Wikipedia:Wikipedia Connection/Annual Reports/2015-16

Preface

By Kevin Payravi (SuperHamster)

Welcome to Wikipedia Connection’s first Annual Report! We have assembled this report to highlight Wikipedia Connection’s accomplishments for the 2015-16 school year and what we expect in the future. Included in this report is the showcasing of our members’ accomplishments, and acknowledgements of all those who helped contribute to our club.

If you’re unfamiliar with Wikipedia Connection, here’s a brief history: Wikipedia Connection was founded back in Spring of 2015 as a student organization at the Ohio State University with the goal of connecting the University community with Wikipedia. Wikipedia is a source most people have used – but may not be familiar with what goes on behind the scenes. Our projects include weekly workshops, edit-a-thons, photography contests, and more. Since our inception, we’ve been growing and trying out new and exciting projects.

In Autumn of 2015, we held our first edit-a-thon, the Buckeye Edit-A-Thon. The goal of this event was to help improve Wikipedia’s coverage of Columbus and our university. From there, we started hosting regular workshops every week to discuss and contribute to Wikipedia. Spring of 2016 saw Columbus’ first Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon, along with Wikipedia Takes Columbus, a photography event where Wikipedia Connection members uploaded 135 photos to the Wikimedia Commons.

I have much thanks to give to everyone who has helped Wikipedia Connection along so far. The utmost of thanks goes towards my close friends who helped get Wikipedia Connection off the ground; without them, we wouldn’t be around. Another thanks goes to all current officers, advisors, faculty assistants, and the greater Wikimedia community who help make everything we do possible.

Overall Stats

30+ unique attendees
14 new articles
18 weekly workshops
4 major events

Officers

Autumn 2015

President: Kevin Payravi
Vice President: Sage Pearson
Treasurer: Maria Rimmel
Outreach Manager: David Peterson
Secretary: Eun-jai Kim

Spring 2016

President: Kevin Payravi
Vice President: Maria Rimmel
Treasurer: Nora Myer
Board Member: David Peterson
Board Member: Addis Wang
Board Member: Jon McMahon

Acknowledgements

Beyond our organization’s officers and members are many other organizations and individuals who helped make Wikipedia Connection’s first year a success, all of whom we’d like to acknowledge on this page and the next.

Wikipedia and Wikipedia-related Organizations

A thank you to the Wikimedia Foundation staff, for providing grant funds and guidance to make all of our events and activities possible.
A thank you to the Wiki Education Foundation, for providing guidance and physical resources for our members.
A thank you to the various members of the Wikimedia community, who provide advice and guidance to Wikipedia Connection’s organizers and members throughout the year.
A thank you to the organizers of Art+Feminism, who provided resources and guidance to allow for Wikipedia Connection to host Columbus’ first Art+Feminism event.

Ohio State Faculty and Staff

Sarah Falls – Head of the Fine Arts Library: Sarah Falls helped found Wikipedia Connection and served as its first faculty advisor. Sarah first approached Kevin Payravi to explore Ohio State hosting its first Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon. This idea evolved into Wikipedia Connection forming as a student organization. While Sarah left Ohio State before the start of Spring 2016, she was integral to the start of the organization and the initial drive behind our first Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon.
Brian Leaf – Instructional Design Librarian: Brian stepped in as Wikipedia Connection’s new faculty advisor in Spring 2016. Brian has since provided Wikipedia Connection with guidance and has connected its members with various Ohio State resources and individuals.
Beth Black – Undergraduate Engagement Librarian: Alongside Brian, Beth stepped in in Spring 2016 as another one of Wikipedia Connection’s faculty advisors, providing guidance and access to resources.
Joshua Sadvari – Research Commons Program Manager: Ohio State opened its Research Commons in the 18th Avenue Library in Spring 2016. The goal of the Research Commons is to provide a hub for researchers to connect with services and each other. Josh reached out to Wikipedia Connection and provided the Research Commons as a space for the organization to host its events. Since then, Joshua has been invaluable in helping facilitate events.
Meris Mandernach – Head of Research Services: Meris has been a big help behind-the-scenes in connecting Wikipedia Connection with various Ohio State faculty, staff, and resources.
Craig Gibson – Interim Fine Arts Librarian: As head of the Fine Arts Library, Craig Gibson worked with Wikipedia Connection to secure physical resources for use in the Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon. These resources allowed participants to research from printed resources not typically available online.
Lisa Iacobellis – Coordinator of Instructional Services: Along with Craig, Lisa provided numerous online resources that participants in the Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon could use, along with suggesting ways to take advantage of Ohio State’s Special Collections.
Philip Arnold – Knowlton Photographer and Videographer: To help Wikipedia Connection prepare for its first photography event, Philip created a presentation with tips, tricks, and guidance for taking good photographs. Philip’s advice helped students capture dozens of photos for the Wikipedia Takes Columbus event.

