Hi All (cross-posting to make sure I reach as much of India as possible),
As you're aware, we had invited applications for Campus Ambassadors for the upcoming Pune Pilot of the India Campus Program.
The response has been fantastic: we've received ~500 applications/enquiries from across India, ~70 of which were from Pune. This has been really heartening - indicating the desire of many to support the Wikimedia movement. It's also been overwhelming because we need to process all the applications, respond to applicants, etc.!
I think, most critically, it also presents an amazing opportunity for us to introduce new people to Wikimedia projects (especially Wikipedia) - and invite them to join the community. I've interviewed quite a few and there is a recurring theme I hear from many of them. It goes something like, "I've been using Wikipedia for years and years, and I love it. I want to contribute back to it - but I wasn't sure how. Then I saw the banner and decided this was a great way to help." The overwhelming common trait I have noticed in the applicants is that they are bright, well-intentioned and eager to contribute.
Here are some thoughts I had, and I'd love to hear your suggestions/comments on these.
We should respond to every single applicant, and even to those who didn't actually apply but sent emails enquiries (such as "When is the program coming to my city?", etc.) No one should be left behind.
We will prioritise (in terms of sequence of events) the Pune Campus Ambassadors. We need to have a reasonable number available for a training session that we need to conduct before the start of the program. Of the 70 who applied from Pune, we should hopefully get 20-30 Campus Ambassadors.
The important suggestion I had for everyone else (in Pune and beyond) is that we do not "reject" anyone. While some might not become Campus Ambassadors because we don't plan to run the program in their towns/cities right now, or some in Pune might not currently have the desired experience (in teaching and people management), there is no reason that they can't participate in some other roles. Therefore, I don't think we should send any "reject letters" to anyone. No one should be left behind. Instead, we should send them options on how they can participate/learn more about participating. For example:-
i) they could form student clubs in their respective educational establishments
ii) they could form Wikipedia clubs in their workplaces/social groups (as a number of applicants are working professionals, and no longer on campus)
iii) they could become individual editors
For us to try and help realise their potential, here are some thoughts I had:-
i) Invite all the applicants/enquirers to attend the next community meet-ups. This was a suggestion shared by the Pune community. This would give them a chance to interact with the community and understand more about the movement/projects.
ii) Additionally, those who have not been selected as Campus Ambassadors can be reassured by telling them that they can join an "incubation" program. This was a suggestion shared by the Pune community. This would involve them attending meet-ups, learning how to edit, starting to edit - and being supported and hand-held along the way by existing community members. This would help them if they eventually wish to reapply as Campus Ambassadors. Even if they choose not to, they could easily become individual newbie editors.
iii) Invite all applicants/enquirers in a town/city to attend a full-fledged Wiki Academy. This was a suggestion shared by the Mumbai community. This is currently envisaged as a full day session where they are given insights into the movement & projects, taught how to edit, and actually edit articles.
iv) In towns/cities where a full-fledged Wiki Academy is not viable (e.g. if there aren't enough numbers of either participants or volunteers/volunteer time to run a Wiki Academy), then an alternative suggestion is to have a smaller group (3-5) of the applicants /enquirers linked up with a community member who can conduct smaller, shorter groups to explain how to edit and hand-hold them as they edit.
I'd really like to hear your views/comments/suggestions on the ideas listed here.
Also, do let me know which of you would like to volunteer either to help conduct Wiki Academies (point (iii) above) or to manage smaller groups of potential newbies (point (iv) above). Also, it'd be great if we could invite them to your next meet-ups at your respective towns/cities (point (i) above).
Another aspect I'd like to get suggestions from you on is how to manage the process of inviting them to these events. We could, for example, share the contacts of these applicants with the respective communities could reach out and invite them. Alternatively, if you wish this to be done for you, that also can be arranged (though it will put some strain on already stretched resources.)
I look forward to hearing from you. (Please note that we have received applicants from every corner of the country - so please don't assume that the applicants are only from Pune or only from large cities or only interested in English Wikipedia. (They are literally from everywhere, and no one should be left behind!)
