Grants:Project/Rapid/Wikipedia Connection/Semester Funding for Workshops and Events in Fall 2018
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Background & Project Goals
[edit]Wikipedia Connection is an active student organization dedicated to exploring and contributing to Wikipedia at The Ohio State University. In previous semesters, Wikipedia Connection has hosted multiple edit-a-thons (list here), weekly workshops, photography events, and more that cater to and attract students, librarians, and other university faculty. We aim to reach members of the community who otherwise may not explore Wikipedia and to generate interest as well as continue to support those who currently are involved with Wikipedia in the local community. The 2016 - 2017 annual report for Wikipedia Connection's activities and outcomes is available here.
This Rapid Grant request is to request funding for Wikipedia Connection's activities in the Spring 2018 semester. This is the 6th grant request involving Wikipedia Connection (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)
Briefly explain what are you trying to accomplish with this project, or what do you expect will change as a result of this grant. Example goals include, "recruit new editors", "add high quality content", or "train existing editors on a specific skill".
The purpose of this Rapid Grant request is to continue Wikipedia Connection's initiatives at the Ohio State University (expanded on in the 'Project Plan' section). Through these events, we have the following goals:
- Educate Ohio State students and faculty on how to utilize and edit Wikipedia.
- Recruit new members for Wikipedia Connection and new editors for Wikipedia.
- Improve the diversity of our editors.
- Continue to motivate and train existing editors/members on editing Wikipedia through weekly meetings.
- Collaboratively improve the quality of Wikimedia project content through edit-a-thons, workshops, educational programs, and more.
- Support any Wikimedia-oriented events or classrooms at Ohio State.
- Establish a sense of community within our group and connect students with the up-and-coming Ohio Wikimedians User Group.
Project Plan
[edit]Activities
[edit]Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing?
- Our planned activities for this upcoming semester include:
- Host Weekly Workshops, which engage our group of regularly attending students. (Target: involve 8 - 15 students each week)
- Participate in Wikipedia Asian Month, during which we aim to improve or create 20 articles related to Asian topics. We also plan to host an edit-a-thon associated with WAM, with a goal of engaging 10 people who have never edited Wikipedia before.
- Hold a United Nations edit-a-thon, which we plan to host on Saturday, October 27th. This event will focus on editing UN-related articles in honor of UN day.
- Continue to develop a partnership with the Byrd Polar Research Center here at Ohio State, possibly developing this into an edit-a-thon or another collaborative event.
- Work with faculty, graduate students, and librarians to expand the use and editing of Wikipedia into classrooms, research labs, and University libraries.
How will you let others in your community know about your project (please provide links to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions)? Why are you targeting a specific audience?
- Wikipedia Connection's main audience is the Ohio State University community. We will engage and promote our activities in the following ways:
- Participating in campus involvement fairs.
- Posting flyers around campus.
- E-mailing various Ohio State University listservs.
- E-mailing a mailing list of subscribers.
- Working with Ohio State professors and faculty to promote events to students (word of mouth, extra credit opportunities, etc.)
- Collaborating with other University organizations and departments as well as other Columbus-area organizations to raise awareness of events.
What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
- At the end of the project, we will have accomplished the following:
- Host our planned list of weekly workshops, edit-a-thons, photography events, and more, resulting in new membership and quality content for Wiikipedia.
- Educated Ohio State students and faculty on how to utilize and edit Wikipedia.
- Improved our existing editors' skillset, as well as teaching new editors how to edit.
- Improved our sense of community within our group, and connected students with the up-and-coming Ohio Wikimedians User Group.
- Fostered diversity within the Wikipedia community.
Impact
[edit]How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets and feel free to add more specific to your project:
- Number of total participants: 35 unique participants throughout semester.
- Number of total new editors: 25 participants who have never contributed to Wikipedia before.
- Number of articles created or improved (if applicable): 200 (primarily through edit-a-thons)
- Number of photos uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (if applicable): 10. There is a lot of articles still without pictures for the local Columbus and Ohio State community, and we hope to continue to upload photos through initiatives like Wiki-takes-Columbus to expand these articles and the Commons.
- Number of photos used on Wikimedia projects (if applicable): 5
Resources
[edit]What resources do you have? Include information on who is the organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).
- Wikipedia Connection has three student officers, one official faculty advisor, and the support of several other Ohio State University Libraries employees. The student officers consist of the President, Vice President, and Treasurer. Working with Ohio State faculty, the officers organize the student groups' events. Wikipedia Connection will also work with other organizations where possible to reduce costs and expand knowledge about Wikipedia connection and Wikimedia projects.
- Wikipedia Connection has $304.01 in funds left over from the previous semester's Rapid Grant request. These funds will be applied to this grant. This amount is lower than the previous funds remaining due to an $18 wire transfer fee, as well as a small arithmetic error in the previous report.
- Wikipedia Connection also has some Ohio State University resources available for use; usage of these resources will be prioritized when possible:
- Operating funds, which are used for general operation of the organization in the year (up to $200).
- Programming funds, which are used to host programs and events on campus. We plan to use this for two edit-a-thons this semester.
- Resource room funds, which is a free $250 allocation given per year for student organizations to use on resources such as printing, signage, and balloons. Wikipedia Connection has also become a Lyft Partner, earning some funds for referring members and students to use Lyft. A designated application for these funds has yet to be determined.
What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense:
Activity | Item | Cost | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Weekly Workshops | Food, beverages, and office supplies | $390 | Wikipedia Connection plans to host 13 weekly workshops during the spring semester, at a cost of $35 each. Each workshop includes food (usually pizza), snacks, refreshments, and tableware. This semester we want to focus on expanding new member participation. |
Wikipedia Asian Month Edit-a-thon | Food, beverages, and supplies needed to host an edit-a-thon | $150 | We plan to collaborate event with OSU's various asian language departments in an edit-a-thon focusing on supporting Wikipedia Asian Month and Asia related articles. The focus is to encourage new students in the dept. to edit. It is tentatively scheduled for November 15. |
United Nations Day Edit-a-thon | Food, beverages, and supplies needed to host an edit-a-thon | $150 | This edit-a-thon aims to improve UN related articles and is scheduled to take place October 27th. |
General | Miscellaneous Costs | $150 | Funds to cover unforeseen and miscellaneous costs, such as unexpected need for extra supplies or food, as well as miscellaneous |
- Total: $840.00 We are applying for funds through other sources as well, so we expect to spend under this amount. However, just in case we are requesting this total.
- Funds left over from last semester: $304.01
- Amount requested from Foundation: $535.99