*Sankarshan wrote:
Hi,
I was talking with Kishore (cc:ed) last evening and it turns out that he is
looking for notes/presentation on the topic. Since the Pune
group has been organizing regular events I wonder if anyone has stuff to
share.
Kishore isn't on the list and hence I'd request copying him on the
responses.
/sankarshan
*
Hi Kishore, Sankarshan,
Hope this helps,
Ashwin
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ashwin Baindur <ashwin.baindur(a)gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 6, 2011 at 10:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Report of the SNDT Women's College, Pune
wikipedia session (01 March 2011) (images removed)
To: wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
*Hisham Mundol wrote ,,,,*
*
*
*"I am particularly struck by your point on not having an easy-to-source*
*and effective-to-use wikipedia/wikimedia introduction. I'd like to
volunteer to help put something together.
Can I request whoever has a deck ready to email me a copy of that and
I'll try to create a deck that can be shared. ...because of file sizes,
if it's easier, could you email it to me on hmundol(a)wikimedia.org."*
Hi Hisham,
Thanks for the thumbs up you gave!
I have since improved the presentation that I used. It is now available here
for public download in odf format.
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B5RELnW2V0kFMjhkNTU0ODgtYjExNi00YjBmLTk3ZT…
It is partly based partly on a presentation by Sounthar Rajan A and a couple
of points taken from one by Tinu Cherian and a lot of the work is mine.
Credits from images - three from Commons (Wikipedian youth, banner & thank
you), (links given in notes view). Library rack image taken from Sounthar
Rajan's presentation - license unknown but assume its a free one. All logos
and screenshots from the projects.
You can develop this one further! In the present state, its satisfactory for
use by anyone as a rough and ready presentation to use!
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
Hi,
I was talking with Kishore (cc:ed) last evening and it turns out that
he is looking for notes/presentation on the topic. Since the Pune
group has been organizing regular events I wonder if anyone has stuff
to share.
Kishore isn't on the list and hence I'd request copying him on the responses.
/sankarshan
--
sankarshan mukhopadhyay
<http://sankarshan.randomink.org/blog>
Dear Sankar,
I have read the discussion here :
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Mahasarasw…
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Deletion_requests/File:Mahasarasw…>and
the http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Freedom_of_panorama#India
and the threads on the Wikimedia-I list.
<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Freedom_of_panorama#India>I am
not qualified to comment but here goes. I think rather than look to
Wikipedia to change its policy, we must take the trouble to gather some kind
of proof.
Perhaps the best way is the way suggested by you - the Public Trust route,
i.e.
* Prove that temple is public trust, and work in public place of art
* statement from trust that said painting has been in their ownership
earlier than 1950
* supported (if possible) by proof such as :
** stock register where the item is taken on charge
** record of payment to the artist
** affidavit from someone who has been associated over 60 years with the
temple that image is over 60 years old
** mention in some old book, etc
** sometimes old timers who visit the temple regularly remember details and
we can contact the artist (especially if its recent). He may release it into
public domain/under free license.
These could be sent as an OTRS so that the image is accepted.
Alternative (?) - get an artist to make a similar work & release it under
CC3.0 BYSA.
I dont know if this is helpful but for important images such as these, we
may need to take great efforts equivalent to the efforts for a hundred other
images otherwise.
BTW, I think we need an article on this temple too.
Sincerely,
Ashwin Baindur
On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 11:44 PM, Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com>wrote:
> And this is his second email.
>
> Best
> Bishakha
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Sankar Viswanathan <sankarrukku(a)gmail.com>
> Date: Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 10:36 PM
> Subject: Re: Commons:Deletion requests/File:Mahasaraswati.jpg
> To: Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com>
>
>
> Thank you, Bishaka.
>
> I think it would help if you forward this to Tinu Cherian and Ashwin and
> ask them to post their comments there. Posting to the India list would be
> ideal. But I do not know how to do it.
>
>
> Sankar
>
> Service to Humanity is Service to God
>
>
> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 10:03 PM, Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta(a)gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Dear Sankar,
>>
>> Am really sorry to hear that - I know that deletion is becoming a big
>> issue across many of the projects, not just Commons.
>>
>> The thing is editing decisions are made by the relevant project community,
>> so there is nothing I can do either. But here's what I suggest: please post
>> this to the India list. There are many editors on it, some of whom may be
>> able to help you with this by intervening directly in the discussion. Others
>> may have faced similar issues, or it may help to have other voices heard?
>>
>> That is what I would seriously urge you to do; meanwhile, I shall keep
>> your comment, specially the aspect of 'not assuming good faith' in mind - we
>> are to have a broader discussion around these issues at our board meeting
>> later this week, so will bring this up then.
>>
>> Alternately, please bring it to the attention of Tinu Cherian (
>> tinucherian(a)gmail.com) who is an administrator on English wikipedia +
>> Ashwin Baindur (ashwin.baindur(a)gmail.com) - they may be able to advise
>> you more meaningfully, specially if this is a recurring issue.
