GLAM/Model projects/Engaging a different language or cultural community

Languages

There are three reasons, and multiple ways, to approach communities of speakers of other languages;

• To get them to write about subjects already covered in their primary language, on your language's Wikipedia
• To get them to write about subjects already covered on your Wikipedia, in their primary language
• To get them to use images made available by a GLAM in a different country with material that is about their country/culture

You may wish to:

• approach local language colleges/schools; and individual teachers
• use your Wikipedia's "Embassy" pages; or those on the target language Wikipedia - example: w:en:Wikipedia:Local_Embassy
• contact Wikimedia chapters that use the target language (if any)

Cultural communities

Cultural communities include groups of people of different countries or ethnic groups (and so who may speak different languages; see above); people of particular faiths, people who have disabilities, women's groups (as Wikipedia/Wikimedia have a gender imbalance in favour of men) and others

• Approach community leaders; existing organisations community centres, etc
  • be open about that fact that you are outside the community concerned, and are seeking help in working with that community sensitively

Some resources

The skills and strategies for doing these sorts of projects are well developed in other fields. Here are some documents to develop resources from:

• Community engagement on English Wikipedia
• Scottish National Guidelines for Community Engagement
• Engaging Minority and Culturally Diverse Audiences
• A new book, Engaging Diverse Communities
• Practical ways to engage with your community UK Local government advice