Grants talk:Project/Rapid/UG BAQ/Publication of wikibook from wikiproject

Hi Kepa Sarasola. Thank you and all the editors who have worked so hard on Wikiproject UliakoLorebaratzak! It is a great wikiproject success story and you all should be very proud of what you've accomplished so far. In general, we cannot fund the publication of books, as our focus is on supporting access to and development of content online. Publishing books is just not a sustainable or scalable way to use grant funds. However, we are curious to know more about the goals of the project and if printing a smaller volume of copies would meet some of those goals. From our reading of the request, the goals listed do not clearly relate to publishing 100 books. For example, adding or improving content, increasing skills of new editors, creating at tour of the park with QR codes, or recruiting new editors. If you want to publish a few books to appreciate editors that contributed a lot to the wikiproject or a few copies for very promising partnerships (like other parks), that is something we can consider. Please let us know what you would like to do. Best, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 20:00, 5 September 2017 (UTC)

Hi Kepa Sarasola. Since we haven't heard from you in two weeks, we are moving this request back to draft. When you want to re-open the request, please change the status to proposed and respond to our comments above. Thanks, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 18:38, 19 September 2017 (UTC)

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF)

Hi Kepa Sarasola, I have a question regarding one of the goals in terms of creating new partnerships. Your intention with this project is, in part, to publish additional books for distribution to some possible parks or other partners for future projects. As AWang (WMF) has said above, developing partnership is work we want to encourage. I wanted to ask about whether you have considered creating a version of the book via files Commons for images or through Wikibooks. I realize a physical copy is beneficial for libraries and a public good, but for other partners such as parks, perhaps a physical is not necessary to demonstrate the quality of the work. What do you think about this approach? Thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 18:27, 14 November 2017 (UTC)

Reducing the amount of hard copies requested to 24 (from Ksarasola)

Hi Alex Wang (WMF) and I JethroBT (WMF),

It is good to hear from you! I am sorry, but My WP username happens to be Ksarasola, so I did not get pinged, and overlooked your answers. We have tried with Wikibooks as you pointed as an alternative, still the outcome was not visually very satisfactory, perhaps we lack expertise.

Still the Basque Wikimedians User Group has lately managed to attract city, educational and academic institutions in Donostia (San Sebastián), a vibrant, hot cultural hub, and beyond over the Basque Country, engaging in a number of synergies. We understand that a high volume release of hard copies does not fit the bill of activities sponsored by the WMF.

However, we think that having hard copies distributed will effectively reassert this climate of collaboration, get a sense of acknowledgement, and incite further cooperative ventures with like institutions, like parks, or GLAM. Therefore we reduced the amount of hard copies requested to 24:

• 14 copies directed at public libraries from our city that have asked us for it by now.
• 10 copies to hand over as an appreciation to 10 editors and collaborators that contributed greatly to the wikiproject,

Hope you find this proposal advantageous and promising. Let me know your final consideration, we look forward to your reply. Best regards, Ksarasola (talk) 23:05, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

Hi Ksarasola. Thank you for the reply and apologies that we pinged you wrong and you did not see the feedback. Please update the budget to reflect 24 books and we can move forward with the approval. It will be great to hear how receptive the libraries were to the books and more importantly to opportunities for future partnerships related to Wikimedia work. Best, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 04:08, 14 December 2017 (UTC)

Hi Alex Wang (WMF), Thanks for your fast answer. I updated the budget/proposal, finallly our funding request is for a total amount of just $1300. Thanks, Ksarasola (talk) 12:52, 14 December 2017 (UTC)