Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Open Knowledge Practices Through Wikimedia Projects for Librarians in Benue State University, Benue State Nigeria (ID: 22978222)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Meritkosy
- Organization
N/A
- 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
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Open Knowledge Practices Through Wikimedia Projects for Librarians in Benue State University, Benue State Nigeria
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-05-05 - 2025-07-05
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
Nigeria
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Other (please specify) Training librarians to equip them with the skills to participate in 1Lib1Ref. Also creating awareness about Wikimedia projects and capacity building for librarians in Benue State University on open knowledge practices through Wikimedia projects, adding references to Wikipedia articles to strengthen the reliability of Wikipedia articles. Improving content about Benue State across Wikipedia, Wikidata, and Wikimedia Commons.
- 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)
Librarians are information professionals who play crucial roles in organizing, managing, and providing access to information. Beyond simply maintaining book collections, they help people find credible sources, promote literacy, and preserve knowledge. Their expertise in curating and verifying information makes them essential in research, education, and public access to reliable content.
With the rise of digital technology, librarians’ responsibilities have expanded to include managing online resources, teaching information literacy, and advocating for open access. Many libraries now incorporate digital tools to connect people with global knowledge databases. This evolution aligns well with Wikimedia’s mission of making information freely accessible to all, making librarians valuable contributors to open knowledge projects. Since librarians work with books, journals, and other reference materials daily, they can help by identifying, citing, and linking authoritative sources to Wikipedia articles. This enhances the accuracy and credibility of articles, thereby strengthening Wikipedia's accuracy.
We want to get more librarians and students in Benue State University actively involved in Wikimedia projects, particularly by adding reliable references to Wikipedia articles. This will not only improve the quality of Wikipedia’s content but also help showcase Benue’s rich agricultural and cultural heritage, which is currently underrepresented on Wikimedia platforms.
Challenges We Are Tackling:
Limited Awareness of Wikimedia Projects in Benue State University – Many librarians and students in Benue State University are unfamiliar with Wikimedia projects and how they can contribute. Libraries are essential centers of knowledge, yet many librarians lack the skills to engage with Wikimedia effectively.
Closing reference gaps on Wikipedia – Many Wikipedia articles, especially those related to Benue, lack proper citations. Librarians, as custodians of books and other verified sources, are in a great position to help fill this gap. This will also help them to contribute effectively to 1Lib 1Ref which is an annual campaign where librarians add reliable references to Wikipedia articles to close reference gaps in some wikipedia's unsourced articles.
Benue’s Underrepresentation Online – Despite its wealth of agricultural and cultural activities, Benue State has little presence on Wikipedia and its sister projects. Few wikidata items about Benue State exists on wikidata. A query ran on wikidata showed this result. The link can be found here: https://w.wiki/D2vE Some articles related to Benue State also lack images, which include: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_Ojowu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Msugh_Moses_Kembe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charity_Angya https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Mkar https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benue_State_Polytechnic https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akperan_Orshi_Polytechnic,_Yandev and others.
How We Plan to Make This Change Happen To address these challenges, we will:
Host Training Sessions – Hands-on workshops will equip librarians and students with the skills to add references, edit Wikipedia articles, and engage with other Wikimedia projects such as wikidata and wikimedia commons. Encourage Practical Participation – Participants will actively edit Wikipedia during the training, using reliable sources from their libraries to improve articles. Build a Support Network – A community of Wikimedia contributors will be established within Benue State, ensuring continued engagement beyond the training. Engage Key Stakeholders – We will collaborate with the academic institution and libraries to integrate Wikimedia contributions into their work. Ensure Sustainability – A mentorship program will connect new contributors with experienced Wikimedians, fostering ongoing participation and content development. Tracking: The outreach dashboard will be used to track and monitor participant’s edits. Top 6 editors will be rewarded.
- 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.
The project will run for a period of two months with the following activities: Awareness and Recruitment – There will be awareness to promote the project through social media, the institution, and partnership with Nigeria Library Association Benue State chapter and participant selection will be done. Onboarding: The participants will be onboarded on Day 1. The onboarding session will serve as an introduction to the Wikimedia space, focusing on wikipedia, wikidata and wikimedia commons, ensuring that participants, especially first-time contributors understand the goals, expectations, and tools required for successful engagement.
Training Sessions – Training will be both online and in-person. Training Workshops to be facilitated by experienced wikimedians and involve offering practical training on: Wikipedia editing basics (account creation, core policies, general editing principles) , Wikipedia editing, adding references using the citation hunt tool, sourcing reliable references, creating and improving wikidata items and uploading files to wikimedia commons. Following 2 days in-person workshop, there will be four series of online reinforcement training and guides for self-paced learning. The online training will help to enhance the participants editing skills and address challenges that they may be having.
