WM ZA Annual Strategic Plan 2015-2016
Annual Strategic Plan for Wikimedia ZA
1 July 2015 - 30 June 2016
Background edit
The Chapter aims to support a vibrant multilingual and multicultural content community that generates and disseminates content that is used and understood by the local and global community.
In doing so, it facilitates contributions to the commons of African knowledge, and promotes free access to knowledge in all South African languages in order to support development.
It encourages the collection and dissemination of information about, but not exclusive to South Africa, and contributes to the creation of free and open knowledge in South Africa.
Objectives edit
The following are the key objectives of the Chapter.
- To develop and support the South African Wikimedia communities
- To protect, preserve and promote local culture, other African Wikimedia communities and the greater communities of free culture and open software
- To support and facilitate the sharing of knowledge in all South African languages
- To spread awareness of the Wikimedia projects as a significant resource within universities, archives, museums and other relevant communities, and to actively engage with them
- Act as a conduit between editors, writers and specialists within the community to support the growth and sustainability of high quality local content
- Increasing membership of WM ZA
Strategy & Key Activities edit
- Community Outreach
- Institutional Outreach
- International Collaboration
- Administration & Human Resources
Projects to support Community Outreach Initiatives edit
Wiki Loves Monuments edit
The aim of this project is to encourage and facilitate the capturing and upload of photographs of South African heritage sites or monuments under free licensing during heritage month (September). This includes encouraging those who upload media, to write about their monument of choice on Wikipedia, in their local language of choice. Through this competition we aim to not only increase the quality of photographs on Commons, but also the number of active participants.
Twenty years into democracy, South Africa has a lot to offer in terms of documents, media and information with historical importance. Not only since the inception of democracy, but also prior to the post-apartheid era. Various sites of historical importance are targeted in the above projects. The aim is to engage community members from all walks of life - whether it be students, learners, heritage enthusiasts, heritage foundations or subject experts - to capture as much information as possible to preserve our rich history for generations to come. We aim to inspire participants to contribute to Wikipedia in terms of improving articles, creating articles or uploading new content and media which can be used on Wikipedia or other related Wiki projects.
Joburgpedia edit
The aim of this project is to increase Wikipedia coverage of iconic historical buildings around Johannesburg. Through various cooperative structures and partnerships, we want to encourage the donation of important historical information, documentation, images and media to Commons and Wikipedia for use of future generations.
As with Wiki Loves Monuments, this project aims to preserve the rich cultural history South Africa has to offer.
GLAM edit
This project aims to assist cultural institutions to share their resources. This project overlaps with Wiki Loves Monuments, Joburgpedia and Kaapedia.
Wikipedia Zero edit
In cooperation with WMCH we are installing two Kiwix offline devices at Sinenjongo High School in the Western Cape.
Kaapedia edit
The Chapter has been approached to implement a similar project to Joburgpedia in Cape Town. The focus is to increase Wikipedia coverage of historical buildings around the City Centre. This will be our first attempt to introduce the competition in Cape Town, but initial discussions have already revealed a great amount of interest.
Wiki Meetups edit
The Chapter believes in providing members with a platform to share experiences. One of the initiatives we have introduced is a monthly meetup in Cape Town to provide contributors / editors with a platform for community discussion.
As another large hub of contributors, we want to introduce similar meet-ups in Johannesburg.
Wiki Loves Afrikaans edit
For the first time, the Chapter is aiming at engaging with the Afrikaans Wikipedia community which currently has a small number of editors / contributors with the aim of expanding this Wiki in terms of content. Phase 1 of this project will be aimed at introducing a writing contest with the support of various Afrikaans Speaking Institutions, encouraging people to contribute on a subject matter of choice.
Wiki From Above edit
Wiki From Above is a new project launched in March 2015 with the focus on increasing the quantity and quality of aerial photographs and video media of important public landmarks in Africa on Commons. A particular focus is on content from drones.
A recent search on Commons reflected that only a total of 781 images - mostly higher altitude pictures that are often of limited usability taken from commercial airlines. Within the Commons category "Aerial photographs of South Africa" there are only 276 images. Pictures of mountains and other places of geographical interest are much more rare and monuments even more so. Airports seem much better covered. Aerial pictures of Cape Town (due to the mountain and easy availability of helicopter tours) seem to be the most numerous although they are not always the most useful. Usefulness of aerial photographs is still pretty random and a competition like this would provide some ability to focus the subject and therefore the usefulness of submitted aerial photographs. There are no video aerial videos of South African places that we are aware of.
We have not included a budget line item for this project in our FDC proposal as we need to evaluate the success of this project at the end of April 2015. Should it not contribute to content on aerial photographs on South Africa in the way that we anticipate, we will not run the project in the coming year. Should we feel that it is worth running again, we will endeavor to source external funding as the main source of income. For this year, the project only amounted to ZAR 10,500.00 / USD 792.00.
