Grants:PEG/WM FI/Tervetuloa Wikipediaan!/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Project and Event grant approved in FY 2011-12 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:PEG/WM FI/Tervetuloa Wikipediaan!.

You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email grants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Compliance and completion

Did you comply with the requirements specified by WMF in the grant agreement?: YES

Is your project completed?: YES (partially)

Did you use any of the grant funds?: YES

Activities and lessons learned

This section describes what the grantee did, and what the grantee learned from implementing the project. This section should be useful to others implementing similar projects and is an opportunity for the grantee to reflect on the project's performance.

The leaflets arrived in several stacks of 40 copies each

Wikimedia Finland translated, laid out, proofread and expanded the introductory booklet into a localized Finnish version. The last page is made to work as a cheat sheet for users who are unfamiliar with Wikipedia's markup.

Activities

Provide a detailed list of activities performed to complete this project, descriptions of these activities, and the amount of time spent on each activity. This section should also include a list of participants, or a link to pictures, blog posts, or videos from the project or event.

Localizing educational material is about more than simple translation work. A certain tone of text that works in one country will seem inappropriate in another. The translation was a distributed group effort by the Finnish local chapter members and the tone is consistent even though there were several people working on it. This was because the translators were familiar with the subject itself and had experience in co-authoring text. Some editing had to be done, though. The layout was done by Tommi Kovala using proprietary software (Adobe Creative Suite). While there is an open source alternative, Scribus, it's still not as sophisticated and quick to use. The typography complies with Wikimedia's style guidelines and the font is likewise proprietary (Helvetica). The leaflets, 1500 in number, were printed in Italy. Nemo made the printing and shipping arrangements. We received the first requests for some copies even before the material arrived in Finland, as some adult education centers were interested in having them. Other distribution locations we have in mind include schools, museums and libraries. Ideally they would supplement a workshop but they were written to work as stand-alone material as well.

Lessons learned

What lessons were learned that may help others succeed in similar projects? Consider the following questions and respond with 1 - 2 paragraphs.

What went well?

The translation turned out well and the leaflet reads smoothly; conversational, matter-of-fact, not condescending
The printing quality is excellent and the pages look crisp and professional.
The leaflets were delivered promptly and in good condition.

What did not go well?

There was a delay in getting the material to the printers due to communication difficulties in my end which meant we needed an extension.
While co-authoring was a quick way to get the text translated and edited, it would have been faster if one team member were designated as editor

What would you do differently if you planned a similar project?

In the future, we'll probably assign an editor to handle the consistency of the content and to coordinate production. Ideally, this would be someone who has practical experience in publishing. As it is, most of the practical work was done by Nemo in Italy. Another thing to consider is to get quotes from foreign printers. The initial idea was to complete every part of the project in Finland. After getting quotes from Finnish printers, however, it was clear that Nemo's suggestion of using an Italian company was the most cost-effective even with shipping costs included. A project like this occupies an awkward niche when it comes to printing services in Finland: the run was slightly too big for inexpensive digital printing and slightly too small to make offset printing viable. As long as grant terms or other obligations don't require us to use domestic suppliers, we will probably stick with foreign ones if the Finnish print industry trend won't reverse. The native file for the leaflet is in .indd, a proprietary format. It would be nice to switch to open DTP software, so hopefully there will be an alternative to Adobe's products in the future. It would also be good if Wikimedia Foundation's graphic guidelines were updated to include only free typefaces (see the League of Movable Type for some examples).

Project goal and measures of success

This section should reference the project goals and measures of success described in the approved grant submission. See Grants:PEG/WM FI/Tervetuloa Wikipediaan! to review the goals and metrics listed in the approved submission.

