Grants:Project/Rapid/UNI Feminist 2020

statusFunded

Rapid Grants

UNI Edits 2019-2020

Building on our previous success recruiting editors and improving the diversity of Wikipedia (in editorship and content), Rod Library at the University of Northern Iowa will undertake a Wikipedia project during the spring 2020 semester for a Wikipedia celebration of feminism focusing primarily on women's history and their contributions to society. The project will include four main edit-a-thons: Voter Rights marking the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment in the US giving women the right to vote; Women in Red adding information about women to Wikipedia; Art+Feminism focusing on women and feminist issues in the arts; and Diversity in Comics as part of our local Comic-Con (RodCon) where we will improve the representation of women, feminism, and diversity issues on Wikipedia.

targetEN, Women in Red, Art+Feminism, Black Lunch Table

start dateJanuary 13

end dateMay 15 July 1

budget (local currency)2,000

budget (USD)2,000

grant typeorganization

non-profit statusYes

grantee• ActionableIdeas

contact(s)• angela.pratesi@uni.edu

organization (if applicable)• University of Northern Iowa, Rod Library

website (if applicable)• https://uni.edu/ and https://library.uni.edu/

friendly space expectations

ucc

privacystatement

Review your report

Please see the sample Editathon/Training application before drafting your application.

Project Goal

Choose one or more of the following goals. You can add or delete goals as needed.

1. Recruit new editors
2. Increase skills for existing editors
3. Add or improve content, especially information about or relating to women and minoritized groups
4. Increase knowledge of Wikipedia on campus and in our community

Project Plan

Activities

Tell us how you'll carry out your project. Be sure to answer the following questions:

1. Are you doing one editathon or training or a series of editathons or trainings?

We will be providing a series of edit-a-thons, trainings, and events over the course of the spring semester, which begins January 13, 2020 and ends May 15, 2020, focused on women's issues and history. Edit-a-thon topics will include Voting Rights in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment in the United States giving women the right to vote, Art+Feminism, Women in Red, and Diversity in Comics in conjunction with a local Comic-Con. Each event will include training on the importance of editing Wikipedia, how to edit articles on Wikipedia, how add to citations, finding and evaluating reliable sources, and how to engage with the Wikipedia community through talk pages and the Tea House.

2. How will you let your community know about the event? Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions.

Community members will be notified using the university's weekly email announcement bulletin, the university and library event calendars, Facebook event and social media promotion, and classroom announcements. We will also be collaborating with faculty to tie the events to course content and coordinating with interested student organizations. We also hope to coordinate with one of the local public libraries to promote events and possibly host one or more programs or edit-a-thons in their space to reach a different audience. Here are some examples of recent events:

https://www.northerniowan.com/10259/showcase/edit-a-thon-focused-on-women-and-lgbtq-representation/

https://library.uni.edu/events/2019-04/uni-edits-wikipedia-underrepresented-people-topics

https://unicalendar.uni.edu/human-rights-wikipedia-edit-thon/09-21-2018

https://library.uni.edu/events/2019-10/wiki-loves-pride-halloween-edition

https://library.uni.edu/events/2018-03/artfeminism-wikipedia-edit-thon-rodlibrary

3. Do you have experienced Wikimedia editors to lead the event?

Yes, we will have multiple experienced Wikipedia editors leading each event. We aim to have at least one experienced Wikipedian to assist for every ten simultaneous participants.

4. Do participants have the equipment or skills needed to participate and contribute high quality content? If not, how will you support them?

Equipment will be available for all participants. Generally, participants have the research skills but will need support acquiring the Wikipedia skills. Help will also be available for those who need more support developing information literacy skills. In addition to having experienced Wikipedians available to work with participants, we have developed posters and handouts that introduce the pillars and core tenets of Wikipedia as well as the basics of editing that are distillations of the content provided by Wiki Edu. We've had great success using Citation Hunt as a quick way to get new Wikipedians started. For the more experienced Wikipedians, we provide lists of articles that need to be created or improved and related research materials (e.g. print encyclopedias, scholarly books, etc.) which they can use as sources.

5. How will you engage participants after the event(s)?

We will use the "thank" button to acknowledge the work done by participants. We will also send a survey to participants to gauge their satisfaction with the event(s) and solicit ideas for improvements, which will be approved through our university's Institutional Review Board.

6. Is there anything else you want to tell us about this project?

After the successful completion of eight previous edit-a-thons on campus, many participants--faculty, students, library workers--have asked us to continue hosting edit-a-thons. They are a valuable way of improving and practicing research and writing skills while simultaneously improving the information that is freely available on the internet.

