Wikimedia Armenia/Reports/2020-01

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2020

January

Wikipedia Day

On 15 January Wikimedia Armenia celebrated Wikipedia’s 19th birthday. Before the birthday, it was announced that as a birthday gift community members can write articles concerning various topics and fields. Around 110 people wrote approximately 250 articles as a birthday gift for Wikipedia.

The birthday ceremony took place at the office of Wikimedia Armenia. Members of the organization, Wikicommunity representatives - overall 65 people - participated in the event. The agenda of the ceremony had two parts - more formal and friendly. During the formal part, different nominations and winners were presented. Overall, there were 13 nominations:

CEE Spring
Organizer of most events
Interwiki women 3
Organizers of the “Wikidoctor”
Editor with the most articles
Editor with the most contributions
Collaboration with Eurasia International University
Wikiclassroom
Western Armenian Wikipedia
Wikidata
Articles about villages
Indian thematic editathon
An article per week

Each nomination was presented by active editors. The winners were awarded certificates and presents. After which the formal part ended.

In the more friendly part of the ceremony, the participants watched a video made by different Wikiclub members. The video was a surprise made by each Wikiclub where children congratulated Wikipedia’s birthday in a creative way. The video was funny and interesting. After the video, the editors with the most articles and contributions had the chance to cut the birthday cake which was followed by a group photo. After all these events participants were given an opportunity to chit-chat with their friends and other community members, take photos and have fun.

Meeting with Wikiclub Coordinators

On January 18, 2020, a meeting was held with the Wikiclub coordinators in the office of Wikimedia Armenia. Coordinators of all Wikiclubs were present at the meeting, with the exception of Stepanakert, Togh, and Alaverdi Wikiclubs. The coordinators of the latter Wikiclubs were presented the results after the meeting. Susanna Mkrtchyan, the President of Wikimedia Armenia, was also participating at the meeting.

The meeting agenda consisted of four parts, which included:

presenting results
presenting annual club performance statistics
discussing various issues
outlining future plans․

Following the opening of the event and presentation of the agenda, the coordinators of the Lernapat and Gyumri Wikiclubs introduced the participants to the “Wikitrainer” course and shared in-depth knowledge of various wiki platforms.

In the second part of the meeting, each coordinator summarized his/her Wikiclub's performance of the previous year, as well as presented his/her vision and ideas about the future of the club. In the third part of the meeting, with the help of statistics and graphs, the results of Wikiclubs performance during 2019 was displayed. The drawbacks and shortcomings observed in the work of the Wikiclubs were discussed, as well as the strengths and achievements were presented. During the meeting, the necessity and importance of improving the performance of the Wikiclubs were emphasized.

Editathon dedicated to Army Day

From January 8 to February 2 an editathon dedicated to the 28th anniversary of the Armenian Army was launched in Armenian Wikipedia. Different Wikiclubs participated in the editathon having their contribution in creating articles about weaponry. The purpose of the editathon was to write articles about different types of weapons that are used in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia and not only. 24 Wikiclubs took part in the editathon which lasted for 25 days. As a result, 96 editors participated in the editathon creating 176 articles.

Winter WikiCamp 2020

From January 25 to February 2, Wikimedia Armenia organized Winter WikiCamp in Alpina Hotel located in one of the cozy and picturesque corners of Tsakhkadzor.

The camp was designed for the youth aged 18-35. More than 123 people had applied for the camp. But due to the selection process, only 56 people had the chance to participate in the camp. The participant edited medical, economic and historical articles over the course of the eight days of the camp, participated in intellectual, sports, cultural and entertainment games.

Out of 56 participants of the camp, 23 were newcomers. A two-day intense workshop was held to quickly engage newcomers in the editorial process, after which newcomers joined experienced editors, evenly distributed in 5 teams. By the way, although the newcomers made their first edits during the camp, at the end of the camp, two of them made a total of 300,000 bytes contribution in Armenian Wikipedia.

This Wikicamp was a unique one because it was a thematic camp. Previously we have organized thematic Wiki Loves Science, however, we never had an experience of such Wikicamp. The effectiveness of the thematic camp is much higher, as within 8 days of the camp the Armenian Wikipedia has been enriched with numerous medical, economic and historical articles. Camp participants have created 309 articles and lists on medical, economic and historical topics in Armenian Wikipedia, totaling 10,631,894 bytes. To compare it with last year’s Wikicamp, this camp registered great results. Last year 57 participants edited around 7,925,916 bytes in total.