Projects to support Institutional Outreach Initiatives edit
- GLAM
- Kaapedia
- Wiki Loves Afrikaans
The following institutions have expressed an interest in partnering with WM ZA on the above projects :
- Library and Information Association of South Africa
- Heritage Western Cape
- Joburg Heritage Foundation
- Constitution Hill Education Project
- Sinenjongo High School
- Cape Higher Education Consortium
Projects to support International Collaboration Initiatives edit
Wiki Indaba edit
As a follow up to Wiki Indaba 2014, we want to continue the establishment and support of African co-operative structures and organs to create a platform for sustainable dialogue with collaborators in Wikimedia Chapters, the Wikimedia Foundation and the international communities to frame the issue of community activation and corporate governance in the context of Africa.
GLAM Benchmark Survey edit
We will be assisting in promoting participation and gathering information for the Benchmark Survey conducted among heritage institutions throughout the world. This project will also assist us in building up relations with heritage institutions in South Africa.
Kiwix edit
We will be working together with WMCH to install Kiwix systems at Sinenjongo High School in Cape Town. An amount of USD 3 544.40 was requested and approved by the Foundation to support this project.
The goals of the project is to secure offline Kiwix devices that will allow users to access the full version of English Wikipedia with thumbnail images without having to access the internet. These units will be installed in disadvantaged communities to allow locals to access Wikipedia without having to access the internet. One unit will be used by Wikimedia ZA as a demonstration unit to show the technology to interested potential partners in South Africa. This technology could be particularly useful in bringing Wikipedia to rural areas of South Africa. Especially since smart phone usage is now becoming common place enough in South Africa. Even many of the poorest of the countries citizens now can access wifi devices. The idea here is to demonstrate this technology so it could possibly be rolled out by government and/or other local partners in Southern Africa.
Another goal is to secure 2 mobile wifi internet hotspot units so as to allow Wikimedia ZA to setup temporary mobile wifi internet hotspots so as to conduct Wiki related events more effectively and with greater ease. The units will allow Wikimedia ZA to do edit-a-thons, demonstrations, editing training, and upload marathons in any part of the country with 3G coverage. One unit will be located in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town so that the resources are relatively evenly spread across the country for the whole chapter to be able to use them in centres where Wikimedia ZA is most active. Previously the chapter has experienced difficulty in conducting some of the said activities due to unreliable internet access or no internet access at all. Furthermore many activities that Wikimedia ZA would like to do in more rural areas can not be done due to lack of local internet connectivity options.
We have secured 2 Kiwix devices from Wikimedia CH. These units will be handed to our Administrator at the Chapter's Conference in May to transport back to South Africa. This will reduce the risk of the units being damaged in transit and we will save on shipping the units to South Africa.
The Measures of success are as follows :
- Secure 2 fully functioning Kiwix devices from Wikimedia CH
- Deploy 1 Kiwix device at Sinenjongo High School
- Level of interest and 'buy-in' from local partners for deployment/rollout of Kiwix, first target being library and heritage institutions
- Secure 2 fully functional mobile wifi units.
We will also support all activities by the Wikipedia Zero team to roll out free access to Wikipedia over multiple mobile platforms.
Human Resources & Administration edit
Wikimedia ZA currently consists of a Board of Trustees consisting of 5 members, headed by Douglas Scott as President.
The Chapter has one full time employee in the position of Administrator.
Since the appointment of the Administrator in December 2013, we have seen a significant increase in the number of projects that the Chapter has been able to undertake. We have also been able to align the Chapter with all the legislative requirements in South Africa. We aim to continue with this administrative function in 2015 / 2016 and will also be applying for VAT Registration and NGO status.
Daily activities include, but are not limited to :
- Community & Chapter Outreach
- Administration of Websites & Social Media platforms
- General Administration
- Administration of Memberships
- Media & Communication liaison
- Project Facilitation
- Finances
Language Development & Community Activation edit
The Chapter seeks to promote, through various projects and initiatives, translation efforts into some of the 11 local languages of South Africa.
Wiki Loves Afrikaans edit
In the coming year we want to focus on expanding the Afrikaans Wikipedia which, as of May 2013, was the second-largest African language Wikipedia.
Through the introduction of an Afrikaans specific writing competition, we aim to increase the number of contributors / editors to the Wikipedia community. This will also be one of our first attempts to reach out to the Afrikaans speaking community in general, who have always perceived the Chapter as an English speaking entity only.
As a first step, WM ZA has also appointed its first Afrikaans speaking Director (a very active user on the af.wikipedia) at the AGM of 2014.
Joburgpedia edit
The aim of this project is to increase Wikipedia coverage of iconic historical buildings around Johannesburg. Through various cooperative structures and partnerships, we want to encourage the donation of important historical information, documentation, images and media to Commons and Wikipedia for use of future generations.
As with Wiki Loves Monuments, this project aims to preserve the rich cultural history South Africa has to offer.
Wikipedia Zero edit
In cooperation with WMCH we are installing two Kiwix offline devices at Sinenjongo High School in the Western Cape. A detailed explanation is provided above.
Monitoring & Evaluation edit
Despite its global reach, Wikimedia ZA is in close contact with Wikimedians around the country and beyond the borders of South Africa. To reach out to those Wikimedians we are not aware of, we are currently conducting a survey which will enable us to determine a few key metrics of South African users. This Survey is conducted via Qualtrics and can be viewed here. This information will be used to tailor requirements for future events.