List of Hosted Events

While our organization was founded in Spring of 2015, Wikipedia Connection did not host any events until the following Autumn semester. Autumn 2015 kicked off our first major event, the Buckeye Edit-A-Thon, followed by a series of weekly workshops. Spring 2016 continued these weekly workshops, along with hosting three major events: a Wikipedia 15 celebration, the Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon, and the first Wikipedia Takes Columbus photography event.

Autumn 2015

Spring 2016

Event Summaries

Involvement Fairs

Every semester, Ohio State University hosts an Involvement Fair. Hundreds of student organizations host booths in one central location for students to walk around and find clubs they may be interested in. Autumn 2015’s Involvement Fair was the first one Wikipedia Connection attended, with a laptop provided for any students to make their first test edit.

Wikipedia Connection at the Autumn 2015 Involvement Fair on the Oval.
Wikipedia Connection at the Spring 2016 Involvement Fair in the Ohio Union.
Kevin and Maria at the Spring 2016 booth.

Weekly Workshops

Starting in Autumn 2015, Wikipedia Connection has hosted Weekly Workshops once a week that typically last 1 – 2 hours each. The first Workshops were located in study rooms in either the Thompson or 18th Avenue Libraries. Starting in Spring 2016, Weekly Workshops found a permanent home in the new Research Commons of the 18th Avenue Library. With funding from the Wikimedia Foundation for the Spring semester, Weekly Workshops are now also stocked with food, refreshments, print resources, and goodies.

The earliest workshops involved a handful of individuals; come Spring 2016, Weekly Workshops have grown to up to twelve participants per week. Workshops have resulted in the creation and improvement of articles, the creation of an Ohio State University portal, the uploading of images, and more.

Weekly workshops vary each week, but some of the activities include:

Short presentations on different aspects of Wikipedia. Some of the topics covered so far include templates, infoboxes, images and licensing, notability, combatting vandalism, templates, and portals.
A chance to ask questions regarding editing and finding things to edit.
Working collaboratively to create and improve entries.
Socializing with peers, both similar and diverse in interests.

Stats

19 attendees over time
40+ articles improved
7 new articles
~5 attendees per workshop in Autumn ‘15
~9 attendees per workshop in Spring ‘16

Buckeye Edit-A-Thon

The 2015 Buckeye Edit-A-Thon was Wikipedia Connection’s first major event with a goal of improving articles related to Ohio State University and the state of Ohio.

On September 8, students and faculty met for 2.5 hours in Thompson Library. The first part of the event included a introductory presentation aimed at new editors, who made up a large portion of the participants – afterwards, editing began! At the end, participants walked away with a better understanding of Wikipedia, the confidence and knowledge to edit, and having been able to contribute to the improvement of live articles.

Stats

15 participants
6 first-time editors
19 articles improved
2 new articles
67 total edits to articles

The Buckeye Edit-A-Thon in action at the Thompson Library.

WikiConference USA

In 2015, WikiConference USA was held October 9th through 11th at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Wikipedia Connection members Addis Wang and Kevin Payravi received scholarships to attend. The weekend involved various presentations on aspects of the Wikimedia movement, workshops, discussions, and more. Addis and Kevin both got the opportunity to represent Wikipedia Connection at the conference.

