@davidnind
Content Specialist (20+ yrs, web content management, publication preparation). Technical Writer: Docs-as-Code, DITA (topic-based, modular content). Contributor to the Koha library software project + Wikipedia. Loves free + open source software, and tea.
It's been going for over 20 years, but if you're interested in technical writing and don't know about it, we have a monthly newsletter aimed at making you a better technical communicator. See www.cherryleaf.com/useful-resou...
Hindsight is 20/20. Multitudes of lives were saved. It wasn't perfect but by god it was better than practically EVERY other government in the world. Will be forever grateful we didn't have what happened to northern Italy, New York & multitudes of other areas & cities. www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/589...
Need I point out there are dozens of great photos of the beehive, some professional quality, available in Wikimedia Commons absolutely free, no effort required. Well, you do have to credit the photographer, which most papers find overly taxing. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categor...
Got a very quick question I hope someone can answer for me.
Do all prisons in Aotearoa New Zealand have physical access to the New Zealand Law Reports?
If not physical, electronic?
Thank you
Checking on 1 day old #kakapo chick Waa-A3-2026 in Waa's nest on Pukenui/Anchor Island. We check the chicks twice in the first 4 days, and then less frequently as they get older. #kakapo2026 #conservation #parrots
And 12 million by ME!!! 😂
It’s the tenth anniversary of the event that I wrote my favourite-ever Wikipedia article about. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waitang...
We are pleased to be able to offer a limited number of travel grants to assist editors to participate in WikiCon 2026, held in Wellington from Friday 1 – Sunday 3 May.
Applications will be approved on a first come, first served basis, so don't delay: www.wikimedia.nz/travel-grant...
Judging of the Wiki Loves Science photo competition is now complete! With over 160 entries, judges from Australia and New Zealand have reviewed the submissions—congratulations to our winners!
Check out a selection of winners below, or visit the results page for more info: w.wiki/Hcma
Methane has driven about one-third of warming to date 🔥 and is far more potent than CO₂ in the short term. Learn about solutions in latest Insights piece from Emily Cassidy, Research Associate and Paul West, Senior Scientist: https://bit.ly/3NqBEkx
@enviroem.bsky.social @paul-west.bsky.social
A magnificent aerial photography of Sulaibikhat Marine Protected Area in Kuwait. Text reads: Explore different perspectives through the winners of Wiki Loves Earth 2025.
The landscape winners of Wiki Loves Earth 2025 will help you get a new perspective of our world 🧵⬇️ (1/4)
The next Aotearoa New Zealand Online Wikipedia Meetup is on TODAY at 12 noon, Sunday 4 January 2026 NZST.
Get more details here 👇
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikiped...
An historic illustration of two colourful pheasants flying in the sky.
🌍 The #GiveBHLWings campaign is on the brink of reaching its USD 50,000 goal, just hours before the Biodiversity Heritage Library transitions to independence on 1 Jan 26.
If BHL matters to you, please help us soar over the line. 💚 🧪
ancrywkv.donorsupport.co/page/GiveBHL...
#BHLTransition #ILoveBHL
Aotearoa New Zealand’s Wikipedian-at-Large, Dr Mike Dickison, recently spent a weekend on Waiheke Island getting members of the local community better acquainted with the Wikimedia Movement. The result was a group of new editors, and improved coverage of the island.
www.wikimedia.nz/a-weekend-of...
This *seems* like common sense—but what about, for example, making a selected publications list for academics for their Wikipedia page? We trust Google Scholar and DOIs and don't read every paper—and nor should we have to! My fear is that fake papers like these have infected Wikidata.
Great stuff. Hobby hunters are trying to normalise the idea that these invasive pests should be farmed, for their convenience, in the native forests we all own. (Imagine if possum trappers tried this nonsense!) We non-hunters who love our forests outvote them. Let your MP know.
#NZ Cutting the flu tracking service 😔
- it seems a weird thing to cut given it’s not a "big budget" item
- if you’ve read on pandemic planning you’d know this is the sort of thing we need to step *up*, not drop. Feels like cutting off your nose to spite your face
Koha Advent Calendar 2025 - December 17
Te Hokinga Mai | Coming Home: Celebrating 25 Years of Koha at KohaCon25 koha-community.gitlab.io/KohaAdvent/2...
#KohaILS
Tht is a great article Mike!
A Day with NZ’s Wikipedian at Large.
Nice writeup by @jenster.bsky.social of my Waiheke Island Wikipedia workshop.
"Why self-documentation matters" showing four benefits in a grid layout: Remember Everything (brain emoji) - Your documentation remembers so your brain doesn't have to; Prep for Performance Reviews (chart emoji) - Specific examples ready in minutes instead of scrambling for hours; Simplify Job Interviews (briefcase emoji) - Already have examples for "tell me about a time..." questions; Streamline Recurring Tasks (circular arrows emoji) - Follow runbooks instead of starting from scratch every time. The Not-Boring Tech Writer podcast logo appears at bottom as well as "with Kate Pond | S3:E24.”
Can't remember what you accomplished last quarter? Scrambling for examples during performance reviews?
Kate Pond (@ohkpond.bsky.social) has a solution: a simple Google Forms system that tracks your daily work, wins, and collaborations. It only takes ~5 minutes a day!
The Aotearoa New Zealand Online Meetup is on this weekend, Sunday 7 December at midday.
All are welcome! Come along to connect with other Wikimedians, share what you've been working on, and learn some new tips and tricks 💻✨
w.wiki/GVpS
Multiple flower illustrations
A botany related follow up #Wiki workshop will be held on 9 December at 3.30pm NZST. We'll be covering creating new species articles in #Wikipedia, changing plant image file names in #WikiCommons & giving links to #Wikidata tools. Anyone can attend!
Register at: tepapa.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
That's an awesome achievement Annie! 🎉
Fliers for the library talk and workshop on Waiheke Island
Piece by Jenny Nicholls in the Gulf News with a heading I gather she didn’t choose that’s a good potted history of my career (such as it is).
Anyway I’m in Auckland for the next five days: presenting on Wikipedia at the MacDiarmid Institute’s symposium at the Uni, and giving a public talk and Sunday workshop on Waiheke Island in the weekend.
Reminder for those on and near to Waiheke Island — Wikipedian at Large Dr Mike Dickison will be visiting this weekend to run a couple of great events. Details here: www.wikimedia.nz/waiheke-work...
Quote image featuring Kate Mueller with a background pattern of checkboxes (mostly checked off). Text reads: “Give your docs some care this month and recognize that care might not be a big something, but a hundred small things.” Attribution shows Kate Mueller, S3:E23, with The Not-Boring Tech Writer logo.
Docs maintenance might not feel glamorous, but it's one of the most powerful ways we show care for our readers.
In S3:E23, Kate (@knowledgewithsass.bsky.social) talks about the impact of small actions and how picking up roadside trash connects to docs work.
#TechnicalWriting #Documentation
Diagram of Lego head from scientific paper. It is shown in grey, with coloured markings showing its dimensions in millimetres. The main part of the head is 10.11mm across and 9.74mm high
It’s the seventh anniversary of the publication of ‘Everything is awesome: Don’t forget the Lego’ in the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, which told how six “paediatric health-care professionals were recruited to swallow a Lego head” and measure how long it took to ~ahem~ pass through them
Want to take part in the 2025 Wiki Science Photography Competition, but not sure where to start? Last week, we ran an explainer session with a couple of Wikimedia Commons experts to guide you through the process — check out the recording below ⬇️
www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-6W...
