Grants:Project/Rapid/UG CI/1Lib1Ref 2018 sessions in Côte d'Ivoire/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2017-18 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

• To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/UG CI/1Lib1Ref 2018 sessions in Côte d'Ivoire.
• You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
• You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

Proposed Goals	Achieved Goals
Raise awareness among librarians and documentalists about Wikipedian and its sister projects	The information regarding the campaign was shared within the main channels of librarians and information science professionals: Facebook page of Wikimedia Côte d'Ivoire and of APSID-CI, the national librarians association reaching. The campaign reached around 5 000 individuals online. On Facebook alone, each post such as announcement of photo gallery of a #1Lib1Ref session reached more than 1000 people.
Improve quality of articles by referencing statements	32 Articles were improved by adding references and editing other aspects: rephrasing, making articles more neutral, adding additional relevant information, etc.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
30 participants adding at least one reference to a Wikipedia	26 people improved Wikipedia articles with at least one reference .	We fell short of 4 participants, reaching 87% percent the expected participants. It is worth noting that 8 of these 26 participants (30%) were women. Additionally, 25 more participants, mainly PhD students, attended a Wikipedia Conference as their University heard of the #1Lib1Ref campaign and invited WMCI. This adds up to 51 librarians and information science professionals who took part in the campaign, with half of them actually adding more than one reference to Wikipedia.
3 edit-athons gathering 10 participants each	4 edit-athons gathering a total of 51 participants	3 edit-athons were scheduled initially, but as the campaign started to draw attention from the public, more GLAM-partners expressed intention to host the event. We had to select only one more edit-athon due to budget restrictions. In total 4 edit-athons were organized.
30 articles edited	32 articles were improved	Due to a good preparation of trainers, 32 articles were improved. A strong emphasis was laid on women-related topics with 17 women profiles edited, 53% of the total number of articles improved.
In the long term, expand in terms of number, our network of GLAM partners, formalize collaboration with GLAMs through agreement	During session, participants were coming from more than 15 heritage and libraries institutions. 3 expressed intention to collaborate formally. See what worked well below.	1 partner is willing to run a Wiki Education programme with their students. 2 others are willing to pilot a digitization project with WCUG-CI.
In the long term, initiate digitizations projects with GLAMs	2 GLAMs are willing to pilot a digitization project	The archives of Parliament and the National Library of Côte d'Ivoire showed a keen interest in starting a pilot project aiming at digitizing newspapers and books.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?

Collaborating with the local Library Association

Although we used our preferred channels for disseminating information, we received great support from APSID-CI, the local Library Association we partnered with in 2017. Their involvement helped us reach out to a relevant audience. We were able to reach 60 registrations through the google forms throughout the campaign.

Also, we used all notable means of sharing information about the event. Some of which included social media, emails, newsletter and social profiles of partner organisations. Based on our previous experience we knew that participation rate is high in Côte d'Ivoire when people are contacted by telephone and reminded regularly. So, we combined some tactics to ensure effective participation from an interested audience. Below are some steps taken:

• We were expecting 10 participants per session we opened registration for 15 people during each session.
• Participants were called them to confirm their attendance and make sure their possessed a laptop. An average of 5 participants did not have a laptop.
• Some of them required invitation letters to obtain a leave authorization from their hierarchy. We provided for the letters accordingly.
• In the week of the event, exactly two (2) days before the event date, we finally called all registered participants to confirm their participation.

Leveraging the network of APSID-CI helped us gather more participants than in 2017, where only 7 librarians attended.

• The communication around the event reached around 5 000 individuals online.
• 51 librarians and information science professionals took part in the campaign in Côte d'Ivoire.
• 32 articles improved with references, 53% of them being women articles.
• 26 librarians who added at least a reference to Wikipedia and 25 more Phd students who were introduced to Wikipedia

Calling participants to action

We put a strong emphasis on the outcomes of this campaign as our sessions also aimed at creating tangible collaboration with GLAMs in general and and librarians in particular. Some steps were taken to explicitly invite partners to collaborate with us beyond the session:

• In most of the sessions showcased the results of similar collaboration between Wikimedians and librarians around the world. Also, we invited all participants who thought their organization would be interested in collaborating with us to continue discussion beyond the edit-athon.
• We explained our commons model of collaboration (training, Wikipedian in Residence, digitization) and insisted that it was up to us to create new horizons in regards to our local realities.
• Participants were also asked to express their intention of hosting the next session of #1Lib1Ref in their institution

Showing clearly our desire to collaborate, led to some institution contacting us. Initially, all #1Lib1Ref sessions were to take place at WCUG-CI headquarters. With this approach two GLAMs partners hosted a session and showed strong intention to deepen the collaboration.

