Grants:Project/FLG/History of Quebec and French-speaking North America

This project is funded by a Project Grant

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Project Grants

History of Quebec and French-speaking North America

summaryBuild and support the community of individuals and organizations interested in developing and improving wikimedia contents pertaining to the history of Quebec and French-speaking North America.

targetFrench Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons

type of grantoffline programs and events

amount49000 USD

type of applicantorganization

grantee• Mathieugp

contact• mathieu.g.p@fondationlionelgroulx.org

affiliateFondation Lionel-Groulx

created on15:06, 21 June 2018 (UTC)

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>>> Lire la VERSION FRANÇAISE du projet Histoire du Québec et de l'Amérique du Nord francophone <<<

Project idea

What is the problem you're trying to solve?

What problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

Quebecers, and more generally French speakers in North America, are a small minority of all contributors to the French-language Wikimedia projects. Despite constant improvements, we can observe that many Wikipedia articles, general in their nature, are centered on France or Europe, neglecting the North American perspective. Moreover, the articles on subjects related to the history of Québec, Canada and French-speaking North America are in too many cases poorly sourced stubs, including those articles treating of major events and major figures in history. That is the main reason why around 2014 the Fondation Lionel-Groulx (FLG) decided to participate to the Wikimedia Movement alongside important partners like Wikimedia Canada, BAnQ and Acfas.

The Wikimedia projects that the FLG worked on between 2014 and 2017 convinced us of two things:

1. firstly, we were right to get involved in the Wikimedia community and we want to continue
2. secondly, we need more human resources to be more effective.

Concerning the second point, the problem can be understood by stating that the FLG's digital projects manager, a long-time Wikimedia contributor going by the username MathieuGP, is able to perform all necessary tasks (training, project management, communication, outreach, etc.), but unfortunately is unable to focus solely on Wikimedia projects being also tasked with many other projects.

Note: our main Wikimedia projects (listed here) have involved mostly training (on the first Tuesday of each month since 2014 as part of the Mardi, c'est Wiki ! workshops + other occasions targeting history teachers), but also uploading media (image, audio, text), improving articles, and publishing articles (outside Wikipedia) to demystify our favourite encyclopedia for the benefit of history teachers (listed here in French).

What is your solution?

For the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe how you would like to address this problem. We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

Employ a Wikimedian-in-Residence dedicated to a) organizing contribution events, and b) training and supporting individuals and organizations.

This person will be supervised, guided and trained in-house by MathieuGP.

Project goals

What are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

With a Wikimedian-in-Residence, our organization will be able to achieve its main Wikimedia-related goal, which is (as quoted and translated from our 2018-2019-2020 Action Plan): "to contribute to the development of high quality contents on the history of Québec and French-speaking North America in Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons, and to build a community of institutional partners and individual volunteers willing to work concretely on such an endeavor."

Through our action, more individuals and organizations will contribute to Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons with the desire and the means to improve and enrich contents concerning the history of Québec and French-speaking North America. Through the contribution events that we will organize with the help of institutional partners and volunteers, and through the professional and amateur historians, history teachers and students, etc., that we will train, we intend to have a strong impact on a) participation to Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons and b) the general improvement of content quality.

Project impact

How will you know if you have met your goals?

For each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:

1. During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
2. Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)

For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (e.g. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents). Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

We will know that we have achieved our main goals for the March 2019-March 2020 period if we have:

• significantly improved the quality of 40 articles in the French-language version of Wikipedia through the organization of four major contribution events that will involve 80 participants
• trained 60 new wikimedians among professional or amateur historians, history teachers and students, who will be able to continue adding and improving contents later on
• assisted at least 2 new history teachers in the steps needed to bring student contributions to Wikipedia, Wikisource or Commons in the classroom

When our project is over, it will continue to positively impact the Wikimedia movement. In particular, we expect that:

• at least 10 to 15% of the 80 participants to our events will continue to contribute from time to time
• 5 new institutions or associations (public, charity, non-profit) will be inspired by our initiatives and continue to organize on their own (or co-organize with us) other contribution events to improve the contents on the history of Québec and French-speaking North America in Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons
• some of the professional or amateur historians, history teachers and students, etc., that we have trained will become regular contributors and influence others around them

Do you have any goals around participation or content?

Are any of your goals related to increasing participation within the Wikimedia movement, or increasing/improving the content on Wikimedia projects? If so, we ask that you look through these three metrics, and include any that are relevant to your project. Please set a numeric target against the metrics, if applicable. Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.

(Yes, the main goals in the project are built around participation and content and the relevant metrics are included in the section above.)

Project plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?

Contribution events

Together with our partners, we will identify themes for our contribution events. To give an idea of what they are likely to be, here are themes that have already been discussed at the FLG: "Major Figures or Events in the History of Women", "Major Figures or Events in the History of the Labour Movement", "Major Figures or Events in the History of New France", "Major Figures or Events in the History of Science", "Major Figures or Events in the History of Franco-Americans", etc.