Kind Regards,
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
---------- Videresendt melding ----------
Fra: Jon Harald Søby <jhsoby(a)gmail.com>
Dato: 2. mai 2011 03:01
Emne: 2011 Board Elections: candidate submissions are open
Til: wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Kopi: wikipedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, commons-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wiktionary-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, wikinews-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wikiquote-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, wikibooks-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wikisource-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, wikiversity-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wikispecies-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, incubator(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org, wmfcc-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
I'm pleased to announce that the 2011 Board Election now accepts candidates.
The candidacy submission phase lasts from 00:00 UTC May 2nd to 23:59 UTC May
22nd. The election will fill the three community-elected board seats that
are currently held by Ting Chen, Kat Walsh and Samuel Klein. More
information on what it means to be a board member, who is eligible to be a
candidate and how to submit your candidacy can be found on the election
pages on Meta: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011 .
As always, help with translation is very much appreciated. The translation
coordination page can be found at
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Board_elections/2011/Translation .
Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village
pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page
on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list,
board-elections(a)wikimedia.org.
On behalf of the Election Committee,
Jon Harald Søby <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jon_Harald_S%C3%B8by>
--
mvh
Jon Harald Søby <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Jon_Harald_S%C3%B8by>
_______________________________________________
Internal-l mailing list
Internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/internal-l
Dear all ,
Thanks for compliments to Marathi Wikipedia . The reason for delay for response
from Marathi Wikipedians is currently no body at mr-wiki is counting article
count meter , people seem to be simply busy with routine edits, In fact Marathi
Wikipedia anniversary falls on 1st of May and we are 8 years young now :), but
still at this moment some how mr-wikipedians are silent about .
After being with mr-wiki for about five years , am I pleased with where mr
-wiki is today, no not at all; effective difference between say en wiki
establishment and mr-wiki is just less than two and half year and the
difference is too glaring.
When the whole world is in a make believe situation that tomorrow's every human
being is going to be English speaking , for indic wikipedians swimming against
tide is not a easy game.
The woodsare lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
that is for now and best wishes and regards to all
-Mahitgar
________________________________
From: "wikimediaindia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org"
<wikimediaindia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
To: wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Sent: Mon, 2 May, 2011 12:19:03 PM
Subject: Wikimediaindia-l Digest, Vol 35, Issue 4
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: The Marathi language Wikipedia has reached 33, 333
articles on April 24. (Subhashish Panigrahi)
2. Re: Indic Language Wiki Results in Google (With a Chrome
Extension) (Subhashish Panigrahi)
3. Re: 1 user. 20 hours. 300 articles (Gerard Meijssen)
4. Re: 1 user. 20 hours. 300 articles (Steven Walling)
5. About photo upload in Commons (Subhashish Panigrahi)
6. Re: About photo upload in Commons (Shiju Alex)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sun, 1 May 2011 22:55:42 +0530
From: Subhashish Panigrahi <psubhashish(a)gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] The Marathi language Wikipedia has
reached 33, 333 articles on April 24.
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID: <BANLkTi=YATGzysK0Gf6113uL8a98b3Vu8w(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Congratulations to all Marathi Wikipedians for this grand success. We have a
lot to learn from you all.
*
?????SubhashishPanigrahi
????? ??????????
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Odia (Oriya) mailing list
wikipedia-or(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-orfacebook.com/OdiaWiki
Tweet @OdiaWiki
*
Hi All,
Here I am again with few queries about uploading pictures in Commons.
Problems:
1. There are many postage stamps available on eminent personalities which
are to be there in Wikipedia, but as post 1951 postage stamps are not in PD
there is no possible way to keep them in Commons, Any solutions for that?
2. There are many pictures available for eminent leaders, and many of them
are photographed before 1951, but the source is not available and so is the
date of issue. So, I was wondering if I can draw them by hand, scan and
using tool make little correction so that they won't violate the copyright.
Please suggest me if you have any better idea. I desperately want to see the
profile of the prominent people with their pictures. And how about uploading
pictures in Flikr? I have seen many pictures uploaded in Commons have the
Flikr link, and they are marked as Copyrighted in Flikr (By the same author,
I am confused, if it is in public domain or copyrighted)
3. If I have a newspaper cutting and I am not sure about the publication
date how can I find a better way than fair usage? Can I sketch by hand
seeing the published picture and upload in Commons instead of uploading in
regional Wiki?
