2025:Program/Wikisource in Uganda : Our experience and best practice recommendations
Session title: Wikisource in Uganda : Our experience and best practice recommendations
- Session type: Lecture
- Track: Education
- Language: en
🎥 Session recording: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WIKIMANIA_Day_3_Meru_-_Wikisource_in_Uganda.webm 🎥
In this session, we’ll share our experience contributing to Wikisource in Uganda, with a focus on texts related to Uganda and Africa. We’ll talk about how the Wikisource training cohorts have helped us recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds especially from underrepresented professions ensuring a broader range of capabilities, voices and perspectives are included. These cohorts have helped bring in more editors to Wikimedia through Wikisource and have led to the addition of more texts related to Uganda and Africa. We’ll also share best practices for working with local institutions and how these efforts are preserving Uganda’s cultural heritage and adding to the global knowledge shared on Wikisource. Attendees will learn how targeted training and recruitment can help increase contributions from the Global South and support the preservation of African texts.
Description
In this session, we will share our experience of training editors in Uganda on contributing to Wikisource. We ran two thematic training cohorts aimed at recruiting individuals with diverse backgrounds especially in underrepresented professions to contribute to the free online library. These cohorts have helped grow the number of local editors and adding more Uganda related content.
Our training model, which combines practical editing skills with a focus on African and Ugandan heritage, has been key in encouraging local participation in the Wikimedia community. As the initiative continues to develop, we want to share our experiences, the challenges we've faced, the strategies that worked, and the best practices we've learned along the way. This session will also offer useful advice for other communities who would like to set up similar training initiatives in their own countries or regions.
By sharing this experience, we hope to provide a framework for training editors that focuses on sustainability, local involvement, and the preservation of cultural heritage. We will also look at how these efforts align with the global goal of increasing knowledge representation from the Global South.
Aims of the Session:
To share our experiences and the lessons we’ve learned from running two training cohorts aimed at recruiting Wikisource editors in Uganda.
To discuss the impact of these cohorts on increasing the number of Ugandan editors and adding more texts related to Uganda and Africa to Wikisource.
To highlight the best ways of training editors on contributing to Wikisource, especially in areas with challenges like limited technology for digitising texts and language representation.
To inspire and guide other Wikimedia communities who want to run similar training programmes in their own countries.
To show the important role of targeted recruitment in promoting creation of quality content on the different Wikimedia platforms case in point Wikisource.
Objectives of the Session:
Give an overview of the two training cohorts we ran in Uganda, including how we recruited, trained, and supported new editors on Wikisource.
Share the key successes, challenges, and solutions we found during the training process.
Discuss how these efforts have led to more representation of Ugandan and African texts on Wikisource, helping to preserve and share valuable cultural knowledge.
Offer practical advice for adapting training programmes to different local contexts and encouraging participation from diverse communities.
Suggest ways to sustain and grow these training initiatives, ensuring long-term contributions to Wikisource.
Encourage global collaboration by showing the positive impact of local training efforts and their potential to reach a wider global audience.
Target Audience: This session is for Wikimedians, librarians, educators, community organisers, and anyone interested in encouraging contributions to Wikisource, especially from underrepresented regions. It will be particularly useful for those who want to train and mentor new contributors and improve the diversity of content on Wikisource.
- How does your session relate to the event theme, Wikimania@20 – Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability?
This session is all about inclusivity, impact, and sustainability. It encourages people from diverse backgrounds, especially from underrepresented professions, to contribute to Wikisource, ensuring a broader range of capabilities, voices and perspectives are included. By increasing the number of local editors and adding more Uganda related content , it narrows the gap and creates a measurable impact on the diversity of knowledge shared online. Additionally, the session focuses on sustainability by offering a training model that can be adapted and used in different communities, helping them continue contributing to Wikisource in the long run.
- What is the experience level needed for the audience for your session?
Everyone can participate in this session
Resources
Speakers
- Nanteza Divine Gabriella
- A volunteer with the Wikimedia Community User Group Uganda. Participates in events and campaigns related to GLAM.