Project goal

The Finnish public library network is robust, enjoys a lot of public support and is staffed by enthusiastic professionals who organize many projects that aim to popularize knowledge. Libraries are a powerful resource for anyone looking to improve Wikipedia articles. We aim to recruit librarians and other staff to work on Wikipedia and help Wiki enthusiasts to locate source material. To this end, the best way to accomplish this is to organize meetings and training sessions where we visit libraries and help everyone there to learn the basic tools of Wikipedia. For libraries that wish to take this cooperation a step further, we're hoping to have them nominate a local Wiki specialist who can be contacted by editors in need of help. This person can be a regular employee or a conscientious objector completing his national service in a library. The introductory booklets would be valuable training material and a convenient way to help get things started.

Did you achieve your project goal? How do you know your goal was achieved? Please answer in 1 - 2 paragraphs.: After setting the goal we have gotten more partner organizations involved in open knowledge activity. Our focus in cooperation has switched from just libraries to museums and other cultural organizations, so we will use their help in putting the leaflets to good use.; The minimum requirement is completed already with the material delivered in Finland in good quality. Several of our GLAM partners have expressed interest in having printed study material for distribution so we are likely to meet and exceed the 10% mark for specific partnerships and workshop participants. The goal of Complete success is realistic and achievable with the help of adult education organizations.

Measures of success

Measures of success exactly as provided in the approved grant submission

Minimum requirement for success (and funding): booklet is localised effectively for the Finnish audience and printed (in good quality).
Moderate success: 50 % of the copies are distributed within the first year in good quality environment and to interested audiences (such as in libraries).
Complete success: 100 % of the copies are distributed as above; and at least 10 % as part of specific partnerships or to specific groups of interested persons (such as librarians willing to increase their involvement in Wikimedia projects), or to attendants of workshops organized by us.

Provide an overall assessment of how your project went according to these measures.: The project was successful, meeting the minimum measure of success in the best way possible (in early May 2013). The whole period from grant approval to the time of writing of this report was spent crafting the best possible translation of the leaflet in cooperation with Finnish partners, to ensure maximum quality. A couple weeks were spent on execution (printing and shipping to WMFI). Formally, for the purposes of this report the project is over, but for the purposes of WMFI it continues with the distribution phase, whose success against the measures and the project goal will be measured in a year (in May 2014).
If you were to plan a similar project, would you measure it differently?: No.

Impact

This section ties this project to Wikimedia's broader goals, and shows what the project accomplished.

The brochure is a way to increase reach and participation in Finland. Though the level of awareness of Wikipedia is generally very high, the level of participation is lower. We are using this as one of the required vehicles to gain our goal.
At the time of writing, a 10th of the brochures has already been distributed.

Reporting and documentation of expenditures

This section describes the grant's use of funds

Documentation

Documentation of expenditures has been received by WMF.

Did you send documentation of all expenses paid with grant funds to grants at wikimedia dot org, according to the guidelines here?: Yes, as of 09:35, 29 May 2013 (UTC)

Expenses

Please list all project expenses in a table here, with descriptions and dates.

Number	Category	Item description	Unit	Number of units	Actual cost per unit	Actual total	Budgeted total	Currency	Notes
1	Leaflets	Printing	1 leaflet	1500	0.55+VAT	998.25	1115-1700	EUR	As per grant request (Italian printer).
2	Leaflets	Shipping	kg / boxes	130 / 7	-	422.10	50-300	EUR	As per grant request (Italian printer) but via POE: budget change approved.

Total project budget: 1750 €

Total amount requested and got from WMF: 1750 €

Total amount spent on this project: 1420.35 €

Total amount of WMF grant funds spent on this project: 1420.35 €

Are there additional sources of revenue that funded any part of this project?: 5.00 € spent on non-SEPA bank transfer costs (only 1745 € actually received from WMF): the chapter will cover them with own funding. Minor administrative direct expenses, plus loss in bank account interests for the expenses advanced before the reimbursement: covered by chapter members with personal funds.

Remaining funds

Remaining funds from this grant have been returned to WMF in the amount of 329.65 EUR.

Are there any grant funds remaining?: Yes: they were returned to WMF (and notified) as of 09:35, 29 May 2013 (UTC).

Please list the total amount (specify currency) remaining here. (This is the amount you did not use, or the amount you still have after completing your grant.)

329.65 €