• LARIT, a laboratory located in a University and gathering Phd students and researchers. One of their archives personnel attended the session in January 26th, and helped us organize a session on March 8th. LARIT is also willing to start a formal collaboration with WCUG-CI and run a Wiki Education programme with their students.
• National Library of Côte d'Ivoire, hosted the last session of the campaign on 9th March. The staff invited WCUG-CI to rescue their newspaper collections threatened by natural hazard such as moisture, humidity, etc. A formal collaboration around digitization is expected soon.
• Archives staff of the Parliament. Being one of the first GLAM partners of WCUG-CI, they showed keen interest in a pilot digitization project too.

What did not work so well?

Lack of equipment

Most of the registered participants could not attend because their did not posses a laptop to work with. We managed to use laptop provided by WCUG-CI and APSID-CI members, yet the number was insufficient. On an average basis, 5 registered individuals were refused as we could not provide for equipment. More participants could have been gathered if more laptops were at hand.

Transportation and unforeseen costs

Transport allowance was planned for trainers and coordinator. It covered taxi fees for reaching the edit-athon venue and back, meeting and discussing with partners. However several aspects had no been taken into consideration while drafting the request:

• Transport allowance for the volunteer photographer.
• Equipment and food transportation. These were costly yet necessary for conveying volunteer laptops, pull-up banners, foods and beverage, etc.
• Several meetings with partners can be necessary to better organize the event but costly. These require transport as well as food allowance for coordinators.
• It is better to choose a monthly internet plan than a limited pass such as 40GB. Even though it is more expensive, a monthly plan offers a better internet speed and unlimited data that are necessary for preparing articles, uploading photos of the session to commons, sharing pictures on social networks, etc.

What would you do differently next time?

• We will include laptops in similar grant request as it proved to be a barrier restraining attendance
• Update printing and graphic designing cost accordingly
• Properly include budget lines for equipment and food transportation as it showed results
• Choose a monthly internet plan instead of a limited pass
• Take into consideration that several meetings with partners can be necessary and plan transport and food allowance
• Include a line in the budget for volunteer photographers and eventually as it showed results

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

EXPENSE TYPE	TOTAL BUDGET XOF	TOTAL BUDGET USD	ACTUAL EXPENDITURE USD	COMMENTS
Communication / Marketing
Designing and printing roll-up banner	150 000	268,37	470,762	The roll up banner was used for the GLAM initiative in Côte d'Ivoire. Based on previous experience, we chose a different printing agency so as to have a better quality. The price was higher (150 000 XOF) but worth it. The professional designer fees were 100 000 XOF but the exceeding amount was covered by the User Group.
Printing certificates	15 000	26,84	26,84	Certificates were granted to participants who effectively inserted at least one reference.
Travel / Equipment / Human ressources coordination
Telephone credit for coordination	20 000	35,79	112,983	Telephone credit allowance was used for calling trainers, participants and partners while preparing the sessions. On a monthly basis, 20 000 XOF was used by the coordination team: project coordinator and trainers. This amount was not only used to call participants and GLAM partners, but also food retailers, catering service, etc. 20 000 XOF was expected but an actual expense of 60 000 XOF was made in telephone credit.
Transport allowance for trainers	90 000	161,1	225,96	Transport allowance for 3 trainers during 3 sessions. This covers their taxi fees for reaching the training place and going back home. We did not include transport for the photographer. 10 000*3 sessions. The expected expense was exceeded by 30 000 XOF.
Internet connection	40 000	71,57	225,96	Inclusive price for internet subscription during all the period. Actually, we spent 40 000 XOF each monthly as internet fees get afford a decent connexion. The Equipment Pocket Wifi grant received helped cover the exceeding expenses.
Transport allowance for coordinator	30 000	53,68	141,229	This allowance allowed the coordinator to move towards any necessary location while preparing the sessions: visiting the training space for setting up equipment, meeting and discussing with partners. We did not take into account equipment and food transportation. These were costly and taught us somes lessons explained below.
Food
Coffe break	120 000	214,70	214,70	For 3 sessions and for 13 individuals, 10 participants and 3 trainers
Lunch	240 000	429,39	429,39
TOTAL		1,261.44	1,847.82

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

As per the actual spending outlined above we exceeded our original budget by $586.38 which was caused by unforeseen transportation and internet fees. This amount has been absorbed by the User Group and also by the Equipment Pocket wiki grant.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?

The project was truly successful in our opinion. The diverse tactics used to adapt to unforeseen situations such as participants attending without computers, or unexpected internet or transportation costs, have taught us a lot of lessons that we'll draw from for next events. A breakdown of some notable milestones:

• The communication around the event reached around 5 000 individuals online.
• 32 articles improved with references, 53% of them being women articles.
• 51 librarians and information science professionals took part in the campaign in Côte d'Ivoire.
• 26 librarians who added at least a reference to Wikipedia and 25 Phd students who were introduced to Wikipedia.
• 8 of these 26 librarians (30%) were women.
• 3 GLAM partners willing to pilot a digitization project, more expressed intention to host #1Lib1ref trainings
• We shared the event on WCUG-CI website
• Around 175 pictures added to commons featuring highlights of the sessions