Addis hosted a presentation on the outreach strategies of Baidu Baike, the largest Chinese online encyclopedia. One of the major focuses of the presentation was how Baidu has programs to encourage college students to contribute to their site. Stemming off of this, Addis also gave a lightning talk on the importance of student organizations for Wikipedia. Kevin also provided a lightning talk that provided an introduction of Wikipedia Connection, its accomplishments, its goals, and how student organizations are important in the grand scheme of Wikipedia.

Addis at the WikiConference
Kevin attending a presentation (on left)

Wikipedia 15 Celebration

Wikipedia Connection kicked off the Spring 2016 semester with its own celebration of Wikipedia’s 15th birthday on January 15. To celebrate the occasion, the Wikimedia community launched a framework to celebrate Wikipedia’s birthday, including guidance for event planning, a place to share media and stories, and a social media campaign using the hashtag #Wikipedia15.

In Columbus, Wikipedia Connection held a 2 hour celebration in the 18th Avenue Library with cake, snacks, and drinks provided. The event began with a short overview of Wikipedia in 2015: what Wikipedia accomplished, interesting news stories, and the major topics that drew editor attention. The rest of the event involved socializing, getting to know one another, and playing ‘The Game About Wikipedia’. The celebration also attracted the attention of a few new attendees.

The Wikipedia 15 celebration attendees.
Wikipedia Connection’s Wikipedia 15 cake.
Attendees playing The Game About Wikipedia.
Maria practicing presenting.

Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon

The Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon is a global fun, inclusive one-day event that brings together diverse communities to create and improve Wikipedia articles related to women in the arts. Despite its wide reach, Wikipedia suffers from a severe gender imbalance: since most editors are men, articles conform to men's interests and perspectives. In an effort to change this, Art+Feminsm gathers diverse women and allies together to celebrate women's cultural achievements and discuss openly ongoing challenges caused by structural sexism.

The main Art+Feminism event occurs annually in New York City in early March, with over a hundred node events also happening around the world. 2016 was Columbus’ first year of hosting an Art+Feminism Edit-A-Thon, resulting in three total node events in Ohio (Cleveland and Cincinnati being the other two).

Wikipedia Connection’s event took place on Saturday, March 5th for 4 hours in Ohio State’s new Research Commons. This was the semester’s biggest event, resulting in 15 participants contributing (many of which were editing for the first time!). 28 articles were improved, and 6 new ones were created:

Chen Aichan
It Is Almost That
Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood
Patricia Fernández
Sadie Lee
Zhang Lina

Kevin presents at the beginning of the edit-a-thon.
The group editing!
The group photo, taken near the end of the event.
Addis presenting his work at the conclusion of the event.

Wikipedia Takes Columbus

Wikipedia Takes Columbus was a ten-day event (April 10th – 20th) for Wikipedia Connection members to upload media to the Wikimedia Commons to help illustrate Columbus and the University. The Wikimedia Commons is one of Wikipedia’s sister projects that hosts over 30 million freely-licensed educational media files.

The goal of this photography event was to:

Introduce members to the Commons.
Learn about Creative Commons licenses.
Learn how to upload media to the Commons and include them in articles.
Learn how to be a better photographer.

Members uploaded a wide assortment of photos, including photos of campus buildings, dance events, parks, politicians, a concert, a protest, hackathons, aerial shots of Columbus, and more. In all, 7 participants uploaded 135 photos to the Commons, all of which are viewable at Category:Wikipedia Takes Columbus.

Wikipedia Takes Columbus also hosted two smaller “sub-events” during the time:

At April 6th’s Weekly Workshop, Knowlton photographer Philip Arnold gave a presentation providing photography tips and guidance.
In place of April 13th’s Weekly Workshop, Wikipedia Connection hosted a Buckeye Scavenger Day, where members explored campus and took photos.

As a fun incentive, prizes were given out at the conclusion of the event. Wikipedia Connection’s Board of Trustees selected a best photo, chosen for quality, uniqueness, and creativity. Two runner-ups were also selected.

Best Photo: Mirror Lake from the West (By Maria Rimmel)
Runner-Ups: Bridge over Hoover Dam (By Kevin Payravi) and Aerial of Lawn Between Smith and McPherson (By Nora Myer)

In addition, a raffle was held that included any participants who contributed at least 15 files to the Wikimedia Commons.

