Learning and Evaluation/Evaluation reports/2015/Wiki Loves Monuments

Wiki Loves Monuments

Summary

Limitations

Inputs

Outputs

Outcomes

Key findings

Appendix

What is Wiki Loves Monuments? How did it start? What does the program bring to the movement?
Read this summary page for a description of the program, data highlights across three core outcome areas, and lessons learned across program implementations.
Use the tabs in the navbar to find detailed sections that dive deeper into the data.

Program history	Wiki Loves Monuments logo Hacia la Libertad, winner of Wiki Loves Monuments 2013 in Argentina The goal of Wiki Loves Monuments is to document the entirety of historic buildings and places around the world through photographs, which are then uploaded to Wikimedia Commons for open use. The project, which was first held in the Netherlands in 2010, is held every September, lasting the entire month. Wiki Loves Monuments uses government generated lists of historic monuments and places to create on-wiki lists that guide participants to monuments and places needing photographs. In the 2013 and 2014 competitions, participants from 55 different countries joined in photographing the listed monuments, buildings, and places, uploading hundreds of thousands of photos under free licenses to Wikimedia Commons. On wiki, volunteers then work to categorize and distribute uploaded images to appropriate Wikipedia articles and project pages. Each country that participates in Wiki Loves Monuments has a jury that reviews each photograph. Juries are usually composed of professional photographers, cultural heritage academics, and Wikimedians. The images are reviewed based on quality and value of the image. Generally, the jury selects the 10 best photographs submitted within their country. Prizes are often awarded to the top three, and sometimes exhibitions are held for the winning photos. Each country submits their top ten images to the international Wiki Loves Monuments jury, who then review the images and awards prizes to the winners. There are also special awards, which are sponsored by organizations. Prizes vary, from a grand prize trip to Wikimania London in 2014, to, most commonly, photography related gear and money.
On content production and quality improvement	Wiki Loves Monuments implementations generated an average of nearly 4,000 uploads and cost around $25 USD per participant and $0.90 USD per upload. The number of media placed in Wikimedia articles per contest was about 350. About 13% of media contributed through the examined Wiki Loves Monuments contests have already been used in nearly 100,000 article pages. More than 5,000 contributions from the reported contests were rated and included: 4,276 (0.8%) rated as Quality Images, 806 (0.2%) were rated as Valued Images, and 182 (0.03%) rated as Featured Pictures.
On user recruitment and retention	The average 2013 or 2014 Wiki Loves Monuments implementation had 153 participants. 68% of those participants were new users. Less than one percent of new users were retained as active editors at three-month follow-up and beyond. Still, those that did survive represent at least 271 new users, 2.4% of those newly registered users from the events, who survived in their third month.
Replication and shared learning	Wiki Loves Monuments program leaders are proactive at producing materials, mainly blogs and other online resources, related to their events which can help others implement their own contest.
Lessons learned	The two most popular goals, those noted as a priority by at least 85% of program leaders each year, were to increase contributions and to build and engage community. The average national contest cost just over $4,600 USD to implement. The average number of staff hours spent organizing a Wiki Loves Monuments contest was 50, while the average number of volunteer hours was 200. The majority of Wiki Loves Monuments contests used donated or in-kind resources in addition to volunteer time, they often relied on donated meeting space and materials/equipment. Notes