Grants talk:Project/MSIG/WMNO/Language Diversity Hub

Overall Positive Feedback

Kudos to Wikimedia Norge for this interesting project! It is good that the project is research focussed, which is the first suggested step for any hub

It is heartening to see the sync between the programatic work and the articulation of their ideas. Growth of the Wikimedia movement is largely dependent on the growth and sustainability of the smaller language Wikimedia communities. It is therefore an absolute priority for all movement entities to pivot their programs and planning to understand the growth and challenges of smaller language communities, and in a manner that ensures learnings are translated into larger trends, and influencing policies and decisions.

The team has picked a topic that is seldom highlighted in the conversations around sustainability – understanding the questions related to welcoming new comers to the movement and ensuring that smaller language communities are able to participate, and contribute – to ensure growth and progress. Therefore, this will be an interesting project to look out for. YPam (WMF) (talk) 18:25, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Feedback For Improvement

The project should not discount the excellent efforts and data that has been gathered by a number of studies, needs assessment reports and community leaders both in their volunteer positions and commissioned by chapters including the Foundation.

It is difficult to understand the role of the Steering Committee members. It seems to be a mix of both governance and execution, which might makes sense in the early stages of planning, but clarity for the committee's role beyond that is important.

The research target groups are loosely defined. Please provide additional clarity on the reach of actual interviews. YPam (WMF) (talk) 18:26, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Thanks for the good feedback, YPam (WMF)!

We do not mean to discount efforts that have already taken place in this area. The steering committee consists of people who have been part of the movement for years and have already worked a lot in this area, and I feel we as a group have a good overview and understanding of projects and studies that have already taken place because of that, and this work will build on top of that.

As for the role of steering committee members, it is true that it is currently a mix of governance and execution – I think that is only natural in the starting stages of an endeavour like this. The committee is composed to give a global representation, and we aim for gender balance and to have people with previous engagement in smaller languages in different areas of the wikiverse. The role of the Steering Committee at the moment is to shape the Language Diversity Hub according to the needs and opportunities we observe. Until Hubs become a defined entity within the movement, the Steering Committee is exploring how to work together in a small yet global group to strengthen small languages in our own respective regions, and in the Movement. As the hub evolves the Steering Committee will take on a different role, and although we are still young, the discussions about the way forward have started.

For this project in particular, several Steering Committee members will play an active role in designing the research, conducting the interviews and doing the analysis. In this particular research project members of the Steering Committee will take an active part in the research, but also in the general information work out in the communities they are involved in or are close to. The global composition of the Steering Committee is a fundamental part of making the Language Diversity Hub fulfill the important role as a connector between communities and contributors to small language Wikipedias. That is not to say, though, that help and assistance from outside the committee is not welcome – it certainly is!

For the future the intention is to have a more democratic election process for the Steering Committee, but that is not within the purview of this proposed project.

As for the research target groups being loosely defined, this is intentional – as outlined in the Project Activities section, we intend to zero in on the actual wiki communities to involve during the first phase, the research design phase of the project. The goal is to reach communities with less Wikimedia experience, and contributors that can provide valuable input to help us understand where the challenges are, and that the global spread of the communities can give us an indication of what kinds of challenges are universal, and if there are geographical differences.

I hope this answers your questions – if any further elaboration is needed, you know where to find us. :-) Jon Harald Søby (WMNO) (talk) 15:04, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Asking for approval of repurposing of a small part of the budget

Dear MSI Grant team, and @YPam (WMF) in particular! This project is now well underway, and things are going more or less according to plans. However, when budgeting we did not think that we would need to budget for travel costs to go to conferences. However, as one of our team members, @Shahadusadik did not recieve a scholarship grant to go to Wikiindaba, we wish to divert some funds to cover the travel costs. We hope that our proposal to present this research and the Language Diversity Hub will be approved for this conference. If it will not be, we believe that it is valuabel to be present there for networking effects.

The amount is estimated to be 700 USD. It will most likely be taken from the Research budgets, as we are coming to a close, with some funds available. I hope that you can approve this change in use of funds. We wanted to be transparent with this change, even though the sum is relatively low, as travel costs were not at all included in our budget.

Thanks! Mali Brødreskift (WMNO) (talk) 13:24, 9 October 2022 (UTC)

Hello Mali,

To officially respond to this request here.

Given that a decision has been made by the scholarship committee, the MSG team cannot at this moment approve a repurposing of your grant funds. Thank you for your kind understanding regarding this decision. YPam (WMF) (talk) 14:52, 25 October 2022 (UTC)