2020–21 Annual Plan Report

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Wikimedia Australia had two programs for 2019-20, with each program made up of multiple projects.
=Final report=
== Program story ==


# 1.   Community Support: To support and strengthen the engagement of the Wikimedia community in Australia; to increase the diversity of participants participating in online and face to face activities, in terms of gender, region, language, and topics/sectors of interest; and to build community capacity.
===== Contracting an inaugural Wikimedia Australia Executive Officer =====
# 2.    Outreach and Engagement: To increase awareness and participation of new individuals and organisations; establishment of two new collaborative partnerships; and participation in global content competitions and wide promotion in Australia.
[[File:Caddie Brain.jpg|thumb|Executive Officer Caddie Brain]]
After nearly 13 years operating with only a volunteer committee, 2020-21 saw a significant milestone for the Wikimedia movement in Australia with the contracting of WMAU’s first staff member, a Community Support and Outreach Coordinator.  


Operational funding was also included to ensure the Chapter and its programs were legally and efficiently managed.
In order to grow, increase partnerships and professionalise its operations, WMAU required additional support to coordinate its community development and outreach work. Since the chapter was established in 2007, the small managing committee has carried responsibility for governance, community engagement activities and communications. While successful to this point, the committee had reached the limit of its ability to continue to grow operations on an entirely volunteer basis.  


== Community support ==
The Community Support and Outreach Coordinator role was a three-month short-term contract position approximately 15 hours per week that managed communications, volunteer engagement and development, and general administration for the WMAU committee and wider community. At the midterm review of progress against the WMAU Annual Plan 2020-21, there were many identified activities within the budget that could not proceed due to COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. [[Grants talk:Simple/Applications/Wikimedia Australia 2020-2021#Approval - Progress March 2021 and Proposal: Request for Allocation of Funds|WMAU reallocated AUD$10,000 to establish the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator]]. This pilot funding enabled both the committee and the coordinator to establish working arrangements and informed WMAU’s annual plan and budget for 2021-22.
The key goal this year was to engage directly with current and emerging editors in Australia. This involved continuing to support WikiClubs, training events and meetups, as well as publishing three [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Publications#Newsletters newsletters].


'''Online community meetings'''
WMAU contracted experienced Wikimedian Caddie Brain, who is well-recognised in the community and familiar with Wikimedia Australia events and operations, to establish the duties and procedures within the interim role. Caddie Brain (she/her) is an independent creative technologist, producer and former journalist. She began Wikiclub NT, a monthly editing club in the Northern Territory that effectively doubled the number of pages for that region and established Know My Name, a partnership with the National Gallery of Australia. She has also produced radio, exhibitions, augmented reality audio tours, machine learning prototypes, Wikipedia editing clubs and recently supported Arrernte young people, artists and linguists to make their own emoji set. She has worked is public programs and exhibitions across the GLAM sector and recently completed a Master in Applied Cybernetics.


A new initiative this year was establishment of [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Category:Community_meetings monthly online community meetings]. This was designed as a solution to the fact that our geography means meeting face to face to be a rare and expensive activity. The benefits of meeting and staying in touch with other Wikimedians can increase participants’ level of engagement, provide a network for finding support and for learning new things. It can also improve on-wiki interaction when people know each other.
Key deliverables of the Coordinator role included:
* Development and implementation of a three-year [[wmau:Communications_Strategy|Communication Strategy]]
* Management and growth of of WMAU’s social media channels
* Planned implementation of the redevelopment and redesign of the [https://wikimedia.org.au/ WMAU website]
* Production of regular newsletters (every two months) for members and partners
* Management of WMAU's brand and visual identity, including the design and production of printed materials and merchandise
* Organisation of facilitation and/or support of 18 online and face-to-face events for WMAU and its partners
* Established new partnerships acting as a main point of contact both for the partner organisation and volunteers involved
* Managed monthly committee meetings, providing agenda preparation, reports and updates
* Facilitated and supported 1Lib1Ref and Wiki Loves Earth campaigns


We were pleased to be offered a low cost  online meeting platform from Fred Dixon at Blindside Networks hosted on the open source BigBlueButton web conferencing software. Having a consistent place to meet each month has been helpful, and by the time Covid-19 made online meetings the only option, we were well-established.
Overall this was a very successful initiative which has significantly expanded the administrative and outreach capabilities of Wikimedia Australia and one we plan to continue.


The program has usually included brief state, national and global Wikimedia news, an opportunity for every participant to report on their activity in the previous month, and to ask questions, or raise issues. Presentations included a WikiSource demonstration (Sam Wilson), 1Lib1Ref launch and presentation from State Library Queensland (Jacinta Sutton), Research partnerships (Heather Ford & Amanda Lawrence), Global strategy and re-branding (Alex Lum); and Wikipedia Day 2020.
== Learning story ==
===== Pivoting to online events =====
[[File:1Lib1Ref 2021.png|thumb|Online drop-in sessions for 1Lib1Ref 2021 in Australia]]
The ongoing travel and social distancing requirements in Australia due to COVID-19 has kicked off a rich period of experimentation and model development for virtual, online and hybrid training training, meetup and community events. WMAU found success with both formal presentation models, edit-a-thons and casual drop-in sessions. Even beyond the acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, WMAU intends to continue to offer both a mix of online and face-to-face (but no hybrid) events.
Key learnings from across these sessions include:
* Use of a more complex video conferencing system such as Zoom enables fuller control and management of participants.
* Multiple facilitators should be made hosts in order to better manage participants and ensure calls continue if the host loses connectivity for some reason. This also ensures participants are all able to move into break out rooms with different facilitators depending on their level and interests.
* Sessions required a minimum of two hours, but a maximum of three hours. An hour-long event only allows enough time for an information session but not significant editing.
* Online events avoid many of the shared IP issues experienced in face-to-face events.
* Introducing and encouraging editing in just one Wikimedia platform is recommended (i.e. editing in English Wikipedia only, not simultaneously introducing Wikimedia Commons as well for new users)
* For an online edit-a-thon (not an information session) around 30 participants is the maximum number to create community and intimacy while ensuring that participants are adequately supported.
* An Acknowledgement of Country is essential at the beginning of each event. As participants are often geographically dispersed, they can also be invited to post the Traditional Country from which they are joining the call into the chat.
* Welcoming participants to include their pronouns in their video name also ensures inclusivity and safe spaces for a diverse range of participants.
* Online edit-a-thons run best when supported by multiple experienced Wikipedians (ideally a minimum of three).
* Inviting participants to share their usernames allows a record of participants and/or an easy way to load editors into a Dashboard. The Dashboard provides a way of staying in touch and tracking participant progress over time.
* The chat function is a useful tool for enabling participants to quickly post questions without interrupting the flow of a presentation.
* Editing counts are generally less than face to face events. Many participants do not have access to multiple screens so following the video instruction and editing simultaneously can be challenging for many participants.
* Slides can be a useful tool to provide participants an introduction to Wikipedia and the WIkimedia movement. Although live demonstration of Wikipedia editing through a screen-sharing function is preferred to slides.
* Preparation is key. Offering participants a range of suggested content to work on ensures a smoother event. Use of a shared spreadsheet avoids edit conflicts and ensures ease of communication between participants. Providing participants the option of working on existing pages as well as new pages is critical considering the limitations of online instruction.
* Once an introduction has been provided, offering participants a range of Breakout rooms, each of which is supported by an experienced Wikipedian enables  a greater level of support for participants with different skills and interests. or example, use of the main room for new editors, provision of a room for experienced editors to undertake communal editing and having a few breakout rooms ready for one-on-one instruction for users that may require a higher level of support. 
* Online edit-a-thons offer a greater opportunity to reach a more diverse and geographically dispersed range of participants.
* Wide advertising of meeting links may generate potentially unwelcome or inappropriate drop-ins into calls.
* Hybrid events with both a face to face component as well as online participants are not preferred. They require a greater level of support and offer a poorer experience for both kinds of participants.