4. If an image is uploaded is wrongly marked as Copyrighted even if the site
is not the actual source of a picture and the original picture is not
available what the picture will be called? PD/Copyrighted?
5. If some pictures are available by a State Government portal like
here<http://www.orissa.gov.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/febmar2005/englishpdf/tpor…>
is that possible to add them commons?
*
ସୁଭପାSubhashishPanigrahi
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
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Tweet @OdiaWiki
*
Hi,
Tamil Wikipedia added another 1,000+ articles in the last 3 weeks.
Behind this is a remarkable story of 1 user who created 300 articles
organically in 20 hours.
P.M.Puniyameen ( http://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/user:P.M.Puniyameen ) from
Srilanka is a retired academician, prolific writer and independent
journalist. He started contributing to Tamil Wikipedia from November 2010.
In the short span of 5 months he has added 2000+ articles.
He set himself a target creating 200 articles on 20th April but ended up
creating 300 articles in 20 hours. He was helped by his wife, daughter and
two colleagues in typing the articles which were mainly info based articles
on cricketers, small magazines. Earlier, he even created articles from his
bed when he was in a medical rest.
Thought of sharing this story as it is inspiring to see people working with
so much dedication, mobilising people and resources for Wikipedia.
Regards,
Ravi
I've been working for a few hours on a Chrome extension to add links
to Indic Language Wiki pages when searching in Google. It hooks into
Google's search results, and if it finds an enwiki article (to which a
tawiki interwiki link also exists), it'll display it side by side.
Screenshot here: http://min.us/mbmIeeUOb8y00p#1
You can test the extension by installing it from here:
https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/gpoogepkjnjfmpijnpaocncdjbedaee…
It is open source, and the code is available here:
https://github.com/yuvipanda/yenWikipedia/. You can file issues here
https://github.com/yuvipanda/yenWikipedia/issues/.
Known issues:
1. Doesn't work when Google Instant is turned on (turn it off)
2. Doesn't work for some country specific subdomains (which don't have
/search url part. Current solution: use google.com :P)
3. Currently hardcoded to display links to tawiki only (Will have to
build an options dialog to support other languages)
4. Needs a better logo (Help in this department would be highly appreciated :) )
I think this is one step forward in fixing the search issue -
discovering content in Indic Language wikis is now easier.
Thanks to Srikanth Lakshmanan for alpha testing.
Feedback welcome :)
P.S. I'm also working on a Firefox version of this addon. Stay tuned :)
--
Yuvi Panda T
http://yuvi.in/blog
Hello ,
Do we need to do some SEO for the articles which are created afresh since
some articles created by me are not
appearing as a first result while searching through google.
Thanks & With Regards ,
Gaurav Pruthi
*
*
Hi
can anyone on Marathi Wikipedia help, though its off-topic?
Regards,
Ashwin Baindur
User:AshLin
---------- Forwarded message ----------
1. [OT] Help needed with translation/gist of Government
document: Marathi->English (Vickram Crishna)
2. Re: [OT] Help needed with translation/gist of Government
document: Marathi->English (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Sat, 30 Apr 2011 13:29:49 +0530
From: Vickram Crishna <vvcrishna(a)radiophony.com>
Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] [OT] Help needed with translation/gist of
Government document: Marathi->English
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID: <BANLkTikH5bxLZ2+XWU-Uz4TdvFNZ9GHgnw(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
Apologies for completely OT post.
I have a document in Marathi, from the Gazette of the GoM. Unfortunately, it
is a scan of a paper doc, hence it is not possible to reproduce any text
here. I can forward the document to anyone who can help translate it. The
complete document is quite lengthy, about 18 pp, but the relevant text is
4.5 pages (the rest are tables etc).
I need a translation in English, for a meeting scheduled for Monday evening,
which is being held with a view to filing a PIL against the contents of this
government resolution (which purportedly makes it compulsory for state
government employees to register with UIDAI and take a UID, in order to draw
their salaries). Assistance would be very much appreciated.
--
Vickram
Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com>