Edit-a-thon – Practical editing experience will be provided to focused on adding references to wikipedia articles, improving the visibility of Benue’s cultural heritage , ensuring participants actively contribute to Wikimedia platforms.
Assessment, Survey, and Feedback session: There will be pre-training assessment, during activity feedback, and post-training evaluations to measure participants' baseline knowledge, monitor progress throughout the training, and measure the overall impact of the program. This process will also identify areas for improvement, ensure that the activities remain responsive to participants' needs, and help guide future Wikimedia training initiative.
Wrap-Up and Recognition – Achievements will be celebrated with certificates,and follow-up plans, encouraging sustained participation.
Sustainability Efforts – Conducting periodic check-ins, and recognizing top contributors. We will establish a mentorship program, form online support groups. The project will entail the creation of a sustainable editors community of wikibrarians. This community will ensure the ongoing exchange of knowledge and collaboration among editors.
- 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.
1. Meritkosy is the project lead and a fellow of the Wikipedia in African Libraries(WikiAfLIB). She had participanted in several AfLIA led Wiki training for African librarians - Basics of Wikipedia Editing Learning Circle, African Librarians Week, 1Lib1Ref - Wiki Loves Libraries Nigeria, African Youth Month 2022, Wikidata Training and others. She is the project lead for wikimedia awareness and training in Federal College of Education, Gombe and also the project lead of "Upskilling academic librarians in Gombe State on Open knowledge practices through Wikimedia projects".
2. African librarian is an experienced Wikimedian and trainer who has led over 20 Wikimedia training and taught over 2000 editors. Presently, she works with AfLIA (African Library and Information Associations and Institutions) with headquarters in Accra, Ghana as the Director, Human Capacity and Training. She is an ardent advocate for open knowledge as a pathway for inclusivity and boosting innovative solutions to development challenges that bedevil Africa. She has been the project lead for AfLIA’s projects with OER Africa, NBA South Africa, Book Aid International and Wikimedia Foundation. In 2022, she won the global award of the Wikimedian of the Year 2022, (Newcomer category). She will be available to facilitate online for the training and keynote speaker.
3. Atibrarian is an experienced wikimedian, a fellow of the Wikipedia in African Libraries (WikiAfLIB), and a certified trainer of the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program. He will available to facilitate during the physical training.
4. Omorodion1 : User Omorodion1 (Volunteer Facilitator) is an experienced librarian, Wikimedian and Co-founder of the Port Harcourt Wikimedia Hub. He has organized and facilitated several Wikimedia events in Nigeria and beyond, including organizing a Wikibase workshop for librarians. He participated in the maiden Organizer Lab course by the Wikimedia Foundation. He will be an online facilitator.
5. Ibjaja055 is an experienced Wikimedia projects editor. He was the 2023 Wikimedia User Group Nigeria Editor of the Year. He is a currently a new page reviewer and auto-patroller on the English Wikipedia. He has over 20,000 edits across Wikimedia foundation projects and has created hundreds of articles around African Academics and scientists including good articles.
- 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)
Our primary participants are librarians and library students from Benue State University in Makurdi, Benue State, Nigeria. These individuals play a key role in managing information and can help improve Wikipedia by adding reliable references from library resources. By engaging librarians, we ensure that they not only contribute directly but also serve as long-term knowledge advocates.
To engage participants before the activities, we will conduct outreach through library networks, the academic institution by sendings detailed information packages about the training through the University Librarian, publicity will also be made using social media, organize virtual or in-person info sessions to introduce the project and its benefits, use flyers, emails, and institutional partnerships to invite interested participants. We will create a WhatsApp group for prompt communication, interactive discussions, mentorship support, and real-time Q&A to keep participants engaged. Pre- and post-training surveys will be made to measure knowledge growth and challenges.
To sustain participation beyond the training, we will create a Wiki Librarians Network to connect and support contributors, establish a mentorship system where experienced editors guide the new editors, and communicate through the WhatsApp group for ongoing support and discussions.
- 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 General friendly space policy for Wikimedia events will be summarized and read at the beginning of each event. The event will adhere to the Wikimedia-friendly space policy during the event. The Wikimedia-friendly space policy and UCoC will be distributed to participants before the event starts. The event also promises to be safe and conducive.
I will ensure the physical events comply with all local laws and regulations that apply to the young attendees.
People of age 14 or younger will not be allowed register for the training since the target participants are youths who are Adults (18 years and above)
Mature content such as violent or sexually explicit imagery will not be displayed in public areas of the venue.
I will make the copies of the youth safety plan available for event attendees.
The link can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/19vjXEw3ikUfvcmrP-S2_7Twz4lU8ErAe/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=100804128010404951769&rtpof=true&sd=true
- 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.
