Wikipedia:GLAM/WestCoastWPAL/2022 Final Report

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From 20 June to 28 August 2022, I (Mike Dickison, User:Giantflightlessbirds) was the West Coast Wikipedian at Large. The project was funded by Development West Coast and reflected the areas they wanted most to see improved—the "tourism icons" of Lake Brunner, Te Wahipounamu, Ōpārara Arches, and Punakaiki. This involved:

  • Online training for new editors and Commons photographers (27 July, 4 August)
  • Fortnightly volunteer "postcards"
  • Weekly reports of uploads, edits, and improvements
  • Two Wikiblitz sessions focussed on the reptiles of the West Coast
  • On-site work, including research, interviews, collecting sources, and photography, at:

Media coverage[edit]

DWC did a great job publicising the work of this project, and it featured in print, on the radio, and three times on TV. Coverage included:

  • Sherman, Janna. (5 July 2022). "'Wikipedian at Large' keen to shine light on the Coast." Hokitika Guardian. p 2.
  • Equivalent stories in the Greymouth Star and Westport News
  • "West Coast Wikipedian at Large 2". Development West Coast. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2022.
  • Mike Dickison (11 July 2022). West Coast Wikipedian at Large: Lake Brunner (Television interview). Newshub.
  • Mike Dickison (12 July 2022). West Coast Wikipedian at Large 2 (Television interview). TVNZ Breakfast.
  • Mike Dickison, Kararaina Te Ira (22 August 2022). The West Coast Renaissance: Hokitika Museum (Television interview). Seven Sharp.

Top contributors[edit]

Eleven volunteers signed up to assist with the project. All were working remotely, from Auckland, Golden Bay, Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch. Volunteers reported their achievements as part of the weekly summary, and data was collected by the Project Dashboard. Book prizes (donated by Westland District Library) were given out for best contributions. The prizewinners were:

  • @Schwede66: for article and Wikidata creation, and organising mentions in Did You Know, including a video which received 400,000 views
  • @Marshelec: for creation of numerous articles on waterfalls, tracks, and scenery
  • @Turnagra: for article improvement, and creating a new page on the Copland Track

New Wikipedia articles[edit]

The team created 25 Wikipedia articles from scratch:

Did You Know[edit]

Articles nominated for Did You Know appear on Wikipedia's home page for 12 hours, in which time they can get tens of thousands of views. DYKs for this project were:

Improved Wikipedia articles[edit]

The West Coast team made 974 edits to 193 articles, adding 73,800 words and 653 citations (more stats in the Outreach Dashboard).

New Wikidata items[edit]

Wikidata is the database that underpins Wikipedia; it can keep track of cited references, minor geographical features, and notable topics that don't yet have Wikipedia articles. Items created for this project include:

  • Fourteen Mile Bluff
    Fourteen Mile Bluff
  • Monro Beach Walk
    Monro Beach Walk
  • Te Tauraka Waka a Māui marae
    Te Tauraka Waka a Māui marae
  • St John's, Moana
    St John's, Moana
  • Ross Chinese Garden
    Ross Chinese Garden

Commons categories[edit]

When multiple images are uploaded or compiled, they're sorted into categories in Wikimedia Commons. Some of the largest ones created for this project include:

Commons uploads[edit]

1126 photos were uploaded as part of the project, including over 600 in the category Uploads by West Coast Wikipedian at Large. Here are a selection:

  • Cashmere Bay, Lake Brunner
  • Jack's Mill School and miniature bungalow, Kotuku
  • The Truman Track, Punakaiki

Photo uploads[edit]

Acting as a Wikipedian in Residence I uploaded photo collections on behalf of copyright holders, with their full consent; the benefits and consequences of an irrevocable open licence were explained to them. Contact them with any further enquiries about copyright status and licensing.

Collection Date Photographer Copyright holder Licence
Category:Photos by Jase Blair 4 Jul 2022 Jase Blair (Q99826234) Jase Blair (contact) CC BY-SA

Acknowledgements[edit]

The West Coast Wikipedian at Large project was again funded by Development West Coast. I'd also like to recognise the hard work by volunteers all over New Zealand, and the generosity of photographers like Jase Blair agreeing to release their work under an open licence. Hokitika Museum kindly allowed a camera crew in to film me in their storage rooms. Numerous locals took the time to meet and chat, supplying information and publications, especially Dulcie McNabb, Hamish Macbeth, Cliff Meakin and the DOC offices in Haast, Karamea, and Punakaiki.

—Mike Dickison (User:Giantflightlessbirds), 29 August 2022

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