Grants:Project/Rapid/mjecclestone A+F/Nanaimo Wikipedia Edit-a-thon
viu.ca• meg.ecclestone@viu.ca, andie.tomlinson@viu.ca
Project Goal
[edit]Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.
- Recruit new editors, with special emphasis on recruiting editors who are underrepresented in Wikipedia’s editor makeup (women, people of colour, LGBTQ+ identified, and indigenous people)
- Increase skills for existing editors
- Add or improve content, with particular emphasis on content related to notable women, in celebration of Women's History Month and International Women's Day
Project Plan
[edit]Activities
[edit]Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:
1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?
- We are organizing one edit-a-thon, which will include editor training, hands-on editing time, and discussion.
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.
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/viulib/ , and shared via various institutional FB pages that are affiliated with our university, Vancouver Island University
- Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/wikipedia-edit-a-thon-for-womens-history-month-tickets-43037905534
- VIU hosted Library Guide: https://libguides.viu.ca/editathon
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/viulibrary?lang=en
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/viulibrary/
- Emailed colleagues in the local GLAM community via e-mail
- Shared in 'all employees' email to all VIU staff
- Promoted in 2 women's studies courses this semester. The prof has even integrated the event with deliverables for an undergraduate course on Gender in Digital Spaces
- Community radio spot: 101.7 CHLY "Librarians on the Radio" on February 20, 2018
- Emails out to local tech/coding community: Ladies Who Code Nanaimo
3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?
Yes, an experienced guest Wikipedian who specializes in transgender archives is joining us from Victoria, BC -- the nearest major city on Vancouver Island. It proved difficult to find an experienced Wikipedian willing to join us in Nanaimo (a city of 90,000 people), so we are offering to cover their travel expenses up to Nanaimo (ie. car rental, accommodation, gas etc.).
There will also be several librarians and faculty at the event with some Wikipedia editing experience on-hand to troubleshoot citation and simple editing questions during our event.
4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them? We have a university board room (with a view!) with access to power, free Wifi, whiteboards, and a screen for PowerPoint demonstration slides. We have asked participants to BYO laptops and power cords, however we will also have extra laptops on hand if needed (borrowed from the library's Equipment Loans collection).
We will be looking at digital repositories of open access scholarship and special collections to encourage editing of pages and stubs on local women as a part of our event.
We also have the option to re-locate to a computer lab next door, which we have booked for the afternoon as backup.
5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?
After the event comes to a close, we will encourage ongoing discussions at the university pub for all interested. Post-event, we will be exploring a VIU Wikipedia Community of Practice for faculty members interested in integrating Wikipedia into their teaching and ongoing scholarly research. Our library colleagues are planning a second edit-a-thon event during Open Access Week in the 2018/19 academic year, in order to continue building on local capacity and interest in editing Wikipedia among faculty, students and the broader Nanaimo community alike.
6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?
This will be the first Wikipedia Edit-a-thon ever to be hosted in Nanaimo, BC. As there is currently no local capacity among the mid-island Wikipedians for acting as an experienced guest for these events, we had to recruit from the nearest city on the island (Victoria, BC), which is why we have had to add transportation and accommodation costs to our event. We hope that through this kick-off event in Nanaimo that we will be able to build stronger local capacity within the Wikipedia community here in Nanaimo. We would like to encourage future edit-a-thons and other Wikipedia-related events to happen on Vancouver Island.
Impact
[edit]How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:
- Number of events: 1
- Number of participants: 15+
- Number of new editors: 10+
- Number of articles created or improved: 10+
- Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): n/a
Resources
[edit]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). In-kind donations
- Event space: provided by the university library (Vancouver Island University Library)
- Organizers: Two VIU librarians -- time & wages paid by VIU Library
- Extra laptops, power cord and other technical equipment: loaned for free from the library's Equipment Loans
- Poster printing and online Promotions: provided and funded by VIU Library
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.
1. Guest Wikipedian transportation costs for travel/return from Victoria BC to Nanaimo BC = $200 CAD ($160 USD)
2. Guest Wikipedian hotel accommodation in Nanaimo BC = $150 CAD ($120)
3. Guest lunch for Wikipedian = $60 CAD ($48 USD)
4. Food and drinks for the event = $125 CAD ($100 USD)
5. Promotional button-making materials = = $20 CAD ($16 USD)
6. Miscellaneous supplies (name tags, post it sticky notes) = $20 CAD ($16 USD)
Total = $575 CAD ($460 USD)
Thank you for considering our request! -- Meg and Andie
Endorsements
[edit]Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!