North Carolina Wikipedians/reports

North Carolina Wikipedians

The North Carolina Wikipedians are a Wikimedia user group representing Wikimedians in North Carolina, recognized in May of 2015.


This user group provides outreach and assistance to individuals and groups in the state of North Carolina who are interested in hosting Wikimedia-related events such as group discussions and edit-a-thons. The group originally began as the North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians, representing the Research Triangle area of North Carolina, comprising Chapel Hill, Durham, and Raleigh as well as the surrounding areas. In 2019, the group changed its name to the North Carolina Wikipedians, and expanded its region to include the entire state of North Carolina.

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Reports edit

2015 edit

May 2015- April 2016 edit

UNC-CH Wilson Library

North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians is a Wikimedia user group, approved by the Affiliations Committee in May 2015. We have already hosted several edit-a-thons in North Carolina and we have plans for future events. The primary objective for this group is to coordinate the efforts of current edit-a-thons in our region and foster the expansion of these events. Our secondary objective was simply to connect with the wider Wikipedia community to help this group grow.

This report covers events from May 2015- April 2016

Events edit

We have fostered relationships with universities and organizations throughout the Research Triangle. This includes Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and the surrounding towns. In 2015, this effort resulted in 8 events:

  1. Art + Feminism Durham Edit-a-thon - 7 March 2015
  2. Women at Duke Edit-a-thon - 25 March 2015
  3. American Indians in North Carolina Edit-a-thon - 1 April 2015
  4. Art + Feminism UNC Edit-a-thon - 7 April 2015
  5. African American Soldiers in US Wars Edit-a-thon - 8 April 2015
  6. Women in Science Edit-a-thon - 16 April 2015
  7. Assessment in Psychology - 22 September 2015
  8. Assessment in Psychology - 27 October 2015

Conference Attendance edit

In October 2015, Kasey Baker and Frank Jones led a hands-on workshop about Disputed Notability at WikiConference USA.

In October 2015, Emily Jack and four other librarians from UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University gave a presentation entitled "Making History Matter: Wikipedia edit-a-thons at UNC and Duke" at the North Carolina Library Association's annual conference.

In April 2016, Frank Jones will be representing the North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin.

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

This group was started with 3 Wikipedians (Sodapopinski7, Frankcjones, and Kayz911) that regularly contributed to edit-a-thons and the use of Wikipedia in the classroom. As of today, we have the support of 14 participants for this user group.

  1. Frankcjones (talk)
  2. Sodapopinski7 (talk)
  3. Kayz911 (talk)
  4. Djembayz, your WikiDC visitor, says Congrats, Triangles, that was a really fun event you put on!
  5. Ongmianli, clinical psychology doctoral candidate
  6. Rkang101, undergraduate psychology major
  7. Kennyle78, undergraduate psychology major
  8. Heathart, visual artist
  9. Cortnie330 (talk)
  10. kgreeves, computational chemistry graduate student
  11. SSetti, materials science graduate student
  12. Egoldman3, clinical psychology
  13. melodykramer, WMF staff member, lives in Carrboro

2016 edit

May 2016 to April 2017 edit

Students editing Wikipedia at the Women in Science edit-a-thon in the Kenan Science Library at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 12 April 2017.

This report covers events from 1 May 2016 to 30 April 2017.

Activities edit

Since 2012, we have fostered relationships with universities and organizations throughout the Research Triangle. Over that time, user group members have worked to build the capacity of local librarians and faculty members, especially at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), to organize and host edit-a-thons. In 2016, UNC librarians and faculty members hosted five events:

Sodapopinski7 promoted all events via social media and photographed the Women in Science edit-a-thon. Frank Jones attended and provided support at the Black Lunch Table edit-a-thon.

In October 2016, a staff member at The Center for Craft, Creativity & Design in Asheville, North Carolina contacted us to request planning advice and support for a Women in Craft edit-a-thon they were planning in March 2017. Sodapopinski7 provided planning support and Frank Jones attended and provided in-person Wikipedia support.

In January and February 2017, Sodapopinski7 led the University of North Carolina (UNC) Library staff in a #1lib1ref project. The UNC Library competed with the Duke University Library to see which library could contribute the highest number of Wikipedia edits during the project, which lasted from January 18 to February 3. During #1lib1ref, Sodapopinski7 led three workshops for UNC library staff, most of them first-time editors, to learn how to add citations to Wikipedia. About 30 staff members attended these drop-in sessions, and Sodapopinski7 provided one-on-one editing instruction to several other library staff members. At the end of the project, the UNC Library's citation total was 204. Duke Library's citation total was 29.

