Wikimedia Armenia/Reports/2023-08

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2023

August

Statistics for August

Youth Wikicamp 2023

Training

90 people with no editing experience in Wikipedia registered to participate in the 2023 Youth Summer Wikicamp.

In the first ten days of the training, a course was held at the office of "Wikimedia Armenia" NGO, during which newcomers got acquainted with the history of Wikipedia, the Five Pillars, and also learned how to edit and create articles in Wikipedia. They were also introduced to basic editing skills in Wikipedia and Wikidata.

This time, "Wikimedia Armenia" used a new method in the teaching process. Since it is difficult for some participants living in the regions to come to Yerevan and attend the training in the office, the training for some of them was organized in the regions with the help of coordinators of Wikiclubs near their place of residence.

The 30 participants who attended the course started editing their sandboxes right after the first session, translating articles from Wikipedias in other languages. During the second session and the next few days, they created or significantly improved 48 articles, in total 790,829 bytes.

Based on the results of the articles created and improved thanks to the skills acquired during the course, 22 of the 30 training participants were selected as participants of the 2023 Youth Summer Wikicamp.

Youth Wikicamp

On 17-24 August, Wikimedia Armenia organized a seven day Wikicamp for the youth group in Tsaghkadzor. The participants were 18 years old or older. During the seven days of the Wikicamp, the participants edited Armenian Wikipedia and created articles from a list of articles, most of which were from the list of vital articles.

43 participants of the Youth Wikicamp created 403 articles with a volume of 10,602,203 bytes during the seven days of the camp. One of the experienced editors alone - ArmSirius - created 26 articles with a volume of 906,146 bytes, meanwhile another editor who was a beginner - Sose Markosyan - created 27 articles with a volume of 518,244 bytes. They respectively received “The best experienced editor” and “The best beginner editor” awards.

Besides actively editing Wikipedia, the campers also participated in sports games and intellectual games. Competitions were held for the following sports games: table tennis, volleyball, dodgeball, bowling, Fort Wiki. The latter includes several competitions - editing, solving a metal disentangle puzzle in water, remembering color sequence, finding the way with closed eyes, intellectual game, jenga and archery. Team-building games were also organized for the participants: high tower, brain ring, be unique, delicious competition, etc.

In addition to these games, the campers also had entertainment activities: a visit to the Tsaghkadzor ropeway and a swimming pool.

“Explore Philosophy” Wikiproject

On August 1, 2023 Wikimedia Armenia in cooperation with “Ayn Rand Center Armenia” NGO launched the “Explore Philosophy” wikiproject aiming at creating and improving articles on philosophy on Armenian Wikipedia.

During the month, 19 participants created 83 articles related to philosophy with a volume of 2,060,799 bytes. The project will continue until September 10.

Wiki Campaign on Armenian Topics

On the occasion of the 7th anniversary of the establishment of the "․հայ" domain, a campaign for the development of articles on Armenian topics began in Armenian Wikipedia.

The goal of the one-month long campaign is the development and update of topics dedicated to Armenian history, culture and science in Armenian Wikipedia. Anyone with research skills, source finding skills, and willingness to be a part of this important mission can join the campaign. With the help of scientists, professors, students and every individual interested in Armenian topics, we will be able to present our history and culture with its different colors and trustworthy form and inherit it to future generations.

During the competition, 32 participants of the Armenian Wikipedia created and improved 769 articles on Armenian topics with a volume of 5,730,733 bytes during the month of August.

Within the framework of the competition, those who have made a significant contribution will receive cash prizes from the "Internet Society of Armenia" NGO, and the other active participants will receive certificates.

Wikipedia Pages Wanting Photos 2023

In 2023, Wikimedia Armenia joined the WPWP project which is gaining momentum year by year. The project aims to enrich pages of different language Wikiprojects with existing and newly uploaded pictures. The project conditions are to add pictures to those articles which do not have pictures and to add description to added pictures. Articles can be in any language Wiki project. During the month of August, 13 wiki editors from Armenia added 2698 pictures in 19 different wikiprojects.

Wiki Loves Living Heritage

As a tribute to the 20th anniversary of the UNESCO Convention for the “Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage” “Wiki Loves Living Heritage” international campaign was launched in March, 2023.

On August 1, Wikimedia Armenia joined the global initiative through a joint competition-project with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports and Hovhannes Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Arts. The project consists of two parts - photo contest and edit-a-thon.

