Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Building Wikidata into the Belkin's annual Edit-a-thon (ID: 23823317)

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Applicant Details

Main Wikimedia username. (required)

Teddybear123321 (talk • accounts • contributions • edit count)

Organization

Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, University of British Columbia

If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)

N/A

Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)

Main Proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.

Building Wikidata into the Belkin's annual Edit-a-thon

2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.

2026-06-01 - 2027-04-30

4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)

Canada

5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)

Art+Feminism

6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)

The Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery (Belkin) is committed to using the Wikipedia-edit-a-thon as a platform to enhance free and shareable information about underrepresented artists and artistic movements in our region. Since 2017, the Belkin has organized and hosted annual Art + Feminism edit-a-thons to improve and write articles about women, LGBTQ2S+, gender non-binary, people of colour, Black and Indigenous artists and curators, as well as feminist and activist art movements. The Belkin sees Wikidata as a valuable tool and a next step in enacting the change we seek to make, but our lack of Wikidata knowledge poses a barrier to participation.

For this project we will engage Vanessa Lee as Wikimedian-in-Residence to guide the Belkin through this change, building Wikidata capacity and confidence among staff, creating and delivering policies and workshops to support and expand the Belkin’s 2027 iteration of the edit-a-thon. This project aims to lay the groundwork for expanded and continued participation by integrating Wikidata into future edit-a-thons, while also better understanding the impacts and opportunities afforded. We also seek to build regional knowledge by sharing our guidelines, policies, procedures, digital strategies, workshop materials, and experiences with partner artist-run centres in the last phase of this project.

Vanessa Lee is a Dual Master of Archival Studies and Library and Information Studies student at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Vanessa is an information specialist and culture worker who has worked at various Vancouver-based arts organizations, including the Belkin, making her uniquely qualified to address this intersection. She is passionate and knowledgeable about Linked Open Data’s (LOD) and Wikidata’s utility in highlighting underrepresented voices.

7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.

Please see attached timeline document.

BelkinRapidGrantTimeline_2026.pdf

8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.

Vanessa Lee, Wikimedian-in-Residence (Consultant): Teddybear123321 Belkin Gallery, Manager of Public Programs/Program Supervisor (Salaried): Nsmarch2000 University of British Columbia Music, Art & Architecture Library, Librarian/Program Assistance (Salaried): FriDaInformation Belkin Gallery, Archivist/Program Assistance (Salaried): Pdnct Belkin Gallery, Registrar/Program Assistance (Salaried): Withcareplease

9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)

Target participants in the first phase of this project are the Belkin’s permanent staff members. The Wikimedian-in-Residence will train staff on Wikidata editing and facilitate discussions around its ethical use, which will lead to the first draft of policy and procedures. The draft will be presented to the Belkin’s leadership who will provide feedback until the policy is finalized. The Wikimedian-in-Residence will follow up with the Belkin’s staff at the end of the project, where we will collectively review the policy and workshop materials, and consider if any amendments are necessary. These activities will equip the Belkin with a strong understanding of Wikidata and technical editing skills, enabling the gallery to deliver edit-a-thon programming including both Wikipedia and Wikidata in the future.

During the development of workshops, the Wikimedian-in-Residence will work with the MAA librarian, who has delivered how-to workshops in previous edit-a-thons. They will communicate the utility of both Wikipedia and Wikidata concisely and accessibly, and provide further support during the edit-a-thon. The Wikimedian-in-Residence will follow up with the MAA librarian at the project’s end to review workshop documentation and revise as necessary.

For the workshops and edit-a-thon, we will target the UBC student community at large, including the Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory (AHVA) and the School of Information (iSchool), and local arts communities. We will promote the events through AHVA and iSchool newsletters, postering around campus, social media, and local arts list-servs. Surveys will be distributed during the events to measure participant satisfaction and identify areas of improvement.

Policy and workshop training materials will be shared with Vancouver-based artist-run centres and past edit-a-thon collaborators, equipping our region for future collaborations and continued work with Wikidata.

10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)

Yes

10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.

