Grants:Project/Rapid/The Jewish Museum's Third Annual Edit-a-thon/Report
- Report accepted
- To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/The Jewish Museum's Third Annual Edit-a-thon.
- 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 edit
Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?
The Jewish Museum hosted its third Wikipedia Edit-a-thon on Sunday March 8, 2020. We hosted this event on International Women’s Day, and asked all participants to help the Museum update and create new articles on women artists in our collection; examples included Maira Kalman, Deborah Kass, Elaine Lustig Cohen, and Arlene Shechet.
This focus on women artists was especially fitting considering one of the Museum’s current exhibitions: Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone, which represents the first survey of New York-based artist Rachel Feinstein. A mid-career survey, the exhibition features three decades of the artist's work in sculpture, painting, and video, as well as a panoramic wallpaper, a major new commission, and the artist’s maquettes for sculpture.
Overall, results from the Edit-a-thon include: 16 existing articles were updated, with a total of 133 edits and 4,470 words added to Wikipedia articles. During this event, 68 references were added and there were 497,000 article views. These results were lower than expected due to the COVID-19 health crisis. While we were able to host this event before many organizations, including the Jewish Museum, closed to the public, we believe that people who would have otherwise attended the event may have decided to stay home. Although these were not the results we were expecting, the event helped continue to bring awareness to women artists in our collection and encouraged people to make artists’ achievements and histories better known on Wikipedia.
Outcome edit
Please report on your original project targets.
| Target outcome | Achieved outcome | Explanation |
| Number of participants: 75 | Number of participants: 25 | Due to the COVID-19 health crisis we believe that people who would have otherwise attended the event may have decided to stay home as a precaution. |
| Number of new editors: 20 | Number of new editors: 7 | Some people who attended the event already had editing experience. |
| Number of articles created or improved: 50 | Number of articles created or improved: 16 | With fewer participants than expected, the number of articles created or improved was lower than expected as well. |
Learning edit
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?
In the planning stages of the the event, Museum staff created a list of articles of women artists in our collection so that participants could easily choose which artists they wanted to focus on during the event. In addition we prepared for the event by creating prize packs for the top three editors at the event. These prizes included gifts from the Jewish Museum shop inspired by women artists Rachel Feinstein, Deborah Kass, Judy Chicago, and 20th century art dealer Edith Halpert.
At the event, we hosted a Wikipedia training for new editors led by the Museum’s Digital Asset Manager, Carlos Acevedo. Following the training, participants were then asked to edit and create articles on their own while Museum staff were available to answer questions and offer help. Participants were also encouraged to explore the galleries and see Rachel Feinstein: Maiden, Mother, Crone during the event.
- What did not work so well?
As mentioned above, the potential for success of this event was hindered by COVID-19. While the Museum was able to host this event before it closed to the public, we believe that people who would have otherwise attended the event may have decided to stay home as a precaution. With fewer participants, the event did not produce as many edits or new articles as we initially anticipated.
Follow up after the event was also a challenge as the Jewish Museum closed to the public shortly after our Edit-a-thon took place. We had planned to mail prizes to the participants with the most edits, but were unable to mail the prize packs prior to our closure. When the Museum reopens, prizes will be sent to the winners.
- What would you do differently next time?
As the timing of the event, occurring just days before the Museum closed due to COVID-19, our outcomes were much lower than anticipated. While some editors participate virtually, going forward we will highlight that people can also join the event and edit at home if they are unable to visit the Museum in person.
Finances edit
Grant funds spent edit
Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.
Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon 3/8/20: $1,675.71
Reception Costs- Food: $729.00
Miscellaneous- Utilities Bill (costs for 3/8/2020): $489.49
Book Shop items- Prizes for Winners: $157.22
Advertising- Facebook Advertisements (2): $300.00
Remaining funds edit
Do you have any remaining grant funds? No, all grant funds were spent
Anything else edit
Anything else you want to share about your project?
A link to our Wikipedia dashboard was made available so participants could see final results of the event. The event was also featured in our Medium page story for International Women’s Day.
