Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikiclub NT

Wikiclub NT is a new initiative launched in Darwin in June 2016. It is aimed at addressing the severe lack of Wikipedia pages about the Northern Territory (NT) of Australia, one of the most culturally diverse but poorly represented parts of Australia. Wikiclub NT is a monthly editathon in Darwin. This grant will support the growth of the project elsewhere throughout the Territory in the remote outback towns of Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine.

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

A series. This Rapid Grant will support the first Wikipedia training and editathons ever held in remote Central Australia. It aims to address the geographic and demographic under-representation of these regions on Wikipedia. In particular this Rapid Grant will support:

Training workshop in Alice Springs, October 2016
Training workshop in Katherine, October 2016
Training workshop in Tennant Creek, October 2016
Women's edit-a-thon, March 2017
Indigenous people's edt-a-thon July 2017 - for NAIDOC Week

2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.

The training and editathon will be promoted through:

The [www.wikiclubnt.net Wikiclub NT website]
Facebook Group: Wikiclub NT
Promotional support through Northern Territory Library network - Northern Territory Library, Alice Springs Public Library, Tennant Creek Public Library and Katherine Public Library via their monthly newsletters and social media networks
Support from local media outlets, NT News, Centralian Advocate, ABC Alice Springs, ABC Darwin

3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?

Tenniscourtisland, founder of Wikiclub NT, will conduct the remote workshops in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine with research and historical support from LP1BLoke, who is the curator of Territory History at the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

Tenniscourtisland has contributed over 1800 edits and 34 articles since June 2016. She has run nine successful workshops and editathons so far. Wikiclub NT is supported by four professional NT-based historians who read and edit new pages. The project is also supported through in-kind support from the Northern Territory Libraries network, which provides venues, research staff and a suite of laptops.

5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

Wikiclub NT supports ongoing editing through our Wikipedia Talk pages, its website www.wikiclubnt.net, its Facebook group and via email. Ongoing support for more complex issues is provided by Gnangarra and Bidgee.

6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

As part of expanding Wikipedia's coverage of the Northern Territory in every aspect, a key aim of this project has been to increase coverage of the NT's diverse Indigenous cultures. As well, we have deliberately set out to improve the visibility of the contribution made to the Northern Territory by many women, Indigenous and non-Indigenous. We need to recruit and inspire regular editors in remote parts of the NT to achieve this goal!

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

Number of events: 6
Number of participants: 40
Number of new editors: 12
Number of of articles created or improved: 50 new articles
Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): 10

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

Wikiclub NT was established by tenniscourtisland in June 2016. It was possible through self-funding, plus the following funding support:

A week-long intensive training program by Wikimedia Australia's Gnangarra and Bidgee in Darwin. This was supported by a Northern Territory Government History Grant through the Department of Tourism and Culture. That grant doesn't cover the second phase of the project, which aims to grow the project beyond Darwin throughout the Northern Territory.
Northern Territory Library provides support through supplying a venue for the regular editathons in Darwin, a suite of laptops for use, and research support via staff time and use of its collections.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

Food and drink = AUD$80 x 6 events = AUD$480
Car hire (for training workshops in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and Katherine) = AUD$564.50
Accommodation = AUD$100 x four nights = AUD$400
Stationary / consumables for workshops = AUD$120

TOTAL = AUD$1,564.50 or US$1,178.73

Endorsements

Support having been part of the original training team from Wikimedia Australia for the Wikiclub NT I can attest to the skills and capabilities of the applicant to deliver successful outcomes. One the first articles from this editor went on to become a DYK on en.wikipedia along with a number of other articles created in those sessions and none of the articles created so far by this group have been deleted. Noting also that the editors efforts with ongoing events are supported online by experienced editors from across Australia. Gnangarra (talk) 15:17, 20 September 2016 (UTC)