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Grants:Project/Rapid/UNI Edits 2018-19

< Grants:Project‎ | Rapid
statusFunded
University of Northern Iowa/UNI Edits 2018-19
We are planning a series of editathons during the 2018-2019 academic year that will result in the creation and improvement of articles centering on people of color, members of other underrepresented groups, and social justice issues on English Wikipedia.
targetBlack Lunch Table, AfroCROWD, LGBT Portal, Women in Red, Art+Feminism
start dateSeptember 12
end dateMay 10
budget (local currency)$2000
budget (USD)$2000
grant typeOrganization
non-profit statusYes.
grantee• ActionableIdeas
contact(s)• angela.pratesi(_AT_)uni.edu
organization (if applicable)• Rod Library, University of Northern Iowa
website (if applicable)• https://www.library.uni.edu/


Review your report

Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.

Project Goal edit

Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.

  1. Recruit new editors
  2. Increase skills for existing editors
  3. Add or improve content

Project Plan edit

Activities edit

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

We are hosting a series of editathons, four total, which will include training in how to edit Wikipedia, as well as supporting editors identify articles to edit and how to assess the reliability of sources to use and cite. We will have experienced Wikipedian volunteers available to assist participants and troubleshoot technical issues.

2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.

Each editathon will be registered on the Wikipedia Outreach Dashboard and with WikiProjects, when applicable. We will publicize the events to all university students, faculty, and staff via the university's email announcement bulletin. The events will be posted on the library's event calendar as well as the university's. At this time, we have four student organizations committed to participating, two professors who are requiring their students to participate in at least one of the editathons, and an affiliated human rights festival that is including an editathon in its events. For each editathon, we will post flyers at three local public libraries and several other colleges and universities within driving distance. To get non-university affiliated community members involved we will boost the event on Facebook and Instagram and reach out to various community groups to promote awareness, excitement, and attendance at the events.

3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?

Yes. We have multiple experienced Wikipedians committed to leading the event, and we are recruiting more as we spread the word around campus and in the community.

4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

Yes. We have 50 laptops reserved for participants for each event. We also have excellent WI-FI available in the Library building, where the event will take place. Plus, we have millions of books and electronic resources that participants can use as they prepare their articles.

5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

We will use the "thank" feature within Wikipedia to acknowledge and thank participants for their contributions. We will also run a survey to learn what went well, what could be improved, and gauge interest in future editathons.

6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

Once again we are collaborating with the student group To Write Love on Her Arms to provide experienced childcare during the editathons. We have found this arrangement to be mutually beneficial because the group uses the money to support their work around suicide and depression awareness, and editathon participants receive childcare while they edit. We will have participants RSVP for childcare spots so we have enough childcare providers. (This tactic worked very well for us during our previous editathon in March 2018.)

Impact edit

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

  1. Number of events: 4
  2. Number of participants: 120
  3. Number of new editors: 25
  4. Number of of articles created or improved: 120
  5. Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): 30

Because each editathon will have a different theme (human rights, POC, women & LGBTQ+, etc.), we are focused more on getting people involved editing on a topic important to them as a way to make information on that topic available and for editors to flex their information literacy skills rather than trying to get lots of repeat participants. Of course, we want and expect repeat participants (based on data collected in a survey after our March 2018 editathon), but it is not our focus.

Resources edit

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

We have two experienced Wikipedians who will organize the events and provide training and one-on-one support. We have three other experienced Wikipedians who have committed to volunteer to help train and provide support, as well. In addition, we will be recruiting other experienced Wikipedians to assist participants. Library staff and student volunteers will be available to help coordinate resources and make sure participants have a productive and enjoyable time. The venue, technology, and WI-FI are provided free of charge. We have a graduate student dedicated to working on organization and outreach efforts for these events. In addition, we are looking to hire a student assistant with Wikipedia experience whose job includes working on these events.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