=== Noongarpedia and WikiClubs ===
== Programs Impact ==


'''Noongarpedia'''
|programcontent=
The key goal this year is to engage directly with current and emerging editors in Australia. We have converted to online events for WikiClubs, training events and meetups and online community meetings.


Wikimedia Australia was asked during the World of Wikipedia Conference if we could assist Ingrid Cumming in presenting on the Noongarpedia project and the challenges faced with the inclusion of Australian Indigenous knowledge at Wikimania. Ingrid was funded to attend Wikimania. She presented in the Languages Space on [https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2019:Languages/Australian_Indigenous_language_on_Wikipedia Australian Indigenous language on Wikipedia].
=== WikiClubs ===
Wikiclub activities were significantly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions across Australia. Lockdowns in major cities and risks to vulnerable populations in regional and remote areas limited most events, engagement and travel around Australia. Much of the funding available for these activities was diverted to the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator position.


Ingrid was recognised in the 2020 Western Australian Heritage Awards for her role in setting up and maintaining Noongarpedia, Australia's first Indigenous language Wikipedia. The commendation for an individual who has made a significant contribution to heritage and has demonstrated best practice standards acknowledged that:
State-based WikiClubs had the opportunity to move to online meetups, and four clubs successfully pivoted to online edit-a-thons and meet ups that ran throughout 2020-21. These included:


''Noongarpedia has enabled young people to embrace knowledge as a means of breaking down barriers, enabling ancient Noongar knowledge to become a heritage tool locally and globally.''
===== Women Write Wiki (WWW) =====
[[File:Women Write Wiki.jpg|thumb]]
One of Australia’s longest running editing clubs celebrated four years in March 2021. They have been meeting twice each month at The Women’s Library in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown, to write about Australian women authors represented in the library. At this time, just 16 per cent of articles on English Wikipedia were about women. By March 2021, the group was celebrating four years of editing, activism and friendship, during which they estimate they’ve now created over 300 new pages on Australian and New Zealand women. Their efforts form part of Women in Red and Art+Feminism, whose work to increase the visibility and representation of women on Wikimedia platforms has seen the number of pages about women grow to nearly 19 per cent as of March 2021. WWW pivoted to online meet-ups as of April 2020 and are now transitioning back to physical meet-ups (COVID-19 restrictions permitting).
* Article: [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Four_years_of_Women_Write_Wiki ''Four Years of Women Write Wiki'']
===== Women’s Art Register =====
Despite five lockdowns in Melbourne since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Women’s Art Register wikiclub managed to hold three edit-a-thons - a meetup on 12 November 2020, an event on 6 March 2021 at Richmond Library in Melbourne as part of a suite of national events for International Women's Day and [https://www.womensartregister.org/news/wiki-wednesday Wiki Wednesday] event on 16 June 2021. Coordinated by Caroline Phillips with support from Wikipedian Pru Mitchell, the edit-a-thon draws on Australia’s living archive at the Women’s Art Register, which features documentation of over 5000 artists housed at the Richmond Library in Melbourne.  


'''Western Australia'''
===== WOMEESA =====
Also joining the gender diversity campaign in March was a month-long editing effort from Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australasia (WOMEESA), who after an initial online training session with Wikimedia Australia, spent a month working on the pages of renowned women in earth and environmental sciences.
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/WOMEESA/WOMEESA_and_GSA_Wikipedia_Edit-a-thon_(Monday_8_March) Event dashboard].


[https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiClubWest WikiClub West] held regular gatherings at Riff, an inner city co-working space, catching up and discussing work on Wikimedia sites, and welcoming others to find out more and get involved in Wikimedia.
===== Women in Religion =====
2021 saw the launch of the Women in Religion project. It responds to the underrepresentation of women in religion on Wikipedia, who experience similar levels of bias as other areas, making up just 18 per cent of all biographies. To address this, WMAU is partnering with the University of Divinity in Melbourne led by librarian Kerrie Burn of the Mannix Library to form an Australian contribution to the international 1000 Women in Religion Project that originated in the United States. After an initial edit-a-thon in March 2021, a weekly online meetup is now on every Wednesday offering training and supported editing with Pru Mitchell.
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/University_of_Divinity/Australian_Women_in_Religion_Wikipedia_Project_(2020-2025)/home Program Dashboard]
* Article: [https://www.catholicvoice.org.au/the-australian-women-in-religion-project/ ''More Wikipedia Women''], Daily Voice
* Article: [https://vox.divinity.edu.au/news/australian-women-in-religion-edit-a-thon/ ''Australian Women in Religion Edit-a-thon''], Vox


In 2019, digitisation sessions were held, working with content from the City of Canning Heritage Collection, including material relating to local Volunteer Fire Brigades and Frederick William Davies, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. Wikimedians were involved in an invitation-only Be Connected Seniors Tech Expo, as well as a large outdoor lifestyle event for seniors.
=== Noongarpedia and Curtin University ===
[[File:Nys colours with en gnangarra.webm|thumb|Nys colours with en gnangarra]]
2020-21 saw the development of a new phase of the Noongarpedia incubator project first launched in 2016, an Indigenous language portal in the Noongar language of south west Australia. Indigenous content projects like this are essential in promoting knowledge equity and remains a best practice model for Indigenous language partnerships in Australia, and globally. To continue to grow content for Noongarpedia, funding supplied to Curtin University enabled a set of workshops coordinated by Wikimedian Gnangarra in November 2020. Cultural oversight was provided by Ingrid Cumming, who ensured the accuracy of the language, spelling and audio recordings by Karla Hat and Maitland Schnar with the Nelson and Bartlett Families. Fourteen videos were developed featuring multiple themed sets of words for each video such as colours, body parts etc. These videos were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons in February 2021, and integrated into Wikidata and English Wikipedia.
* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Noongar_language Noongar Language videos]
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Proposal:Nyungar_spoken_words_on_video Project proposal]


'''Northern Territory'''
=== Mini Grants Volunteer Support Program ===
Each year WMAU offers a flexible, responsive mini grants programme for Australian contributors to obtain resources or share their knowledge about the projects and/or WMAU activities.
In 2020-21, [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Funding_Applications six applications were received, with five grants successfully granted].


