Wikimedia Armenia/Reports/2020-07

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2020

July

Online Summer WikiCamp 2020 (July 20-25)

Online Summer WikiCamp 2020, designed for experienced editors aged 9-14, took place on July 20-25. In total 96 participants applied for the camp, but due to the strict selection process, only 41 editors had the chance to participate in the camp. During the selection process, both contribution size and quality were taken into account.

WikiCamps have certain features that differentiate them from other camps, such as special camping hoodies/T-shirts and badges. In order not to continue the tradition, all the participants and members of the organizing team were sent T-shirts, badges, and other necessary items in advance via the post office, and if necessary, the participants were also provided with computers.

The Wikicamp’s organizing team consisted of 4 team leaders and 12 Wiki team members. Both with all participants of the camp and within separate groups (there were 4 groups this time) the meetings were organized through the Zoom video communications service.

As during the usual Wikicamps editing workshops were one of the most important activities, this online Wikicamp was not different: there were several editing hours during the five days of the camp. Workshops were generally held three times a day for overall 4 hours (with breaks): ending at 18:00 PM. During the breaks, the campers had a rest hour, after which they played various games and participated in educational activities.

In total, 26 editors contributed to Wikipedia and 14 editors to Wikisource [1]. At Wikipedia, editors were given a list of 50,000 vital articles from which they could choose the articles they were interested in. For those editors who worked on Wikisource works of Armenian famous poets and writers were prepared: Petros Duryan and Shirvanzade's Collection of Works.

In addition to editing hours, many games and events were organized for the campers to make their daily life more interesting and entertaining. The campers had morning gymnastics, Brain Ring intellectual games, puzzle gathering, song lessons, all of which were successfully organized online. The campers also watched instructional videos made especially for them and prepared their own versions of famous songs (covers).

Continuing the traditional collaboration with the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Republic of Armenia, educational videos on fires have been made. In addition, an online meeting was organized with Hovhannes Khachatryan, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Rescue Operations of the Crisis Management State Academy, Aram Zakaryan, journalist of the "MES 911" online newspaper, Liliana Margaryan, Head of the Information Department of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. During the meeting, the representatives of the Ministry of Emergency Situations discussed various emergency situations with the campers and presented the means to protect themselves from such possible situations.

Online Wikipedia courses

After successfully launching the “Online Wikipedia course for teachers”, many people have applied to Wikimedia Armenia to participate in the course. So it was decided to start an online Wikipedia course, this time for people of all ages and professions. More than 320 people applied for the training. The majority of the applicants are again teachers. During the conference organized by the Paradigma Educational Foundation, a lot of teachers Influenced by the speech of the President of Wikimedia Armenia and the coordinator of Alaverdi Wikiclub, expressed a great desire to participate in the course. In addition to teachers, pupils, students, and people of other professions applied to participate in the course.

In contrast to the teacher’s course, both beginners and experienced editors are enrolled in this course. In order to increase the effectiveness of the course, the training of experienced editors was conducted in a different format and in separate groups from newcomers. There are 25 experienced participants in the course. The aim of the experienced editors’ course is to deepen their knowledge of Wikipedia and other wiki platforms, especially Wikidata.

More than 190 people confirmed their participation in the training. Like the previous course, this one is also conducted online. 19 groups of 10 people were formed. As in the case of the teachers' training, 11 editors have been selected from the wiki community, who have taken on the task of introducing groups to Wikipedia and other Wiki platforms. Before starting the course, these 11 trainers have had training sessions. Each trainer has two groups, the courses are held twice a week for two hours. As in the case of the teachers’ course, a list of 25,000 vital articles was offered to the participants. We also created a Wikipedia page where participants add the articles they created or improved. So far, 327 articles have been created and improved within the framework of the course.

In order to coordinate the work of the trainers, a meeting is organized once a week, during which issues related to the trainings and possible shortcomings and ommissions are discussed. As a result of the exchange of experience, the trainers present the methods by which they conduct their courses. The trainers record the courses, which helps both the trainers and us to get an idea of the training methods and possible problems, as well as for the participants who can return to the recordings and strengthen their knowledge.