The organizing team of the Wikicamp consisted of 10 people, four of whom were experienced wikieditors (Wikiteam). Formerly the Wikiteam included 10 people - 2 for each group; their purpose was to help the editors, teach newcomers and check the technical issues of the articles at the end of each day. In this camp, however, an attempt has been made to reduce the number of the Wikiteam to determine its effectiveness. However, it turned out to be not very productive as the checking of all articles was concentrated on four people. At the beginning of each day, the Wikiteam summarized the results of the previous day and discussed the most common mistakes.

The camp was full of not only editorial work but also sports and cultural events. It has already become a tradition to visit the Orberli Brothers’ Museum and the ropeway. As part of the camp's cultural events, campers learned Armenian folk songs and national dances and songs from different countries. The most impressive part of the cultural events was the violin concert. During the Fort Wiki game organized at the end of the camp, each group had to walk around the city and perform different tasks. One of these assignments was editorial work. Within an hour one person from each group had to translate an article of about 10,000 bytes which was about a settlement. All groups successfully completed this assignment, creating a total of 5 articles during the game.

Winter Youth Wikicamp (January 25-February 3)
Participants (newcomers)	56 (23)
Created articles/lists	309
edits	2,121
bytes (net sum)	10,631,894

Youth Winter Wikicamp 2020 group photo
Youth Winter Wikicamp 2020 participants
Youth Winter Wikicamp 2020 working time
Youth Winter Wikicamp 2020 sports games time

Editathon dedicated to “Human Rights”

by Armine Aghayan

From 15 November 2019 to 30 January 2020 a series of editathons dedicated to Human Rights were organized in Armenian Wikipedia. The purpose of the editathon was to improve the content of human rights in Armenian Wikipedia. Around 21 editors participated in the editathon by creating 157 articles. Besides articles, 15 photos related to the topic were uploaded in Wikicommons. Also, Human Rights Portal was created. The January 18 meeting-editathon did not take place because of the fire in the Press building, but all the articles on the list were edited by the participants online. The UN Armenia Office prepared a small surprise for 6 most active participants (created 5 or more articles) of the campaign.

The articles created during the editathon include biographies of UN officials, activists, public figures, topics related to international law, conventions, organizations, projects, as well as cultural institutions and monuments related to the UN.

“Armenian History” project

Active members of Wikimedia Armenia Noobrella (Koghb Wikiclub), Gevorg Ghazaryan (Mrgavan Wikiclub), and Gardmanahay organized a new project about “Armenian History” from 10 December 2019 to January 10, 2020. The purpose of the project is to enhance the content of Armenian History.

The organizers had prepared a list of trustworthy sources for the editors from where the participants could create and/or improve articles. The project involved 11 editors who created 100 articles with a total of 1,512,975 bytes.

Wikiclubs report

During the month of January, 25 Wikiclubs created around 656 articles in Armenian Wikipedia - in general, 9,285,494 bytes and 9854 edits; 298 words in Wiktionary - 185,154 bytes; 773 new pages in Wikisource - 1,568,930 bytes in total.

Wikiclubs participated in an editathon dedicated to Army Day and created 176 articles about various types of weapons.

On January 15, Wikimedia Armenia celebrated Wikipedia’s 19th birthday and Wikiclub members prepared congratulatory videos and articles as a gift.

The Alaverdi Wikiclub celebrated International Thank-You Day on January 11th. The coordinator prepared a slide show which started an interesting discussion that once again emphasized the importance of being thankful in life. The club members discussed when, where, how and why people should be thankful. The discussion was also attended by Alaverdi's local "Ankyun +3" TV company, which prepared an interesting reportage on the meeting. On January 25th, the club members discussed the International Day of Education and created an article about it. And on the last day of the month, Alaverdi and Arevatsag Wikiclubs created an article together connecting each other via video call.

A contest of editing was organized at Lernapat Wikiclub and the Wikimedia ideology was presented. There was a publication about the Wikiclassroom that is being organized in Lernapat Wikiclub in Wikimedia Education Blog.

Discussions were organized on the topics of “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Television” and “The Internet in the Lives of Schoolchildren. How to use the Internet correctly” in Ddmashen Wikiclub.

Fathers of Hatsik Wikiclub members visited the club and shared their knowledge about weapons so that their children can easily participate in editathon dedicated to Army Day.

