Grant application: Laurel Historical Society Edit-a-Thon

Status: Approved

Personal information

Please tell us a little about yourself. If you are uncomfortable with posting any of the requested information publicly, please contact the Grants Committee for assistance.

(1) What is your name?

Abram Fox

(2) What is your email address?

abramfox@gmail.com

(3) Do you currently reside in the United States? If not, please specify your country of residence.

Yes

(4) Are you requesting this grant on behalf of an organization or group? If so, please provide the name of the group.

Laurel Historical Society

Description of purpose

Please tell us a little about the project or activity for which you are requesting funding. Please provide enough detail to allow us to evaluate how your request aligns with our charitable mission.

(5) What is the purpose for which the funding will be used?

This funding will support an edit-a-thon at the Laurel Museum in Laurel, MD, sponsored by the Laurel Historical Society (LHS) [Date TBD, likely November 16]. The LHS is non-profit organization whose mission is "to encourage the understanding and preservation of the history and cultural heritage of Laurel." This edit-a-thon will allow us to update existing Wikipedia pages and create new ones related to notable people and places related to Laurel, which furthers public knowledge about the city and allows us to make our holdings and knowledge base more accessible. During this event we also hope to upload a portion of our digitized image collection to Wikimedia Commons, toward the same end (to borrow the Smithsonian's mission) of the increase and diffusion of knowledge. Lastly, this event will help familiarize our volunteers, as well as community members, with Wikipedia/Wikimedia and how to update and share information online.

(6) How does this purpose align with our mission?

Through the successful implementation of this event, the LHS will be able to advance knowledge through the dissemination of information related to its collections in the public domain. In addition to providing a space where individuals and our organization can contribute, we will be able to train individuals on how to utilize Wikipedia/Wikimedia to continue the efforts to increase and spread knowledge.

Grant financials

Please tell us a little about the funding you need. To expedite review of your application, please provide as much detail as possible.

(7) How much funding do you need?

$300 $180

(8) When will you need funding?

TBD [Likely 11/16].

(9) What specific costs will the funding cover?

$180: Lunch and refreshments for the editors and volunteers, from a local restaurant. $120: This will allow us to purchase a Netgear Wireless-N Access Point to allow all of our attendees to access the internet, a requirement for a successful edit-a-thon. The current wifi in the historic building which operates as the Laurel Museum and houses the Laurel Historical Society only reliably covers the office space on the second floor, which is too small to accommodate the number of attendees we are anticipating. In order to allow internet access in the larger gallery space where will set up, we need to boost our current wifi signal with an access point. Additionally, the purchase of this equipment would allow us to easily facilitate future events of a similar nature, both edit-a-thons and other digital events which will allow us to contribute to open access knowledge.

[Note: I had started a previous grant application, and do not think I'd submitted it...apologies if this is a duplicate.]