Wikipedia:GLAM/WestCoastWPAL/2022 Final Report

From 20 June to 28 August 2022, I (Mike Dickison, User:Giantflightlessbirds) was the West Coast Wikipedian at Large. The project was funded by Development West Coast and reflected the areas they wanted most to see improved—the "tourism icons" of Lake Brunner, Te Wahipounamu, Ōpārara Arches, and Punakaiki. This involved:
 * Online training for new editors and Commons photographers (27 July, 4 August)
 * Fortnightly volunteer "postcards"
 * Weekly reports of uploads, edits, and improvements
 * Two Wikiblitz sessions focussed on the reptiles of the West Coast
 * On-site work, including research, interviews, collecting sources, and photography, at:
 * Punakaiki (27–28 June)
 * Moana (10–12 July)
 * Karamea (25–27 July, joined by two volunteers from Wellington)
 * Haast (8–10 Aug)

Media coverage
DWC did a great job publicising the work of this project, and it featured in print, on the radio, and three times on TV. Coverage included:
 * Sherman, Janna. (5 July 2022). "'Wikipedian at Large' keen to shine light on the Coast." Hokitika Guardian. p 2.
 * Equivalent stories in the Greymouth Star and Westport News

Top contributors
Eleven volunteers signed up to assist with the project. All were working remotely, from Auckland, Golden Bay, Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch. Volunteers reported their achievements as part of the weekly summary, and data was collected by the Project Dashboard. Book prizes (donated by Westland District Library) were given out for best contributions. The prizewinners were:


 * for article and Wikidata creation, and organising mentions in Did You Know, including a video which received 400,000 views
 * for creation of numerous articles on waterfalls, tracks, and scenery
 * for article improvement, and creating a new page on the Copland Track

New Wikipedia articles
The team created 25 Wikipedia articles from scratch:• Haast to Paringa Cattle Track

• Truman Track

• Bullock Creek (New Zealand)

• Wangapeka Track

• Inland Pack Track

• Pike29 Memorial Track

• Copland Track

• Ship Creek (New Zealand)

• Waitakere / Nile River

• Gates of Haast

• Mount Te Kinga

• Roaring Billy Falls

• Ōtūmahana Estuary

• Thunder Creek Falls

• Kangaroo Lake (New Zealand)

• Fantail Falls

• Croesus Track

• Ballroom Overhang

• Pleasant Flat

• Lake Ellery

Did You Know
Articles nominated for Did You Know appear on Wikipedia's home page for 12 hours, in which time they can get tens of thousands of views. DYKs for this project were:


 * 23 June: Greymouth railway station (4,050 views)


 * 25 July: Double nomination of Paparoa Track and Pororari River (|Paparoa_Track 1,749 and 1,266 views respectively; the short DOC video on the making of the Paparoa Track received over 405,000 views)
 * 26 July: Copland Track (2,512 views)
 * 4 August: Lake Brunner (11,494 views, one of the most viewed of August 2022)

Improved Wikipedia articles
The West Coast team made 974 edits to 193 articles, adding 73,800 words and 653 citations (more stats in the Outreach Dashboard).• Ahaura River

• Alexander River (New Zealand)

• Allen River

• Arahura River

• Arnold Power Station

• Arnold River (New Zealand)

• Arthur's Pass National Park

• Awakari River

• Awarau River

• Barrytown Flats

• Basil Collyns

• Beautiful River

• Bell Hill mill tramway

• Big River (Grey)

• Big River, New Zealand

• Bill Meates (rugby union)

• Blackball Branch

• Blackball Museum of Working Class History

• Blackwater River (Buller River tributary)

• Blackwater River (Little Grey River tributary)

• Buller District Council

• Buller Gorge

• Buller River

• Cape Foulwind

• Cave Creek / Kotihotiho

• Cave Creek disaster

• Charleston, New Zealand

• Charming Creek Tramway

• Clarke River (Grey District)

• Conns Creek Branch

• Copland Pass

• Crooked River (New Zealand)

• Denniston Plateau

• Denniston, New Zealand

• Dunollie, New Zealand

• Eastern Hohonu River

• Escarpment Mine Project

• Fayne Robinson

• Fox River (Buller)

• Gaylene Preston

• Glasgow Range

• Granity

• Granity Community Library

• Greenstone River / Hokonui

• Grey District Council

• Grey River (New Zealand)

• Greymouth Airport

• Greymouth High School

• Greymouth Railway Station

• Greymouth Star

• Haast Pass

• Haast River

• Hannah's building, Greymouth

• Harper Pass

• Haupiri

• Heaphy Track

• History House Museum

• Hokitika

• Hokitika Savings Bank building

• Honeycomb Hill Cave

• Inchbonnie

• Jack Cropp

• Jack Steel

• Jacobs River (New Zealand)

