Macrogrants/TaPRA

Objective

The Theatre & Performance Research Association (TaPRA) exists to facilitate research through and into theatre and performance. It is based on collegiality with a formal structure that intends to advance informal, productive and dynamic research networks. TaPRA is currently planning to organise and share the association's archival materials on Commons and WikiSources, as appropriate, and seeks WMUK's assistance in doing this in a way that is mutually beneficial to TaPRA members and the global Wikimedia movement. This project is led by Dr Kate Dorney, TaPRA Research & Development Officer, who is also Curator of Modern and Contemporary Performance at the Victoria and Albert Museum and co-editor of the journal Studies in Theatre & Performance.

Goals

1. Release as many TaPRA archival documents and media files as possible under a CC-BY-SA license.
2. Enable TaPRA members to contribute as many TaPRA-related documents and media files to Commons and WikiSource, as well as any other appropriate Wikimedia projects.
3. Train TaPRA members in creating and editing Wikipedia articles on theatre and performance, as well as contribute other theatre and performance materials, as appropriate, to Commons, WikiSource, and any other Wikimedia projects.
4. Create an awareness of knowledge sharing through Wikimedia projects among TaPRA members.
5. Explore ways to develop a long-term working relationship between TaPRA and WMUK.

Resources

• TaPRA is allocating £1,500 to this project and is seeking matching funding from WMUK to extend/double the number of hours/days during which we can employ a person (most likely a theatre and performance postgraduate researcher) to coordinate the retrieval and organisation of all TaPRA archival materials, which are currently scattered across different institutions, including University of Manchester, University of Glasgow, University of Kent, Central School of Speech and Drama - University of London, University of Birmingham, University of Leeds, Plymouth University, and University of South Wales. Providing that this application is successful, the person employed for this project will work on a fixed term contractual basis, providing the equivalent of 30 eight-hour days delivered as per their availability. Postgraduate or early postdoc researchers are normally paid about £100 per day for research on theatre and performance projects.
• WMUK's Education Organiser has expressed an interest in organising at least two training sessions for TaPRA members to enable the goals listed above over a period of 2-3 months.
• TaPRA's Documenting Performance Working Group is made up of a number of academics and postgraduate researchers involved in digital curation and archival preservation of theatre and performance materials. Members of this working group are associated directly with archival structures such as the Digital Curation Centre at the University of Glasgow, Digital Dance Archives at the University of Coventry, the Media & Memory Research Initiative at the University of Hull, and the Theatre Collection at Bristol University. This working group will be the prime environment within which TaPRA will be developing this project.

Constraints

2014 marks the 10th anniversary of TaPRA and it is therefore desirable to have as many TaPRA archival materials released well ahead of the 10th anniversary conference, which is scheduled to take place at Royal Holloway University of London in September 2014.

Outcomes

1. A number of new Wikimedians among TaPRA members is expected. It's hard to determine an actual number at this stage.
2. A substantial amount of archival materials will be released by TaPRA under a CC-BY-SA license, in effect making TaPRA's entire archive freely available online. TaPRA's goal is to release it's entire collection of abstracts, speaker bios, conference programmes, and related media files created since the association was established in 2004; all these materials will find a good home on Commons and WikiSource, while the more notable elements in the collection may also provide excellent source materials for Wikipedia articles.
3. An open resource for future scholars that documents changes in theatre and performance research practice, focus and interaction with practitioners.
4. Other indirect outcomes are also likely, especially in terms of producing new Wikipedia editors in the area of theatre and performance.

Risks

1. Conflict of interest and/or self-promotion issues may initially get in the way with regards to contributions on Wikipedia, but an appropriate workshop addressing this directly as early as possible will certainly ensure that the appropriate guidelines are followed.
2. TaPRA's archival materials are currently scattered across several higher education institutions. Contributions to Wikimedia projects are contingent on the ability to collect the bulk of these materials in good time ahead of engagement with