Grants:PEG/Dominic/GLAM NARA Events fund/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY Pending has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:PEG/Dominic/GLAM NARA Events fund.

You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email grants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Compliance and completion

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Is your project completed?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Did you use any of the grant funds?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Activities and lessons learned

This section describes what the grantee did, and what the grantee learned from implementing the project. This section should be useful to others implementing similar projects and is an opportunity for the grantee to reflect on the project's performance.

Activities

Provide a detailed list of activities performed to complete this project, descriptions of these activities, and the amount of time spent on each activity. This section should also include a list of participants, or a link to pictures, blog posts, or videos from the project or event.: Two events were held with the National Archives: a scanathon at Archives II in College Park, Maryland, featuring a presentation by the Archivist of the United States and tours of the facility, as well as a meetup at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. For more, see this blog post: Yes, Wikipedians Scan by Dominic McDevitt-Parks.; Archives II Scanathon: On October 11, 2011, around 20 Wikipedia editors attended a meetup at Archives II in College Park, Maryland. The event featured an introductory speech by the Archivist of the United States, followed by a tour of the facility and a scanning party. Refreshments in the morning and lunch were provided through this grant.; Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Meetup: On November 19, 2011, around 15 Wikipedia editors held a meetup at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, featuring a behind-the-scenes tour of the library and an edit-a-thon themed on events from Reagan's presidency. Boxed lunches were provided through this grant. Pictures from the event.

Lessons learned

What lessons were learned that may help others succeed in similar projects? Consider the following questions and respond with 1 - 2 paragraphs.

What went well?

We were successful in bringing Wikipedia editors out to our events. The interest of the National Archives in putting on these events for Wikipedia editors enhanced the events by making more of the resources of the National Archives available to Wikipedia editors. In turn, the enthusiasm of the Wikipedians in attendance helped to forge a strong relationship between NARA and the Wikipedia editing community. Likewise, the meetup at the Reagan Library was one of the few meetups held in Southern California; we hope to see a stronger community of Wikipedians in the Los Angeles area.

What did not go well?

We did not keep good-enough track of the outcomes of these events. Additionally, technical difficulties prevented the Archives II meetup from being more productive. However, we have improved on this in events held afterward.

What would you do differently if you planned a similar project?

At future edit-a-thons we kept better track of the events' outcomes.

Project goal and measures of success

This section should reference the project goals and measures of success described in the approved grant submission. See Grants:PEG/Dominic/GLAM NARA Events fund to review the goals and metrics listed in the approved submission.

Project goal

Provide the project goal here.: From the grant proposal: "The goal of this project is to host backstage pass-type events held at US National Archives facilities. These are events in which local Wikimedians are hosted by the institution for presentations, tours, and use of the research rooms and archival materials for scanning and editing purposes."
Did you achieve your project goal? How do you know your goal was achieved? Please answer in 1 - 2 paragraphs.: While the original plan was to hold one large event and three smaller events, we instead held two events of roughly equal size. However, both events were very successful in engaging the attention of the Wikipedia editing communities in the DC and Los Angeles areas respectively.

Measures of success

List the measures of success exactly as provided in the approved grant submission, and evaluate your project according to each measure listed there.: From the grant proposal: "The events' success can be measured by turnout, as well as by content produced."
Provide an overall assessment of how your project went according to these measures.: Turnout was at adequate levels for both events. Technical difficulties prevented us from producing more content at the Archives II event.
If you were to plan a similar project, would you measure it differently? If yes, please explain how.: These are reasonable measures.

Impact

This section ties this project to Wikimedia's broader goals, and shows what the project accomplished.

What impact did this project have on WMF's mission and the strategic goals? Please answer in 1 -2 paragraphs and include specific measures of impact such as the number of readers or editors reached by a particular project, or the number of articles edited or improved.

Stabilize infrastructure
Increase participation
Improve quality
Increase reach
Encourage innovation

These two events helped build a bridge between the Wikimedia movement and the National Archives, a prestigious cultural institution in the United States. This relationship, furthered in no small part by their Wikipedian in Residence position, has stayed strong over the years. In addition to holding GLAMcamp there in 2012, as well as GLAM Boot Camp in 2013, the Archivist of the United States gave a keynote address at Wikimania 2012. These events were instrumental in building a working relationship between the two communities.

Reporting and documentation of expenditures

This section describes the grant's use of funds

Documentation

Did you send documentation of all expenses paid with grant funds to grants at wikimedia dot org, according to the guidelines here? Answer "Yes" or "No".: Yes, as part of the Wikimedia DC Bootstrapping Grant report.

Expenses

Please list all project expenses in a table here, with descriptions and dates. Review the instructions here.: These expenses should be listed in the same format as the budget table in your approved submission so that anyone reading this report may be able to easily compare budgeted vs. actual expenses.; Note that variances in the project budget over 10% per expense category must be approved in advance by WMF Grants Program staff. For all other variances, please provide an explanation in the table below.

Description	Amount allocated	Amount spent	Difference	Explanation
Archives II—Breakfast and lunch	$60.00	$172.80	+$112.80	Purchase of breakfast in addition to lunch
Archives II—Snacks	$12.00	$31.71	+$19.71	Underestimation of costs
Reagan Library—Boxed lunch	$60.00	$194.25	+$134.25	We were required to use the on-site caterer
Two events not held	$170.00	$0.00	-$170.00	Budgetary constraints

Total	$400.00	$398.76	-$1.24

Total project budget (from your approved grant submission): $400.00, incorporated into the Wikimedia DC Bootstrapping Grant.

Total amount requested from WMF (from your approved grant submission, this total will be the same as the total project budget if the WMF grant is your only funding source): $400.00, incorporated into the Wikimedia DC Bootstrapping Grant.

Total amount spent on this project (this total should be the total calculated from the table above): $398.76

Total amount of WMF grant funds spent on this project (this total will be the same as the total amount spent if the WMF grant is your only funding source): $398.76

Are there additional sources of revenue that funded any part of this project? List them here.: No

Remaining funds

Are there any grant funds remaining?: Answer YES or NO.; Yes

Please list the total amount (specify currency) remaining here. (This is the amount you did not use, or the amount you still have after completing your grant.)

$1.24

If funds are remaining they must be returned to WMF, reallocated to mission-aligned activities, or applied to another approved grant.

Please state here if you intend to return unused funds to WMF, submit a request for reallocation, or submit a new grant request, and then follow the instructions on your approved grant submission.

This grant was combined with Wikimedia DC's Bootstrapping Grant. Leftover funds from that grant, including the $1.24 left over from this grant, were re-allocated to the Outreach 2013 grant.