Wikimedians’ activities - increased edits, number and (African) content of new articles, use of diverse languages and networks - are primary indicators of success.
Additional soft indicators are as follows :
- Personal growth
- Increased self-confidence
- Increased general knowledge
- Renewed interest in South African topics
- Potential economic impact on the communities to which Wikimedians belong
- Multiplier effect on Wikimedia ZA’s other programmes
With the increased human resources capacity, we are now in a position to use Wikimetrics to evaluate the impact and sustainability of our projects.
Political Analysis of Work edit
Wikimedia ZA’s work goes beyond any boundaries of race, creed or colour.
Any and all can participate in the collaborative effort to increase human knowledge. People of all ages, cultures and backgrounds can add or edit articles, references, images and other media.
Theory of Change edit
We are dedicated to achieving our goal of providing the sum total of human knowledge free to everyone, everywhere. We strongly believe that access to information and knowledge improves society and humanity at large, and we are dedicated to helping achieve that as much as possible in the South African and African context.
In order to achieve this, Wikimedia ZA runs numerous projects that encourage the contribution, editing and improvement of Wikipedia articles in South Africa, as well as making it easier for people in South Africa to access Wikipedia and other information on related wiki’s.
Needs Assessments edit
As a small Chapter we want to increase the reach of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in as many areas as possible.
Before the implementation of a programme / project, we ask the following questions to ascertain the requirements :
- How many active new editors / contributors are we targeting?
- How can we increase the credibility of the Chapter in terms of relationships with other organisations who share the same vision?
- How will this benefit the small language Wikipedias?
- What value will the project bring to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects?
- Are the photographs / images contributed to Commons of value to the greater community?
- What number of quality articles / images will be added onto Wikipedia?
- Is community participation encouraged?
Evaluation Methods edit
All projects undertaken by the Chapter will be evaluated in terms of the following, data driven questions :
- Number of editors
- Number of edit days
- Number of language projects contributed to
- Number of female participants
- Number of new users
- Number of pages created
- Total number of edits
- Total value of data added
- Quality of contributions
Diversity edit
The Chapter seeks to run a diverse range of projects in order to maximize community participation. When selecting projects, we aim to increase reach by offering a range of activities / interests to attract new editors / contributors.
We believe that the variety of projects also increases our credibility as a Chapter, and raises awareness of all the Wikimedia projects.
Learning edit
As a relatively new Chapter we consider past PEG grants as opportunities to measure success in terms of project metrics.
This information was used to adjust strategic planning for new projects to ensure that the maximum impact is achieved in each instance.
Improving Movement Practices edit
The Chapter aims to align all activities with the mission targets of the Wikimedia strategic plan for 2015:
- Stabilize infrastructure in a South African and African context
- Increase participation in the Global South
- Improve quality of articles
- Increase reach in the Global South
- Encourage innovation
These targets form part of the Chapter's targets, which are as follows :
- Awareness of Wikimedia projects
- Translation efforts into local languages
- Creation of free, local knowledge and media
- Contribution of African knowledge
- Preservation of historically important media and content
Movement Sustainability edit
By aligning all projects to the strategies and targets of the Wikimedia Foundation and the Chapter, we promote the creation of free knowledge and media. By increasing and maximising the number of editors / contributors in as many local languages as possible, we ensure the sustainability of several Wikimedia projects.
Capacity edit
The Chapter currently consists of 5 members on the Board of Trustees who contribute their time on a voluntary basis. There is currently one full time employee on board in the capacity as Administrator.
The appointment of the Administrator has assisted in promoting the activities of the Chapter and has encouraged general growth and awareness.
Potential for Impact edit
We consider WM ZA as a crucial key player in reaching out to the Global South and a hub to Africa. Through various projects we aim to increase the South African editor pool, and engage with other communities across Africa to extend Wikimedia projects.
Wikimedia Commons has a relatively poor representation of African contributions or these are of moderate to acceptable quality. Through various projects we aim to increase the value of media on Commons.
Through past events we have been able to improve our credibility as a chapter and movement. We have been able to build relationships with various institutions who share our vision of access to knowledge for all, free of charge.
Small Language Wikipedia's edit
As a Chapter we feel that it is important to promote the smaller language Wikipedia's. There is a great need to make information accessible to people in their native tongue. Through our Joburgpedia project, we have been able to attract people from these smaller languages (perhaps because of the concentration of diverse languages in Gauteng) and they have shown a keen interest in helping us to promote contributions to these projects.
During Joburgpedia 2014 we were able to activate 19 new users across 9 project languages, this includes 8 small local languages with a retention of 3 active users. With the continuation of the project in the coming year we expect to increase this number, considering that we will also be offering training sessions with The ConhillEdu programme who will train their own volunteers as well.
The Afrikaans Wikipedia is a project which is rapidly growing in South Africa and which has a great deal of enthusiastic contributors. The perception among them has always been that Wikipedia is only for the English speaking and not much interest has been shown into their activities.
