WikiCred/2022 CFP/Project Korikath
| Project Korikath | |
|---|---|
| A WikiCred 2022 Grant Proposal | |
| Project Type | Event |
| Author | (Wasiul Bahar) |
| Contact | wasi78045 gmail.com |
| Requested amount | The first phase will require 3000-3500 USD. Due to unstable market, prices of things are fluctuating within short period, so the amount may vary depending on the current market price. |
| Award amount | Unknown |
- What is your idea?
Our “Project Korikath (First phase)” aims at enabling general people to capture objects around them which may not have any image in wikimedia commons (and maybe also lack images in their wikipedia entry). We also arrange regular wikimedia photowalks and try to include as many non-wikimedians as possible and then upload them to commmons.
A lot of subjects from our daily life don’t have any image in Wikimedia commons and Wikipedia. We see them, touch them, use them everyday; we go through those roads, passing the landmarks everyday maybe while going to school or office, we have our phones in our hand and wikipedia and other wikimedia projects need images of those subjects but we tend to forget that we can easily take an image of those subjects and upload them to wikimedia commons.
We follow two strategies. Firstly, we try to attract photographers and young enthusiasts to wikimedia commons and try to transform them into regular contributors. We have intentions to form a skilled photographers’ team and go to photowalks with them to places where subjects are densely situated which may have wikimedia project entries, lack images and maybe their wikipedia entries seem unclear without images.
Secondly, we also agree that we can’t capture everthing with just a team. We need to empower as many people as possible and help them to find the happiness in seeing their own photos being used in wikipedia.
One of our goals is to cover the world heritages over the world, Remove content gap in Wikimedia movement. We are planning to do partnership with different organizations, educational institutions, museums improve coverage in commons. We are trying to engage young people in the movement. Because we know the power of the youths. But the main problem is those who have enthusiasm and skills, do not have enough resources or gear to work in this field. We will give them all the things they need to contribute to use their skills in commons. But before that we will have to improve our ability. Goal: Collecting media files for wikimedia project pages which lack relevant media to present the topic clearly Involving as many people as possible in wikimedia commons, trying to make “wikimedia commons” a regular tool in peoples’ everyday life Capturing local monumwents Capturoing local places Capturing traditional things Improving heritage image in commons
Scopes: Place, Monuments, Plants, Animal, Product, tradition
- Why is it important?
Engaging general people is in the core spirit of wikimedia but somehow, we are lacking that spirit in wikimedia commons. If at least one people from each locality starts marking notable subjects, taking photos of them and then upload them to wikimedia commons, the “visual knowledge gap” in wikipedia and other wikimedia entries can be reduced drastically. These initiatives are absent in most part of the world, specially in the underrepresented areas like Bangladesh.
- Link(s) to your resume or anything else (CV, GitHub, etc.) that may be relevant
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Wasiul_Bahar
- Is your project already in progress?
Yes, the project’s first phage is already in progress. We have already uploaded 750+ images to commons. Meta page link to the project: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Project_Korikath Commons link: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Project_Korikath
- How is this project relevant to credibility and Wikipedia?
Yes, as said earlier, a lot of the Wikipedia pages have entries which don’t have any images, specially related to local landmarks and other local subjects which images can’t be collected without the help of the people who live or regularly visit those places. Our project will include those local people and gradually add those images to the respective wikipedia articles and thus those articles will be more appealing and trustworthy to the readers.
- What is the ultimate impact of this project?
The ultimate impact can be measured by some simple matrics -
- Uploaded images: the first phase aims at uploading at least 1000 usable images to wikimedia commons
- Covering local landmarks: we aim to cover at least 500 landmarks (roughly 200 landmarks have already been covered)
- Adding images to Wikimedia project entries: We’ll try to add every image to atleast one Wikimedia project page
- Content partnership: We aim to make partnership with 10+ relevant organizations/entities.
- New contributors: We plan to add at least 10 new comers in our movement in our first phase.
- Can your project scale?
Yes, the project is extremely scalable. If we get more resources, we can almost immedietly arrange more and more photowalks and include more and more newcomers in the movement.
- Why are you the people to do it?
We are young students and all the students are somehow or other connected with each other through their educational organizations and these students are also connected to other people of the society as they live with their family in the society. Besides, as we’re students, we have enough time and enthusiasm which other people may not afford. And we are getting indirect support from another Wikimedia student organization named “NDEC Wikipedia Editorial & Research Team”. So, we don’t have any doubt that we are the people who can do this.
- What is the impact of your idea on diversity and inclusiveness of the Wikimedia movement?
We aim at including as many new people as possible in the Wikimedia movement and we’re starting from Bangladesh, which is already one of the underrepresented territories in the Wikimedia movement. Our project goal is to bring frames from territories which are less recognized in Wikimedia commons and other Wikimedia projects, people from those areas will also be newly introduced to the movement. If we get success in the first phase, we have intentions to spread this project in other underrepresented areas of the world too.
- What are the challenges associated with this project and how you will overcome them?
Providing the general people with basic photography skills will be a challenge, because the images which we plan to upload to commons should follow some minimum quality standards. We’ll collect free easy-to-follow online resources to train them. We’ll try to give them the feeling that they are also learning something new and they are not just sacrificing their time and effort for these. Volunteer burnout can be an issue while doing all these. We’ll try to make the photowalks as pleasant and enjoyable as possible.
- How will you spend your funds?
Our workforce is made up primarily of extremely motivated young high-schooler individuals. They have abilities in several fields, but there are some obstacles that prevent us from using all of our skills for the movement. Since we are all presently students, we do not have access to professional tools or a reliable source of revenue to purchase the necessary items. We formed a team and use just the most basic equipment to lead the photo walks. To take pictures, we are utilizing some low-end mobile devices. However, we are unable to capture high-quality images with our cellphone cameras. Sometimes the right lighting setup prevents us from taking detailed captures. Even with good daylight, our equipment occasionally cannot catch what we want. We often lose excellent possibilities because cellphone cameras aren't very responsive. We edit the photographs using our mobile devices and a very basic PC. But editing on a mobile device is utterly inaccurate.
Recently, we have been working on a cinematography in order to upload it to Wikimedia Commons. However, there are several issues with the cinematography. We initially rented some equipment and took the shots, after which one of our team members tried to edit the shots but his low-end PC made him suffer and he couldn’t finish. Another team member then tried to edit the remaining shots and still struggling with that. He worked on the cinematography for three hours a few days ago but his PC abruptly crashed, erasing all of his changes and ruined his three hours of hard work. In these circumstances, we lose momentum. We determined the areas in need of help; initially, we'll need photographic gear such a DSLR, lenses, tripod, lighting setup, and drone. We will make these equipment open for the whole team. We’ll also be able to provide photography or cinematography support to the local community whenever requested. For our editors, we will purchase a PC that will advance their level of productivity. To digitize the written text or images, we need a scanner. For one of our projects, we required a scanner, but we were unable to procure one. Eventually, after much effort, we somehow managed to lend one from an organization but that’s not a long-term solution. If we could obtain one, it would save us time and money or labor. For our project, we have 10 photowalks scheduled. With the help of these funds, we will be able to pay for the members' lunches, snacks, and transportation costs, enhancing their productivity and allowing us to expand the greatest media respiratory on earth. Please look through the detailed expenditure list in the [doc]
- How long will your project take?
Eight months (Starting from October, 2022). We have started our work already but without any resources we cannot accelerate our pace. We are hoping that after getting grant we will be able to improve our resources and speed up our work.
- Have you worked on projects for previous grants before?
No