Conferences edit

Sodapopinski7 presenting at Wikimedia Conference 2017 by René Zieger – 524

In April 2017, Sodapopinski7 represented the North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin. She presented a lightning talk, "Running a Successful #1lib1ref Project, and Putting the 'Science' in Library Science" at the conference.

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

Our user group is relatively new, having been founded in May 2015, and is still growing. Founding members (Sodapopinski7, Frankcjones, and Kayz911) remain active participants, and we have the support of 17 participants:

  1. Frankcjones (talk)
  2. Sodapopinski7 (talk)
  3. Kayz911 (talk)
  4. Djembayz, your WikiDC visitor, says Congrats, Triangles, that was a really fun event you put on!
  5. Ongmianli, clinical psychology doctoral candidate
  6. Rkang101, undergraduate psychology major
  7. Kennyle78, undergraduate psychology major
  8. Heathart, visual artist
  9. Cortnie330 (talk)
  10. kgreeves, computational chemistry graduate student
  11. SSetti, materials science graduate student
  12. Egoldman3, clinical psychology
  13. melodykramer, WMF staff member, lives in Carrboro
  14. malinachavez, artist, educator
  15. awhiteside, art librarian
  16. Indy beetle
  17. Jayron32, high school science teacher, lives in Raleigh.

2017 edit

May 2017 to April 2018 edit

In 2018, Sodapopinski7 presented in a WebJunction webinar for librarians about the 2017 #1lib1ref project. In January and February 2018, Sodapopinski7 again coordinated a citation competition among universities in the North Carolina Research Triangle, and led an introductory editing session for librarians at North Carolina Central University. Library staff at Duke University, North Carolina Central University, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill contributed 365 citations to Wikipedia.

On March 22, 2018, No misunderstanding and librarians from North Carolina Central University hosted a history Wikipedia edit-a-thon at the James E. Shepard Memorial Library -- the first edit-a-thon at NC Central.

We were invited to endorse the Wikimedia movement strategy. A summary of our Cycle 2 conversation was submitted on 12 June 2017.

Other edit-a-thons, at UNC-Chapel Hill, are listed below.

Edit-a-thons edit

Conferences edit

In April 2018, No misunderstanding and Sodapopinski7 represented the North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians at the Wikimedia Conference in Berlin.

Follow us on
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2018 edit

May 1, 2018 to April 30, 2019 edit

Activities edit

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

NC Wikipedians Leadership Team (selected March 25, 2019)

  • We selected people for the following roles:
  • Chair: Sodapopinski7;
  • Co Chair / Secretary: Tomianiker;
  • Co Chair / Treasurer for Triangle Area, NC (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill): No Misunderstanding;
  • Liaison / Treasurer for Western NC: Kayz911
  • Overall Support: Frank Jones
  • All members are in charge of communication & promotion of WMF's mission to help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge.
  • Current goal: Increase active membership to achieve many hands, light work, and, moreover, diversify perspectives.

Name Change edit

We changed from North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians to NORTH CAROLINA WIKIPEDIANS (at April 15, 2019 meeting).

2019 edit

May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2020 edit

Highlights from the year include members attending WikiConference North America, an in-person Wikipedia birthday party that attracted new participants who had not previously attended a meeting, and several edit-a-thons. Sodapopinski7 also led a #1lib1ref effort for local librarians.

Activities edit

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

NC Wikipedians Leadership Team (selected March 25, 2019)

  • We selected people for the following roles:
  • Chair: No Misunderstanding;
  • Co Chair / Secretary: Sodapopinski7;
  • Co Chair / Treasurer for Triangle Area, NC (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill): No Misunderstanding;
  • Liaison / Treasurer for Western NC: Kayz911
  • Overall Support: Frank Jones
  • All members are in charge of communication & promotion of WMF's mission to help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge.
  • Current goal: Increase active membership to achieve many hands, light work, and, moreover, diversify perspectives.

Name Change edit

We changed from North Carolina Triangle Wikipedians to NORTH CAROLINA WIKIPEDIANS (at April 15, 2019 meeting).

2020 edit

May 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021 edit

The ongoing global pandemic prevented us from holding our usual in-person events throughout the year. Local enthusiasm was low for virtual events. Highlights included a virtual Latinx Heritage Month Wikipedia edit-a-thon at the University of North Carolina in October 2020, and participation in #1lib1ref.