• March-April : (training of our Wikimedian-in-Residence)
• May-June : First Contribution Event
• July-August : (Summer Break)
• September-October : Second Contribution Event
• November-December : Third Contribution Event
• January-February : Fourth Contribution Event

For our Wikimedian-in-Residence, the planning of each contribution event will involve the following:

• coordinating with partners and training them when required
• evaluating possible improvements to articles so as to propose improvement "missions" to participants
• preparatory work prior to event to facilitate contribution (digitizing, uploading media to Commons, finding solid reference works to be used by participants, etc.)
• training participants prior to the event or during the event depending on the case
• provide expertise during the event for the benefit of participants
• communication and outreach before, during and after event

Training sessions

We will establish the FLG's Montréal office as the headquarters for both our in-person and virtual training sessions. With the help our partners (professional associations of history teachers and historians, history societies, etc.), we will make it largely known that we offer a flexible schedule of free training and support sessions for using and contributing to Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Commons. We expect that some people will want to enjoy in-person training without having to travel to Montréal, therefore our Wikimedian-in-Residence will be sent on the road from time to time.

General Outreach

While the main communication and outreach efforts will continue to be done by MathieuGP, our Wikimedian-in-Residence will also be asked from time to time to help by giving talks throughout Québec, writing articles and other documents, broadcasting messages in social media, etc.

Budget

How you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!

• $40,000 USD - Contract revenue of the Wikimedian-in-Residence (32 hours per week, 8AM to 5PM, Monday through Thursday)
• $4,000 USD - Travel expenses for Wikimedia projects
• $2,000 USD - Prizes for Wikimedia contribution events
• $1,500 USD - 1 x portable computer + accessories
• $1000 USD - 1 x Conference Cam (model we plan to acquire)
• $500 USD - 1 x Large TV screen
• TOTAL = 49,000 $ USD

Community engagement

Community input and participation helps make projects successful. How will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve during your project?

We are targeting the community that is passionate about history and heritage: professional and amateur historians, history teachers and students, history societies, but also more widely the communities of professionals, amateurs, teachers and students revolving around archives, museums, galleries, libraries, and interested in fields of knowledge very close to history (archeology, genealogy, etc.). The FLG is already at the heart of the network of institutions and associations that make up this milieu in Québec.

Get involved

Participants

Please use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.

• MathieuGP - Digital projects manager at FLG since 2011, Wikipedian since 2003, years of experience in offering training to newbies and advanced users alike through the monthly Mardi, c'est Wiki! workshops co-organized by Wikimedia Canada, BAnQ, FLG, and Acfas since 2014.

Community notification

Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. You are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc. Need notification tips?

• Projet:Québec (fr.wikipedia.org)

Endorsements

Do you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).

•  Support. This project is totally aligned with the 2030 strategic direction of our movement : broading horizons by adding perspectives based in local communities. Add to this that MathieuGP has been a dedicated wikimedian in Québec for many years. Benjamenta (talk) 15:49, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
•  Support. For years, I have been personally working with this organization because of the collaboration between the Lionel-Groulx Foundation and Wikimedia Canada. I know by experience it is a strong and serious project. Benoit Rochon (talk) 16:37, 31 October 2018 (UTC)
•  Support. Over the past few years, the Lionel-Groulx Foundation has proven to be a leader in the promotion of the various Wikimedia projects and the animation of workshops. As an ally of Wikimedia Canada, this Foundation has shown how serious it is in its implication in the community. Lea-Kim (talk) 03:01, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
•  Support Mathieu is a wikimedian with a lot of experience and I know that he will make a success of this project. Simon Villeneuve 12:01, 1 November 2018 (UTC)
•  Support. Since 2014, the Lionel-Groulx Foundation has been a key and loyal partner providing the monthly workshop Mardi, c'est Wiki! (Wiki Tuesday) at Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec. The Foundation's interest and implication in Wikimedia projects is intrinsically linked with its values and mission. I strongly support this project and am convinced that it will be beneficial to Wikimedia's community in Quebec.--AnneMarieB (talk) 13:56, 4 November 2018 (UTC)
•  Support Both the Lionel-Groulx Foundation and Mathieugp know their stuff, and it is clear that the area of the Quebec / French North America deserve better that what has been done up to now. Boréal (talk) 17:01, 5 November 2018 (UTC) Just a minor note: It would be good if the expected events and outreach cover a large part of the Quebec / French North America area and are not limited to the Montreal area (I guess that it is already taken into account) to have a coverage as diverse as possible.
•  Support MathieuGP is strong advocate of free knowledge and a very dedicated wikimedian in Québec. The Lionel-Groulx Foundation has been involved, with success, in various Wikimedia projects and a longtime partner of BANQ in this. More over, this project will bring another concretization of the strategic direction of the movement. --Marie D Martel (talk) 15:11, 13 novembre 2018 (UTC)
•  Support This project is very interesting. MathieuGP is well placed to get involvement from history societies. I have learned to contibute to Wikipedia with the help of Wikimedia and Mardi, c'est Wiki! I am now contributing to Wikisource and have done many Quebec history book. This project can help find more contributors for historical books in Wikisource. Viticulum (talk) 21:10, 17 November 2018 (UTC)
•  Support After more than 12 years collaborating on French-language Wikipedia, I have observed firsthand that the perspective of many important articles is mostly from the French and European point of view. Serious work to present a more comprehensive view is very welcome. I also have been witness to the dedication and know-how of Mathieugp and I'm sure he will lead this project to success. Cortomaltais (talk) 22:47, 24 November 2018 (UTC)
•  Support. For years, I have been personally working with Mathieu and the Fondation Lionel-Groulx. Mathieu has shown leadership in all his Wikimedia projects. I also suggest a larger outreach (larger than Montreal). Thekidpossum (talk) 14:42, 26 November 2018 (UTC)