WIL/Newsletter/2017-12/Basque end of term culminating at the Durango Fair

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Author: Iñaki LL

Basque end of term culminating at the Durango Fair

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This last term has been busy and fruitful for the Basque Wikipedia and its Basque Wikimedians User Group (EWKE/BWUG). We have engaged in several paths or programs following an agreement with the autonomous Basque Government. The education program launched is meant to reach a target student population of thousands, and prospects are it will continue to thrive. Meanwhile, librarians are adding their bit to 'adopt' Basque language writers, local or regional, and help get references related to them.

Education Program

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Presentation of the 2017-2018 education program

Last year’s collaborative activity with the Basque Public University UPV-EHU allowed us to get familiar with the needs felt by faculty members in Basque language. They saw some important articles in the Wikipedia were missing or not up to scratch and required further elaboration. Eventually this effort to bring Wikipedia in line with academy crystallized in a related program to create or improve Wikipedia articles according to the identification of most searched-after and necessary articles among secondary school pupils. In talks with academy and instructors, we identified that they are actually the main users of the Basque Wikipedia.

Cooperation with the team for pedagogical innovation in secondary school, the Berritzegune, resulted in the composition of a list of over 1,300 articles from several topics that fit the educative curriculum for the Basque Autonomous Community. This has required a lot of coordinating effort, now spearheaded by our member Theklan, with faculty from different university schools that participate in the program. Now it is about the students getting down to the task. In addition, a deal in October with the Udako Euskal Unibertsitatea (Basque Summer University) has allowed academic materials to be released for free use in Wikimedia.

GLAM

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Another continuous initiative since last year relates to the Idazlezainak, or the 'Writerguards' program. A number of city librarians from Donostia (San Sebastián) have committed to a pair of hours each week to find references and bibliography on local and regional writers in Basque. An event was held on 2 December 2017 to show our gratitude for their effort at the Club venue located in the Victoria Eugenia theatre from Donostia.

In addition, the Wikipedian in residence Leire Cano has continued her literature-and-Wikipedia pursuit in contact with the Basque children literature association Galtzagorri, individual literature writers, illustrators and publishers in order to secure both voice recordings and released book covers for free use in the Wikipedia.

End of term in Durango

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The yearly Durango Fair, a milestone and meeting point in the Basque cultural calendar, has accommodated a slot for the Basque Wikimedians User Group in the Kabia, or ‘nest’ on 8 December, harbouring innovative, technology-related free content initiatives and ventures. Besides presenting there our programs underway, this year we have arranged a Photocall for Basque cultural agents and personalities that will no doubt provide good, free license material for Wikimedia Commons.