Wikimedia Armenia-Birthright Armenia collaboration

The Birthright Armenia Foundation provides volunteer opportunities for young Diaspora Armenians who come to Armenia and are hosted by Armenian families. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Diaspora Armenian volunteers do not have the opportunity to arrive in Armenia; they have to do their volunteer work remotely. Knowing several languages, many young Diaspora Armenians have expressed a desire to do translations as a part of their volunteering.

Accepting the Birthright Armenia’s offer of collaboration, Wikimedia Armenia “hosted” four Armenian volunteers from Russia, Canada, Lebanon, and France. These volunteers translate and contribute to foreign language Wikipedias, specifically enriching and creating information about Armenia, Armenian history, and culture. A wiki editor was attached to each volunteer to introduce them to Wikipedia its tools and features. The wiki editor’s job is to teach the volunteer how to create an account and to work on Wikipedia. At the same time, as the volunteers work, the wiki editors have to make sure that the volunteers published the translated articles correctly on Wikipedia, warn them in case if their articles are labeled, and help them with any issues.

At present, two of the four volunteers translate various articles on Armenia from English to French, contributing to the French Wikipedia, and one volunteer translates from Armenian to Russian, contributing to the Russian Wikipedia. The Lebanese-Armenian volunteer translates from English to Western Armenian, enriching the Western Armenian Wikipedia with articles on biology.

The contribution of Armenian volunteers in foreign language Wikipedias plays a significant role. They enrich the Armenian topic, which is rarely presented in foreign language Wikipedias, being native speakers of those languages. At the moment, the volunteers have created more than 14 articles: Gevork Vartanian, Khosrovidukht, Aram Pachyan, Sarmen, etc. Even after two of the volunteers have finished their volunteering, one of them still continues having contributions to Russian Wikipedia on Armenian topics.

Saturday workshops

In July 2020, Wikimedia Armenia continued to conduct online Saturday workshops every week, which were of great interest to editors, as in previous months.

Remote Saturday workshops took place four times on July 4, 11, 18, and 25. As always, the workshops took place with two separate groups, the first one was organized for experienced editors and the second one for beginner editors.

For the first group of participants, we provided more information on relevant and important topics for the period. During the workshop on July 4, the project "One article per week" was presented: its importance, how to participate in the project, what are the rules of the project. At the end of the workshop, the results of the previous 6 months were summarized, the names of the participants who created a new article each week within the framework of the "One article per week" project were announced. During the month, the mentioned participants received their awards via the post office. During the month, the participants were introduced to the tree of categories on Wikipedia and other projects, their structure, purpose, how to use them, and how to create categories. Another topic was about regulation on Wikipedia, what labels there are, what to do when articles are labeled, what gadgets there are on Wikipedia, how to find and use them. Fifty-eight people participated in the first group workshop during the month.

The second part of the workshop is intended for new editors, during which Wikipedia and other wiki projects are introduced, information about Wikimedia movement and Wikimedia Armenia is provided. The purpose of the workshop is to introduce the organization, the projects, the opportunities to participate in them in a short period of time (two hours). At the same time, it gives a brief overview of how to register on Wikipedia, addresses the structure of the article, and the rules and regulations that the beginners need at the beginning. During the month of July, 22 newcomers participated in the workshops of this group.

In total, 80 experienced and new editors participated in Saturday workshops in July.

WikiClubs' report

In July 2020, Wikiclubs participated in many ongoing projects on the Armenian Wikipedia, including the "Online Wikicamp 2020" for the age group of 9-14. The clubs continue their work online.

On July 8, the Hatsik Wikiclub launched the "Nations and Traditions" project, in the framework of which articles are created about the traditions of different nations. During the video call, the articles are divided into parts and due to the teamwork one or two articles are translated until the end of the video call, depending on the size of the article. Immediately after the video call, the articles are checked, and the participants publish the article in the main namespace. One of the positive aspects of the project is that during the following video call, each of the participants tells about the part they translated, after which everyone discusses and compares it with Armenian national traditions.