As a Chapter representing the entire wiki-community in South Africa, we feel that it is important to represent them and give them their rightful place in the Wiki-community. At the AGM of 2014 we appointed our first Afrikaans speaking director who has in excess of 60 000 edits. Through various outreach initiatives by our Administrator, who is also Afrikaans speaking, we have been able to reach out to this community and have received a positive response. We want to build on this relationship further in the new year. In addition to this we also want to introduce an Afrikaans writing competition. We have already been approached by a major news publication (the Beeld) who are willing to help us promote the competition.
We have also conducted a radio interview on a national radio station RSG where we discuss Afrikaans contributions to Wikipedia. Through this and reaching out to the community on their talk page and Facebook, we have increased awareness of the Chapter and the Afrikaans Wikipedia in general.
The interview is available here. The Afrikaans talkpage is available here The Afrikaans Facebook group - created independently by users is available here. This initiative by Afrikaans users is, we believe, a good indication of the enthusiasm of these contributors to get more involved with projects.
A planned activity to increase these smaller language communities is to partner with Universities or similar education institutions to involve individuals who are not aware of the projects, and perhaps introduce editing Wikipedia or other projects into the curriculum. We have also recognised the need to support active editors to enable us to assist them in any way possible. As a Chapter we also envision the following :
- Obtaining an additional Administrator in South Africa
- Get the incubator to function correctly to ensure that checks and edits can be done before something enters Wikipedia
A few other initiatives include :
- Exploring users below 18 who might have an affinity for contributing
- Invited editors to specific projects depending on their area of interest
- Support all efforts to advocate and publicize initiatives
Due to the number of languages of South Africa, Afrikaans will be our first step in the upcoming year. We plan to reach out to further communities in the future.
Diversification in Projects edit
At the Chapter's AGM in November 2014 for which the minutes are available here members felt that contributors need to get out of the tendency to think that Wikimedia is Wikipedia. It is important to publicise the fact that there are other wiki's instead of Wikipedia.
Members felt that Wikidata is a great platform to enter information pertaining to entities, and that Wikipedian's should enjoy editing Wikidata. One of our members volunteered to run a project for contributions to Wikidata. The suggestion was to hold workshops with editors who are interested and people who are not editors yet. There is a great need to encourage these individuals to become Wikidata editors. Individuals can be asked to translate to Wikidata, considering that there is the help of auto translate options.
There is a need to recruit editors who believe in Wikipedia. We do however need to understand the different dimensions - those willing to edit, and those who are only interested in the technological aspect of it. There are a lot of enthusiastic people who start off well, but don't continue. They stop editing / contributing. One of our envisioned activities is to suggest subjects / topics previously translated / contributed and suggesting similar content matter. It is important to keep the interest of people who have joined the movement.
Staff Compliment edit
As a fairly new Chapter and as indicated previously, WM ZA only has one full time administrative assistant. The Board of Trustees are volunteers and take responsibility for projects that they have initiated. We understand that this could be seen as a deficit of the Chapter but with PEG grants, we have successfully been able to run 3 of the projects budgeted for in this proposal.
Although our staff compliment is very small, we aim to grow the Chapter in the coming year to increase the reach of Wikimedia ZA and the movement across South Africa, including all the small language Wiki's as mentioned above. We appreciate the concern that the staff compliment might not be adequate to support the projects we aim to undertake, but we aim to overcome this by careful time management, recruiting volunteers and increased contributions from the Board of Trustees.
We do agree that the rapid growth of the Chapter might necessitate the appointment of additional staff but this will only be determined in the 2016/2017 period.
Through our partnership, initiated in 2014, we have greatly expanded our volunteer base - compared to previous years. With the cooperation of this institution, we will be using ConhillEdu volunteers to facilitate training and upload marathons to schools across the Gauteng area. We have identified two key persons at this stage who will be the project leads, and they have several volunteers who have already signed up to be part of the project. For this specif project, the administrative assistant will assist project leads where possible to manage logistical arrangements but ConHillEdu volunteers will be ultimately be responsible for the execution of the project together with the two project leads.
With the assistance of 2 Wikipedian in Residences and an additional intern at Heritage Western Cape, we expect these individuals to take full responsibility for their roles with only an overseeing function by the Executive Director.
As a chapter we believe that volunteer support is crucial so we want to build on relationships from past PEG grants to try and establish a sustainable pool of volunteers for current and future projects.
Expansion of Volunteer Base edit
We agree that expanding in this area is crucial to sustaining the growth of the Chapter and to support projects. As mentioned above, we have increased our volunteer base with Joburgpedia and plan to do so with other projects as well. The ultimate aim being engaging volunteers and retaining their support.
Quality Contributions to Wikimedia Projects edit
As mentioned elsewhere, there have been no systems in place to measure the quality of content contributed to Wikimedia projects. Our first step to introducing measures to accurately ascertain the quality of contributions, is with our Joburgpedia Writing Competition (Phase 1).
Participants are required to submit entries which conform to Class B and above with the following minimum requirements :
- The article must be suitable referenced with inline citations where necessary.
- The article reasonably covers the topic and does not contain omissions or inaccuracies.