Alice Springs’ first pub, an opera singer, an artist and a local favourite picnic spot were just some of the pages created at edit-a-thons in Alice Springs. Wikiclub NT supported two workshops at the Alice Springs Public Library on 15 October for Get Online Week 2019. Twelve locals learnt to edit Wikipedia for the first time, supported by Wikimedia Australia’s Caddie Brain and the library’s Special Collections Coordinator Alice Woods. Focusing on local people, places and histories, the group created ten new pages and have since gone on to create 50 new pages related to Central Australia.
===== Visualising Australian Honours - Kelly Tall =====
In February 2021, a WMAU mini grant supported researchers Heather Ford, Tamson Pietsch and Kelly Tall from University of Technology Sydney’s School of Communication who were researching the relationship between Wikipedia and the Order of Australia to understand who is recognised and who isn’t. Across all levels of the Honours, only 11% of recipients have a Wikipedia biography, but the Order announcement is an important signal for establishing notability on Wikipedia, and there is a discernible spike in page creation in the week the awards are announced. The project resulted in an illustrated data essay entitled ''Producing distinction: Wikipedia and the Order of Australia'', A visual essay, an academic paper and news article comparing these two systems of recognising notability of Australians.
* [https://hfordsa.github.io/who-do-we-think-we-are.html ''Producing distinction: Wikipedia and the Order of Australia'']
* [https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/February_2021/Contents/Australia_report Visualising Australian Honours in this Month in GLAM]
===== Coordination of projects in WA universities - Gnangarra =====
In 2020-21, Gnangarra was supported in the purchasing of essential equipment such as a laptop to support the growth, coordination and engagement with GLAM sector and tertiary institutions in Western Australia through events and presentations. Despite limitations to physical events due to ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns, partnerships were initiated with Curtin University, the Seniors Recreation Council of WA, the Historical Encyclopaedia of WA, and University of Western Australia Archaeology Department. The equipment also supported the ongoing Noongarpedia development and the coordination of Wikimania 2021. [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Report:_Co-ordination_of_projects_in_WA_universities Read more.]
===== University of Sydney Write Women - Dr Bunty Avieson =====
Senior Lecturer at the Department of Media and Communications Dr Bunty Avieson was supported in running a Write Women edit-a-thon at the University of Sydney on 8 March 2021, on International Women’s Day. The event provided training and support for 16 new and experienced editors. The funding supported facilitation for the event and light catering.
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/USYD/Write_Women_USYD_(2021-03-08) Write Wiki Event Dashboard]
===== Art+Feminism Laptop Stickers - Caroline Phillips =====
Each year, WMAU supports edit-a-thons around Australia to reduce the gender gap on Wikipedia. Recent years have brought a focus on women artists and creators as part of the Know My Name and Art+Feminism movement. In order to support these ongoing programs, Caroline Phillips of Art+Feminism and the Women’s Art Register was supported in producing 500 vinyl Art+Feminism laptop stickers to offer to participants at events and to encourage participation, support and visibility of the Art+Feminism movement around Australia.


'''Queensland'''
===== Wikimedia Australia pilot internship - James Gaunt =====
The development of a pilot WMAU internship program for tertiary students is underway, supported through a mini grant. The stipend was provided to RMIT journalist James Gaunt to work with WMAU one day per week from June until October 2021 to help establish and road-test the pilot program, relevant documentation and workflows. The internship is also enabling James an opportunity to research and publish case studies on the WMAU website, write resources and internal communications, support WMAU events and workshop activities with partner organisations and contribute to ongoing research projects.
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Wikimedia_Australia_pilot_internship Internship application]
=== Support for engagement in regional and global events ===
As for chapters across the world, 2020-21 presented many challenges to the Wikimedia movement globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel for global events and opportunities simply wasn’t possible due to border restrictions, therefore funding was instead diverted into establishing the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator role. This staff member, as well as WMAU committee members and key community members continued to enthusiastically contribute to and lead regional and international initiatives over 2020-21. These included:
* WMAU committee and community members were regular attendees, presenters and occasional chairs of the East, South East, Asia, Pacific (ESEAP) regional network meetings
* Former WMAU President and Wikimedian Gnangarra is a member of the organising committee of the first fully online Wikimania on from 13 - 17 August 2021.
* WMAU has worked closely to support the new Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand in its first year. As well as ongoing attendance and support from Australian Wikipedians at its events and monthly meetups, WMAU officially partnered with Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand librarians for a joint 1Lib1Ref campaign this year co-hosting six drop-in sessions over the three weeks of the campaign from 15 May until 6 June 2021. Library professionals across Australia and New Zealand added 1650 new citations to Wikipedia in just three weeks. WMAU also supported the production of promotional Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand stickers for use at its conferences in 2021.


QWiki Club, the regular monthly meetup of State Library of Queensland's Wikipedians, continued until the library closed due to COVID-19.
<!-- This section should contain PROGRAM/ACTIVITIES PROGRESS and their description, challenges and learning points, adaptation of your programs for the remainder of the grant-->
Jacinta Sutton launched #1Lib1Ref 2020 at an online community meeting, sharing some secrets on the way State Library of Queensland goes about this campaign. Across the three week campaign running until 5 Feb, 26 State Library editors made 348 edits to 183 Wikipedia articles with support from Jacinta Sutton and Kerry Raymond.