• John Paul II High School, Greymouth

• John Ryall

• John Sturgeon Park

• Kahurangi National Park

• Kahurangi Point

• Kakapo River

• Kākāpō River

• Karamea

• Karamea Aerodrome

• Karamea Bight

• Karamea Centennial Museum

• Karamea River

• Karamea War Memorial Library

• Karangarua River

• Keri Hulme

• Kohaihai River

• Kōhaihai River

• Kokiri

• Koranui Incline

• Kotuku Model Bungalow

• Kumara, New Zealand

• Lake Brunner

• Lake Christabel

• Lake Poerua

• Lake Wahapo

• Left Bank Art Gallery

• Lewis Pass

• Little Hohonu River

• Little Wanganui

• Mayor of Buller

• Mayor of Grey

• Mayor of Westland

• Metro Cave / Te Ananui Cave

• Moana, New Zealand

• Mokihinui Hydro

• Mōkihinui River

• Mount Augustus (New Zealand)

• Mount Haast (Buller District)

• Mount Rochfort

• Mount Tasman

• Nancy River

• Ngakawau Hydro Project

• Ōhinetamatea River

• Old Ghost Road

• Oligosoma albornense

• Omoto locomotive dump

• Ōpārara Basin

• Ōpārara Basin Arches

• Ōrangipuku River

• Otto River

• Pancake Rocks

• Papahaua Range

• Paparoa National Park

• Paparoa Range

• Paparoa Track

• Paringa River

• Paul Coll

• Perpendicular Point

• Pike River Coal

• Pike River Mine

• Pike River Mine disaster

• Pleasant Flat

• Poerua River (Grey District)

• Pororari River

• Postal River

• Pukekura

• Punakaiki

• Punakaiki River

• Rapahoe Branch

• Reefton Hospital

• Rewanui Branch

• Rockies Incline

• Ross Borough

• Ross Branch (railway line)

• Rough River (New Zealand)

• Runanga Miners' Hall

• Scenicland FM

• Seddonville

• Seddonville Branch

• Stillwater–Ngākawau Line

• Stillwater, West Coast

• Stockton Mine

• Strongman Mine

• Tai Poutini Polytechnic

• Taramakau River

• Thomas Brunner

• Tyneside Mine

• Upper Grey River

• Victoria Forest Park

• Waiatoto River

• Waiheke River

• Waikiti River

• Waita River

• West Coast (New Zealand electorate)

• West Coast Historical and Mechanical Society

• West Coast Region

• West Coast Rugby Football Union

• Westland District Council

• Westland High School, Hokitika

• Westland petrel

• Westland Tai Poutini National Park

• Westport Airport (New Zealand)

• Wingham Park

New Wikidata items
Wikidata is the database that underpins Wikipedia; it can keep track of cited references, minor geographical features, and notable topics that don't yet have Wikipedia articles. Items created for this project include: •

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Commons categories
When multiple images are uploaded or compiled, they're sorted into categories in Wikimedia Commons. Some of the largest ones created for this project include:• Category:Karamea Cemetery

• Category:National Publicity Studios

• Category:Thunder Creek Falls

• Ship Creek

• Category:Lake Brunner

• Category:Fenian Track

• Category:Monro Beach Walk

• Category:Rakaitane Walk

• Category:Cashmere Bay

• Category:Jack's Mill School Historic Area

• Category:Punakaiki Cavern

• Category:Truman Track

• Category:Inland Pack Track

• Category:Cave Creek / Kotihotiho

Commons uploads
1126 photos were uploaded as part of the project, including over 600 in the category Uploads by West Coast Wikipedian at Large. Here are a selection:

Photo uploads
Acting as a Wikipedian in Residence I uploaded photo collections on behalf of copyright holders, with their full consent; the benefits and consequences of an irrevocable open licence were explained to them. Contact them with any further enquiries about copyright status and licensing.

Acknowledgements
The West Coast Wikipedian at Large project was again funded by Development West Coast. I'd also like to recognise the hard work by volunteers all over New Zealand, and the generosity of photographers like Jase Blair agreeing to release their work under an open licence. Hokitika Museum kindly allowed a camera crew in to film me in their storage rooms. Numerous locals took the time to meet and chat, supplying information and publications, especially Dulcie McNabb, Hamish Macbeth, Cliff Meakin and the DOC offices in Haast, Karamea, and Punakaiki.

—Mike Dickison (User:Giantflightlessbirds), 29 August 2022