Wikimedia chapters/Reports/Shared Knowledge/October 2018

SHARED KNOWLEDGE
Activity report

October 2018

Wikisketch Lessons

Wikisketch lessons project have continued this month by the same pattern with people from different areas of expertise and practice. This months lessons were given to already registered users who have previously volunteered on other projects as photo hunts, photographic contest and other occasions and events but haven't had any deeper knowledge of editing articles. Hence the lessons given included more broadened and comprehensive instructions of adding text, infoboxes with images and referencing sources with footnotes in the articles. The participants in the lectures covered topics in digital marketing, economy, demography, software programming. This month for the first time we have conducted a lesson through on line means for two participants.

Editing days: Mountain passes in Macedonia & Deserts in Eurasia

Logo of the Editing day: Deserts in Eurasia

On 11^th October we have held the eleventh editing day this year on the topic for the mountain passes in Macedonia. The topic was related to the passes which through the main roads connect adjacent mountains and regions of the country and it was chosen due to the lack of content so far and the generic scope of the topic suitable for creating several tens of articles by the same pattern. On this editing day 5 users took participation creating 14 new and improving 3 existing articles by which so far the number of newly created articles rose to 200 with 8 improved articles. On 23^rd of October we have organized the second editing day on another geographical topic about the deserts in Eurasia. This editing day was attended by 5 participants who have contributed by creating 15 new articles by which the number of newly created articles surpassed two hundredths articles placing to exactly 215 newly created articles on the editing days so far in this year.

Editing weekends on Botany and Papal bulls

This October we have organized two editing weekends with main aim to increase the number of created and improved articles through increased number of activities from the editing challenges in the last quarter of the year during the colder weather seasons. The first editing weekend was held on 13^th and 14^th of October on the topics of Botany whereby 5 users participated by creating 10 new and improving 3 existing articles covering scientific disciplines within the botany, plants and species and botanical gardens. On the weekend of 27^th and 28^th October we have held the second editing weekend in this month which was on the topic Papal Bulls whereas 4 editors participated by creating 10 new and improving 1 existing article by which the total number of edited articles on the editing weekends this year so far have reached the number of 246 newly created and 10 improved articles.

Educational program in Krume Kepeski primary school in Skopje

Оn 17^th of October we have started the new educational program in the Krume Kepeski primary school, which have been set up for the first time in February 2018. With the help and support of the history teacher and our coordinator for the program in this school Slobodan Trajkovski we have prepared several months activity plan and program which will be implemented throughout the entire school year of 2018/2019 with the students of the ninth grade on the subject "Introduction of Homeland" including a specific editing and learning activity every month in the school classroom as well as out door visits. The first introductory class was held with the students of three different classes of ninth grade who attend the optional subject of "Introduction of Homeland". On this introductory lecture 18 students have created user accounts and 17 new short articles about Rivers in Macedonia and 1 improved with text for a village in western Macedonia, with main aim to be introduced and get acknowledged with Wikipedia and the ways of creating and editing articles and adding content. Some of the students have shown significant editing skills as they have already known about working on computer, programming and Wikipedia, while with few of them edits of the articles were made through the mobile application of Wikipedia. The work will continue through the tasks and homework given by the teacher that will be done and added on Wikipedia and the lecture in the next month.

WikiIndustry project at Ironwork and Metal Industry

Wiki Industry project have continued in October with visit of industrial companies and production plants of the steel, ironwork and metal industry. The visit which was previously arranged with Mijalčo Božinovski our volunteer and longstanding experienced mechanical engineer and owner of "Blimed" metal water pump production company, took place on 18^th of October in the production facility of the former Ironmongery in Skopje, which is the biggest factory and industrial object in Macedonia and after the privatization processes now is separated on several different companies of the metallurgic industry. During the visit we have collected important information about the production process of steel in the foundry, rolling mill, iron sheets, tools, equipment as well as the economic process and situation for the products of the metal industry in Macedonia. Also, we have rear chance to take over 50 photographs of the production processes of metal pumps for water and liquids, rolling mill for iron sheets, plastic granulates, chemical processes as well as the buildings, machines, equipment and tools.

Wikiexpedition in Kopačka region

Toni Ristovski in a conversation with locals during the Wikiexpedition in Kopačka

After a three-month break, the Wikiexpedition project have continued again to explore Macedonia, this time we dedicated the weekend from 20-21 October 2018 to visit and research in the Kopačka region of western Macedonia. As it was the case in all previous Wikiexpeditions organized this year this time the group have also had a new member joining the team, that is, the Stefan Nikolovski (User:Brsjakovski), who has recently started with editing articles about villages especially about their population and was a good opportunity to get acquainted with our way of conducting expeditions. Beside him, again participants Toni Ristovski, Kiril Simeonovski and Nino Bogdanovski. In the first day the team have visited eleven of the most remote mountainous villages in the area which is very famous by its cultural and historical significance during the national revolutionary struggle for freedom of Macedonia in the 19^th and 20^th century. The second day was used for visit of the rest of the villages in the Kopačka region located in the central part and closer to the city of Kičevo. With the visit of the last two villages, for the first time we visited all the villages consisting the region on one expedition ever. The outcome of this expedition was 29 villages visited, over 530 km traveled and made about 400 photographs. And the biggest feat is the visit to every village in one area, as well as all those envisaged on one expedition.