  1. Food and drink = $250 x 4 events = $1000
  2. Childcare = $200 per event x 4 events = $800
  3. Advertising = $50 x 4 events = $200

Endorsements edit

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

  • great opportunity to engage students!
  • Great opportunity for diversity and bringing people together in a positive way. 134.161.29.49 20:05, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
  • I love this. Focusing on underrepresented groups and social justice is perfect for this area, and I really hope to see students get involved. Frood (talk) 21:45, 21 August 2018 (UTC)
  • We had a successful turnout last year! All my students who participated were new to editing and all found it a very positive learning experience. 134.161.143.82 14:11, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Great project. 134.161.28.183 14:12, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Sounds great! 134.161.29.124 14:15, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • It's so important to bring knowledge to everyone about people in under-represented groups. Having participated in this event last year, I know how much it opened my eyes to how hard it can be to find information without Wikipedia's help, but it's so rewarding to be the one to bring that information together for everyone else. 2604:2D80:C007:925B:46F:4D9D:B3C0:5B09 14:17, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • The Editathons hosted at UNI help students, like myself, to learn how to conduct research on people who have a limited information base available. We are able to recognize noteworthy people that have otherwise been underrepresented. This is a great event, and I would highly recommend that anyone attend. 69.57.192.199 14:21, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is an excellent way to engage students and community members in conversations about information literacy and the issues of information. This project allows the library to reach out to our community, to provide our students and community members with a better understanding of Wikipedia. Participants will be helping to further build Wikipedia and thus contribute to the shared knowledge that is accessible to all. 134.161.29.159 14:22, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • great opportunity to engage students! 134.161.218.110 14:34, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This project was very successful last years & demonstrated some amazing partnerships to effect positive change in Wikipedia. Glad plans are in the works to do it again. 134.161.232.242 15:00, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • It is so important to recognize the contributions of people of color, LGBT+ folks and women in an online resource such as Wikipedia. ROD Library does an amazing job of organizing these events and getting a variety of people involved and active in this project, even when those people otherwise would have never participated in something similar. 134.161.158.223 15:31, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is a very well organized project and their past experience will prove beneficial to the 4 planned events. The different themes will bring a diverse group to participate and edit. 134.161.29.79 15:40, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Because I thought the edit-a-thon at UNI last year was a great success where I learned a lot!! 134.161.63.73 15:54, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is an excellent opportunity for students to participate in and will bring awareness to the campus. I fully endorse this! 134.161.143.143 16:36, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is a very worthy project which has a direct impact on those students who participate! 134.161.29.115 16:48, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Angela has been a leader in the Art+Feminism community and has run a number of excellent edit-a-thons. failed projects 17:37, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Angela hosted a highly successful edit-a-thon last year and I would love to see her continue this project. It has momentum! 134.161.28.221 20:39, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is much needed Wikipedia work in Iowa. I hope that some Minnesotans will be able to join them for events just like some Iowans come to ours! RachelWex (talk) 23:03, 22 August 2018 (UTC)
  • 134.161.29.50 13:13, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
  • These events will be great opportunities for student learning, and funding for childcare is essential to make them more inclusive of our students and community members. 134.161.29.132 18:33, 23 August 2018 (UTC)
  • I was able to participate in the Rod Library Art+Feminism Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon last year and had a great experience being able to bring more information into the world about female artists and their bodies of work. It was great learning how to work Wikipedia and become a Wikipedia editor. Seggegg (talk) 02:01, 26 August 2018 (UTC)
  • direly needed in this space! Happy to help if this gets funded. Heathart (talk) 13:25, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
  • Yes! It will be a great opportunity for active learning. 134.161.28.115 13:40, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is an excellent project that will engage students in meaningful research and benefit the Wikipedia community. 134.161.28.27 14:49, 27 August 2018 (UTC)
  • This is a wonderful, diversity-focused project open to all. I have seen it have a lot of impact on the students involved. 134.161.28.95 21:36, 31 August 2018 (UTC)
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