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Wikimedia Canada shares the vision statement of the Wikimedia Foundation: “Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment.”[1]
- Develop and disseminate free knowledge.
- Promote the use of free knowledge resources
- Encourage the development of open knowledge communities across Canada
- Achieve and sustain a high level of corporate maturity
The Annual Plan for 2017 focuses on the first priority. This Annual Plan is aligned with the the Wikimedia Strategic Plan (2011-2015)[2] and the on-wiki 2017 Strategy of the Wikimedia movement.[3]
Programs[edit]
Right now, an average of two contribution workshops are organized every month throughout the year in Canada. We want to support those and enable new ones in order to increase the contribution of Canadians to free knowledge. Through this program, the chapter aims at increasing the average of contribution workshops in Canada to five every month throughout the year.
Contribution workshops can take different forms, most are edit-a-thons. All aims at increasing the free knowledge through contribution to Wikimedia projects. They can be organized around a specific thematic or be general. They can be targeted to experienced Wikimedians or to newcomers, or both at the same time. The chapter will put an emphasis on contribution workshops that aims at closing the gender gap on Wikimedia projects, both in terms of contributors and content.
In order to achieve this goal, Wikimedia Canada will support its members and other volunteers to host contribution workshops in the country. It will supply financial support for having snacks, which lessons learned showed that it often makes the difference between a succesful and a less succesful workshop. The chapter will also acquire required equipment to be used in the communities where workshops are hosted regularly, including projectors and laptops, as well as visual resources such as rollups and posters, since the chapter has learned that those help to make workshops look more professional and attractive.
Wikimedia Canada will continue to partnership with Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BAnQ) to continue to host regular events such as Mardi c'est Wiki, Mecredi Cartographie, Wikisource workshops and other types of workshops within BAnQ's space. It will also continue to partner with other GLAMUs, including Library and Archives Canada (LAC), to host contributions workhops. Those contribution workshops aims at showing the participants how to use the GLAMU's resources, physical or online, to contribute to Wikimedia projects. The chapter has also learned that hosting contribution workshops with GLAMUs is the best way to initiate lasting relationships and enhance communications.
The chapter will build upon the successes of the workshops "Mardi c'est Wiki" (Wiki Tuesdays) and "Dimanche Wikisource" (Sunday Wikisource) held once a month at BAnQ to expand the program. "Mardi c'est Wiki" are monthly workshops to contribute mainly to Wikipedia where the general public is invited at the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal to learn how to contribute. "Dimanche Wikisource' are monthly Wikisource transcription workshops using archives from the BAnQ. We will put in place a new format Mercredi Cartographie (Wednesday Cartography) where we will partner with the existing OpenStreetMaps Montréal community to hold monthly joint workshops with the aim to add coordinate locations to the archives of BAnQ. We will also enable our members and other volunteers to hold thematic or generic contribution workshops across the country.
For the second time, in October 2017, Wikimedia Canada will organize a Canadian National Contribution Month where experienced contributors across Canada are invited to host different types of events to contribute to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.
Right now, the Wikipetcia Atikamekw Nehiromowin (the Wikipedia in Atikamekw language, a First Nation in Quebec) exists in the Wikimedia Incubator and has approximatly 300 articles, the core Mediawiki interface is 13% translated in Atikamekw language, and the images about the Atikamekw First Nations on Wikimedia projects are all very outdated or inexistant. Currently Wikimedia Canada is conducting the project "Atikamekw knowledge, culture and language in the Wikimedia projects" to support the development of the Wikipedia in Atikamekw language and the presence of the Atikamekw knowledge on the Wikimedia projects (in French and English, and can then be translated by Wikimedians in every languages). By the end of this project, we hope to have the Atikamekw Wikipedia created outside of the Wikimedia Incubator, to have 100% of the "most-used messages" of Mediawiki translated in Atikamekw language, and at least 30 pictures representing the Atikamekw First Nations uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. This project is building upon a pedagogic project carried in the Otapi Highschool of Manawan, Quebec (an Atikamekw Indian Reserve) held in 2013 and 2014 where 160 Wikipedia articles where written by students in Atikamekw language, there were 0 at the start of the project.
The project includes a research part supported by academics from the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and the Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS) with the goal of documenting the project, including recording the lessons learned, the good practices, the concerns of the First Nations, etc. Wikimedia Canada will use those results to develop a toolkit that can be scaled and reused across Canada (and even the world) to carry out similar projects with other Aboriginal communities.
After the end of this project, on 31 April 2017, Wikimedia Canada intends to extand this project into a program to continue the development of the Wikipedia in Atikamekw after the conclusion of the on-going project and to develop a toolkit to conduct similar projects with other Aboriginal communities in Canada. At the end of this, we hope to have at least 500 Wikipedia articles written in Atikamekw, and at least 60 pictures representing the Atikamekw First Nations uploaded to Wikimedia Commons and used in at least 10 Wikipedia articles. The bigger goal is to develop the skills of Atikamekw contributors so their communities can become autonomous in developing the Wikipedia in Atikamekw language. Wikimedia Canada also plan to conduct outreach to other Aboriginal communities by hosting information and training sessions about Wikimedia projects.
The goal of this program is to develop the photographers communities in Canada that support the Wikimedia projects in order to augment the quantity and the quality of images about Canada under free licences. Activities under this program include holding local photographic events likes Wiki Takes Your City. Wiki Takes Montréal was conducted in 2011 and was a huge success with 115 participants despite Hurricane Irene hitting the city. Wikimedia Canada will expand this concept into other Canadian cities, beginning with Quebec City by hosting Wiki Takes Quebec City in the Autumn 2017.
Wikimedia Canada will also organize Wiki Loves Earth in June 2017. This is the first time that Canada participate in this international contest with the goal to get pictures of natural protected areas in Canada to illustrate Wikimedia projects.