'''New South Wales'''
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Women Write Wiki continued to meet at the Women’s Library, until the convenor, Ann Reynolds supported the community to move online to keep their editing and conversation going through the pandemic.  
=== Content competitions ===
[[File:Crab migration extra - chris bray-1.jpg|thumb|Crab migration, Christmas Island]]
Fifteen photographers from across Australia were recognised in the 2021 Wiki Loves Earth photo competition for 2021. The overall number of prizes was increased from 10 to 15 prizes of $100 due to an invitation to contribute 5 additional winners than past years to compete in the international round. The competition saw 182 people across Australia upload over 1500 photos between 1 May and 13 June 2021, the highest number of entries since the competition began nine years ago. Australia’s competition was run by volunteer Margaret Donald who has been a Wikipedian since 2017.
* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2021_in_Australia Wiki Loves Earth Australia competition 2021]
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/WLE_2021 Wiki Loves Earth 2021 Media Release]
* [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Earth_2021_in_Australia  Entries]


State Library of New South Wales hosted Sydney editors and local GLAM organisations for a Wikidata Workshop on 16 December 2020. Guests and presenters included:
=== Engagement with GLAMs ===
* Wikimedian Liam Wyatt, WikiCite
Opportunities for GLAM engagement in 2020-21 were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Galleries, museums, libraries and archives across Australia were closed for many months with lockdowns and events significantly limited by attendance restrictions and COVID-safe planning requirements. Despite this, WMAU established two significant new programs:
* Wikidata Update - Toby Hudson, University of Sydney  
===== City of Sydney partnership =====
* Wikidata Projects - Geoff Barker, State Library of NSW
[[File:Women nurses on parade, Victory Day celebrations, Sydney 1919 - A-00022427.tif|thumb|Women nurses on parade, Victory Day celebrations, Sydney 1919 - A-00022427]]
* Wikimedia updates - Matt Moore, Wikimedia Australia
WMAU is partnering with the City of Sydney to support its commitment to Wikipedia events and staff training across its network of 11 inner city libraries. So far in 2021 WMAU has helped to support one major edit-a-thon called Picture This at Darling Square Library. Guided by City Historians Dr Lisa Murray and Laila Ellmoos and supported by Wikipedia editors Toby Hudson and Ann Reynolds, participants learnt to upload public domain images to Wikimedia Commons and then add them to Wikipedia pages on everything from Sydney mayors to Sydney suburbs. The City archives holds materials from as early as 1842 when the Municipal Council of Sydney was established, with online access now available for over one million items. The hybrid edit-a-thon featured editors in-person at the library as well as remote participants via video link. Despite the challenge of learning multiple platforms, the 20 or so participants added 43 images to Wikimedia Commons, editing 250 articles. This has led to the development of a formalised partnership that is currently in development. It has already supported an online First Nations edit-a-thon on 10 July 2021, with another scheduled for September 2021.
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Wikipedia_edit-a-thon:_Picture_This Picture This Event Dashboard]
===== 1Lib1Ref =====
Librarians and library professionals across Australia and New Zealand added 1650 new citations to Wikipedia in just three weeks. For the first time, Wikimedia Australia partnered with Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand on a regional campaign, co-hosting six drop-in sessions over the three weeks of the campaign from 15 May until 6 June 2021. Around 50 librarians attended the online sessions (as well a surprise drop-in flamenco guitar player and a child who showed us his toys) who were trained in the basics of Wikipedia and how to add a citation by Wikipedians Siobhan Leachman, Ann Reynolds, Kerry Raymond and Caddie Brain as well as Mike Dickison who facilitated an online LIANZA Webinar. Additional live and online events were also held at the University of Melbourne, Yarra Plenty Regional Library, University of Newcastle Library, Charles Sturt University Library in Wagga Wagga and the State Library of Queensland.
The final results are available here, as are the efforts of the State Library of Queensland and Yarra Plenty Regional Library.
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Wikimedia_Australia_and_Wikimedia_Aotearoa_New_Zealand/1Lib1Ref_Australia_and_Aotearoa_New_Zealand_2021 #1Lib1Ref Dashboard]
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Yarra_Plenty_Regional_Library/1Lib1Ref_YPRL_2021_(May_2021) Yarra Regional Library #1Lib1Ref Dashboard]
* [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/State_Library_of_Queensland/1Lib1Ref_State_Library_of_Queensland_May-June_2021_(May-June_2021) State Library of Queensland #1Lib1Ref Dashboard]
===== Facilitate online training modules for libraries =====
During 2021 Wikimedia Australia is preparing to trial facilitated online training for Australian library staff. Once this course is developed we aim to market this as a professional development activity for libraries, particularly in costly to access regional areas. Content is customised for Australian contexts, and facilitated by experienced trainers.
COVID-19 restrictions have forced a rich period of experimentation with a range of online and hybrid delivery models for training and engagement as outlined in a central learning story. This is providing an opportunity to reach organisations across Australia that we previously couldn’t. Therefore WMAU are creating a suite of training resources to offer online introductory training and awareness sessions for a wide range of GLAM organisations, to formalise the many lessons learnt and new opportunities to overcome regional disadvantage. WMAU contracted Wikimedian Mike Dickison from New Zealand to develop standardised learning modules with follow tasks and certification. These include a series of four one-hour online professional learning modules that provide an introduction to Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata for GLAM staff including learning outcomes, session outlines and learning review tasks, accompanying slide decks, presenter scripts and materials, resources for participants (Australasian case studies, activities involving Australasian content, learning review tasks) and testing of these materials and resources with at least one external GLAM partner with WMAU for rollout in 2022.
===== Implement communications and media strategy =====
In 2021, WMAU developed a Communications Strategy for the first time in its organisational history. The policy’s purpose is to outline the appropriate and strategic use of communication activities and tools (including in person, print and digital) by WMAU and its community. The communications strategy aims to protect the organisation’s reputation by ensuring reliability, consistency and trust, and support membership growth, engagement and advocacy for the importance of Wikimedia platforms and missions. The strategy was  developed by the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator. Caddie Brain, who was contracted to this role, is a former journalist and experienced communications specialist and wrote the strategy as part of her work in this role, with input from the committee and wider WMAU community. It was approved and published in June 2021.


There were a total of 19 participants including representatives from the State Library of New South Wales and the National Maritime Museum. Many of the participants were new to Wikidata so the workshop discussions focused on raising their awareness of the capabilities of Wikidata and identifying the applications that the platform might have to their operations. The session yielded positive feedback from participants with opportunities to further develop the use of Wikidata capabilities by participants and their institutions.
WMAU is also in the process of finalising an official branding suite (logos, presentation and letterhead templates etc) to finalise, professionalise and make its brand consistent, with support of Sydney design agency Ramen Studio.
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Communications_Strategy Wikimedia Australia Communications Strategy]


'''South Australia'''
===== This Month in GLAM =====
WMAU was also a regular contributor to [https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:This_Month_in_GLAM_Australia_and_New_Zealand_reports This Month in GLAM].


Adelaide held one meetup this year on 6 March 2020 with five participants, including one new member.
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'''Victoria'''
As an incorporated association registered in Victoria, WMAU has continued to fulfil its legal, financial and reporting responsibilities as a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). It maintained all relevant insurances and tax statements throughout 2020-21 with support from a contracted accountant as needed.


