WikiGraphers User Group

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WikiGraphers User Group (WG User Group)

Background

WikiGraphers user group has been established with the aim of enhancing and advancing the visual content within Wikimedia projects. While the Wiki communities primarily focus on improving or creating textual content, there is a need for a dedicated community of WikiGraphers who will create illustrations, graphics, infographics, animations, and maps to enrich Wikimedia projects. In today's world, people increasingly consume information through visual mediums, particularly graphical images, and it is crucial to present knowledge in a way that meets the needs and preferences of the current era. Visuals serve as a means to transform vast amounts of complex information into easily understandable, lucid, and appealing knowledge, ultimately motivating readers to spend more time on Wikipedia, access, contribute, and share more content.

In addition to supporting the creation of visuals, the user group prioritizes the design and implementation of educational projects, training initiatives, and resources aimed at fostering the growth, engagement, and expansion of the WikiGraphers community.

Goals

The goals of WikiGraphers, as a user group focused on improving and developing the visual content of Wikimedia projects, include the following:

1. Enhancing the visual content of Wikimedia projects which involves creating visually appealing and informative content that complements the textual information on Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
2. Supporting educational projects and initiatives emphasizing visual content creation and development. This involves designing educational materials, developing training resources, and organizing workshops, long-term educational courses, hackathons, and other events.
3. Building and growing a strong and active community of visual contributors by creating a collaborative environment where WikiGraphers can share their expertise, collaborate on projects, and learn from one another.
4. Collaboration within Wikimedia Movement for disseminating the value of free knowledge.

Activities

WikiGraphers user group plans to implement a range of activities to enhance and share visual content across Wikimedia projects. These activities include:

1. Conducting long-term trainings and courses aimed at attracting new participants to the WikiGraphers community by equipping them with the necessary skills, modern tools, and visualization methods.
2. Providing trainings and courses for active Wiki editors which will focus on improving the visualization skills of active Wikipedians, enabling them to create more visually engaging content.
3. Creating educational resources like guidelines, video tutorials, and more which will benefit both active Wikipedians and newcomers, helping them enhance their skills in visual content creation.
4. Organizing community events such as workshops, meetups, hackathons, edit-a-thons, and conferences which will foster collaboration and enable the collaborative creation of freely accessible visual knowledge.
5. Collaborating with Wikimedia communities to share expertise and work together to promote the culture of visualization.
6. Partnering with local and international organizations to establish partnerships with organizations that share a similar mission to advocate for and disseminate the value of free knowledge. This collaboration will contribute to the broader recognition and importance of free knowledge dissemination.

Activities to be held

Activities to be held during January-June, 2024

• The team has initiated a “Civilpedia: Enriching Wikipedia with articles on Civil society” project, which was launched on December 1, 2023, with financial support from the Eurasia Partnership Foundation and the Government of Sweden. Within the project, over the next three months, weekly workshops will be conducted for newcomers to create/improve articles on Civil society. Additionally, the project involves the development of thematic illustrations, visuals, and audio versions of articles, which will be uploaded on Wikimedia Commons.
• We plan to have a WikiGraphers community meeting in March 2024 to discuss future projects and initiatives. It will also help us to assess the community's needs and design our projects based on that information.
• We will have an edit-a-thon in April 2024, where WikiGraphers will enrich Wikipedia with visuals.
• Since our priority is education, starting May 2024, we will start to design educational resources, and training materials.

Contact persons

1. Armen Mirzoyan (user:Armenmir, armenmirzoiiangmail.com, editor since 2011). Has more than 5 years of professional experience in program management coordinating diverse projects and initiatives to ensure their successful implementation. Former WikiClubs Coordinator at Wikimedia Armenia.
2. Lilit Tarkhanyan (user:Lilitik22, lilit.s.tarkhanyangmail.com, editor since 2011). Has 9 years of experience in managing educational projects, planning, developing, and implementing various initiatives to enhance learning outcomes and promote educational growth. Former Education program coordinator at Wikimedia Armenia.
3. Yurik Mkrtchyan (user:GeoO, abbuladzegmail.com, editor since 2012). Has 9 years of experience in managing various social media pages, as well as creating compelling content for social media platforms, including posts, images, videos, and infographics. Former SMM & Communication manager at Wikimedia Armenia.

Interested people

• I have seen this group do quite impressive, long term visualization campaigns on wiki, training people on how do make visualizations, collaborating with visualization pros and spotting issues. I also know them as dedicated Wikimedians for over decade. And I totally agree we should have more visual content in it's whole diversity to remain the go-to place on the web. Xelgen (talk) 19:44, 8 August 2023 (UTC)
• I must say that I agree entirely, as I have witnessed their dedicated work for years as editors and managers of various Wikiprojects, and as organizers of the «WikiGraphers. Visualizing Open Knowledge» project.--Azniv Stepanian (talk) 06:17, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• A while back, I observed a group working hard to share knowledge freely. I'm sure their efforts will succeed.--A.arpi.a (talk) 07:03, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• I agree entirely. The group working hard for years. --Betty Kilerjian (talk) 07:17, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• I believe that this group is the most suitable to carry out the project «WikiGraphers. Visualizing Open Knowledge», as they are 100% dedicated Wikimedians.--HoMen (talk) 07:25, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• The WikiGraphers project organized by the group is impactful, as it teaches how to use global and local data sources to maintain up-to-date statistics on wikis, and also enhances the skill of creating effective data visualizations. I support the foundation and further activities of this user group.--Kate Mamyan (talk) 07:36, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• I've witnessed this group conducting impressive, sustained visualization campaigns on Wiki. They've offered guidance for visualization creation, collaborated with experts, and adeptly addressed challenges. I fully support the idea and I genuinely think that this group is the perfect fit for taking on the project. --TonJ (talk) 07:51, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• I believe that this group is worthy to carry out the project «WikiGraphers, as I have seen their hard work, passion, commitment and dedication over the years, they have assisted in the production of visualizations. I concur with the founding of this user group and its ongoing endeavors. --Սեւան Դանիէլեան Մկրեան (talk) 09:24, 9 August 2023 (UTC)
• I believe that this group's activity is very important to enhance and share visual content across Wikimedia projects.[--Marina Boghigian (talk) 13:07, 10 August 2023 (UTC)]
• I observed the group training people to make visualizations and support the initiative they took. I really appreciate their huge contribution to Wikipedia. --Chhasi77 (talk) 19:40, 23 August 2023 (UTC)