- The article has a defined structure.
- The article is reasonably well-written.
- The article contains supporting materials where appropriate.
- The article presents its content in an appropriately understandable way.
We have also introduced 'Best Use on Wikipedia' prize categories in projects such as Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki from Above to encourage quality media which can be used across Wikipedia articles, whether by the individual entrant or other editors.
Although we aim to encourage the submission of quality content and media, this cannot always be guaranteed. Through various workshops and upload marathons, we wish to educate participants on what is required and to encourage quality contributions that can be used across various Wikimedia projects.
Achievable Targets edit
As a relatively new Chapter, with not much experience in a diversity of projects, we have included minimal targets for each of the projects indicated. When we did our initial project plans, these figures were much higher, but we decided that perhaps they were too enthusiastic, and that the accuracy of these numbers can only be measured when all of our strategies are in place. As a first time FDC applicant, we want to be as conservative as possible. We do however expect to exceed the figures stated in our application.
All of the projects listed in our application, in addition to some new ones added, have and will increase the visibility of the Chapter in South Africa. In the past month, we have had enquiries from several individuals who edit the Afrikaans Wikipedia and who have only now learned about the Chapter through various social media platform outreach initiatives. We believe that although the initial impact might be seen as low, we believe that these are important first steps into growing the Chapter to what we envision it to be - more members, more editors, more volunteers, more projects.
Content Focused Programs edit
Unfortunately due to the limited staff compliment in previous years, we have not been able to conduct assessments identifying content gaps. The projects we have run in the past have been initiated because of needs we identified as a Chapter in specific areas, or where we believe that the content contributed will be beneficial to Wikimedia projects and future generations.
We have also taken into account discussion with others from the Wiki-community.
The only assessment conducted to date was for the Wiki Indaba International event which was sent out after the event to identify gaps that need to be addressed within the African context. A copy of the analysis can be viewed here.
Partnerships edit
In addition to the support of partner institutions listed here we have reached out to several other organisations who have expressed an interested, or already have partnered with us :
Library Information Association of South Africa edit
We have been in discussions with this partner since 2014 and they have been very helpful in assisting us to reach out to various libraries across South Africa, more specifically for the Joburgpedia Writing Contest. We have had several meetings with them and plan to work closely with them in the coming here to expand our reach into libraries. This includes our offline Wikipedia units, Joburgpedia and Kaapedia.
Western Cape Heritage edit
This partner is committed to support Wiki Loves Monuments and has signed a 3-year Memorandum of Agreement contributing and amount of ZAR 15 000.00 per annum to the competition. They wish to increase participation from the Western Cape and an increased number of content on Cape Town heritage sites on Wikipedia. Their sponsorship supports outreach activities and prize money that is confined to activites and entrants from within the Western Cape. In addition, they provide the following :
- Provide a database of all conservation bodies registered in terms of the National Heritage Resources Act
- Provide a comprehensive list of all declared heritage sites across the Western Cape
- Provide additional information related to sites such as the statements of significance
- Provide a liaising officer to WMZA
In 2015, the amount unspent in 2014 will be spent on hiring an intern for two months to increase the data integrity of Heritage Western Cape's database of listed heritage sites and update that information on Wikipedia. Activities will include:
- Verify and input GPS location of heritage sites and flag sites that need onsite verification
- Research and update the GPS coordinates in the Heritage Western Cape database
- Update the GPS coordinates and other details of all sites with reliable and checked coordinates on Wikipedia
The intern will be managed by Heritage Western Cape and will work in a space provided.
Johannesburg Heritage Foundation edit
This partner came on board with Joburgpedia in 2014 and hosted the first ever Wikipedian in Residence. They contributed a great deal of content but there is so much more that needs to digitised and captured for future generations. More information on the work of the Wikipedian in Residence can be found here and content uploaded from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation can be found on Commons. We aim to continue with this partnership in the coming year.
Conhill Education Programme edit
This partnership which took form in 2014 has grown from strength to strength. This year, various volunteers from the programme will be assisting WM ZA with the Joburgpedia Writing contest. Though their connections, they are involving 50 schools to collaborate on Wikipedia. WM ZA will provide training to volunteers who in turn, will provide participants with training on how to edit Wikipedia. The project leads, Bobby Shabangu and Dumisani Ndubane will head this project. The launch of Joburgpedia (Phase 1 already approved by the Foundation) will also be held at ConHill.
Sinenjongo High School edit
Since their appeal to provide free mobile access to Wikipedia, Sinenjongo High School has become the focus of mobile carriers in South Africa. WM ZA reached out to this community and they have shown a very keen interest in editing Wikipedia. Several workshops have been held here and learners are actively involved in weekly training sessions with one of the educators. We want to encourage these learners even further and will be installing one of the Kiwix units here as soon as these arrive.
Cape Higher Education Consortium edit
There is resonance with LIASA’s current theme of ‘Check in@ your library’ and the GLAM-Wiki initiative which seeks to make libraries more visible via the Wikipedia/crowd-sourcing platform. [The GLAM-Wiki initiative ("galleries, libraries, archives, and museums" with Wikipedia; also including botanic and zoological gardens) helps cultural institutions share their resources with the world through collaborative projects with experienced Wikipedia editors.
