Sustaining Wiki Clubs: A Basic Guide
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Wiki Club Jamia logo -
Wiki Club AMU logo
Wiki Clubs do not only act as a bridge between the Wikimedia ecosystem and the scientific community but also promote leadership development in young individuals, who hold the key to the future of any society and community. These clubs play a pivotal role in nurturing upright leadership, fostering academic growth, and developing essential interpersonal skills. As a part of our Leadership Development and Skills Infrastructure Plan, we helped establish three Wiki Clubs in India, aiming at creating awareness about the open knowledge ecosystem. In October 2023, we established the Wiki Club Jamia, and Wiki Club AMU was founded in May, followed by Wiki Club Deoband in July. Over the course of time, we have drafted a sustainability plan for these clubs, hoping it will serve as a valuable model for other open clubs worldwide. We extend our acknowledgement to the NDEC Wikipedia Editorial and Research Team, whose input has been important in drafting this sustainability guide.
Defining the Objectives
Objectives make a major part of any initiative. The first question that needs to be answered while deciding to establish a Wiki Club is what its objectives would be. These objectives usually differ from the mainstream movement entities such as affiliates or WikiProjects. Our suggestion is to think differently, and consider awareness of the open knowledge ecosystem and how ours movement can benefit the students as they are. For instance, the students could be trained in open software, communications, photography, open journalism, and various other aspects. It is important to keep in mind that the clubs are bridging entities so should their objectives be, similar in nature. Once the objectives of a Wiki Club are decided, defining its activity plans and strategic directions becomes easier. Taking a look at the objectives of Wiki Club AMU could do your major job!
First Organizing Team
Looking for the first organazing team is a tough job. Find in your friends or the larger circle someone who is a student and has interest in learning and contributing. Share the ideas with them, and help them navigate the benefits that the ecosystem could bring, both for the student and the institution. It is most likely that they could bring in some like-minded people from their circle to have the initial conversations. It starts from there!
COT Meetups
Once you a some students to be considered as a COT, help them meet frequently, perhaps once a month. Be a part of their conversations. These frequent meetups and discussions help establish a strong foundation of the club. The more serious these conversation, the more better would be the outcome.
Capacity Development and Outreach
Both the capacity development and outreach are important. Our learnings indicate that the clubs should not venture into outreach activities once they have established and well-trained COT members. This ensures that there would always be a good number of people available to offer support. Invest in the skills and leadership development of the initial Core Organazing Team, and help them navigate the movement, eventually leading them to do things without seeking much help! Once COT members are good at capacity, outreach activities become easier. Make sure that every member of the COT is well-equipped with responding to concerns such as what one gets in return, and how the open encyclopedias like that of ours is made more reliable.
Our suggestion is to engage the initial COT members in editing activities for first several months. Help them have conversations with people and experts in relevant areas like parternships. This could do them a lot of help!
Recruiting New Students: Potential Ideas
While that the club has achived a good sustainability, outreach and recruitment of new students becomes necessary. Our friends at NDEC Wikipedia Editorial and Research Team suggest that mini-bootcamps do a good help. These could also help bring in a variety of students from technical backgrounds.
Although mini-bootcamps are beneficial, our suggestion is that for a sustainable development, a similar direction would be needed. Prior to organizing bootcamps like this, make sure you have tried finding some staff supervisers. Organize little talks on open-tech, AI, communications, or other aspects of the larger ecosystem, invite these supervisers, or other professors - this would help creating an inclusive space within the university, and thus enabling ways to do hackathons or mini-bootcamps easily.