Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Documenting the Precolonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini (ID: 23527691)/Final Report
Application type: Standard application
Part 1: Project and impact
1. Describe the implemented activities and results achieved. Additionally, share which approaches were most effective in supporting you to achieve the results. (required)
This project aimed to address major gaps, fragmentation and weak referencing in Wikipedia coverage of the precolonial history of the Kingdom of Eswatini. It focused on building a Wikipedia body of knowledge on the earlier formation of the Dlamini-led Swazi people and related clans (Tembe and Nyaka) by documenting ethnographical structures and nation-hood development, specifically between the year 1200 and 1868.
The project created, improved, expanded and interlinked/cross-linked clans, royal institutions, sites, ethno-historical groups and precolonial monarchs/ chiefs biographies.
The core activities included the consultation of archives (Wits University History Workshop) and academic materials to document and digitalise the precolonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini.
With the cross-linking, well-referencing and production of over 65 well-referenced Wikipedia articles, Eswatini’s precolonial history is now gradually becoming more visible, better structured and better contextualized on the system.
2. Documentation of your impact. Please use space below to share links that help tell your story, impact, and evaluation. (required)
Share links to:
- Project page on Meta-Wiki or any other Wikimedia project
- Dashboards and tools that you used to track contributions
- Some photos or videos from your event. Remember to share access.
You can also share links to:
- Important social media posts
- Surveys and their results
- Infographics and sound files
- Examples of content edited on Wikimedia projects
2.) XTools: https://xtools.wmcloud.org/globalcontribs/ZS%20Khumalo
Additionally, share the materials and resources that you used in the implementation of your project. (required)
For example:
- Training materials and guides
- Presentations and slides
- Work processes and plans
- Any other materials your team has created or adapted and can be shared with others
1.) Archives 1.1.) Swaziland Oral History Project 1.2.) Carolyn Hamilton 1.3.) Philip Bonner 1.4.) Michael Westcott 1.5.) John Gama 1.6.) Stuart Archives 1.7.) Public Records Office, London 1.8.) Her Majesty's Stationery Office 1.9.) Colonial Office (1887) 1.10.) Colonial Office (1895) 1.11.) Colonial Office (1899) 2.) Academic materials 2.1.) JSM Matsebula 2.2.) University of Cape Town Digital Collections 2.3.) Philip Bonner 2.4..) AT Bryant 2.5.) Bonginkosi Bhutana Sikhondze 2.6.) Mandla Mathebula 2.7.) Hilder Kuper 2.8.) Anthony Atmore 2.9.) Trevor Lummis 2.10.) Thabani Thwala 2.11.) Elizabeth A Eldredge 2.12.) W.S, Felgate 2.13.) Roelie J Kloppers 2.14.) H.A. Junod 2.15.) David W Hedges 2.16.) David Webster 2.17.) Alan Smith 2.18.) Huw M Jones 2.19.) Leroy Vail 2.20.) P. Harries 2.21.) J.J. Van Wyk 2.22.) Mlotshwa J M & Ntiwane, N.D
3. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with this Rapid Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals. Required. Select one option per question. (required)
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Not applicable |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Strongly agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Not applicable |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Not applicable |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) | The research revealed that the topic of the History of the Kingdom of Eswatini has a wide scope and that much work still needs to be done, particularly with regard to the precolonial and early colonial period and way beyond the Post-colonial Eswatini independence era where many articles remain under-referenced, lack proper cross-linking and appear to require better verification and coherent narrative flow.
There is a clear need for further research, improved sourcing and more structured article development to connect related topics effectively/or coherently. |
Part 2: Learning
4. In your application, you outlined some learning questions. What did you learn from these learning questions when you implemented your project? How do you hope to use this learnings in the future? You can recall these learning questions below. (required)
You can recall these learning questions below: The main objective of this project is to better understand how archival and oral history sources can be effectively transformed into encyclopedic content for Wikimedia platforms. This project also seeks to learn how underrepresented African histories, particularly that of Eswatini and the Swazi monarchies, can be made more visible, credible and interconnected on Wikipedia. I have a duty to learn a lot about Wikipedia research and editing so that as I grow older I lecture others about its processes, particulaly the youth.
