Grants:Project/Rapid/1Lib1Ref Edit-a-thon Sessions at University of Ilorin/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/1Lib1Ref Edit-a-thon Sessions at University of Ilorin.
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 rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Yes, we were able to actively participate in the #1Lib1Ref campaign. We were able to recruit new editors, increase the skill of existing editors and add content to Wikipedia.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Number of events: 5 events	5	Five events were organised as planned.
Number of participants: 40 participants	50, 44, 39, 28, and 52 participants respectively	We exceeded our targets at three of the events, but we witnessed low turnout at an event due to the examinations going on at that particular time in the University.
Number of new editors: 10 editors	29	We exceeded our target.
Number of of articles created or improved: 100 articles	25 articles created, 269 articles edited, 304 references added	We exceeded our targets, participants were excited and willing to contribute.
Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events) : 40 participants	-	We were unable to have the same 40 participants to attend all the five events

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?

One reason the program remained memorable and all participants always looked forward to the next meetings was because there was always a different facet of Wikipedia editing to and/Wikimedia to learn. This comes along with an enabling environment air conditioned against the usual heat of North Central Nigeria and adequate refreshment provided by the grants. We also have the edit ladder that shows everyone's edit performance and everyone feels their little works are recognized.

The grant enabled the activities of the club become of value and relevance to the editors as it was not the regular. Shirts, certificates stickers, notebooks and many more incentives also contributed to the success we have expanding right now. You can't beat the joy on participant's faces when they get their pictures from the events especially those taken with the Wikipedia backgrounds. They value them as souvenirs to gist their friends, post on social media, LinkedIn and their Meta/User pages.

We exceeded our targets on new editors and had good retaining of editors who became so enthusiastic that they became recruits themselves. Everyone felt like they were a vital family with values and mission beyond the edit button and that really mattered.

What did not work so well?

Internet connectivity was an issue and we could get an internet modem for the club, as we had to subscribe for internet over various phones belonging to executives. The internet broadband is slow over phone hotspots when they are laden by other computers and phones. A modem with capacity for discount data can help solve this issue and we can get more edits done in a quicker and happy time. The funds budgeted for data turned out to be insufficient.

What would you do differently next time?

In subsequent editions of the #1Lib1Ref program, we would be partnering with the University Library, and hopefully we would be able to secure the use of the E-Library and also train librarians at the University of Ilorin.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

Food & drinks - N266,800
Internet - N27,000
Wikipedia branded notebooks - N25,000
Stickers - N5,000
Shirts - N30,000
Contingency funds (stationery, rental, printouts, calls, SMS units etc. ) - N15,000
Total - N368,800

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds? Yes, a total of approximately N31,200 is remaining from the grant.

The funds remaining from this grant in the amount of 31,200 NGN were deducted from another grant payment for Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos Contest at University of Ilorin.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

Metrics from the first event can be seen here [1]

Metrics from the second and third event can be seen here [2]

Metrics from the fourth and fifth event can be seen here [3]