Koghb Wikiclub organized a week-long editorial contest among club members on July 13-19. The editors were divided into two teams for the competition. The teams created articles, and the team that created the best quality content and many articles was recognized as the winner. As a result of the competition, the winning team received encouraging gifts.

On July 16, a workshop dedicated to the "Let's Update Wikipedia" project was organized at the Lernapat Wikiclub via video call. More than ten members of the club joined the call. The main principles of the project were presented, the participants together improved the article about Elena Gogoleva.

Alaverdi Wikiclub implemented the "Me and your Wikipedia" project in July. Before the start, experienced club members were selected who had been mentoring new participants for two weeks: teaching the basic rules of editing and reviewing the articles they had created. Immediately after the announcement was posted on social networks, it became very popular. New participants from different communities of Armenia expressed a desire to participate. They chose their mentor, then after the initial joint video call, they started working on an individual schedule. The project was very inspiring for both novice and experienced editors, as during that time they "revitalized their knowledge" and became mature both as an editor and as an individual. The participants shared their experiences during the final video call. At the end of the project, about 20 quality articles were created. Even after the end of the project, the cooperation of the participants and mentors continues. The Alaverdi Wikiclub continues the tradition of writing a joint article on Fridays.

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)	30	121976	1094278	-587	42	10	0	0	0	0	604	0	39	0	0	39
Alaverdi Wikiclub	34	13000	729052	-57354	772	85	190	-465	17	0	40472	-251	69	20	2	56
Arevatsag Wikiclub	67	960	458328	-149927	1078	69	0	0	1	0	316386	-173	234	146	12	187
Gyumri Wikiclub (KASA)	79	121976	172369	-257	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Goris Wikiclub	27	20300	772387	-49763	970	108	0	0	0	0	378806	-177	249	161	17	229
Ddmashen Wikiclub	24	2876	1181553	-51192	1887	79	0	0	0	0	234751	-407	166	114	38	126
Lernapat Wikiclub	79	2279	2200348	-128965	2213	140	0	0	0	0	90002	-277	137	41	32	92
Koghb Wikiclub	34	5300	607094	-37705	502	42	16204	-235	69	41	452	-492	92	0	1	91
Hatsik Wikiclub	21	1044	992342	-14949	406	109	0	0	0	0	1542	-754	129	0	1	118
Mrgavan Wikiclub	61	1725	273340	-33061	549	36	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Spitak Wikiclub	42	13000	135875	-1503	164	15	0	0	0	0	602160	-1060	390	234	182	207
Stepanakert Wikiclub	21	55200	584533	-21961	490	43	0	0	0	0	15072	-88	48	6	0	40
Vanashen Wikiclub	49	2573	4908	0	8	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Vardenik Wikiclub	68	9880	704257	-2251778	5284	19	544	-37	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Togh Wikiclub	39	700	316909	-2653	152	58	0	0	0	0	59814	-7402	291	16	20	249
Karvachar Wikiclub	23	500	916939	-17666	336	162	0	-233	3	0	226810	-1494	174	110	2	159
Aygedzor Wikiclub	7	2608	9247	-189	27	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Archis Wikiclub	11	1109	218809	-9907	289	34	0	0	0	0	16587	0	9	7	1	5
Berd Wikiclub	25	7800	11333	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	212903	-3070	346	99	2	327
Gandzakar Wikiclub	6	3656	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Gosh Wikiclub	14	1218	36778	-1168	42	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Lusahovit Wikiclub	13	390	15458	-416	19	3	0	0	0	0	15	0	1	0	0	1
Kirants Wikiclub	12	298	52388	-6900	146	4	0	0	0	0	21147	0	7	7	5	0
Noyemberyan Wikiclub (2-nd school)	15	5000	221780	-951	87	26	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Noyemberyan Wikiclub (high school)	16	5000	81184	-4746	119	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sarigyugh Wikiclub	6	1253	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Verin Karmiraghbyur Wikiclub	8	1837	330785	-13391	240	21	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	831	403458	12122274	-2856989	15834	1075	16938	-970	99	43	2217523	-15645	2381	961	315	1926