Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/R@/Bibliothécaires II (ID: 22790447)/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)
The R@/Bibliothécaires II project, which ran from January 5 to March 5, 2025, aimed to involve documentation and archive professionals in Benin in Wikimedia projects. It combined **face-to-face and online activities to enable better assimilation of skills and ensure effective follow-up of participants.
Face-to-face training covered several aspects of Wikimedia projects: introduction to the principles of free knowledge, practical workshops on Wikimedia Commons (file uploading, metadata management and free licenses), training on Wikisource (digitization and correction of public domain texts) and introduction to Wikidata (structuring open data). These sessions were complemented by hands-on work on two royalty-free documents from Gallica: Georges Haurigot's Le Sénégal* (1887) and Du Procès des ministres, de l'abolition de la peine de mort, et des siffleurs au Palais (published in Lyon).
In addition, online support was provided by two members of the Wikisource user group, to motivate documentation professionals and show them the impact of their contributions on open knowledge sharing. Further coaching was provided by an experienced French librarian and Wikipedia administrator, who gave a practical demonstration of how a documentation professional can enhance the verifiability of information on Wikimedia projects, by integrating his skills and business expertise into his contributions.
The exercises carried out in the classroom were also followed up and verified online, ensuring continuity in the learning process.The project has resulted in the creation of a network of contributors from the documentation field, who will be able to continue their contributions and help other professionals get involved in the Wikimedia ecosystem.
This hybrid approach, combining practical training and online coaching, has proved effective in ensuring the commitment of participants and enhancing their role in the dissemination of free knowledge.
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
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Event:R@/Biblioth%C3%A9caire_II
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
Process and work plans
We adopted a simple, structured approach to implementing the project. As the 10 former participants had already been informed about Phase II, we concentrated our efforts on recruiting the 10 new participants. To this end, an advertisement was published in the print media, containing all the essential information. At the same time, we visited several reading centers to raise awareness of the importance of the project among documentation professionals. These initiatives enabled us to attract the missing profiles.
Once this stage was complete, we created accounts for each new participant and registered them on the project invitation page. Former participants played a key role in providing initial assistance to newcomers, passing on basic knowledge of the Wikimedia movement.
We began the training by presenting the fundamentals of the three projects we would be exploring together: Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata and Wikisource. Once these concepts had been assimilated, we organized group work, bringing together old hands and newcomers for exercises and group work sessions. To ensure even progress, we integrated personalized online sessions to check that everyone was progressing at the same pace.
During the project, we invited three guest speakers:
- Two members of the Wikisource user group, who explained the benefits of documentation professionals contributing to this platform.
- An experienced Wikimedian, also a Wikipedia administrator and librarian, who shared his experience by illustrating how the involvement of librarians and archivists enriches the Wikimedia movement as a whole.
After each face-to-face session, participants were offered exercises, with individualized online follow-up to ensure optimal support and effective application of what they had learned.
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 | Agree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Strongly agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement | Agree |
| F. Other (optional) |
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: In this proposal, we wanted to understand how people perceive the adoption of this project to be more in line with their profession as documentation and archive professionals. What impact can digitization of documents have on their professional and daily lives? Above all, what is preventing the digitization of historical and royalty-free documents in Benin and the French-speaking West African world? Finally, how to overcome the barriers to a professional and collaborative life with other librarians around the world.
- The implementation of the R@/Bibliothécaires II project has provided valuable insights into the involvement of documentation and archive professionals in Wikimedia initiatives.
On the one hand, it has become clear that individualized guidance and ongoing support play an essential role in the commitment of participants. Online assistance from experienced volunteers, including members of the Wikisource user group and a French librarian and Wikipedia administrator, helped to clarify the impact of contributions and foster better integration of participants into the Wikimedia community.
On the other hand, the combination of face-to-face sessions and remote follow-up proved beneficial for learning. The practical workshops enabled participants to acquire a better command of the tools, while the online exchanges consolidated their knowledge and made it easier to revise the exercises they had completed.
