Enhancing Wikipedia with Journalist-Generated References and Student-Created Articles

The Enhancing Wikipedia with Journalist-Generated References and Student-Created Articles project is a collaborative initiative between Wikimedia South Africa (Wikimedia ZA), the University of Eswatini (UNESWA), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Eswatini Country Office aimed at improving SiSwati Wikipedia with high-quality references, improve stub articles about Siswati and Eswatini, and increase the number of articles in the SiSwati Wikipedia.

What are the Objectives?

Improve Content Quality: By integrating references generated by professional journalists, the project aims to ensure that Wikipedia articles are supported by reliable and verifiable sources.
Improve stub articles: Many articles written about Eswatini are stubs (a sentence or short paragraphs), the project aims to improve the quality of these articles, as well as improve and increase their content.
Educational Enhancement: University students are engaged in creating well-researched articles, fostering academic writing skills and encouraging the use of Wikipedia as a learning tool.
Language Preservation: A special focus is placed on preserving and promoting the Siswati language by creating and expanding Wikipedia content in Siswati.

Who are the Partners?

Wikimedia South Africa (Wikimedia ZA):

Wikimedia ZA is dedicated to promoting the distribution, development, and enhancement of free knowledge in South Africa. As part of this project, Wikimedia ZA provides the platform, technical support, and community engagement to facilitate the contributions of journalists and students.

University of Eswatini (UNESWA):

UNESWA brings its academic community into the project, involving students and faculty members in the creation of Wikipedia content. The university supports the initiative by integrating it into their curriculum and promoting student participation.

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO):

UNESCO's involvement ensures that the project aligns with global standards for educational and cultural initiatives. UNESCO provides strategic guidance, resources, and advocacy to maximize the project's impact on educational development and cultural preservation.

What are the Activities?

Workshops and Training - Wikimedia ZA shall conduct workshops to train students on Wikipedia editing, ensuring they understand the platform's guidelines and best practices for content creation.
Content Creation and Review - Engaging journalists to provide high-quality references and students to create new articles or enhance existing ones. All content will undergo thorough review by selected judges to maintain SiSwati orthography, accuracy and reliability.
Activation of new users (Wikipedia contributors) - It is envisaged that by contributing to this project participants will continue editing Wikipedia after the project.

A writing competition will be held at the end of the project with the following criterion:

Criterion to writing contest
Item	Notes
Stub Improvement	Improve a minimum of 2 articles in the English Wikipedia about Eswatini from this list.
Translation	Translate a minimum of 2 article about Eswatini from the English Wikipedia to SiSwati Wikipedia
Create new article	Create a new article about climate change or any developmental subject related to the 17 sustainable goals with a minimum of 200 words.

What Outcomes are we looking to achieve?

The project aims to achieve the following impacts:

Enhanced Quality of Wikipedia Articles: With the integration of journalist-generated references and student-created articles, Wikipedia will host more reliable and well-researched content.
Educational Benefits: Students will gain valuable skills in research, writing, and digital literacy, enhancing their academic and professional capabilities.
Cultural Preservation: By focusing on Siswati language content, the project contributes to the preservation and digital representation of Eswatini's cultural heritage.