Another "Meeting with Art" took place at Karvachar Wikiclub. Club member Liana Mkrtchyan spoke about Armenian composer, musicologist, and pedagogue Romanos Melikyan, and at the end of the meeting, the attendees listened to famous works by the composer. This month there have been publications about the Karvachar Wikiclub on the Wikimedia Space and Wikimedia Education Blog platforms.

Alaverdi Wikiclub-Arevatsag Wikiclub
Lernapat Wikiclub
Karvachar Wikiclub

Wikiclubs' statistics

Wikiclubs	Participants	Community population	Bytes+ (Wikipedia)	Bytes-	Edits	Articles	Bytes+ (Wiktionary)	Bytes-	Edits	Articles	Bytes+ (Wikisource)	Bytes-	Edits	Created	Proofread	Confirmed
Gyumri (Khrimyan Hayrik 46)	13	121976	9085	-5	5	2	0	0	0	0	46110	0	17	15	0	17
Alaverdi Wikiclub	89	13000	770708	-18885	774	70	34906	-854	497	35	0	0	0	0	0	0
Arevatsag Wikiclub	127	960	147836	-1764	318	15	30701	-231	193	58	37738	-42	18	15	0	18
Gyumri Wikiclub (KASA)	79	121976	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Goris Wikiclub	67	20300	204267	-2932	491	31	12	0	7	0	155	-299	32	0	32	0
Ddmashen Wikiclub	94	2876	1354926	-33354	2317	67	0	0	0	0	50903	-197	324	43	260	62
Lernapat Wikiclub	37	2279	1984141	-120606	1466	132	181	-349	7	1	101568	-4045	62	32	24	10
Koghb Wikiclub	99	5300	279902	-6569	317	54	43910	-1360	104	84	0	-595	1	0	0	0
Hatsik Wikiclub	50	1044	498999	-3649	159	62	44704	0	99	72	368100	-176	191	128	112	75
Mrgavan Wikiclub	61	1725	760405	-157098	2085	45	0	0	0	0	28764	-3425	96	9	87	7
Spitak Wikiclub	58	13000	30808	-5788	23	6	0	0	0	0	141768	-118	124	63	68	47
Stepanakert Wikiclub	243	55200	1696100	-222207	355	88	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vanashen Wikiclub	49	2573	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vardenik Wikiclub	66	9880	109783	-1035222	1021	7	37	-29	7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Togh Wikiclub	86	700	98644	-277	36	16	0	0	0	0	112814	-9403	109	30	36	73
Karvachar Wikiclub	114	500	565689	-5633	194	82	30703	-235	255	48	169988	-347	146	71	73	48
Aygedzor Wikiclub	13	2608	25590	0	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Archis Wikiclub	8	1109	90455	-244	40	14	0	0	0	0	89983	-200	55	43	0	52
Berd Wikiclub	24	7800	7149	0	3	1	0	0	0	0	120239	-296	187	26	85	64
Gandzakar Wikiclub	6	3656	63688	-275	11	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gosh Wikiclub	12	1218	45476	0	14	9	0	0	0	0	3062	0	2	1	0	0
Lusahovit Wikiclub	12	390	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Kirants Wikiclub	12	298	29631	0	31	5	0	0	0	0	297738	-1260	146	104	11	135
Noyemberyan Wikiclub (2-nd school)	13	5000	113841	-3979	45	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Noyemberyan Wikiclub (high school)	18	5000	204704	-1273	65	24	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sarigyugh Wikiclub	7	1253	29973	-2043	22	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Verin Karmiraghbyur Wikiclub	8	1837	163694	-969	52	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	1465	403458	9,285,494	-1452744	9854	773	185154	-3058	1169	298	1568930	-20403	1510	580	788	608

Newsletters

This month Wikimedia Armenia has submitted two articles in the Educational Newsletter of Wikimedia Foundation. The article “Joint translations as language studying tool in Karvachar’s Wikiclub” represents a new experience of translating articles jointly. The article “Wikiclassroom as a New Means of Gaining Knowledge” shows the influence of Wikiclassroom in the learning process.

Saturday workshops

It was planned to carry out 3 workshops in the Wikimedia Armenia office during the month of January. The workshop on January 11 was populous. There were both experienced editors and newcomers, in general around 20 people. On January 18, the Press building, which also houses the office of Wikimedia Armenia, had no electricity because of the fire in the building. Because of this incident, the scheduled workshops on January 18 and 25 were canceled. We temporarily gave laptops to all those editors who did not have computers/laptops at home and were unable to continue their editing work.

Saturday workshop, 11 January 2020
Saturday workshop, 11 January 2020