With this partnership we are busy working a pilot project in the Western Cape with the aim of building Wikipedia articles on libraries in the Western Cape. The initial response was not as positive as anticipated, so we have therefore redesigned the training sessions and are open to discussion about workshop attendance.
Key Competencies of Chapter edit
We consider the following as key competencies of the Chapter :
- Ability to execute plans
- Ability to source in-kind contributions
- Only Chapter in Africa
Potential Shortcomings of Chapter edit
As a small, fairly new Chapter, we consider the following as potential shortcomings.
- Evaluation of project success
- Succession planning
- Contingency plans when projects have not achieved the results anticipated
- Volunteer outreach and retention
- Retention of editors and/or contributors
To address these shortcomings, we want to implement the following measures :
- Using Wikimetrics as an evaluation tool
- Tracking of user contributions
- Building on successes of projects with follow through meetups
- Evaluation surveys
- Outreach activities
- Advertising the work of the Foundation and the Chapter more broadly
- Outreach to various Institutions
- Increased activity on talk pages
- Feedback on issues / comments / concerns raised
Core Administrative Budget edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| Core Administrative Budget | ||||||||||
| 1.1 | Human Resources - Full Time Administrator | 13 | 22,000.00 | 286,000.00 | 13 | 1,877.92 | 24,412.96 | |||
| 1.2 | Human Resources - Executive Director (4 days per month) | 13 | 6,000.00 | 78,000.00 | 13 | 512.16 | 6,658.08 | [1] | ||
| 1.3 | Human Resources - Payroll Administration Costs | 1 | 15,000.00 | 15,000.00 | 1 | 1,280.40 | 1,280.40 | |||
| 1.4 | Auditing Fees | 1 | 65,000.00 | 65,000.00 | 1 | 5,548.40 | 5,548.40 | |||
| 1.5 | Office Rental | 12 | 2,500.00 | 30,000.00 | 12 | 213.40 | 2,560.80 | |||
| 1.6 | Subscriptions & Affiliations | 1 | 25,000.00 | 25,000.00 | 1 | 2,134.00 | 2,134.00 | |||
| 1.7 | External Relations, Community Outreach and Education | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.8 | Travel & Accommodation Allowance - Staff | 1 | 20,000.00 | 20,000.00 | 1 | 1,707.20 | 1,707.20 | |||
| 1.9 | Bi-Annual Board Meetings - Accommodation & Travel | 1 | 25,000.00 | 25,000.00 | 1 | 2,134.00 | 2,134.00 | |||
| Total Core Administrative Budget | 554,000.00 | 47,289.44 | ||||||||
- ↑ To compensate for loss of income from regular employment - 1 day per week with Administrator
Project & Activity Budget edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| Project Budget | ||||||||||
| 2.1 | Wiki Loves Monuments | 1 | 90,000.00 | 90,000.00 | 1 | 7,682.40 | 7,682.40 | |||
| 2.2 | Wiki Loves Afrikaans | 1 | 65,000.00 | 65,000.00 | 1 | 5,548.40 | 5,548.40 | |||
| 2.3 | Kaapedia | 1 | 40,000.00 | 40,000.00 | 1 | 3,414.40 | 3,414.40 | |||
| 2.4 | Joburgpedia | 1 | 232,000.00 | 232,000.00 | 1 | 19,803.52 | 19,803.52 | |||
| 2.5 | Wikipedia Zero | 1 | 20,000.00 | 20,000.00 | 1 | 1,707.20 | 1,707.20 | |||
| 2.6 | Language Development & Community Activation | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 2.7 | General Project Assistance | 1 | 54,000.00 | 54,000.00 | 1 | 4,609.44 | 4,609.44 | |||
| 2.8 | Community Support | 1 | 50,000.00 | 50,000.00 | 1 | 4,268.00 | 4,268.00 | |||
| Total Project & Activity Budget | 561,000.00 | 47,886.96 | ||||||||
Contingencies & Reserves Budget edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| Contingencies & Reserves | ||||||||||
| 3.1 | Contingencies & Reserves | 1 | 40,000.00 | 40,000.00 | 1 | 3,414.40 | 3,414.40 | |||
| Total Contingencies & Reserves Budget | 40,000.00 | 3,414.40 | ||||||||
Budget Summary edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total in Rands (ZAR) | Total in Dollars (USD) | ||||
| 1 | Core Administrative Budget | R | 554,000.00 | $ | 47,289.44 |
| 2 | Project & Activity Budget | R | 561,000.00 | $ | 47,886.96 |
| 3 | Contingencies & Reserves Budget | R | 40,000.00 | $ | 3,414.40 |
| 4 | SUBTOTAL | R | 1,155,000.00 | $ | 98,590.80 |
| 5 | VAT (14%) | R | Included | $ | Included |
| 6 | TOTAL BUDGET | R | 1,155,000.00 | $ | 98,590.80 |
Project & Activity Budget Breakdown edit
Wiki Loves Monuments edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Postage | 1 | 500.00 | 500.00 | 1 | 42.68 | 42.68 | |||
| 1.2 | Telecommunication | 1 | 2,000.00 | 2,000.00 | 1 | 170.72 | 170.72 | |||
| 1.3 | Incidental Costs & Contingencies | 1 | 3,000.00 | 3,000.00 | 1 | 256.08 | 256.08 | |||
| 1.4 | Media & Event Promotion | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.5 | Award Ceremony - Catering | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.6 | Printing of winning photographs | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.7 | National Prizes | 1 | 25,000.00 | 25,000.00 | 1 | 2,134.00 | 2,134.00 | |||
