Wikipedia:GLAM/National Archives and Records Administration/Featured article contest

National Archives featured article contest

The National Archives is offering prizes for editors who achieve featured status on any of the three articles related to the Charters of Freedom on display in the rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Editors who get United States Declaration of Independence, United States Constitution, or United States Bill of Rights featured, or their equivalents in any language, will receive a gift package including either a National Archives book of their choice or a tote bag, a reproduction constitution on parchment, pens, pencils, tattoos, and other swag. A smaller prize is available for bringing one up to "good" article status. This is a cross-project, multilingual contest, so we have 15 prizes for three articles. There may be enough supplies for multiple collaborators on the same article to win a prize. This prize is not intended (nor would it be sufficient) as payment for editing. Instead, the National Archives would simply like to show its appreciation for editors' hard work. The deadline is August 20. See below for more information.

Why?

The Charters of Freedom on display at the National Archives' rotunda.

If the National Archives and Records Administration can be said to have a core collection, it would be the three documents on public display at the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom in the National Archives' main building in Washington, D.C. The Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, as founding documents that shaped the nation's history, are among the United States' most important treasures. As works of law and political philosophy that have influenced countless other writings and events, they are also among some of the most significant historical documents in world history. Find out more about these documents at http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters.html.

It is the National Archives' mission to make the documents more visible on the web and to educate the public about them. As an institution, the National Archives recognizes that Wikipedia is uniquely situated to help with those goals, and it would highly value quality articles on these subjects. At the start of this contest, none of the articles were featured (or even good articles) on the English Wikipedia and articles on the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights were not featured or "good" in any language. The article on the Constitution was featured at the German Wikipedia, and there were "good" articles at the Chinese-, Japanese-, Russian-language versions.

In addition, the National Archives recently contributed its highest-quality (100+ MB) images of the Charters of Freedom to the Wikimedia Commons, currently the only place they are available See the Commons category.

How it works

Any editor may participate. For now, only the following articles, in any language, qualify for the featured article contest:

• United States Declaration of Independence,
• United States Constitution,
• United States Bill of Rights

Any editor who achieves featured status any of the articles is eligible for the prize. If multiple editors collaborate on an article, there will likely be supplies for more than one (within reason) prizes for the group. Editors can also receive a smaller prize for bringing an article up to "good" article status, or its equivalent on other projects. The contest will run for approximately one month; the current deadline for achieving featured status promotion is August 20.

The prize

Winners may choose from new copies of:

• The Public Vaults Unlocked: Discovering American History in the National Archives Exhibition Catalogue,
• School House to White House: The Education of the Presidents,
• BIG!: Big Records, Big Events, and Big Ideas in American History,
• or a tote bag with the Archival Research Catalog (NARA's online catalog) logo.

These are large, hardcover books with glossy, color pages and they are sold in the gift shop for about $30 each. In addition, winners will receive a kit with other swag, including a parchment reproduction Constitution. Editors who achieve "good" article status will receive similar gift packages and a barnstar, but without the main book/bag prize. Mailing information will be sent directly to Dominic's @nara.gov address and not shared with anyone else; packages can be addressed to a pseudonym if desired.

There is also a National Archives barnstar for winners to display.

See also

Similar contests:

• Wikipedia:GLAM/Derby/Multilingual Challenge
• Wikipedia:GLAM/BM/Featured Article prize