In July 2019, the Wikimedia Australia, Parlour, and the Women’s Art Register in Richmond partnered to run a Winter Wiki Edit-a-thon on women artists and architects. The thirteen editors created 23 articles. We look forward to partnering with the Women's Art Register on future events to help encourage more women to contribute to Wikipedia, and improve the coverage of under-represented subjects on Wikimedia sites.
The annual Wikimedia Australia chapter AGM was held online on Sunday 14 September 2020 with two new recruits joining the management committee, with significant experience in the tertiary and GLAM sectors, open research and community engagement. The committee has members from four states and territories - the Australian Capital Territory/New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, and Western Australia. Two committee members also stepped up to the executive for the first time into the roles of President and Vice-President. While also well-balanced in terms of gender the committee continues to aim to grow the overall diversity of language, culture and/or age represented in its governance committee. [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Committee Read more about the committee.]
[https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Women's_Art_Register/Melbourne_Winter_Wiki_Edit-a-thon_(Sat_20_July_2019) Dashboard]
Melbourne meetups were held in January and February.


'''WikiCite'''
As per 2020, a Strategy Planning Summit was not held in 2021 due to COVID-19 travel restrictions. WMAU will look to contract a consultant from July - December 2021 to initiate a new strategic planning cycle through a series of two-hour online sessions to set key strategic pillars and objectives for the next three years in board alignment with the international Wikimedia Foundation annual plans and directions.  
Australia’s first WikiCite Workshop was held at RMIT University, Melbourne in October 2019, as part of DisruptEd Fringe - with thanks to Leigh Blackall for the invitation. The goal was to learn about Wikidata and how it supports WikiCite projects, and to get a core group started on contributing. Speakers included Alex Lum (Wikimedia Australia), Thomas Shafee (WikiJournal of Science) and Nicole Kearney (Biodiversity Heritage Library), who spoke about the exciting work underway using Wikidata to develop a bibliographic database and a knowledge graph of academic and literary citations.


Following the interest among participants, Wikimedia Australia applied to run a WikiCite satellite event of the Australian library technology conference, VALA 2020 on 14 February 2020 in Melbourne. We successfully won a WikiCite grant which covered the venue and catering.
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Committee More on the 2020 Wikimedia Australia Committee]
[https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/2020_WikiCite_ANZ WikiCite ANZ 2020 Report]
* [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:2020_AGM/Minutes Wikimedia Australia chapter AGM 2020 minutes]


The 19 participants were Wikimedians, educators, librarians, researchers and open access advocates.
}}


=== Volunteer Support Program ===
== Spending update ==
There were three applications from community members under the Volunteer Support program in 2019-20. One was for event registration to a GLAMSLAM conference, one related to analysing data on the History of the Paralympics Australia project, and the third was for a photographic documentation of current events.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r5Shi9poFgYVVnHea944wBQeG4AE_GidvZGQ4fUUfYY/edit?usp=sharing A detailed budget can be seen here.]


=== Support for Community Engagement in Regional and Global Events ===
Total expenditure: US$24,117.43/AU$32,511.38
As a member of the ESEAP regional group organising Wikimania in Bangkok, Wikimedia Australia had requested funds to ensure members of the organising committee could attend Wikimania. Once it became clear that Wikimania and other overseas travel was not going to be possible, Wikimedia Australia requested that these funds be redirected to an Outreach project: Wikidata: Engagement with Australian GLAMs. See the report on this project under Outreach and Engagement.


== Outreach and Engagement ==
== Grant Metrics Reporting ==
 
Metrics, targets and results: [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_qZxJ7B9U_Eo6pMG55ox-zCHppM9-lubQm0jKI2tn6g/edit grants metrics worksheet here].
Outreach to the wider Australian population is a priority in order to increase engagement. In this program Wikimedia Australia sought to increase the number of people who know about Wikimedia, who understand how it works and who are attracted to contributing. Specific target audiences included educators, the GLAM sector, and rural and Indigenous communities. The objectives for the 2019-20 outreach and engagement program were:
*    Increase awareness and participation of new individuals and organisations
*    Establishment of two new collaborative partnerships
*    Participation in global content competitions and wide promotion in Australia
 
=== WikiTowns ===
There are two aspects to this project: a) development of the QR code technical functionality, and b) engagement with towns interested in being part of the project.
 
WikiTowns was one of Australia's earliest engagement projects, and continued to be successful activity for many years, centred in Western Australia. When in 2018-19 the existing QR codes stopped working, Wikimedia Australia requested funds to identify and resolve the technical issues. After a frustrating period of working out who could or would fix this, we determined that Wikimedia UK held the key to the solution, and we held two constructive meetings with technical and chapter contacts in the UK to work out the best way forward.
 
While the [https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T210050 technical issues have been largely resolved], a combination of reputation damage, lack of volunteer capacity, and restriction on travel have resulted in no further work taking place on this project. The allocated funds for this project were not used and will be returned.
 
=== Content Competitions ===
Competition participation was generally low this year, due to a combination of difficulties with coordination and the twin disasters of bushfire and pandemic.
 
'''1Lib1Ref May 2020'''
 
1Lib1Ref also went online for the May-June session. State Library of Queensland staff met virtually and continued their great work for 1Lib1Ref, with a geographical focus on Brisbane suburbs.
 
This was the second year of 1Lib1Ref involvement by Yarra Plenty Regional Library, and a training day for library staff had been booked since last year. When a face-to-face workshop was not possible, we converted this to a two-hour online training session, followed by a number of drop-in support sessions where Pru Mitchell or Kerry Raymond were available in the library's online platform to answer questions or demonstrate new skills.
 
With library staff working from home, and no access to the local history collections, the project had to find alternatives to book citations. The Victorian Heritage Database became the primary resource, and was used to add detail about heritage places to articles related to the library's community. The project was well-managed by Liz Pidgeon, Local and Family History Librarian, and she and the team added 327 citations. Liz reports that:
 
''participants agreed that local place name articles were a good focal point too for a citations project. They enjoyed the collaborative nature of the training, and enjoyed the local history reading and learning aspect.''
 
'''Wiki Loves Monuments'''
 
The quality of the Australian finalists for Wiki Loves Monuments 2019 remained high. The photo taking out Australian overall winner was a photograph by Matthew Machado, taken from inside the heavy machine shop on Cockatoo Island, or Wareamah, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sydney Harbour, New South Wales. The Wiki Loves Monuments challenge attracts contributions from some great photographers, as well as from a team of editors who work on ensuring data from local heritage registers is added to Wikidata, ready for participation in Wiki Loves Monuments.
Thanks to everyone involved in contributing photographs, data, judging and to Bidgee for coordinating Wiki Loves Monuments.
 
'''Wiki Science'''
 
This was the second time Australia has agreed to organise a local Wiki Science. Many thanks to Dr Thomas Shafee for taking this on. The competition was held at a very difficult time for Australian participation, falling outside university semester, end of school term and in the heat of the bushfire outbreak. There was quite keen interest from scientists for judging the competition, and there were 6 images from Australia submitted to the international judging of the Wiki Science competition.
 
