GLAM/Newsletter/August 2020/Contents/Uganda report
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Participating in the African Librarians Week (24-30 May 2020)
Between 24-30 May 2020, volunteers under the Wikimedia Uganda Community User Group participated in the inaugural African Librarians Week, which came as a result of a partnership between the Wikimedia Foundation and the African Library and Information Associations & Institutions (AfLIA).This week was primarily used to drive the 1Lib1Ref Campaign under the theme "Promoting African Scholars to the World".
As Uganda,2 of our participants were listed among the top 50 contributors (10th and 15th) which was encouraging for our efforts
How was it done
The project was carried out online and took up contributions on both English and French Wikipedias. Activities were also coordinated through WhatsApp groups and "AfLIA country champions" who mentored their country participants, communicated updates and were on standby to answer any questions including but not limited to what kind of sources are reliable, editing, how to edit Wikipedia among others.
Challenges
- Online participation meant that a number of people could not fully participate because of poor internet connections or expensive access to the internet.
- Despite the period given, a number of participants still had competing interests so they did not contribute as much as they would have wanted to.
Results
- Participants from previous GLAM activities in Uganda were named as "country champions" and helped coordinate the wiki-related side of activities
- Opportunities for training partnerships with local organisations
- The numbers and contacts made will form a good number of participants for future events
Statistics
Uganda was represented by 10 volunteers and between them, 641 references were added and 6 articles created. The statistics from the whole project can be accessed here
Good work, folks! African Hope (talk) 10:37, 19 September 2020 (UTC)