The photo contest will last until September 15, the best 5 photos will participate in the international competition. As of August 31, 3 Armenian participants of the “Wiki Loves Living Heritage” project have uploaded 22 photos related to intangible cultural heritage to WikiCommons.

The edit-a-thon will last until the end of 2023. It includes the creation and improvement of articles in Armenian Wikipedia, as well as the creation of pages and data entry related to the intangible cultural heritage values of the Republic of Armenia in Wikidata and Meta-Wiki platforms. As of August 31, 6 participants joined this part of the project by creating 17 articles in Armenian Wikipedia. Pages have been created in Wikidata for all the intangible cultural heritage values of the RA, the descriptions have been filled and, if possible, photos were added.

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Wikiclubs

Wikiclubs’ report

In August, there were 156 registered members in all 7 active Wikiclubs (Goris, Ddmashen, Lernapat, Kirants, Koghb, Hatsik, and Jermuk). Wikiclub members participated to different ongoing projects and edit-a-thons by creating new articles, improving the existing ones or adding photos - “Wiki Campaign on Armenian Topics”, “Explore Philosophy”, “Wiki Loves Living Heritage”, and WPWP.

Youth Wikicamp 2023

5 Wikiclub members took part in the Youth Wikicamp which was taking place in Tsaghkadzor on 17-24 August. The best editor of the Wikicamp was User:ArmSirius from Ddmashen Wikiclub.

Digitalization of articles from the “Agricultural Encyclopedia”

In August, 2023 Wikiclub members began the wikification of the materials from the “Agricultural Encyclopedia” (“Armenian Encyclopedia” Publishing House, 2015) which was released under the Commons BY-SA 3.0 license. Wikiclub members either created the missing items of the corresponding pages in Wikidata or linked the created articles with already existing items. Within the framework of this project 178 articles with a volume of 394,746 bytes were created in August. The project will continue in September, as well.

Wikiedits

Throughout August, out of 156 Wikiclub members 62 contributed to Wikipedia. In total, they have created 616 articles and made 3268 edits with a volume of  6,069,580 bytes.

During the month of Augsut, 57 Wikiclub members contributed to Wikidata, by making 5451 edits in total.

3 of Wikiclub members contributed to Wikisource where they made 10 edits creating 7 pages. Their contribution was 865 bytes.

Other events

Besides editing, the following events happened in Wikiclubs:

• Another movie screening was organized in Kirants Wikiclub. This time the Wikiclub members watched the movie “Father” from the Armenian movie series “The Path of Our Dream”. During the month, a newcomer joined the Wikiclub and another one restarted editing actively after some break.
• Hatsik Wikiclub had a very intensive and active month. On August 9 on the Book Lovers Day, the club members were welcomed at Shirak regional library in order to participate in the intellectual game-competition organized by the library along with the “Khoran Ard” intellectual center about which there is a post on library’s Facebook page. Before the competition, the club members had a tour of the library, were introduced to the collection of books and the sections of the library. Another competition on Wikidata was held at the end of the month. On the last Sunday of the month the club members played intellectual games.
• Ddmashen Wikiclub works three days a week, the club members continue their work on Wiki projects at home and during the Wikiclub meetings they discuss and check articles. With those club members who are students and live in another city, the work is done online.
• There is a tradition in Koghb Wikiclub, if someone writes an article about a meal, he/she makes it. One of the participants wrote an article about pizza and later made it. Based on the statistics of the month, the works were summarized according to the number of edits. The best ones received certificates and sweet little gifts.
• In Lernapat Wikiclub, the results of the interclub competition were summarized and the best editor was chosen.

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Media about WMAM projects

Wiki Loves Living Heritage on TV in Armenia

This month different media platforms covered several projects carried out by Wikimedia Armenia. The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports shared an article about the “Wiki Loves Living Heritage” project. A special report by the First Channel discussed the project where the director of the H. Sharambeyan Museum of Folk Arts Lusine Toroyan and Quality Content Coordinator of Wikimedia Armenia Mher Bekaryan talked about the project. “Wiki Loves Living Heritage” project carried out by Wikimedia Armenia also appeared in the news section of the Meta-Wiki page of the international campaign.

“Internet Society” NGO talked about the first week of “Wiki Campaign on Armenian Topics” in its article.