Wikipedia seeks fresh blood

The New York Times reports on the Wikipedia Foundation’s plans to double its staff with 44 new employees and back them with $20 million in fundraising in the next year.

The key passage in the Times’ story is this: “Wikipedia contributors have raised concerns that interest in creating, editing and polishing articles is waning as the site grows older.” The non-profit, San Francisco-based Foundation brought in a consulting group to seek ways to bring newly impassioned contributors to Wikipedia. Input from more than 900 separate proposals by a thousand contributors was reviewed.

Many of the new employees will work either at marketing Wikipedia to could-be contributors, or providing technical support to keep them from getting flustered. “Nobody knows what this will look like,” executive director Sue Gardner told the Times. Because yes, the company’s plans are being managed on a wiki.