I have discussed the idea of this project with librarians from Benue State University to understand their awareness of Wikimedia projects and their interest in contributing. Wikimedia training has not been done in the institution, and they are eager and willing to contribute.
I engaged experienced Wikimedians and wikibrarians to help shape the project structure, ensuring that training sessions and edit-a-thons align with best practices in Wikimedia contributions.
I have also informed the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria about the project through their meta page. The link can be found here: https://meta.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_User_Group_Nigeria#Open_Knowledge_Practices_Through_Wikimedia_Projects_for_Librarians_in_Benue_State_University,_Benue_State_Nigeria.
- 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)
Innovate in Free Knowledge
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
How does participation in Wikimedia projects influence librarians’ information literacy skills?
Did the project equip participants with the necessary skills and knowledge to contribute effectively to Wikimedia projects?
Did the project recruit new editors?
Did the participants contribute content to Wikipedia and it's sister projects?
How well did participants master adding reference and citation practices?
Did the project successfully foster a sustainable community of active Wikimedia editors among the participants?
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 55 | All the people involved in the project including the participants and organizers. |
| Number of editors | 50 | This includes both new editors, that will create new accounts and will be monitored. Also Returning Editors, who already have their accounts and will be further trained. |
| Number of organizers | 5 | 1. Meritkosy is the project lead and a fellow of the Wikipedia in African Libraries(WikiAfLIB). She is a had participanted in several AfLIA led Wiki training for African librarians - Basics of Wikipedia Editing Learning Circle, African Librarians Week, 1Lib1Ref - Wiki Loves Libraries Nigeria, African Youth Month 2022, Wikidata Training. She is the project lead for wikimedia awareness and training in Federal College of Education, Gombe and also the project lead of "Upskilling academic librarians in Gombe State on Open knowledge practices through Wikimedia projects".
2. African librarian is an experienced Wikimedian and trainer who has led over 20 Wikimedia training and taught over 2000 editors. Presently, she works with AfLIA (African Library and Information Associations and Institutions) with headquarters in Accra, Ghana as the Director, Human Capacity and Training. She is an ardent advocate for open knowledge as a pathway for inclusivity and boosting innovative solutions to development challenges that bedevil Africa. She has been the project lead for AfLIA’s projects with OER Africa, NBA South Africa, Book Aid International and Wikimedia Foundation. In 2022, she won the global award of the Wikimedian of the Year 2022, (Newcomer category). She will be available to facilitate online for the training and keynote speaker. 3. Atibrarian is an experienced wikimedian, a fellow of the Wikipedia in African Libraries (WikiAfLIB), and a certified trainer of the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom program. He will available to facilitate during the physical training. 4. Omorodion1 : User Omorodion1 (Volunteer Facilitator) is an experienced librarian, Wikimedian and Co-founder of the Port Harcourt Wikimedia Hub. He has organized and facilitated several Wikimedia events in Nigeria and beyond, including organizing a Wikibase workshop for librarians. He participated in the maiden Organizer Lab course by the Wikimedia Foundation. He will be an online facilitator. 5. Ibjaja055 is an experienced Wikimedia projects editor. He was the 2023 Wikimedia User Group Nigeria Editor of the Year. He is a currently a new page reviewer and auto-pateoller on the English Wikipedia. He has over 20,000 edits across Wikimedia foundation projects and has created hundreds of articles around African Academics and scientists including good articles. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 50 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 |
| Wikidata | 150 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
Wikipedia: Participants will add references from books, journals, and other reliable sources to existing Wikipedia articles, improving their credibility.
Wikidata: Participants will create structured data on libraries, cultural sites, notable individuals, and organizations, food, agricultural practices etc in Benue State to improve data knowledge about the region. Wikidata items will be connected to related Wikipedia articles and Wikimedia Commons files for better integration of knowledge across platforms.
Wikimedia Commons: Quality images of libraries, historical sites, cultural festivals, agricultural practices, and traditional artifacts in Benue State will be uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. Participants will be trained on Creative Commons licenses to ensure proper attribution and free use of media files.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 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)
I will be using the organizer event registration tool for registration, I will create an outreach dashboard where we will monitor the participants activities. It will also be used to measure some project metrics such as number of participants, number of articles created/improved, number of references added to articles, article views, amongst others. Wikidata query service will be used to track newly created and updated Wikidata items related to Benue State and a table will be created on the metapage to add newly created wikidata items. Commons Category will be used to track media contributions related to the project.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
The budget can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PtQyDutcFA5eCD3KnEBE1YGfLu_2jL568uewTFaQ58s/edit?usp=sharing
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
2095000 NGN
- 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.
1392.84 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]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).