Activity report (Q2 2013–2014)

This report describes the activities of New England Wikimedians from October 1, 2013 through December 30, 2013. Because of a lack of data collection, the amount of work performed at our events remains incomplete.

Content programs
During the quarter, New England Wikimedians held seven edit-a-thons, all in partnership with local cultural institutions. Many volunteers participated in the seven edit-a-thons where we were able to collect data.

In total, as of the end of the quarter, many volunteers have participated in New England Wikimedian's edit-a-thons, which is higher than we expected, especially given our lack of organization as a user group at this time. Press coverage, including an a Brown University post about the upcoming Ada Lovelace Day and another posting from Jezebel helped to drive up attendance at the event in Providence later that month.

Edit-a-thons


The Ada Lovelace Day 2013 edit-a-thon, New England - Brown University edit-a-thon was held on October 15th at Brown University. This was the first of two edit-a-thons regarding women in science, and the first to occur during our fiscal year. The edit-a-thon was held at the university's Pembroke Hall, giving us access to curated reference material used to improve Wikipedia.

The Massachusetts Historical Society Edit-a-thon was held on October 22nd at the Massachusetts Historical Society. The edit-a-thon included the expansion and creation of multiple articles, and was followed by a tour of the society's collections immediately after. The event occurred as part of Massachusetts History Week Open Access Week.

The edit-a-thon was at their main location, giving us access to curated reference material used to improve Wikipedia.

The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine Wikipedia Edit-a-thon was held on October 22nd at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. The edit-a-thon included the expansion and creation of multiple articles surrounding the history and study of medicine. The event occurred as part of Massachusetts History Week Open Access Week.

The edit-a-thon included the use of their rare books and special collections, which allowed participants to gather much in the way of resources, which were then used to write articles on the site.

The Schlesinger Library Wikipedia edit-a-thon was held on October 23rd at the Schlesinger Library. The edit-a-thon included the expansion and creation of multiple articles surrounding women's rights and feminism, health and sexuality, and culinary history. The event occurred as part of Massachusetts History Week Open Access Week.



The Cambridge Public Library edit-a-thon and special behind-the-scenes tour was held on October 23rd at the Cambridge Public Library. Although this edit-a-thon was small by normal standards for our group, it involved some expansions that helped to expand coverage of the Cambridge area.

The edit-a-thon also allowed user to access their research materials, which includes books about Cambridge, city directories and reports, archival documents, maps, photographs, and the complete run of the Cambridge Chronicle. Digital collections include the Historic Cambridge Newspaper Collection and the Cambridge City Directories. The event occurred as part of Massachusetts History Week Open Access Week.

The Northeastern OAMass13 edit-a-thon was held on October 23rd at the Northeastern University Libraries and Archives in the Snell Library. The small event included a tour of their archives after the event, as well.

The edit-a-thon also allowed user to access their research materials, and this included activism in the Boston area. It

The FraminghamState OAMass13 edit-a-thon was held on October 24th at the Whittemore Library at Framingham State University. The small event included a tour of their archives right after the event, as well.

The edit-a-thon also allowed user to access their research materials, and included the goal of increasing coverage of the Normal School movement in Massachusetts.

Community programs
There were no social events held in this quarter, as the decision was made at the board meeting to stop the monthly social meetups, as there was the feeling that resources could be spent doing other things.

Organizational development
The leadership meet on October 5 in our first meeting as a coherent group of individuals. Details covered in this event included the ending of monthly meetings, the appointment of John Sanzi as Secretary, and other minor details of note.

Programs
In general, many of the events that we ran during this period were successful in varying ways. However, we did suffer from overreach during the Open Access to Massachusetts History Week, as there were not enough Wikipedians available to ensure that things remained consistent between each one. As a result of this, we are unable to report the amount of success that we had with each event, nor the amount of material added in all.

Organizational development
We held the first of our regular meetings this quarter, which included a handful of people. During this meeting, we appointed a Secretary and discussed the signing of the User Group Agreement, which both Maia and Kevin had signed in September. The meeting lasted an hour, but it helped to set the groundwork for future events, which will hopefully occur when we become a user group.