METU Northern Cyprus Campus Wikipedia Society/2024

This page is for our list of planned or completed activities for the spring and fall semesters of the year 2024.

Spring semester

Introduction stand

At the beginning of the semester, we will set up an introduction stand along with other societies on campus. The university will determine the exact date for this event. During this, we will explain Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement in simple terms, including their goals and objectives. We will introduce and explain our plans for the semester. Lastly, we will encourage people to register as members of our society.

Introduction seminar

We will talk about how Wikipedia works, its sister projects, and why they exist, and we will provide an overview of the Wikimedia movement. Additionally, we will summarize the various activities planned for the semester. The seminar is expected to last for approximately one and a half hours, and we expect a participation of over 50 individuals based on our previous experiences and observations of similar events hosted by other societies.

Wikipedia 101

We will organize a presentation on making edits to Wikipedia. Our goal is to provide a complete guide that simplifies the process for those who have no prior knowledge about it. We will cover topics such as how to make edits, the purpose of a talk page, and the importance of a free license. The presentation is expected to last no more than two hours, and we hope to train attendees to edit Wikipedia with ease.

Regular wikimarathons

Following the seminar and presentation, we will begin the planning and organization of regular wikimarathons. Our aim is to meet at a predetermined time and edit Wikimedia projects collaboratively.

Our plan is to collaborate with the other existing Wikipedia Clubs in Turkey and jointly host some of the wikimarathons, online and face-to-face. To achieve this, we want to invite these club leaders to come here to participate in our events. We hope to encourage more people to join and stick and work with us in our efforts by working together.

Participants are required to bring their own laptops to the event. During the first wikimarathons, we will primarily address any questions about editing Wikipedia that participants may have. In the coming weeks, we will begin to focus on editing a specific topic. We intend to complete six or seven, bimonthly wikimarathons in total.

Seminar with a Greek Cypriot Wikimedian

We have invited Anna Prodromou from the Republic of Cyprus, founder of Wikimedia Community User Group Cyprus, to join us for a seminar. The seminar aims to promote collaboration among volunteers from both sides of the divided island in contributing to wiki projects together. We believe this will be a valuable opportunity to strengthen the relations between the two communities living on the same but divided island. During the seminar, attendees will have the opportunity to engage in discussions with Anna Prodromou and learn about her experiences as a Wikimedian. We hope that this will inspire participants to work together and share their knowledge.

If possible, we plan to schedule the seminar on the same day as a wikimarathon, with the participation of Prodromou.

OpenStreetMap seminar

We will have an online seminar planned with Hajar from TomTom as our guest speaker. The seminar will focus on OpenStreetMap, covering topics such as how to contribute to it and the motivation behind contributing. Through this seminar, we aim to explore another free-licensed project and gain insights into another person's perspective on contributing such projects.

Photowalk

We are planning a daily photowalk trip to Famagusta. Our goal is to take photographs of locations that are not yet on Wikimedia Commons. We will be a group of around 15 people, and we will determine where to photograph in advance by locating missing places on Wikimedia Commons. The transportation options in Northern Cyprus are limited and expensive, which makes it difficult for many students to explore other regions and cities. This photowalk will be an opportunity for the participants to see and capture the beauty of Famagusta and gain experience in taking and uploading photos to Wikimedia Commons.