I wish to learn:
1.) Can direct engagement with historical archives and experts (such as at the Wits History Workshop) lead to significantly improved article quality and depth?
2.) How can one editor working independently ensure long-term sustainability and growth of a regional content focus like Eswatini history on Wikimedia projects?
This project will help measure the value of university archives in bridging content gaps and addressing knowledge inequities through individual volunteer-driven work and taking personal accoutability in ensuring quality and accuracy.
The project did prove that direct engagement with oral-history scholarship materials, archival and academic sources does indeed improve article quality and credibility, particularly for a subject as complex as the African precolonial history. Archival institutions provide useful materials that are often absent from online sources (e.g. a colonial letter addressing a meeting with a Swazi chief can be used to confirm the date of the reign of that chief).
The project also showed that one academic material, for example a dissertation, contains a lot of references that can be used to deepen a Wikipedia article and help produce multiple others. It also taught that oral traditions can be transformed into encyclopedic content when responsibly balanced with published scholarship (e.g. Swaziland Oral History Project).
In a content or output based scholarly project like "Documenting the Precolonial History of the Kingdom of Eswatini", attention to details and accuracy is a primary responsibility and can almost always work well when done by a single committed editor who should account if anything goes wrong.
5. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities? This can include both positive and negative situations. What did you learn from those experiences? (required)
One challenge encountered was the limited availability of digitized archival materials at the Wits University History Workshop, which required fastidious approach (verification and cross-referencing). Also I learnt that a three-month period is too short when sitting down and documenting a rich subject like Eswatini History because materials keep leading to new opportunities and scope, like discovering that the Eswatini History is intertwined with the History of the Tembe Kingdom and the overall migration history of Nguni groups like the Embo, Ntungwa and Thonga during the Bantu expansion. Little was actually done during this project, comparing with the work that still needs to be. A lot of key articles on the Swazi history are still not created, improved and expanded despite the rich sources that the project discovered to exist on them.
6. What is your plan to share your project learnings and results with other community members? If you have already done it, describe how. (required)
Project outcomes and learnings will be shared through Meta-Wiki documentation and informal peer engagement within the South African and Southern African Wikimedia community. The experience will also inform future workshops and mentoring initiatives focused on African history and archival research methods.
Part 3: Metrics
7. Wikimedia Metrics results. (required)
In your application, you set some Wikimedia targets in numbers (Wikimedia metrics). In this section, you will describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used.
| Target | Results | Comments and tools used | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 1 | 1 | |
| Number of editors | 1 | 1 | |
| Number of organizers | 1 | 1 | Xtool
This is a content-based project and it was done by a single editor |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 70 | 45 | 18 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| Wikidata | 20 | ||
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | 10 | ||
| Wikimedia Incubator | |||
| Translatewiki | |||
| MediaWiki | |||
| Wikiquote | |||
| Wikivoyage | |||
| Wikibooks | |||
| Wikiversity | |||
| Wikinews | |||
| Wikispecies | |||
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
8. Other Metrics results.
In your proposal, you could also set Other Metrics targets. Please describe the achieved results and provide links to the tools used if you set Other Metrics in your application.
| Other Metrics name | Metrics Description | Target | Result | Tools and comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 70 | Xtool
Total number of articles created/expanded/improved: 70 | |||
9. Did you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results? (required)
No
9.1. Please state what difficulties you had. How do you hope to overcome these challenges in the future? Do you have any recommendations for the Foundation to support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
Part 4: Financial reporting
[edit]10. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency. (required)
23000
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
1432.22
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Upload the financial report
12.2. If you have not already done so in your financial spending report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal. (optional)
13. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?
No
13.1. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.
N/A
13.2. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
N/A
13.3. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.
N/A
14.1. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?
Yes
14.2. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?
Yes
14.3. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.
Yes
15. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here. (optional)
N/A