The edit-a-thons are public events held in the gallery and post secondary students (18-24 years old) are participants. UBC is committed to student safety and Belkin staff and event organizers are required to take the following UBC Required Safety Courses, https://wpl.ubc.ca/browse/srs/programs/wpl-srs-ucglrd:

Preventing and Addressing Workplace Bullying and Harassment
New Worker Safety Orientation
Workplace Violence Prevention Training
Privacy & Information Security – Fundamentals Part 1 Online
Privacy & Information Security – Fundamentals Part 2 Online
A site-specific safety orientation and training with their supervisor.

As a public gallery, the Belkin has procedures in place for visitor safety. Our programs staff are in constant communication with each other and with event/workshop participants. We alert each other and the staff at the Information Desk (talk, text, cel/mobile telephone) of potential risks of an incident that may take place, is taking place, or has taken place. Campus Security, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Fire Department are contacted in case of an emergency. Here are links to information about Undergraduate Student Safety:

11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.

The Belkin has worked collaboratively with the University's Music, Art & Architecture librarian on the edit-a-thon for several years, during which she has helped organize programming and delivered workshops. She has been active in discussions around the addition of Wikidata to the edit-a-thon and was present at Vanessa’s initial presentation on Wikidata and LOD and has agreed to work collaboratively on workshops for the 2027 edit-a-thon.

The Belkin has worked in collaboration with the local artist-run centres such as Centre A and Western Front on previous edit-a-thons. We plan to share our research and findings with them during the last phase of this project. We have discussed the project with relevant staff at Centre A and Western Front, who have confirmed that this would be valuable in considering future programming and building knowledge around Wikidata.

12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial

13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)

Culture, heritage or GLAM

14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)

Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background

15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)

Manage Internal Knowledge

Learning and metrics

17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)

We hope to learn how the Belkin can responsibly participate in Wikidata through its edit-a-thon programming to further its commitment to highlighting the contributions of underrepresented artists online. Our work through this project will be framed by the following questions:

How can the Belkin Gallery use Wikidata as an expansive tool to highlight underrepresented voices in its collection and beyond while respecting indivduals’ right to privacy and appropriately representing their art, culture, and practices?
How can we effectively teach both the Belkin staff and edit-a-thon participants the necessary technical skills and theoretical framework to edit responsibly on Wikidata?
What skills, knowledge, and materials does the Belkin need to continue to include Wikidata in its edit-a-thon programming and revise its policy according to emerging research, after the tenure of the Wikimedian-in-Residence?

18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)

Number of participants, editors, and organizers
Other Metrics	Target	Optional description
Number of participants	30	Participants include Belkin staff, editors (students, professors), collaborators, and consultants.
Number of editors	20	Average number of editors per year.
Number of organizers	4	Includes Edit-a-thon event coordination, administration, coordinating accessibility support, how-to workshops and on-site support.

Number of content contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Number of content created or improved
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Commons
Wikidata	95
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia

Optional description for content contributions.

15 Wikidata items created 80 Wikidata items enhanced

19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)

Yes

Main Open Metrics Data
Main Open Metrics	Description	Target
Staff Confidence in Wikidata Concepts	This metric measures how confident staff are in their understanding of how Wikidata works, including the opportunities it provides in furthering the Belkin's mandate and its ethical considerations. It also measures staff confidence in sharing this knowledge with others.	4
Staff Confidence in Wikidata Technical Skills	This metric measures how confident staff are in their ability to edit and create Wikidata items, as well as their ability to teach others to do so.	4
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A

20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)

We will use the Programs & Events Dashboard to measure metrics 18.1, 18.2, and 18.4. For Other Metrics 1, we will use a survey to measure staff confidence in concepts and for Other Metrics 2, we will use another survey to measure staff confidence in technical skills. Both surveys will use a Likert scale of 5 points (with 1 representing No Confidence in the concept or skill, and 5 representing Strong Confidence in the concept or skill). Our target of "4" for both metrics represents an average of 4 among all surveys.

Financial proposal

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

BelkinRapidGrantBudget_2026.pdf

22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)

6860 CAD

22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.

4930.15 USD

By submitting your proposal/funding request you confirm that you have read and agree to the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy, and the Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Endorsements and Feedback

Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.

Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:

Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).

Endorse