=== Outreach and Engagement with Partners ===
 
'''Partnerships'''
 
'''Franklin Women'''
 
A major [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Edit-a-thon_for_women_in_health_and_medical_research Wikipedia Edit-a-thon for women in health and medical research] was organised by Franklin Women, Sydney to increase the visibility on Wikipedia of women who have made important contributions to the health and medical research sector, as well as increase the number of women who have the skills to become Wikipedia editors. Thirty participants took part at the Women’s College, University of Sydney, supported by Wikimedians, Caddie Brain, Ann Reynolds and Margaret Donald. This event generated several positive media stories, and a significant contribution to content: [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/Franklin_Women/Wikipedia_Edit-a-thon_for_Women_in_Health_and_Medical_Research Dashboard].
 
This inspired a further [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Women_in_Science_Edit-a-thon_UNSW edit-a-thon held a month later at the University of New South Wales].
 
'''Blue Shield'''
 
Wikimedia Australia was approached by Australia’s Blue Shield organisation to help identify GLAM collections that may have been affected based on towns and sites in fire regions. This led to the creation of a list article: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fires_and_impacts_of_the_2019-20_Australian_bushfire_season List of fires and impacts of the 2019-20 Australian bushfire season].
 
'''Art+Feminism and Know My Name'''
 
After six months of planning our major outreach project was launched in March 2020 as a partnership with the [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Know_My_Name National Gallery of Australia's Know My Name project]. Wikimedia Australia co-hosted a series of edit-a-thons with galleries and libraries around Australia on the weekend of International Women's day. Our goal was to create 100 new pages about female creators, also as part of Art+Feminism.
 
Thanks to amazing pre-planning and coordination by Caddie Brain and her team in each state, the weekend saw 125 (mostly first time editors) create 69 new articles about female creators. Across the 7 edit-a-thons, 757 references were added to Wikipedia, and participants edited 223 articles.
 
Our partners included significant state and national art galleries:
* Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs
* Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, University of Western Australia
* National Gallery of Australia
* National Gallery of Victoria
* Parlour: Women, architecture and equity
* Queensland Art Gallery Gallery of Modern Art
* State Library New South Wales
* University of Tasmania, School of Creative Arts and Media
* Women's Art Register
 
 
'''Art, Feminism and Wikipedia in the Classroom'''
 
New and expanded articles on Australian women artists, and 684 new citations were the result of work by second-year students at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University in semester 2, 2019. This course by Dr Louise R Mayhew, feminist art historian, examined art practices, from the 1960s until now, that address subjectivity and identity. Students were guided through training modules on the Programs and Events Dashboard, and the development of research, writing and citing skills for biographical articles. Their final upload party was supported by local Wikimedian, Dr Kerry Raymond.
 
''At the end of the upload session, all 37 students had successfully contributed to Wikipedia, developing 13 new and five improved women artist biographies. Together they typed almost 50,000 words and 700 references, garnering over 700,000 views to date. As a result of their efforts, Wikipedia now hosts articles on Alison Alder, Mikala Dwyer, Mary Macqueen and Vicky Varvaressos, and improved texts on Vivienne Binns, Dorrit Black and Joy Hester, among others.'' (Dr Louise Mayhew paper on [https://acuads.com.au/conference/article/the-activist-essay-art-feminism-and-wikipedia-in-the-classroom The Activist Essay: Art, Feminism and Wikipedia in the Classroom, 2019])
 
'''National Gallery of Australia online training'''
 
When the National Gallery of Australia closed to visitors in March, one disappointment was the interruption to the Know My Name program on which Australian editors had been working as part of Art+Feminism 2020. It also shut out the Gallery's team of volunteer guides.
 
With some creative thinking by the Know My Name Program Coordinator, and lots of preparation work by the Gallery's volunteer coordinator, learning team and library staff, Wikimedia Australia supported online Wikipedia training for gallery guides. A huge thanks to Wikimedian, Kerry Raymond for developing and expertly delivering the 100% online training for new editors, over three 2-hour sessions in June. After the first series of training the [https://outreachdashboard.wmflabs.org/courses/NGA/Volunteers_and_Staff_(2020) training dashboard] showed that twenty new editors have so far worked on 26 articles related to Australian women artists, and contributed 86 references.
 
'''WikiD'''
 
The WikiD: Women, Wikipedia, Design project by Parlour and Architexx was nominated for the 2019 Beazley Designs of the Year Award, and was on show at the Design Museum in Kensington, London until April 2020. WikiD is a project that contributes profiles of women architects to Wikipedia. Since 2015, the collaboration has added over 200 new articles, and made 12,000 revisions. In Australia, posts about women in the sector have increased ten-fold.
 
How do you represent a project like this in an exhibition? Parlour and Monash University commissioned a film from filmmaker Shing Hei Ho and typographer Catherine Griffiths, which provides a sense of the impact of this group of editors. Check out the film WikiD: Women, Wikipedia, Design Wikimedia Australia congratulates Justine Clark, Charity Edwards, Virginia Mannering, Alysia Bennett and all the WikiD team who continue to address the gender gap in architecture and design
 
'''Wikidata and GLAMs'''
 
Recognising the lack of awareness of Wikidata in the Australian GLAM sector, Wikimedia Australia designed a project that could be undertaken during the period when face to face activities were not possible. For the first time, we engaged a consultant to do this work for us, looking for someone with expertise in content development, and the GLAM sector. The role was to undertake a review of the messages and materials that would be required to engage GLAMs with Wikidata.
 
The consultant’s initial recommendations have been published, and she is now developing and trialing materials with several GLAM institutions.
[https://wikimedia.org.au/w/images/7/7d/WikidataGLAMReport.pdf Wikidata: Engagement with Australian GLAMs]
 
'''Public libraries of Queensland join Wikidata'''
 
State Library Queensland contributed a dataset to Wikidata that includes all public library branches in Queensland. This is one of 30 datasets available from State Library Queensland and it was uploaded by State Library of Queensland's Coordinator of Digital Library Initiatives, Rachel Merrick. Data contributed includes library names, addresses, opening hours, contacts, geographic coordinates, website and online catalogue links.There are 328 branches across 73 library services in the state of Queensland, including 24 Indigenous Knowledge Centres.
 
== Chapter Governance ==
 
Wikimedia Australia continued to fulfil its legal, meeting, financial and reporting responsibilities as an incorporated association registered in Victoria, and a charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). A full review of the chapter's financial system and reporting was undertaken by an accounting consultant, who also provided training for relevant office bearers.
 
The [https://wikimedia.org.au/wiki/Meeting:2019_AGM/Minutes Chapter AGM] was held online on Sun 25 August 2019 with three new members joining the management committee. The committee has members from five states and territories.
 
A Committee handover face to face meeting was held over the weekend of 11-13 October 2019 in Melbourne.
 