The Best Photos, as chosen by our Board of Trustees, are as follows:

A view of Mirror Lake from the west, and the chosen best picture of Wikipedia Takes Columbus! (By Maria Rimmel)
A view of Hoover Dam in Blendon Township, Ohio, and runner-up best picture. (By Kevin Payravi)
A view of the lawn between Smith and McPherson during sunset, and runner-up best picture. (By Nora Myer)

The Future

Over the last two semesters, Wikipedia Connection has quickly grown to host larger and larger events and attract the attention of more and more people. The following paragraphs outline the general direction we hope to take our organization in the coming school year.

Outreach & Collaboration

As one of over 1,000 student organizations at Ohio State University, Wikipedia Connection has the potential to work with many other passionate student groups. We hope to explore hosting collaborative events with other student organizations, such as hosting an edit-a-thon focusing on another club’s area of expertise, or providing presentations of interest to other clubs’ members (such as presenting on Wikimedia development opportunities to a computer science club). One example we are already pursuing for next semester is to become an organizational organizer of HackOHI/O, Ohio State’s hackathon program, where we can engage the local hackathon community on contributing development-wise to the Wikimedia movement.

Another goal to pursue is engaging professors to bring Wikipedia to the classroom. In the past, Ohio State professors have independently worked with the Wiki Education Foundation to have their students contribute to Wikipedia as part of a class assignment. Wikipedia Connection hopes to bring these programs back to Ohio State by finding new professors to work with who would like to incorporate Wikipedia into their students’ work.

We also hope to expand our reach beyond Ohio State by engaging the surrounding Columbus community. We would like to work with surrounding schools, museums, and organizations to help achieve our goals. This could mean anything from working with libraries to obtain public domain media, to inviting members of various Columbus groups to attend our events.

Longevity

Currently, most of the organization’s leadership and editing experience lies with rising seniors. Longevity of the organization is important, as we hope our program continues at Ohio State for years to come. One of the priorities for the coming semesters will be to recruit a mix of underclassmen and graduate students to the organization, along with ensuring a smooth transition of leadership roles from members who are graduating to those who will be taking their place. One of the ways to do this will be to provide leadership experiences for our newer officers and members.

Here’s to a great 2016 – 2017!

Global Metrics

For Spring 2016, Wikipedia Connection was fortunate to receive funding for the semester's events and projects through a PEG Grant. As part of the grant, Wikipedia Connection kept track of several global metrics, which are listed below.

Note that these metrics are just for the Spring 2016 semester, and do not include contributions made for Fall 2015.

PARTICIPATION (COMMUNITY)
Metric	Explanation	Result	Notes
1. Number of active editors involved	Existing active editors (5+ edits per month) involved at any capacity	4	From January throught April, SuperHamster, Rimmel.Edits, AddisWang, & BrianGainer made at least 5 edits per month on a Wikiproject
2. Number of newly registered users	Newly registered users as a result of the project	14	8 from Weekly Workshops + 6 from Art+Feminism
3. Number of individuals involved	All people participating in the project (organizers, users, attendees, etc.)	31	7 OSU advisors + 24 unique event participants (organizers included)
CONTENT
Metric	Explanation	Result	Notes
4a. Number of new images/media added to Wikimedia article pages	Number of images uploaded to Commons which have been added to Wikiproject pages	7	1 in car club + 1 in Bhangra (dance) + 1 in Mirror Lake (Ohio) + 2 in Hoover Dam (Ohio) + 1 in Mother Reader: Essential Writings on Motherhood + 1 in It Is Almost That
4b. Number of new images/media uploaded to Wikimedia Commons (Optional)	Number of images uploaded to Commons	156	135 photos from Wikipedia:Wikipedia Takes Columbus + 21 event photos
5. Number of articles added or improved on Wikimedia projects	Number of articles that were created or improved	74	34 articles improved during workshops + 7 articles created during workshops + 27 articles improved during Art+Feminism + 6 articles created during Art+Feminism
LEARNING QUESTION
Metric	Explanation	Result	Notes
6. Learning question: Did your work increase the motivation of contributors, and how do you know?		Coming soon