Microgrants/World War I resources

Overview

A microgrant shall be requested for books and perhaps other materials (DVDs?) relating to World War I. World War I's centenary is, of course, with us in 2014 and activity related to both World Wars is listed in the 2012 activity plan.

Specific books etc to be decided by the community. Bodnotbod will leave a message with en:wp's Military History project pointing them here to suggest the items after this page has been active for a week or so and has survived deletion or other such indignity (perhaps, for example, it may be felt that individual applications for WWI items rather than a bulk application is desirable, though I would argue that this format allows for greater coordination).

This list of books about World War I at en:wp should prove a handy guide.

For Bodnotbod's part, books that provide an overview of the war are most desirable, whereas those who come to the subject with a good grounding may wish to use this opportunity to recommend and/or access works addressing specific aspects of the war in detail.

Budget

At the moment, I'll use this space to recognise the £250 limit on microgrants and inform collaborators on this application that materials purchased will eventually be placed with Wikimedia UK where they will be made available to other volunteers in future.

Timeline

According to en:wp's article the war began on 28 July 1914. And Asquith declared war on 4 August 1914.

Any related project that this grant is designed to support should be concluded in advance of the key anniversaries but it would be prudent to aim for some time earlier. Some discussion of when broadcast and printed news outlets are liable to place the war at the top of their running order would be handy in determining deadlines.

It should perhaps be noted that 2014 will also be the 75th anniversary of the outbreak of World War II, though the 2012 activity plan does - as previously stated - also cover that war.

Expected outcomes

Improvement in a wide range of WWI articles, such as those appearing on:

• World War I template
• Articles noted as holding further information linked to from 'History of the United Kingdom during World War I' and that article itself.

Creation of additional articles relating to WWI.

It is perhaps worth noting that en:wp's article 'World War I' is currently rated as B class but was once a featured article.

Who I am

This application was initiated by User:Bodnotbod but is designed to be collaborative. I have been active on en:wp since 2004 with 11k edits. I've paid two annual membership subscriptions to WMUK but I had a gap somewhere inbetween, I believe, where I lost contact with the project due to illness. I randomly chose to proofread lots of WWI articles last year with no thought of the coming centenaries: I came to the subject with very little knowledge and busied myself with gnome-like activities and addressing readability rather than adding any substantial content. I intend to spend 2 to 4 hours a week in "WWI mode" from now on.

Discussion

This is just as a quick note, since this is still being developed. The microgrant application is looking good, and is really on-topic. We'll probably fund this from the World War budget line rather than the microgrants budget, so I would encourage you to not worry so much about the £250 amount, and also to not wait to get the application perfect before submitting it but to propose something that gets things moving, and then ask to extend it to more resources further down the line. Thanks. Mike Peel 15:52, 18 February 2012 (UTC)