, as of September 2021. I also subscribe to the sustainability initiative, as do over 740 more contributors, as of September 2021. In October 2022 I endorsed Think big – open letter about Wikimedia Commons. In November 2024 I supported the open letter to the Wikimedia Foundation on protecting editor anonymity.

Contact

• Please leave a message on my talk page on German Wikipedia, where I will also reply. This is my main account on Wikimedia projects. Please feel free to talk to me in German, English, French, or Esperanto. Thanks.
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• Discussions started on a talk page of another user, an article, or a portal should please be continued there so as to keep all the conversation in one place. I'm watching, though it may take a while for me to reply since I am not active every day on Wikipedia and I have switched off e-mail notifications.