Project grants/Improving German literature articles on English Wikipedia / Residence at Freies Deutsches Hochstift

Basic information

Project Title (If applicable)

Improving coverage of German literature and art on English Wikipedia / Residence at Freies Deutsches Hochstift

Proposed by

Medarduss

Are you currently a member of Wikimedia UK?

No

Project description

Briefly describe the issue or problem that motivates this application. What needs are you meeting?

Wikipedia content for German literature and art is not very well fleshed-out. Perhaps this is to be expected, but there are several articles which receive upwards of a thousand page views per month and are start- (e.g. Woyzeck, Georg Büchner) or C-class (e.g. Faust, Part One). I would like to work on improving such articles, and create new articles for other topics related to German literature and art. Most of the articles I wish to create or improve focus on the period 1770-1850. I will upload media from the collection of the Freies Deutsches Hochstift which will be used in Wikipedia articles. For example, first-edition prints of books, which are often used in the infoboxes of novels, plays etc.

Describe project activities. What will you use the funding to do?

I will go to the Freies Deutsches Hochstift in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. FDH is a research institute which runs the Goethe House Museum (where the German playwright Goethe was born and lived for part of his life) and the German Romantic Museum (a museum focused on the Romantic movement). I will spend all of August 2022 (1st to 30th) at the institute, using the library of the institute to improve and create English Wikipedia articles about German literature, art, authors, the institute itself and some of its key people. I will upload images and files of items in the institute's collection to Wikimedia Commons; this includes manuscripts, paintings, drawings and sculptures. I will also discuss usage of Wikimedia with staff at the institute, to hopefully encourage them to incorporate Wikimedia into their work after I have left.

Describe your plan for evaluating this project. How will you measure success? What types of things will you measure (e.g. content, participants)?

I have created a list of Wikipedia articles which I wish to either create or improve during the month, the list can be found here. These are articles I have chosen and some which the institute has requested. I can look at the bytes added to articles etc over the month. I will also count how many files I upload to Wikimedia Commons.

Identify key people involved in this project. How will or could the wider Wikimedian community be involved?

Me, Medarduss. I do not currently have any plans to include the wider Wikimedian community.

If applicable, identify partnering organisations for this project (not essential)

Freies Deutsches Hochstift, Frankfurt am Main

If you feel that there is more information that could be for example resources needed, how successes can be measured, and how it fits in with the aims of Wikimedia and Wikimedia UK. Please note that these answers don't have to be definite now, and can be expanded on in conversation with the programme team.

What targets have you set? What will you measure?

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What contribution will the project make to our strategic goals?

I believe the project is in line with aim 2 and 3. I have tried as much as possible to include women biographies in my chosen articles to improve, in line with aim 1. Granted this is quite difficult because most prominent German authors and artists of the 18th and 19th Century were male.

Who will be recording/measuring the project metrics, and writing up a project report?

Me, Medarduss.

What staff support is being requested?

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How can you get other volunteers involved? What roles could they have?

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What meeting or other space is needed?

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Are other resources needed (such as computers, books, camera equipment, food, contacts, infrastructure)? How will they be sourced?

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If any partner organisations have been identified, have they been contacted and are they committed

Yes. The Freies Deutsches Hochstift is committed to me coming in August. The institute will give me an office space, access to library/ collection materials and other assistance.

Does this project require more extensive funding? What would any WMUK funds be used for?

Possibly. This is my first time applying for a grant, so I am not completely sure what funds I coild be eligible for. I will primarily use any WMUK funds to cover my return flight from BHX to FRA (£248); if allocated funds exceed this amount I will put the rest towards food and transport costs. I hope to stay at a friend's house in Frankfurt which should help keep costs low.

Are external funds needed that we can apply for? If so where will they be sought?

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Are there any resources that you can contribute? Such as equipment.

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