The follow up Strategy Planning Summit was not held in June 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

Latest revision as of 01:04, 16 February 2022

Final report

Program story

Contracting an inaugural Wikimedia Australia Executive Officer
Executive Officer Caddie Brain

After nearly 13 years operating with only a volunteer committee, 2020-21 saw a significant milestone for the Wikimedia movement in Australia with the contracting of WMAU’s first staff member, a Community Support and Outreach Coordinator.

In order to grow, increase partnerships and professionalise its operations, WMAU required additional support to coordinate its community development and outreach work. Since the chapter was established in 2007, the small managing committee has carried responsibility for governance, community engagement activities and communications. While successful to this point, the committee had reached the limit of its ability to continue to grow operations on an entirely volunteer basis.

The Community Support and Outreach Coordinator role was a three-month short-term contract position approximately 15 hours per week that managed communications, volunteer engagement and development, and general administration for the WMAU committee and wider community. At the midterm review of progress against the WMAU Annual Plan 2020-21, there were many identified activities within the budget that could not proceed due to COVID-19 pandemic-related travel restrictions. WMAU reallocated AUD$10,000 to establish the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator. This pilot funding enabled both the committee and the coordinator to establish working arrangements and informed WMAU’s annual plan and budget for 2021-22.

WMAU contracted experienced Wikimedian Caddie Brain, who is well-recognised in the community and familiar with Wikimedia Australia events and operations, to establish the duties and procedures within the interim role. Caddie Brain (she/her) is an independent creative technologist, producer and former journalist. She began Wikiclub NT, a monthly editing club in the Northern Territory that effectively doubled the number of pages for that region and established Know My Name, a partnership with the National Gallery of Australia. She has also produced radio, exhibitions, augmented reality audio tours, machine learning prototypes, Wikipedia editing clubs and recently supported Arrernte young people, artists and linguists to make their own emoji set. She has worked is public programs and exhibitions across the GLAM sector and recently completed a Master in Applied Cybernetics.

Key deliverables of the Coordinator role included:

  • Development and implementation of a three-year Communication Strategy
  • Management and growth of of WMAU’s social media channels
  • Planned implementation of the redevelopment and redesign of the WMAU website
  • Production of regular newsletters (every two months) for members and partners
  • Management of WMAU's brand and visual identity, including the design and production of printed materials and merchandise
  • Organisation of facilitation and/or support of 18 online and face-to-face events for WMAU and its partners
  • Established new partnerships acting as a main point of contact both for the partner organisation and volunteers involved
  • Managed monthly committee meetings, providing agenda preparation, reports and updates
  • Facilitated and supported 1Lib1Ref and Wiki Loves Earth campaigns

Overall this was a very successful initiative which has significantly expanded the administrative and outreach capabilities of Wikimedia Australia and one we plan to continue.

Learning story

Pivoting to online events
Online drop-in sessions for 1Lib1Ref 2021 in Australia

The ongoing travel and social distancing requirements in Australia due to COVID-19 has kicked off a rich period of experimentation and model development for virtual, online and hybrid training training, meetup and community events. WMAU found success with both formal presentation models, edit-a-thons and casual drop-in sessions. Even beyond the acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, WMAU intends to continue to offer both a mix of online and face-to-face (but no hybrid) events.

Key learnings from across these sessions include:

  • Use of a more complex video conferencing system such as Zoom enables fuller control and management of participants.
  • Multiple facilitators should be made hosts in order to better manage participants and ensure calls continue if the host loses connectivity for some reason. This also ensures participants are all able to move into break out rooms with different facilitators depending on their level and interests.
  • Sessions required a minimum of two hours, but a maximum of three hours. An hour-long event only allows enough time for an information session but not significant editing.
  • Online events avoid many of the shared IP issues experienced in face-to-face events.
  • Introducing and encouraging editing in just one Wikimedia platform is recommended (i.e. editing in English Wikipedia only, not simultaneously introducing Wikimedia Commons as well for new users)
  • For an online edit-a-thon (not an information session) around 30 participants is the maximum number to create community and intimacy while ensuring that participants are adequately supported.
  • An Acknowledgement of Country is essential at the beginning of each event. As participants are often geographically dispersed, they can also be invited to post the Traditional Country from which they are joining the call into the chat.
  • Welcoming participants to include their pronouns in their video name also ensures inclusivity and safe spaces for a diverse range of participants.
  • Online edit-a-thons run best when supported by multiple experienced Wikipedians (ideally a minimum of three).
  • Inviting participants to share their usernames allows a record of participants and/or an easy way to load editors into a Dashboard. The Dashboard provides a way of staying in touch and tracking participant progress over time.
  • The chat function is a useful tool for enabling participants to quickly post questions without interrupting the flow of a presentation.
  • Editing counts are generally less than face to face events. Many participants do not have access to multiple screens so following the video instruction and editing simultaneously can be challenging for many participants.
  • Slides can be a useful tool to provide participants an introduction to Wikipedia and the WIkimedia movement. Although live demonstration of Wikipedia editing through a screen-sharing function is preferred to slides.
  • Preparation is key. Offering participants a range of suggested content to work on ensures a smoother event. Use of a shared spreadsheet avoids edit conflicts and ensures ease of communication between participants. Providing participants the option of working on existing pages as well as new pages is critical considering the limitations of online instruction.
  • Once an introduction has been provided, offering participants a range of Breakout rooms, each of which is supported by an experienced Wikipedian enables a greater level of support for participants with different skills and interests. or example, use of the main room for new editors, provision of a room for experienced editors to undertake communal editing and having a few breakout rooms ready for one-on-one instruction for users that may require a higher level of support.
  • Online edit-a-thons offer a greater opportunity to reach a more diverse and geographically dispersed range of participants.
  • Wide advertising of meeting links may generate potentially unwelcome or inappropriate drop-ins into calls.
  • Hybrid events with both a face to face component as well as online participants are not preferred. They require a greater level of support and offer a poorer experience for both kinds of participants.

Programs Impact

|programcontent= The key goal this year is to engage directly with current and emerging editors in Australia. We have converted to online events for WikiClubs, training events and meetups and online community meetings.

WikiClubs

Wikiclub activities were significantly impacted by COVID-19 restrictions across Australia. Lockdowns in major cities and risks to vulnerable populations in regional and remote areas limited most events, engagement and travel around Australia. Much of the funding available for these activities was diverted to the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator position.

State-based WikiClubs had the opportunity to move to online meetups, and four clubs successfully pivoted to online edit-a-thons and meet ups that ran throughout 2020-21. These included:

Women Write Wiki (WWW)

One of Australia’s longest running editing clubs celebrated four years in March 2021. They have been meeting twice each month at The Women’s Library in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown, to write about Australian women authors represented in the library. At this time, just 16 per cent of articles on English Wikipedia were about women. By March 2021, the group was celebrating four years of editing, activism and friendship, during which they estimate they’ve now created over 300 new pages on Australian and New Zealand women. Their efforts form part of Women in Red and Art+Feminism, whose work to increase the visibility and representation of women on Wikimedia platforms has seen the number of pages about women grow to nearly 19 per cent as of March 2021. WWW pivoted to online meet-ups as of April 2020 and are now transitioning back to physical meet-ups (COVID-19 restrictions permitting).