In addition, working on public domain documents showed us the importance of collaboration between librarians and Wikimedia contributors to enrich the content available and guarantee the reliability of sources on projects. Exploring platforms such as Gallica also made us aware of the importance of royalty-free resources and the need to promote them on Wikisource, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.
- In the future, these lessons will be put to good use to improve support for new contributors, by structuring mentoring more closely and creating spaces dedicated to exchanges and the sharing of experience.
We also plan to strengthen collaboration with librarians and archivists by offering specialized workshops and promoting the use of open documentation platforms.
The aim will be to maintain the momentum that has been built up by expanding the network of contributors in the documentation sector, encouraging participants to pass on their skills and train new professionals.
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)
During the implementation of our activities, some unexpected and surprising events occurred, both positive and challenging to overcome.
On the positive side, we were pleasantly surprised by the spontaneous commitment of experienced Wikisource contributors we hadn't known before. Their benevolence and encouragement at every stage of the process had a motivating impact on the participants. What's more, they played a key role in suggesting corrections and helping to improve pages that might have contained errors, thus reinforcing collaborative learning. This interaction helped to create a serene and dynamic working climate throughout the project, fostering better integration of the participants into the Wikisource community. [link]
As far as challenges were concerned, no major obstacles stood in the way of the project's progress. However, we did encounter a few classic difficulties linked to people's participation, as can happen in any collaborative project. Thanks to efficient organization and appropriate communication, these small challenges were overcome without impacting on the smooth running of the activities.
These experiences have shown us the importance of active support and benevolent guidance in training new contributors to the movement. They encourage us to reinforce these dynamics for future initiatives.
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)
Although the project officially ended on March 5, 2025, we remain committed to sharing lessons learned as well as successes and challenges encountered. As a first step, we plan to publish an article on Diff to document our experience and make it accessible to the wider Wikimedia community.
In addition, we'll be organizing online activities to exchange ideas with other contributors and communities in the movement, with particular emphasis on the importance of diversifying approaches. Indeed, in our region, particularly in French-speaking West Africa, initiatives targeting librarians are still very rare, if not non-existent. Yet these professionals play an essential role in the Wikimedia project ecosystem, particularly on Wikisource, thanks to their expertise in document management and preservation.
Finally, we also intend to share our experience at regional and international events, such as Wikimania in Kenya. This will be a valuable opportunity to raise community awareness of the need to involve librarians in Wikimedia projects, and to encourage similar initiatives in other contexts.
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 | 20 | 20 | In our proposal, we indicated that we would work with 10 experienced contributors and 10 new participants. This objective was met, as our project was targeted and we already knew the former contributors with whom we had worked before, which made it easier for them to get back in touch.
To recruit new participants, we adopted the same approach as the previous year by launching a call for participation, accessible here [link]. To ensure accurate tracking of the number of participants, we used the dashboard and invitation page as reference tools. |
| Number of editors | 20 | 20 | Since the project is based on learning, one of our major objectives has been to encourage everyone to participate in modifying, improving and creating content. |
| Number of organizers | 2 | 2 | Two people were in charge of organizing the project. |
| Wikimedia project | Target | Result - Number of created pages | Result - Number of improved pages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |||
| Wikimedia Commons | 200 | 398 | 398 |
| Wikidata | 300 | 500 | 500 |
| Wiktionary | |||
| Wikisource | 200 | 260 | 260 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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)
1578000
11. Please state the total amount spent in US dollars. (required)
2666
12. Report the funds spent in the currency of your fund. (required)
Provide the link to the financial report https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12QMf8Qc0cuFj_UmyNuh_oorV1Bf46hrsaXwOAasvqjI/edit?gid=0#gid=0
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)
Review notes
[edit]Review notes from Program Officer:
N/A
Applicant's response to the review feedback.
N/A