Activities edit

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

NC Wikipedians Leadership Team

  • Chair: No Misunderstanding
  • Co Chair / Secretary: Sodapopinski7
  • Co Chair / Treasurer for Triangle Area, NC (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill): No Misunderstanding
  • Liaison / Treasurer for Western NC: Kayz911
  • Overall Support: Frank Jones
  • All members are in charge of communication & promotion of WMF's mission to help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge.
  • Current goal: Increase active membership to spread effort across our membership and diversify perspectives.

2021 edit

May 1, 2021 to April 30, 2022 edit

Highlights of the year included recruiting a few new members, participation in #1lib1ref, and planning for a spring photo project to be executed in May 2022.

Activities edit

  • In October 2021, User Group members attended the virtual 2021 WikiConference North America Oct. 8-10. At the October User Group meeting, members also reviewed and discussed the Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) process and the current state of the CoC draft.
  • October meeting 2021 - October 7, 2021
  • December meeting 2021 - December 2, 2021
  • January meeting 2022 - January 6, 2022
  • January 2022: User group members affiliated with the University Libraries at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill led the Library's staff in adding citations to Wikipedia for the January 2022 #1lib1ref campaign.
    • NC Wikipedians User Group members provided an online training session with instruction in selecting sources and adding citations, and guidance in creating a new account and getting started with editing in Visual Editor, to encourage participation from new editors.
    • 16 people participated from the UNC-CH University Libraries. They contributed 71 citations, and edited 47 articles. The Libraries ranked #10 overall on the global dashboard for citations added. January 2022 Programs
  • February 2022
    • the User Group began planning for a statewide, asynchronous event during the spring or summer of 2022. We determined the goal for our event would be to encourage people across North Carolina to take photos, particularly encouraging submissions of state parks, historic sites (especially those that haven't been well-documented), and other natural resources and upload them to the Wikimedia Commons.
    • The group also discussed contributor proposals in the Community Wishlist Survey 2022 for Wikimedia projects to prepare group members for voting on proposals.
  • February meeting 2022 - February 3, 2022
  • March 2022: The User Group reviewed progress
  • March meeting 2022 - March 3, 2022

Coordinating Participants & Supporters edit

NC Wikipedians Leadership Team

  • Chair: Sodapopinski7
  • Co Chair / Secretary: No Misunderstanding
  • Liaison / Treasurer for Western NC: Kayz911
  • Overall Support: Frank Jones
  • All members are in charge of communication & promotion of WMF's mission to help everyone share in the sum of all knowledge.
  • Current goal: Increase active membership to spread effort across our membership and diversify perspectives.

2022 edit

May 1, 2022 to April 30, 2023 edit

Highlights of the year included a crowdsourced photo campaign (our biggest-yet outreach effort), a story about the user group in a major newspaper, and ongoing instructional efforts at local universities.

Wiki Pix NC '22 photo project edit
  • The user group launched our first-ever crowdsourced photo campaign, Wiki Pix NC '22, which lasted from May 22, 2022 to June 22, 2022. The campaign invited participants to take photos highlighting sites of natural, cultural, and historical interest in North Carolina and add them to the Wikimedia Commons. We promoted the project via local photography groups, PSAs with non-profit radio stations in the state, and a geographical banner on Wikipedia. The project was a success, netting 564 new photos to the Wikimedia Commons. The user group is working on ongoing campaign follow-ups, especially metadata cleanup.
Meetings edit
  • May 5, 7pm – Wiki Pix planning, current movement topics
  • May 19, 7pm – Current movement topics, Wiki Pix planning & logistics
  • July 14, 7pm – Photo project recap, current movement topics
  • August 25, 7pm – Current movement topics, metadata & other follow-up plans for photo campaign
  • September 8, 7pm – Wiki Pix follow-ups, current movement topics
  • October 13, 7pm – Future planning, current movement topics
  • January 26, 7pm – Current movement topics, dreaming into ‘23
Other activities edit
  • August 17, 2022: The Raleigh News & Observer, the largest-circulation newspaper in the state, ran a story about the North Carolina Wikipedians: "How NC Wikipedia Editors Keep the Site Humming," by Brian Gordon. The article quotes several user group members.
  • September 9-11, 2022: The user group delegated two members, No misunderstanding and User:Sodapopinski7, to attend the annual Wikimedia Summit as virtual attendees (although the time zone difference made participation challenging).
  • November 16, 2022: User:Sodapopinski7 and User:Gaurav presented "Open source collaboration, information activism, and the DIY pursuit of truth: The making of a Wikipedian" to Chad Bryant's class at UNC: HI 101 -- A History of Lies, Conspiracies, and Disinformation.

2023 edit