Grants talk:APG/Proposals/2017-2018 round 1/Wikimedia Serbia/Progress report form

Thank you dear friends at WMRS for this report. IT has been received on time and reviewed in a meeting on 29 August 2018. Here is a summary of our review and discussion. Delphine (WMF) (talk) 09:53, 29 August 2018 (UTC)

Form

This report is extremely well written and gives a clear overview of WMRS's activities, but also and most importantly a great and thoughtful review of what happened and what it meant for the chapter. The different programs are well aligned with the proposal structure, which makes it easy to track progress. The different sections: overview/successes/challenges and lessons learned / next steps are clear and show both the thoughtfulness of WMRS in assessing its activities, their results and impact and a good way forward.

Results

Results are good and on track in all programs, it would be interesting to think about a closer look at how metrics really are used, which metrics are being used effectively, which are not used in different activities and whether or not WMRS has developed their own internal metrics to evaluate the effectiveness of their programs. The thoughtful approach towards learning seems to indicate that this is the case, but Note about bytes in the education program which is not clear what WMRS uses for? (answer: to see the progress year on year with the same education program, through the dashboard)

Activities and content

A lot of very interesting activities in a set of well defined programs. One can see the change in WMRS approach in tackling its activities as a comprehensive programmatic plan for the organization, helping them to prioritize projects.

Education program

We can further commend the amazing work done by WMRS with its education program and the way it teaches educators. The renewed accreditation is a great achievement. There seems to be a great interest for the program going forward. It would be interesting to think about rating the articles added through this program (quality) Quite a big number of events, which shows real liveliness to this kind of activities. Good that the seminar will be redesigned and adapted thanks to feedback of the previous years.

• Question: does WMRS measure the "quality" of articles
  • Answer: Yes, they do, with the help of the community, but also more public feedback mechanisms such as for example a Facebook group that allows students to post their article and get feedback from their peers and from members of the community.

GLAM program

Successful partnership with the Ministry of Culture is a great booster for the program. But also the diversity of approaches and follow-up by WMRS in training GLAM staff and waking their interest and demand for interaction with Wikimedia projects. Wikipedian in Residence programs are very successful, even had grant funds from the Ministry of Culture. To note also the number of librarians involved in WMRS activities on the rise and the success of 1lib1ref.

• WMRS notes the lack of capacity in the organization to handle the GLAM interest. We confirm that since WMRS benefits from an unrestricted grant they are elcome to change the priority on their programmatic activities and next year to boost capacity in the needed programs, even if this means reducing some other programs. A successful redirection of funds from the annual plan is shown through the reallocation of resources from the Decentralization project to the Wikipedia in Residence project.
• Small discussion about the role of a WiR and their role in writing articles (WiR paid by the chapter vs WiR paid by external grants)

Community Support

Wikilive as the highlight project of community support. This edition had a lot of experiment, for example with asking people to propose topics and presentation. Advice: maybe think about focusing the thematic areas of the conference to embolden people to submit presentations. Success of the microgrant program with a focus on quality. The Serbian community always comes up with interesting and novel ideas about content gaps and topics to be added to the projects. Such as for example the sacred trees, or this time around, the Roadside memorials and tombstones of the Moravian district. THere is also a recrudescence of international cooperation and activites, and WMRS is looking at organizing the CEE meeting next year. THat is good!

Miscellaneous

Commed the gender gap activities, would be interested in seeing more focused actions towards implementation of the strategic direction (equity, diversity, service). Something to think about in the next few months and the implementation of the next annual plan.

• Work of the board: great involvement and a shift towards more strategic work, which is a good thing.
• Media attention is important and sustained, this is a good way to keep communities involved and the general public informed.

Financials

• Revenues ok, but table should have the anticipated amount for the year, not just for the 6 months, otherwise it's not so easy to see the overall gaps in revenues.
• Spending is on track

Discussion

WMRS highlights what they feel are their greatest achievements (same as above) and we discuss about:

• Metrics (see above)
• Interesting discussions in Wikilive around what the chapter should do, how metrics inform programs, what quality and impact are all about
• Stability of the organization in terms of program has allowed the board to settle in its more strategic role, but also of staff consolidating their roles.
• Quality of the articles in the education program (see above)
• Trtshik Wikiteam: how the team has been asked to provide deliverable as was planned until the end of September to make sure that funds are disbursed.
• Wikipedian in Residence, their role, the nature of their work in the institutions, about writing articles and liability
• Board involvement in choosing the Wikipedian in Residence and how maybe they could invite one person from an institution to choose the right WiR.