| 1.8 | Transport to Award Ceremony (flights and car rental) | 1 | 21,750.00 | 21,750.00 | 1 | 1,856.58 | 1,856.58 | |||
| 1.9 | Award Ceremony - Accommodation | 1 | 12,750.00 | 12,750.00 | 1 | 1,088.34 | 1,088.34 | |||
| Total | 90,000.00 | 7,682.40 | ||||||||
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Wiki Takes (Town) / Scavenger Hunts x 3 events | 100 images added |
| How-To Workshops | 15 images added |
| Competition Entries | 4 000 images added to Commons |
| Competition Entries | 16 000Mb of data added |
Wiki Loves Afrikaans edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Event Launch & Outreach Activities to Afrikaans organisations | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.2 | Printed project matter, Press Kits & Telecommunications | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.3 | Roadshows to Schools | 1 | 8,000.00 | 8,000.00 | 1 | 682.88 | 682.88 | |||
| 1.4 | Incidental Costs & Contingencies | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.5 | Winning Prize in Writing Contest | 1 | 20,000.00 | 20,000.00 | 1 | 1,707.20 | 1,707.20 | |||
| 1.6 | Prizes - 2nd and 3rd | 1 | 12,000.00 | 12,000.00 | 1 | 1,024.32 | 1,024.32 | |||
| Total | 65,000.00 | 5,548.40 | ||||||||
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Writing Contest | 10 articles added |
| How-To Workshops | 20 articles improved |
| Community Outreach | 15 participants |
| Edit-a-Thons | 15 new articles |
Kaapedia edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Event Launch | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.2 | Printed project matter | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.3 | Press Kits | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.4 | Incidental Costs & Contingencies | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.5 | Catering for edit-a-thons | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.6 | Advertising & Marketing | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| Total | 40,000.00 | 3,414.40 | ||||||||
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Western Cape Entries | 100 images added |
| Heritage Audit Intern | 30 images added to articles |
| Heritage Audit Intern | 30 articles improved |
Joburgpedia Phase 2 edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Telecommunications & Mobile Data | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.2 | 2 x Portable Wi-Fi Stations | 1 | 5,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.3 | T-Shirts & Printed Matter | 1 | 7,000.00 | 7,000.00 | 1 | 597.52 | 597.52 | |||
| 1.4 | Project Facilitation | 2 | 10,000.00 | 20,000.00 | 2 | 853.60 | 1,707.20 | [1] | ||
| 1.5 | Advertising & Marketing | 1 | 7,000.00 | 7,000.00 | 1 | 597.52 | 597.52 | |||
| 1.6 | Incidental Costs & Contingencies | 1 | 6,000.00 | 6,000.00 | 1 | 512.16 | 512.16 | |||
| 1.7 | Pamphlets for edit-a-thons | 1 | 6,000.00 | 6,000.00 | 1 | 512.16 | 512.16 | |||
| 1.8 | Catering - 5 events | 5 | 4,500.00 | 22,500.00 | 1 | 384.12 | 1,920.60 | [2] | ||
| 1.9 | Preservation of Archives | 1 | 15,000.00 | 15,000.00 | 1 | 1,280.40 | 1,280.40 | |||
| 1.10 | ConhillEdu Training Sessions | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.11 | Equipment | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.12 | Training Material & Supplies | 1 | 3,000.00 | 3,000.00 | 1 | 256.08 | 256.08 | |||
| 1.13 | Sourcing & Installation of QR Plaques | 1 | 18,500.00 | 18,500.00 | 1 | 1,579.16 | 1,579.16 | [3] | ||
| 1.14 | Library Outreach Initiative | 1 | 5,000.00 | 5,000.00 | 1 | 426.80 | 426.80 | |||
| 1.15 | Schools Outreach Initiative | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.16 | Digitisation | 1 | 15,000.00 | 15,000.00 | 1 | 1,280.40 | 1,280.40 | |||
| 1.17 | Wikipedian in Residence (2 individuals at 2 Institutions) | 2 | 36,000.00 | 72,000.00 | 2 | 3,072.96 | 6,145.92 | |||
| Total | 232,000.00 | 19,803.52 | ||||||||
- Total value of this project is estimated at ZAR 315,020.00 of which our FDC Application requests an amount of ZAR 232,000.00
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Edit-a-Thons | 5 articles improved |
| Schools Outreach | 15 articles improved |
| Training & Upload Marathons | 15 articles improved |
| Training & Upload Marathons | 10 new articles added |
| Wikipedian in Residence | 40 articles added or improved |
| Wikipedian in Residence | 50 images added to article pages |
| QR Installations | 10 articles improved |
QR Plaques edit
QR coded plaques will be installed next to blue plaques in Johannesburg at 10 pre-selected sites. This enables users to scan the QR code and this directs them to the Wikipedia article on the specific heritage site. Edit-a-thons will be held at these sites to make sure that the Wikipedia page is correct or updated where necessary. Additional information can also be provided. We have requested an amount of R 5 520.00 from the City of Johannesburg to support the installation of the plaques.