Impact

How will you know if the project is successful and you've met your goals? Please include the following targets:

1. Number of edit-a-thons=4
2. Number of edit-a-thon participants=60
3. Number of new editors=20
4. Number of of articles created or improved=120
5. Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events)=20
6. Number of programs about Wikipedia (e.g. presentations)=1
7. Number of program participants=40

Resources

What resources do you have? Include information on who is organizing the project, what they will do, and if you will receive support from anywhere else (in-kind donations or additional funding).

We will have multiple experienced Wikipedians including librarians, faculty, and a graduate assistant. The space, equipment, and wifi are available free of charge. Support is available for instructional materials like handouts.

What resources do you need? For your funding request, list bullet points for each expense and include a total amount.

1. Food and drink = $250 x 4 edit-a-thons = $1000
2. Childcare = $200 per event x 4 edit-a-thons = $800
3. Advertising (Facebook Boosts) = $15 x 4 edit-a-thons = $60
4. Swag = ($30 x 4 edit-a-thons) + ($10 x 2 programs) = $140

1. Wikipedia globe buttons $10x2=$20 (for completing Wikipedia bingo)
2. Wikipedia notebooks $8x5=$40 (most contributions prizes, culminating contribution prize)
3. Be Bold mugs $10x4=$40 (most contributions prizes)
4. Wikipedia water bottle $15x1=$15 (culminating contribution prize)
5. Wikipedia tote bag $25x1=$25 (culminating contribution prize)

Endorsements

Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!

• I completely and wholeheartedly endorse this project!! My students have participated in the Edit-a-thons hosted at the Library numerous times, and ALWAYS write reflections about how transformative their experience was.
• I support this project because I've seen significant improvement in campus understanding on issues of diversity, gender, and minority oppression because of participation in these edit events. 134.161.8.218 19:20, 20 November 2019 (UTC)
• The Editathons have engaged may first time authors at the University of Northern Iowa in project-based learned and has contributed to the knowledge base on women and under-represented minorities. It has offered a counterbalance to a more conventional curriculum across fields. 134.161.232.5 21:38, 20 November 2019 (UTC)
• This is a great event provided by the Rod Library. I love encouraging the students/staff/faculty and community join. It is a great cause! 134.161.28.114 15:57, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• This group has a strong track record with past edit-a-thons. I particularly appreciate the focus on subjects that have not received equitable attention.
• Great job everyone! 134.161.28.195 16:08, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• This project is a great way to educate people on credible resources and understand the value of crowd sourcing knowledge. These events have allowed us to increase the amount of information and resources on Wikipedia related to diverse topics, creating a more inclusive knowledge database. Mmgev (talk) 16:08, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• Building on a series of successful edit-a-thons, I support continuing the important and interesting work of editing and recruiting others to edit!

This series will focus on improving the representation of women, feminism, and diversity in comics. 134.161.29.190 16:17, 21 November 2019 (UTC)

• This will be an amazing opportunity for my students to learn the process while also increasing their knowledge of content. Highly support!

Jayme Renfro Political Science 134.161.9.76 16:42, 21 November 2019 (UTC)

• It's a great chance to learn! 134.161.28.158 17:19, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• Diversity and inclusion begins with accurate information. Enhancing the accuracy, completeness, and availability of information in targeted areas such as voter rights, art and feminism, and diversity in the arts will lead the way to a more inclusive world that accurately reflects our history. 134.161.29.247 17:50, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• Funding to provide, particularly, childcare and food will make these events genuinely inclusive of our campus community--and will open them up to a broader user base whose perspectives will enrich the edit-a-thon and its work. Swsgtts (talk) 21:39, 21 November 2019 (UTC)
• This worthwhile endeavor offers real experience to students and others, and helps expand the knowledge and information in a heavily used resource such as Wikipedia! 134.161.29.242 21:59, 27 November 2019 (UTC)
• This sort of project is important for fairly small universities like UNI. Diversity has been a big focus for student leaders for the last five years or so (speaking as a former one), and this can definitely help further the goals that are being made. Obviously it's helpful for Wikipedia as well. Frood (talk) 23:37, 30 November 2019 (UTC)

Participants

• Volunteer I can help out with a bit of anything. Although I'm not the best academic writer, I have a decent understanding of enwp's policies so I can certainly try to answer any questions new editors might have. Frood (talk) 23:47, 30 November 2019 (UTC)