WikiCity tour in Delčevo, Pehčevo and Berovo

Participants of the Wiki City tour in Delčevo

On 23^rd of October which is the national holiday of the Macedonian revolutionary struggle, the second tour within the project Wiki City has been conducted in the three easternmost towns in Macedonia, unique by their location, size and historical significance. The group of four participants took off from Skopje in the early morning hours and traveled by car to Delčevo from whereon visited the three towns by bicycles. Close proximity of the towns in a total distance of 37 kilometers and their smaller size in combination with the nice autumn weather enabled a chance for a bicycle ride as the best mean for taking photographs of the towns. On a previously prepared list of objects, landmarks, building and places needed to be photographed the group have made photographic tour in the three towns of Delčevo, Pehčevo and Berovo. Due to some difficulties in the process of uploading faced by the participants in the previous period all photographs taken on this tour together with the photographs of the previous Wiki City tour organized in August will be uploaded upon a public event which will be organized as a workshop lecture on Commons Wikimedia and Wikipedia usage at the "Pedal" public center in early November which will be open for the broader audience thus providing a chance to broaden the Wiki community and its familiarization with Wikimedia projects.

Speleological explorations in Poreče region

On 23^rd of October а group consisted of longstanding contributors Mario Šarevski, Slobodan Trajkovski lead by Darko Stojčeski who is a geography teacher conducted speleological exploration as a second part of the Speleological geoexpedition which has already started in September. The first place to visit and explore was the Laparnica cave on the mountain slope above the village of Belica which is nearly 200 meters deep and long and considered as one of the best caves for educational and promotional use and visits. Well equipped with helmets and rope borrowed from mountaineering and hiking club "Transverzalec" the group entered and spent more than hour and a half entering and threading into narrow, steep and deep channels and tunnels of the caves making photographs of its interior and the breathtakingly beautiful stalactites, stalagmite and other cave decorations and forms. The group than continued the visit with exploration of two more caves Janoa I and II which are very closely located to each other in the vicinity of the Samokov village. After information collecting from locals about other geographical objects in the region the visit ended by visiting, photographing and exploring the salty water spring near the village of Slansko which is one of the biggest and well known sources of naturally salted water in Macedonia.

Educational program in Goce Delčev Primary school in Negotino

In the new school year of 2018/2019 the education program has been extended to another new primary school "Goce Delchev" in the town of Negotino in south-central part of Macedonia. The entire program collaboration and event organization was conducted by our longstanding contributor on the Macedonian Wikipedia Elizabeta Trpkovska (User:BlueEagle1) who is a teacher of French language at this school and show a great interest and initiative for education activities of Wikipedia within the education program in her school. Early in the day a memorandum of cooperation has been signed with the school's principal Petar Mantev who together with our education program coordinator for this school Elizabeta Trpkovska and other colleagues have shown a great interest, initiative and readiness for implementing education activities of Wikipedia within the education program in the school throughout this and the next school years. Upon the great organizational efforts of Elizabeta Trpkovska who have previously chosen 20 interested students from different classes of ninth and eight grade, the school provided a classroom with 14 desktop computers whit quite decent internet connection where the first lecture and editing activities took place for a period of more than and hour and a half. At the class the students have been instructed of the basics of editing with adding texts, citations, adding hyperlinks and categorizing the created articles for archaeological sites in Negotino region, while few students who have shown greater and more advanced skills have also been introduced to the translation tool. The activity have successfully been finished with significant outcome of 40 newly created articles by the students.

Educational program in Josip Broz Tito high school

On 30^th of October we have started the educational program in Josip Broz Tito high school for the fourth consecutive year. This first activity in the new school year included initial teaching class for editing and working on Wikipedia with students from the fourth year. In a period of one hour upon already given topics from physics by their teacher Cvetko Nedelkovski six students have participated the class editing 10 articles in total out of which 9 newly created and 1 largely improved article. All of the students have edited their first article by coding editor while their second and other articles have been created through the translation tool which has also been presented to them on this occasion. Editing activities within the education program in Josip Broz Tito high school have started few days earlier in the second half of October as the teacher Cvetko Nedelkovski gave homework assignments for the students to create articles on Wikipedia in physics topics. Thus the total number of participants and edited articles so far is 21 students who have created 23 and improved 2 articles. The students will continue with further editing and improving articles as a tasks given by their physics teacher within their regular assignments.