GLAM/Newsletter/March 2020/Contents/Kosovo report
|
WoALUG and NGO Germin call Albanian Diaspora to contribute to Wikipedia
WoALUG collaborate with NGO Germin to make online campaign Diaspora Edits Wikipedia happen
Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group during the past months joined forces with Germin, an NGO based in Prishtina which aims to connect and engage Diaspora in advancing the development of their home countries, to help make online campaign Diaspora Edits Wikipedia happen. Our intention for Diaspora Edits Wikipedia was to engage people from the large community of Albanian Diaspora to help enrichen the coverage of Albanian related articles in the Wikipedias of the countries where they reside. We compiled a list of articles consisting of Albanian personalities, traditions, events, etc. which have little or no coverage in other Wikipedias to give the participants a general idea of what they can contribute to.
Kicking off the campaign and hosting info-sessions for beginners
To begin with, we began the recruitment of the interested participants via an open call on our social media channels providing also a questionnaire for them to sign-up. Having in mind that our target audience might not have prior experience in contributing to Wikipedia, we agreed it is best to host two online info-sessions (we provided two options we evaluated to be best for different time zones) for beginners so they could learn the basics, have a space to have their questions answered and learn more about our UG's activities. After several discussions and meetings with members of Germin, we jointly agreed to start the campaign on the 21st of January and having it last until the 17th of February coinciding with Kosova's Independence Day date. However due to the request of the participants, this campaign was extended for two more weeks - so there would be more time to finish the articles. Members of diaspora from various countries signed up for the info-sessions, each lasting around 1.5 hours. After the sessions, they were asked to choose a topic from the list provided by us, or a topic of their choice (as long as it met the criteria of being related to their homeland).
