[Foundation-l] Oral Citations project: People are Knowledge

Wed Jul 27 13:56:16 UTC 2011

Hi Sarah

I just love the narcissism in this email. I really want to comment but I
don't want to be called a troll again......maybe later.

Much love

Elizabeth

On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 6:36 PM, Sarah Stierch <sarah.stierch at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi all -
>
> I came across a lighter version of this conversation on another Wikimedia
> list, and felt the need to share my similar thoughts and statements that I
> made previously.
>
> For the past year, I have been examining opportunities involving Indigenous
> communities of North America and opportunities to utilize Wikipedia and
> related websites as an affordable, unique and global form of cultural
> preservation. I have my undergraduate in Native American Studies, and I am
> obtaining my masters currently. My final paper (not quite a thesis) for
> graduation will be a strong examination of the opportunities related to
> Indigenous communities and opportunities/pros/cons related to Wikipedia.
> I'm
> actually presenting on my preliminary observations and concerns at
> Wikimania, you can learn a bit more here:
>
>
> http://wikimania2011.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions/Wikimedia_%26_Indigenous_Peoples:_Pros,_Cons_and_Community
>
> In the United States, as far as I am aware, I am the only person thinking
> about this on a higher level. While right now I am quite busy with other
> matters, come this Fall I will be diving head first into my research. I
> will
> be serving as Wikipedian in Residence at the National Museum of the
> American
> Indian, where I will be working with staff to examine these concerns.  One
> of our biggest concerns lies with *oral history*. We have had countless
> conversations about the struggles with "no original research" however, in
> oral history based societies, we will have a very hard time moving beyond
> anything else. As stated previously, the majority of content created
> related
> to Indigenous communities in North America was often written by (and still
> is) Anglo anthropologists - some of that data is highly out of date and is
> still being utilized on Wikipedia as a source today.
>
> This project, Oral Citations, follows closely with the type of work I am
> seeking to do. I have been planning to examine Wikipedia (English at first)
> research policies and consider proposals or changes in relation to serious
> research and Indigenous communities. Of course, it all comes down to
> funding, and Native people of North American are often the first overlooked
> group - it will take a lot of work, years of effort, and a lot of buy in
> that is needed to be gathered from inside the community itself.
>
> I'm babbling right now, but, this is a very passionate topic for me. I see
> Wikipedia as providing an affordable and unique way for Indigenous
> communities to not only learn valuable skills - many of the communities
> here
> in America are among the poorest in the world, you'd think you were in a
> developing country, and kids barely receive beyond an elementary school
> education - but to have a broad arena to share stories (that the community
> chooses to share of course), beliefs, cosmologies, and traditions so that
> they are accessible and *vetted* for researchers and community members
> around the world.
>
> I do hope that some of you are attending Wikimania, I'd like to be able to
> have a break out session of sorts or an unconference to discuss this topic
> further. I'm hoping in the next year to have an international conference of
> sorts that brings together Indigenous people, open source gurus, and
> Wiki-folks to examine opportunities, processes, and belief systems in
> regards to opportunities.
>
> Feel free to email me directly, again, right now I am unable to move
> quickly
> in any major projects due to my already big work load, but, I'm hoping that
> this will be large part of my career work as an advocate for Native rights,
> a scholar, and an open source-lover.
>
> -Sarah
> [[w:en:User:SarahStierch]]
>
> On Wed, Jul 27, 2011 at 8:32 AM, CasteloBranco <
> michelcastelobranco at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > And why does the people who speaks Malayalam, Hindi and Sepedi need to
> > write in English in order to have those oral citations published?
> > English is not as universal as some people think. I guess we need to
> > find an answer in their own language, so the solution won't be another
> > barrier. Also, the escope of this project is much more important for the
> > projects on these languages, and for speakers of these languages, rather
> > than the English Wikipedia or its readers.
> >
> > But that's just me.
> >
> > Castelo
> >
> >
> > Em 26/07/2011 16:16, whothis escreveu:
> > > Looks like an excellent waste of effort.
> > >
> > > Maybe the problem of publishing non-publishable oral sources occurred
> to
> > > someone on the team. Anyway the english wikipedia seems to be the
> > > appropriate place for your original research. I can't wait to read all
> > about
> > > it.
> > >
> > > I still think a research project in emesis in the global south or
> > something
> > > would have suited english wikipedia better but that's just me.
> > >
> > > Your fan
> > >
> > > Elizabeth
> > >
> > >
> > > On Sat, Jul 23, 2011 at 2:38 PM, Achal Prabhala<aprabhala at gmail.com>
> >  wrote:
> > >
> > >> Dear friends,
> > >>
> > >> At the beginning of 2011, a group of us began working on a project to
> > >> explore alternative methods of citation on Wikipedia. We were
> motivated
> > >> by the lack of published resources in much of the non-Anglo-European
> > >> world, and the very real difficulty of citing everyday aspects of
> lived
> > >> reality in India and South Africa.
> > >>
> > >> We are now at a stage where the project is almost complete, and we'd
> > >> like to share our work with the broader movement, especially within
> > >> India and South Africa.
> > >>
> > >> There are three languages we worked within: Malayalam, Hindi and
> Sepedi.
> > >>
> > >> The project page documents the process and logistics employed, as well
> > >> as the findings and results:
> > >>
> > >> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Oral_Citations
> > >>
> > >> A film made on the project is available here:
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> >
> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:People-are-Knowledge.ogv?withJS=MediaWiki:MwEmbed.js
> > >> http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:People-are-Knowledge.ogv
> > >> or
> > >> http://vimeo.com/26469276
> > >>
> > >> There have been discussions on oral citations for some time now within
> > >> the language communities we worked with for the duration of the
> project.
> > >> At this stage, we are really interested in *your* feedback, either on
> > >> this list, or on the Discussion section of the project page.
> > >>
> > >> There are still some things to come, namely:
> > >>
> > >> - Updates on events, meetings and discussions held around the project
> > >> (as they happen)
> > >> - Updates on articles created in Malayalam, Hindi and Sepedi as a
> result
> > >> of the project (as they happen)
> > >> - English transcripts of the interviews and a full English subtitle
> > track
> > >> for further translation (we could use some help here).
> > >>
> > >> We would be very grateful to hear your feedback, and begin a broader
> > >> discussion.
> > >>
> > >> Best wishes,
> > >> Achal
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> foundation-l mailing list
> > >> foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> > >> Unsubscribe:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
> > >>
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
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> >
>
>
>
> --
> GLAMWIKI Partnership Ambassador for the Wikimedia
> Foundation<http://www.glamwiki.org>
> Wikipedian-in-Residence, Archives of American
> Art<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:SarahStierch>
> and
> Sarah Stierch Consulting
> *Historical, cultural & artistic research & advising.*
> ------------------------------------------------------
> http://www.sarahstierch.com/
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-- 
Oops, my karma ran over your dogma.