Women’s Art Register

Despite five lockdowns in Melbourne since the outbreak of COVID-19, the Women’s Art Register wikiclub managed to hold three edit-a-thons - a meetup on 12 November 2020, an event on 6 March 2021 at Richmond Library in Melbourne as part of a suite of national events for International Women's Day and Wiki Wednesday event on 16 June 2021. Coordinated by Caroline Phillips with support from Wikipedian Pru Mitchell, the edit-a-thon draws on Australia’s living archive at the Women’s Art Register, which features documentation of over 5000 artists housed at the Richmond Library in Melbourne.

WOMEESA

Also joining the gender diversity campaign in March was a month-long editing effort from Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences in Australasia (WOMEESA), who after an initial online training session with Wikimedia Australia, spent a month working on the pages of renowned women in earth and environmental sciences.

Women in Religion

2021 saw the launch of the Women in Religion project. It responds to the underrepresentation of women in religion on Wikipedia, who experience similar levels of bias as other areas, making up just 18 per cent of all biographies. To address this, WMAU is partnering with the University of Divinity in Melbourne led by librarian Kerrie Burn of the Mannix Library to form an Australian contribution to the international 1000 Women in Religion Project that originated in the United States. After an initial edit-a-thon in March 2021, a weekly online meetup is now on every Wednesday offering training and supported editing with Pru Mitchell.

Noongarpedia and Curtin University

Nys colours with en gnangarra

2020-21 saw the development of a new phase of the Noongarpedia incubator project first launched in 2016, an Indigenous language portal in the Noongar language of south west Australia. Indigenous content projects like this are essential in promoting knowledge equity and remains a best practice model for Indigenous language partnerships in Australia, and globally. To continue to grow content for Noongarpedia, funding supplied to Curtin University enabled a set of workshops coordinated by Wikimedian Gnangarra in November 2020. Cultural oversight was provided by Ingrid Cumming, who ensured the accuracy of the language, spelling and audio recordings by Karla Hat and Maitland Schnar with the Nelson and Bartlett Families. Fourteen videos were developed featuring multiple themed sets of words for each video such as colours, body parts etc. These videos were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons in February 2021, and integrated into Wikidata and English Wikipedia.

Mini Grants Volunteer Support Program

Each year WMAU offers a flexible, responsive mini grants programme for Australian contributors to obtain resources or share their knowledge about the projects and/or WMAU activities. In 2020-21, six applications were received, with five grants successfully granted.

Visualising Australian Honours - Kelly Tall

In February 2021, a WMAU mini grant supported researchers Heather Ford, Tamson Pietsch and Kelly Tall from University of Technology Sydney’s School of Communication who were researching the relationship between Wikipedia and the Order of Australia to understand who is recognised and who isn’t. Across all levels of the Honours, only 11% of recipients have a Wikipedia biography, but the Order announcement is an important signal for establishing notability on Wikipedia, and there is a discernible spike in page creation in the week the awards are announced. The project resulted in an illustrated data essay entitled Producing distinction: Wikipedia and the Order of Australia, A visual essay, an academic paper and news article comparing these two systems of recognising notability of Australians.

Coordination of projects in WA universities - Gnangarra

In 2020-21, Gnangarra was supported in the purchasing of essential equipment such as a laptop to support the growth, coordination and engagement with GLAM sector and tertiary institutions in Western Australia through events and presentations. Despite limitations to physical events due to ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns, partnerships were initiated with Curtin University, the Seniors Recreation Council of WA, the Historical Encyclopaedia of WA, and University of Western Australia Archaeology Department. The equipment also supported the ongoing Noongarpedia development and the coordination of Wikimania 2021. Read more.

University of Sydney Write Women - Dr Bunty Avieson

Senior Lecturer at the Department of Media and Communications Dr Bunty Avieson was supported in running a Write Women edit-a-thon at the University of Sydney on 8 March 2021, on International Women’s Day. The event provided training and support for 16 new and experienced editors. The funding supported facilitation for the event and light catering.

Art+Feminism Laptop Stickers - Caroline Phillips

Each year, WMAU supports edit-a-thons around Australia to reduce the gender gap on Wikipedia. Recent years have brought a focus on women artists and creators as part of the Know My Name and Art+Feminism movement. In order to support these ongoing programs, Caroline Phillips of Art+Feminism and the Women’s Art Register was supported in producing 500 vinyl Art+Feminism laptop stickers to offer to participants at events and to encourage participation, support and visibility of the Art+Feminism movement around Australia.

Wikimedia Australia pilot internship - James Gaunt

The development of a pilot WMAU internship program for tertiary students is underway, supported through a mini grant. The stipend was provided to RMIT journalist James Gaunt to work with WMAU one day per week from June until October 2021 to help establish and road-test the pilot program, relevant documentation and workflows. The internship is also enabling James an opportunity to research and publish case studies on the WMAU website, write resources and internal communications, support WMAU events and workshop activities with partner organisations and contribute to ongoing research projects.

Support for engagement in regional and global events

As for chapters across the world, 2020-21 presented many challenges to the Wikimedia movement globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Travel for global events and opportunities simply wasn’t possible due to border restrictions, therefore funding was instead diverted into establishing the Community Support and Outreach Coordinator role. This staff member, as well as WMAU committee members and key community members continued to enthusiastically contribute to and lead regional and international initiatives over 2020-21. These included:

  • WMAU committee and community members were regular attendees, presenters and occasional chairs of the East, South East, Asia, Pacific (ESEAP) regional network meetings
  • Former WMAU President and Wikimedian Gnangarra is a member of the organising committee of the first fully online Wikimania on from 13 - 17 August 2021.
  • WMAU has worked closely to support the new Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand in its first year. As well as ongoing attendance and support from Australian Wikipedians at its events and monthly meetups, WMAU officially partnered with Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand librarians for a joint 1Lib1Ref campaign this year co-hosting six drop-in sessions over the three weeks of the campaign from 15 May until 6 June 2021. Library professionals across Australia and New Zealand added 1650 new citations to Wikipedia in just three weeks. WMAU also supported the production of promotional Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand stickers for use at its conferences in 2021.


}} Template:Simple annual plan grants application/Program Template:Simple annual plan grants application/Program

Spending update

A detailed budget can be seen here.

Total expenditure: US$24,117.43/AU$32,511.38

Grant Metrics Reporting

Metrics, targets and results: grants metrics worksheet here.

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