Documenting CHwB Albania archives in commons

In collaboration with CHwB Albania, Wikimedia Community User Group Albania is documenting all of the important architectural sites, before and after the restoration.The project undertaken in collaboration with Cultural Heritage without Borders Albania (CHwB), an Albanian-based international NGO dedicated to the preservation and promotion of cultural heritage, aimed at enriching Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, and SQ Wikipedia. This comprehensive initiative involved a series of informative lectures designed to educate both newcomers and long time editors about the intricacies of SQ Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons. Participants were offered hands-on training to navigate and contribute effectively to these platforms. Additionally, the project features an edit-a-thon component, where dedicated individuals passionately work to digitize and disseminate invaluable materials sourced from CHwB's archives into Wikimedia projects. By bridging the gap between cultural preservation and digital dissemination, this project not only empowers its participants but also contributes significantly to the global effort of preserving and sharing Albania's rich cultural heritage with a broader audience in the commons. The MoU can be found here.

Project partners[edit]

CHwB Albania[edit]

Cultural Heritage without Borders (CHwB) is a non-profit non governmental organization founded in Sweden in 1995. The organization aims to protect cultural heritage sites affected by various conflicts as well as poverty, neglect and natural disasters. CHwB Albania was founded in 2006. The organization also present in Bosnia & Herzegovina and Kosovo. Apart from various restoration projects, CHwB Albania has since 2007 held Regional Restoration Camps for students and professionals in the cultural heritage sector.

Wikimedia Community User Group Albania[edit]

Wikimedia Community User Group Albania is a group of users of Albanian Wikimedia projects who are interested in organizing and participating in outreach activities on national level including GLAM and Education initiatives. Members of the group have been active for quite some time already participating and co-organizing among others many educational partnerships (memorandum of understanding), workshops, presentations in free software events (see OSCAL), or edit-a-thons organized in Tirana. WCUGA aims at the organization and representation of the Albanian community as well as the promotion and participation on projects that the Wikimedia Foundation initiates.

Open Labs Albania[edit]

Open Labs is a non for profit community based in Tirana, Albania, which promotes free and open-source technology, open data, open standards, online privacy, and supports the use of public domain and alternative licenses for creative works, such as Creative Commons. The community behind Open Labs has been running the first hackerspace in Albania since 2012.

Project contributors[edit]

We want to express our gratitude to everyone involved in making this project happen. Those who applied for the grant started the journey. The CHwB staff helped with materials and agreements, making things run smoothly. Our project managers kept things on track. Our graphic designer brought our ideas to life. Mentors shared their knowledge and guidance. And all the participants who joined our edit-a-thons brought their unique perspectives and passion. We wanted to thank each and every one of you for your contributions.

Project manager for Wikimedia Community User Group Albania[edit]

Sonia Budini

Finance and reporting for Wikimedia Community User Group Albania[edit]

Irdi Ismaili

CHwB staff[edit]

Elena Mamani
Stavri Burda
Jora Kasapi

Mentors[edit]

Grigor Malo
Redon Skikuli

Participants[edit]

Danijel
Danelbulle (Daniel) (new contributor - CHwB Albania)
Joana Meraja
Albinfo (Lars)
Irdiism (Irdi)
User:SoniaBudini
Leeturtle (LeeTurtle)
Kristi (Kristi)
Boris
Flowriverss (Flowriverss)
Geri
User:Enrik_Dyrmishi

Articles[edit]

Categories in Commons
- Kulla C në Durrës: c:Category:Old city walls in Durrës, Tower C
- Kalaja e Borshit: c:Category:Borshi Castle
- Kalaja e Gjirokastrës: c:Category:Gjirokastër Castle
- Kalaja e Prezës: c:Category:Prezë Castle
Articles in Wikipedia
- Kulla C në Durrës: sqWP, enWP, Wikidata
- Kalaja e Borshit: sqWP, enWP, deWP, Wikidata
- Kalaja e Gjirokastrës: sqWP, enWP, deWP, Wikidata
- Kalaja e Prezës: sqWP, enWP, deWP, Wikidata

Activities[edit]

Activity one: Project presentation at OSCAL23.[edit]

Sonia presented the project at OSCAL'23 on September 3rd to an audience of approximately 70 participants from different backgrounds in the Open Source universe. The presentation of the project was promoted on Open Labs Hackerspace social media before the conference.

Date of the activity: 3 September 2023

Location: Ambasada e Paqes

Activity two: Workshop one[edit]

During the meeting on September 4 we briefly explained the project to the participants and we came up with 3 tasks that we had to do during the meeting.

The tasks:

Selection of the content
Creating Meta page for the project
Checking categories on Commons and Wikidata

Note: we need to add photos from the event.

Date of the activity: 4 September 2023

Location: Open Labs Hackerspace

Activity three: Workshop two[edit]

During the meeting on September 8 we explained the project to the new participants and we came up with 3 tasks that we had to do during the meeting.

The tasks:

1. Selection of the content because today we received more materials from CHwB (5GB of materials, mainly photos);

2. Onboarding new participants, helping them create accounts on Wikimedia and do their first edits. Today we had two new contributors that started contributing in Wikimedia Commons and SQ Wikipedia.

3. Updating the Meta page

Date of the activity: 8 September 2023

Location: Open Labs Hackerspace

Participants: