Grants:Project/Rapid/Rachel Wexelbaum/What is Wikipedia?
stcloudstate.edu• ResearchNow@stcloudstate.edu
Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.
Project Goal[edit]
Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.
- Recruit new editors
- Increase skills for existing editors
- Add or improve content
- Increase community engagement at St. Cloud State University
- Build network of Minnesota Wikipedia editors
- Build a student Wikipedia community at St. Cloud State University
- Promote open access resources using Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects as examples
Project Plan[edit]
Activities[edit]
Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:
1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?
- St. Cloud State University Library will host one edit-a-thon in the Fall 2017 semester. We would like to host at least one edit-a-thon per academic year.
2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.
- My co-organizer John Wild (Twin Cities Wikipedia Meetup organizer) and I will work together on promotion. John will promote the event through Meetup and to known Wikipedans within the Twin Cities. I will be promoting the event through visits to student organizations; personal invitations to faculty, staff, students, and community members; promotion of our University Library Open Access Week activities that will go out to the entire campus through posters, postcards to outside entities, and social media, and to the central Minnesota community through Facebook as well as the planned Wikipedia event page. I will put an announcement about this event on the community's "Around the Cloud" website to bring in other potentially interested community members. I will also reach out to librarians in central Minnesota and the Twin Cities who would have interest in Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, and open access. Last but not least, I will reach out to those individuals who participated in SCSU's previous edit-a-thon, as all of them had expressed interest in attending another one, and getting some more training.
3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?
- John and I are both experienced Wikimedia editors. We have each organized and facilitated at least four edit-a-thons, and have assisted participants at edit-a-thons that others have organized. Rachel and John have both created and edited several Wikipedia articles related to LGBT Studies, music, Minnesota, and other topics. We anticipate having at least one other experienced Wikimedia editor present at the event who would like to help. The day's events will begin with an orientation to Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, and how to edit.
RachelWex has organized and facilitated the following edit-a-thons:
2/1/2014: St. Cloud State University's first Wikipedia edit-a-thon (focused on women and marginalized groups). I created a Subject Guide for this editathon, which I have used as a resource for other editathons and has been a model for other libraries: http://stcloud.lib.mnscu.edu/subjects/guide.php?subject=Wikipedia
4/19/2014: "Spring Fling" Wikipedia edit-a-thon at St. Cloud State University (general edit-a-thon).
3/26/2015: Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon for the Minnesota Digital Library staff (to train how to upload and provide data for photographs in Wikimedia commons).
6/18/2016: Wiki Loves Pride Minnesota: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wiki_Loves_Pride_2016/Minnesota
4/28/2017: Wikipedia as Social Activism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/St.Cloud/SocialActivism/St._Cloud_State_University_2017
RachelWex has volunteered at the following edit-a-thons:
1/28/2017: African American Artists, Minneapolis Institute of Arts
3/11/2017: ArtAndFeminism, Minneapolis Central Library
7/1/2017: Wiki Loves Pride, Minneapolis Central Library
RachelWex has trained St. Catherine's University Art Professor Amy Hampton and her students to facilitate the following edit-a-thon:
5/6/2017: Women in Art Editathon: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/StPaul/WomenInArt/St_Catherine_2017
4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?
- Participants will have the option of bringing their own laptops or using the laptops available in our library classroom. Our participants will come with a wide range of local and scholarly knowledge to edit or create new entries. I am a librarian who does research on multiple interdisciplinary topics and will provide subject-specific academic resources to support their work, as well as a subject guide on how to create and edit Wikipedia entries and upload photos to Wikimedia Commons. Our Wikipedia event page includes a list of helpful research resources as well.
5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?
- We will encourage people to sign up for Twin Cities Wikipedia Meetup, as we promote all Minnesota Wikipedia events that we know of on this site. I will be in touch with all students who participate in the event to seek their feedback and determine if they would like to start a student organization to generate further student interest in Wikipedia work. There will be Art + Feminism, African-American, and Wiki Loves Pride edit-a-thons in other parts of Minnesota from January 2018 onwards.
6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?
Impact[edit]
How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:
- Number of events: If this event leads to the creation of another event on campus or in the St Cloud area, that is success.
- Number of participants: 10 or more participants--that is success for our part of Minnesota. Ideally, we will have SCSU student participation, as well as participants from the region.
- Number of new editors: 5 or more new editors.
- Number of of articles created or improved: 10 or more articles improved or started as stub-class/start-class articles (depends on how many people participate in the event, and their experience level) as well as photos uploaded to Wikimedia Commons if interest is there
- Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events): If our "regular" Wikipedans from campus and the Cities sign up, show up, and edit or create new entries, that is success. If any participants from our last SCSU edit-a-thon participate in this one, that is success.
Resources[edit]
What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).
- Rachel Wexelbaum, the head organizer of this event, is a librarian and experienced Wikipedia editor/edit-a-thon facilitator who does research on multiple topics and has created and edited several Wikipedia articles related to LGBT Studies, music, Minnesota, and other topics. The St. Cloud State University Library is providing space, free wi-fi access, laptops to those who need them, and access to a wide array of books, EBooks, research databases, and government documents. Aside from the Wikipedia Rapid Grant, we will receive no other source of funding.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.
| ITEM/SERVICE | COST BREAKDOWN | COST |
|---|---|---|
| Refreshments | Campus Chartwells Dining Estimate: Food: 1 doz cookies: $9.99; 1 doz bars & squares: $9.99; 1 doz GF mini-muffins: $9.99; 12 reg granola bars x $1.49 ea = $17.88; 1 lb house blend trail mix: $10.99; 12 pieces of fruit x $1.29 ea = $15.48; 12 bags of plain Lays potato chips x .99 ea = $11.88; Beverages: Fruit infused water: $12.99 per gallon x 2 = $25.98; Coffee: $13.99 per gallon x 2 = $27.98 | $140.16 |
| Printing Posters | $25 x 3 large posters from Campus Printing | $75.00 |
| TOTAL COST | $215.16 |
Endorsements[edit]
Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!