Dear Ravi and Tamil Wikimedians,
This is fantastic news!
Congratulations to Prof. C.R. Selvakumar and all the Tamil Wikimedians
and to Prof. P.R. Nakkeeran of (Tamil Virtual Academy) for this
significant content donation!!
Best wishes,
Vishnu
On Saturday 30 August 2014 08:10 PM, Ravishankar wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Tamil Development Board (an autonomous institution under Government of
> Tamilnadu) releases its Encyclopedia (10 volumes, 7407 pages) and
> Children's Encyclopedia (10 volumes, 969 pages) under Creative Commons
> license. Tamil Wikipedians lead by Prof. C. R. Selvakumar and Prof. P.
> R. Nakkeeran, (Director, Tamil Virtual Academy) spearheaded this
> initiative coinciding with Tamil Wikipedia's 10 years celebrations.
>
> An official confirmation (in Tamil) can be seen at
>
> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Letter_from_Tamil_Devel…
>
> Scanned copies of these works are already available at
>
> http://tamilvu.org/library/kulandaikal/lku00/html/lku00ind.htm
>
> At Tamil Wikipedia, we are discussing how we can get this content
> typed and transferred to WikiSource. Doing so can be a good model to
> encourage more such works to be released in public domain.
>
> Following are two options I can think of:
>
> 1. Volunteers type all the content. Besides taking years to complete,
> this won't do justice for the value of time of volunteers who can do
> more valuable work than typing mechanically.
>
> A program like IT@School present in Kerala or a contest can encourage
> more people to join this effort but not all communities can't emulate
> this model successfully.
>
> 2. Request WMF to give a grant to the owner of the content and let
> them hand over the typed content to Wikisource volunteers who will
> upload and wikify the content.
>
> This will ensure maintaining the spirit of volunteerism and yet
> getting the work done in a professional and time bound manner.
>
> Numerous works in Wikisource are such ready made content uploaded
> already in the web through other projects like Project Gutenberg.
>
> If providing grants to non-Wikimedia organizations is an issue, a
> grant towards this can be given to community / chapter who will then
> outsource the typing work.
>
> I welcome community's input on any other model for this as India has
> vast amount of literature and works like this are waiting to be
> transfered to Wikisource. This is one area where we can add lot of
> content to Wiki projects at once.
>
> Ravi
>
>
>
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Dear all,
Apologies for the delay in sharing the monthly bulletin. Below is the
details of the activities by Centre for Internet and Society's Access To
Knowledge program (CIS-A2K).
University of Mysore Re-releases Kannada Vishwakosha (Encyclopaedia) under
Creative Commons Free License
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/university-of-mysore-releases-kannada-vi…>
The University of Mysore and the Centre for Internet and Society
co-organized the Open Knowledge Day in Mysore on July 15, 2014. On this
occasion Mysore University released six volumes of Kannada Vishwakosha
under the Creative Commons (CC) license. Kannada Vishwakosha brought out by
the University of Mysore <http://www.uni-mysore.ac.in/> can easily be
termed as the best encyclopaedia in Kannada. It has been modelled after the
famous Britannica encyclopaedia. Mysore University Vishwakosha has 14
volumes having a total of 13802 pages. The very first volume was brought
out in the year 1969 and the final volume was released in 2004. Many famous
Kannada authors, scientists, academicians and stalwarts from other fields
have worked on creating this encyclopaedia.
Leading English and Kannada dailies like Andolana Kannada, City Today,
Deccan Herald, Hosa Diganta, Kannada Jana Mana, Kannada Prabha, Rajya
Dharma, Samyukta Karnataka, The Hindu, The New Indian Express, Udayavani,
Vijaya Karnataka, and Vijaya Vani published about this. Scanned versions of
the published articles can be downloaded from:
http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/open-knowledge-day-mysore-media-coverage…
AnnouncementOur grant application to the Funds Dissemination Committee
(FDC) of the Wikimedia Foundation was approved by its board which met in
Frankfurt from May 21 to 24, 2014. CIS had requested a grant of Rs.
18,406,454 and were awarded Rs. 12,000,000
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2013-2014_ro…>
for the next one year.
Articles / Blog Entries
1. Aircel & Wikimedia Foundation announce Wikipedia Zero
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/prajavani-july-3-2014-article-on-wikiped…>
(by Dr. U.B.Pavanaja, Prajavani, July 3, 2014). As per this, users of
Aircel need not pay for data for accessing Wikipedia.
2. ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷରସଜ୍ଜା
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/article-on-akruti-unicode-converter-in-s…>
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, Samaja, July 4, 2014).
3. State of Odia Language in Computing and Future Steps
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/state-of-odia-language-in-computing-and-…>
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, Sovereign for national Level Seminar on "Computer
Application and Odia Language", July 7, 2014).
4. ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ବିକାଶର ରାସ୍ତା
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/sambad-july-21-2014-paths-for-developmen…>
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, The Sambad, July 23, 2014).
5. Wiki Loves Pride 2014 and Adding Diversity to Wikipedia
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/wikimedia-blog-dorothy-howard-wiki-loves…>
(by Dorothy Howard, Wikimedia Blog, July 25, 2014).
6. Doctors and Translators Are Working Together to Bridge Wikipedia's
Medical Language Gap
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-july-…>
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, Global Voices, July 27, 2014). This was
re-published
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/07/30/doctors-working-to-bridge-wikipedias-…>
on the Wikimedia Blog, July 30, 2014.
7. Classical Odia Language in the Digital Age
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/odisha-review-june-2014-classical-odia-l…>
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, Odisha Review, posted on July 28, 2014). The
essay was published in the magazine’s June edition.
Event Organized
1. Open Knowledge Day
<http://cis-india.org/openness/events/open-knowledge-day-mysore>
(co-organized by Mysore University and CIS-A2K, Kuvempu Institute of
Kannada Studies, University of Mysore, July 15, 2014). The event coincided
with the Open Knowledge Festival in Berlin from July 15 to 17. Dr.
U.B.Pavanaja conducted the event.
2. Wikipedia orientation for Christ University UG students, Bangalore
Participation in Events
1. National Level Seminar on Computer Application and Odia Language
<http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/state-of-odia-language-in-computing-and-…>
(organized by Institute of Odia Studies and Research, July 6, 2014).
Subhashish Panigrahi was a panelist.
2. Open Knowledge Festival 2014
<http://cis-india.org/news/ok-festival-2014> (organized by Google,
Omidyar, et.al., Berlin, July 15 – 17, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi
represented India as the India Ambassador of OpenGLAM local and made a
presentation.
3. # NAMA: The Future of Indic Languages
<http://cis-india.org/news/nama-the-future-of-indic-languages>
(organized by Medianama, The Oberoi Hotel, Bangalore, July 24, 2014).
Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event.
4. Kannada Wikipedia Presentation for Kannada Science Writers (organized
by Karnataka Rajya Vijnana Parishath at PDA College of Engineering,
Gulbarga, July 29, 2014). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja gave the presentation and demo.
Thirty-two participants attended the workshop.
5. Kannada Wikipedia Presentation for Students and Research Scholars
(organized by Central University of Karnataka, Gulbarga, July 30, 2014).
Dr. U. B. Pavanaja gave the presentation and demo. 37 participants attended
the presentation.
6. Talk about Kannada Wikipedia (organized by District Kannada Sahithya
Parishath, S.M. Pandit Auditorium, Gulbarga, July 30, 2014). Dr. U.B.
Pavanaja gave a talk as inaugurator of the first session of the Jilla
Sahithya Sammelana (district literary festival). About 600 people attended
this talk.
News and Media CoverageCIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media
coverage:
1. Wikipedia edit-a-thons to add content on LGBTs
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-july-7-2014-renuka-phadnis-wikipedia-ed…>
(by Renuka Phadnis, The Hindu, July 7, 2014).
2. Font problem hits Odia
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-telegraph-july-7-2014-bibhuti-barik-font-prob…>
(by Bibhuti Barik, The Telegraph, July 7, 2014).
3. Four volumes of Kannada Encyclopaedia digitised
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-july-12-2014-r-krishna-kumar-four-volum…>
(by R. Krishna Kumar, The Hindu, July 12, 2014).
4. ‘ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ’ಕ್ಕೆ ಇನ್ನು ಲೈಸೆನ್ಸ್ ಹಂಗಿಲ್ಲ
<http://cis-india.org/news/prajavani-july-14-2014-four-volumes-of-kannada-en…>
(Prajavani, July 14, 2014).
5. Soon, all 14 volumes of Kannada encyclopaedia to be online
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-july-15-2014-r-krishna-kumar-soon-all-1…>
(by R. Krishna Kumar, The Hindu, July 15, 2014).
6. ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ
<http://cis-india.org/news/kannada-prabha-july-15-2014-coverage-of-open-know…>
(Kannada Prabha, July 15, 2014).
7. ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶದ ಆರು ಸಂಪುಟ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾಗೆ
<http://cis-india.org/news/udayavani-july-15-2014-mysore-university-event-co…>
(Udayavani, July 15, 2014).
8. ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ kannada ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ : ಈಗ ಆನ್ ಲೈನ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ 6 ಸಂಪುಟಗಳು
ಮುಕ್ತ…ಮುಕ್ತ……
<http://cis-india.org/news/just-kannada-july-15-2014-wikipedia-kannada-vishw…>(Just
Kannada, July 15, 2014).
9. Six Kannada encyclopaedias released
<http://cis-india.org/news/web-india-123-july-15-2014-six-kannada-encyclopae…>
(Webindia 123, July 15, 2014).
10. 150 Rare Books Get New Lease of Life Online, Courtesy Students
<http://cis-india.org/news/new-indian-express-july-15-2014-anila-backer-150-…>
(by Anila Backer, New Indian Express, July 15, 2014).
11. Open Access: Students help revive and digitize rare books for
Malayalam Wiki Library
<http://cis-india.org/news/spicy-ip-swaraj-paul-barooah-july-15-2014-open-ac…>
(Spicy IP, July 15, 2014).
12. 'Trolled' from US Congress, Wikipedia bans edits
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-narayan-lakshman-july-25-2014-trolled-f…>
(by Narayan Lakshman, The Hindu, July 25, 2014).
13. Telugu Wikipedia struggles to stay afloat
<http://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-july-27-2014-renuka-phadnis-telugu-wiki…>
(by Renuka Phadnis, The Hindu, July 27, 2014).
14. The joys of being a Wikipedian
<http://cis-india.org/news/new-indian-express-july-29-2014-svetlana-lasrado>
(by Svetlana Lasrado, New Indian Express, July 29, 2014).
15. Kannada Wikipedia Presentation
<http://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-presentation-vijayavani-coverage>
(Vijayavani, July 30, 2014).
16. Kannada Wikipedia Presentation for Kannada Science Writers
<http://cis-india.org/news/kannada-wikipedia-presentation-prajavani-coverage>
(Prajavani, July 31, 2014).
Wikimedia Foundation has funded A2K to anchor the growth of Wikimedia
movement in India. The A2K team consists of six members, four based in
Bangalore: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja, Subhashish Panigrahi and
Rahmanuddin Shaikh. One team member Nitika Tandon is based in Delhi. We
also have one Advisor Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana working with us. Archives of
our newsletters can be accessed here
<http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters>. Wikipedians from various
communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs,
logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications here
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Requests>.
About CISThe Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research
organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression,
privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge
and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open
standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and
digital humanities.
Follow us elsewhere
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
- CIS group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cis.india
- Visit us at: https://cis-india.org
Request for Collaboration:
We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both
organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with
Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To
discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive
Director, at sunil(a)cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at
nishant(a)cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language
wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at
vishnu(a)cis-india.org.
CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag
Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core
funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its
other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International,
UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various
projects.
This bulletin is also available on Meta-Wiki at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_to_Knowledge/Newsletter/July_2…
Thank you all for your kind support and collaboration!
Subha
Access To Knowledge
Centre for Internet and Society
@psubhashish
The below mail FYI. Hope to see active participation from the Tamil and
Chennai based Wikimedia community. This is a good opportunity for all of
us to come up with a shared vision for the Wikimedia movement's growth
in India.
Best,
Vishnu
-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: [Wikimediaindia-l] IMPORTANT: Future of work in India -- a
community consultation in Bangalore
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 20:50:36 -0700
From: Asaf Bartov <abartov(a)wikimedia.org>
Reply-To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
To: Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
(this is important and a rare opportunity -- please do take a few
moments to read.)
I would like to draw your attention to a major piece of news:
The Wikimedia Foundation is convening a community consultation on the
future of Wikimedia work in India, to be held in October in Bangalore,
with significant representation from across India, the different
projects, and the different language communities.
Please see the following page on Meta for details, context, and to begin
discussion the delegates you would like to see participating. All costs
will be borne by the Foundation.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Community_Consultation_2014
Let's try and keep discussion on the talk page of that page on Meta, so
everyone can follow, even people not on this list.
Also, your help in forward this widely, translating as necessary, etc.,
would be MUCH appreciated. Again, this is an important opportunity, and
we need to ensure we get every community's attention.
I look forward to this conversation very much!
Asaf
--
Asaf Bartov
Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share
in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