The Project edit
We believe that Joburgpedia is one of our most successfful projects to date and strongly believe that we are able to contribute a great wealth of information to Wikipedia and other related projects. Although our work at the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation was very successful last year, it was only a scratch on the surface of an untapped, rich history of South African heritage documents and media.
We have kept our expected outcomes as realistic as possible but expect to exceed them by far. In 2014 alone, our anticipated 250 photographs were surpassed by 609 uploads. We believe that appointing an additional Wikipedian in Residence is certain to double this amount.
In addition to the regular activities surrounding this project, we are introducing new aspects to the project as well :
- Introducing the Writing Contest into schools with training and support provided by our institutional partner
- Although we are working very hard with stakeholders to digitise these documents, the fact remains that there is a great deal of history that is yet untapped. We include with our funding application a contribution (half of the cost) to funding a smoke detection and suppression system at the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation Research Centre
- Additional training and support offered by our Institutional Partner at ConHillEdu to volunteers on editing Wikipedia and writing new articles
- Schools outreach project with the aim of targeting a school in a local township and support and train on Wikipedia as part of the curriculum (based on the success of Sinenjongo High), teaching them the importance of referencing, grammer and improving their writing skills in general.
- The appointment of an additional Wikipedian in Residence
The project is divided into 4 phases which we envisaged to run from 2013 to 2016. The initial phase in 2013 was targeted at Johannesburg to Soweto. The second phase in 2014 targeted the Johannesburg Inner City. On this project we increased the number of GLAM institutions who were willing to work with us from 2 to 5 (Including the Satyagraha House a museum where Mahatma Ghandi lived). We increased content and participation on local languages and we had 19 new users of which 50% were women. On the third and the fourth phase of the project our focus will be more into covering the Johannesburg Skyline and the other Johannesburg surrounding townships. We also realized that there's a lot of work that needed completion on the 2014 phase of the project hence we are looking at having 2 WiR based at our GLAM institution. As we are phasing out content from 2014 we will be simultaneously working on the working on 2015 going forward.
We had 9 female participants at events in 2014 and we expect thsi number to increase to at least 18 this year. Our focus was mainly Wikipedia but we are looking at increasing more focus on other Wiki projects as well, Perhaps Wiki Commons or Wiki Varsity.
In 2014 we created a lot of stubs. This year our focus is on quality articles. Learning from the work we have done at our GLAM institution we noticed that this was because there is a low count of reliable references on the internet that could support our work. Much of the citations and the references are found on the archives of the same GLAM institution which needs more time for research to do the proper citations. Hence having 2 Wikipedian in Residence will help in digitizing the photographs, making the proper archival research and creating quality and complete articles.
Wikipedian in Residence edit
Our first ever Wikipedian in Residence completed a term at the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation in 2014. This institution contributed a great deal of content but there is much more that needs to digitised and captured for future generations. More information on the work of the Wikipedian in Residence can be found here and content uploaded from the Johannesburg Heritage Foundation can be found on Commons. We aim to continue with this partnership in the coming year by budgeting for 2 positions for a period of 6 months.
WM ZA requests funding to pay two salaries for the period as well as a small digitisation allowance. The two institutions decided upon will provide the space, support and facilities for these residents.
Wikipedia Zero edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Preliminaries & General | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| 1.2 | Schools Outreach Initiative | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| Total | 20,000.00 | 1,707.20 | ||||||||
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Schools Outreach | 10 articles improved |
Language Development & Community Activation edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Small Language Wikipedia Support, Development and Outreach Initiatives | 1 | 10,000.00 | 10,000.00 | 1 | 853.60 | 853.60 | |||
| Total | 10,000.00 | 853.60 | ||||||||
Content Generation edit
We envisage the following content generation for this project:
| Activity | Outcome |
|---|---|
| Improve existing articles | 20 articles |
| New articles | 25 new articles |
General Project Assistance edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Project Facilitation - Johannesburg | 2 | 27,000.00 | 54,000.00 | 2 | 2,304.72 | 4,609.44 | |||
| Total | 54,000.00 | 4,609.44 | ||||||||
Community Support edit
| Description | Requested Funds (ZAR) | Requested Funds (USD) | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qty | Rate | Total (ZAR) | Qty | Rate | Total (USD) | |||||
| 1.1 | Community Support - Scholarships, Project Support etc | 1 | 50,000.00 | 50,000.00 | 1 | 4,268.00 | 4,268.00 | |||
| Total | 50,000.00 | 4,268.00 | ||||||||