>>
>> But there may be many others who can advise you on the India list if you
>> post there. Let me know if you want me to forward this to Tinu Cherian or
>> Ashwin or both.
>>
>> Bishakha
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Mar 22, 2011 at 4:12 PM, Sankar Viswanathan <
>> sankarrukku(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hello Bishaka,
>>>
>>> Thank you for your response to my mail.
>>>
>>> The discussion is still going on. But the dice is loaded in favor of
>>> deletion.
>>>
>>> There are certain points which were raised in the discussion.
>>>
>>> Wikipedia is paranoid about Copyright. Of course this is a result of the
>>> U.S law and any number of cases. There was a time when any image available
>>> on the web was accptable to Wikippedia. I think they had some problems then.
>>> Of course there are some people who take delight in Deletion. Kind of a
>>> sadism.
>>>
>>> <<So to keep such images in Commons, either Indian government or Commons
>>> needs to have a policy addressing all pictures for which original authorship
>>> is unknown, or at the least about paintings of God which is widely
>>> available. Until then, we can either assume good faith and keep this image
>>> or start a new mass DR for all the images in the category Hindu deities.>>
>>>
>>> Indian government will not do anything. But Wiki Commons can do
>>> something. Another thing which is surprising is there is no assumption of
>>> Good faith. I am a volunteer. How do I benefit by the uploading of the
>>> image? Actually most volunteers like me do end up by spending money, because
>>> my internet connection is not free. I do not use an internet connection
>>> provided by any organization. This atitude of "there is no assumption of
>>> Good faith" will put off many people.
>>>
>>> I can not imagine anybody from India suing Wikipedia over an obscure
>>> painting in a temple.
>>>
>>> Now they are quoting the U.K law on which the Indian law is modelled to
>>> say that Wall paintings are not covered. This would effectively stop upload
>>> of many of the paintings in temples.
>>>
>>> But in India in a public temple, the installed idol itself is held to be
>>> the temple’s legal owner, and the beneficiaries—those to whom the endowment
>>> is dedicated --—are the general public. Does this change the position? I
>>> wonder. I have posted this.
>>>
>>> I am having another problem with this image. There is one person called
>>> Pebble101 who is bent on deleting this image from the article.He deleteds it
>>> time and again for no reason. He could be the author of the last unsigned
>>> remark on the deletion page.
>>>
>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Saraswati&action=history
>>>
>>> The problem is there is nothing I can do. When I had such problems
>>> earlier I was asked to go for Arbitration.
>>>
>>> I thought I had to share my concerns with some one.
>>>
>>> Thank you.
>>>
>>> Sankar
>>>
>>> Service to Humanity is Service to God
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
(Apologies for the cross-posting)
FYI. Accommodation is also available. Travel expenses up to Rs.
10,000/- will be reimbursed per participant.
Yours sincerely,
Anirudh Bhati
00 91 9328712208
Skype: anirudhsbh
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh(a)gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Mar 18, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Subject: OSSCamp 11.03, Lucknow
To: Wikimedia India EC <wikimedia-in-exec(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Dear Wikimedians,
We have been able to secure travel funding from the organizers for TWO
volunteers representing the Wikimedia community at OSSCamp Lucknow.
If you have some experience as a Wikimedia volunteer (and preferably
but not necessarily some Mediawiki background) and are interested in
participating at the event, please write back to me.
The event is scheduled to be on 26-27 March 2011 which is the last
weekend of this month.
Thanks for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Anirudh Bhati
00 91 9328712208
Skype: anirudhsbh
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Abhinav Upadhyay <er.abhinav.upadhyay(a)gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Mar 9, 2011 at 10:09 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-IN-Exec] Invitation for OSSCamp Lucknow
To: wikimedia-in-exec(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Hello to all,
My name is Abhinav Upadhyay, and I am a final year
engineering student from Northern India Engineering College, Lucknow.
My purpose for emailing you is to inform you about about OSSCamp
Lucknow.
We are organizing OSSCamp on 26th and 27th of March in Lucknow.
OSSCamps (http://osscamp.in) are unconferences on opensource projects
and initiatives where people meet and discuss about various open
source tools, technologies and projects. Events like these are a great
source of active learning and sharing our experience and knowledge
with others.
People form all over India are coming to join us for OSScamp, and I
would like to invite you all for it as well. It would be our great
pleasure to learn more about Wikimedia India Chapter, how does it
work, how can we also get involved with it and make it even more
awesome.
I am expecting that you people will join us in great number and share
your knowledge with us by means of some excellent sessions. I believe
that, this will be a great platform for the Wikimedia India Chapter,
as I am sure, a large number of people will be interested in joining
it after learning more about it. It would be great, if you have some
goodies to distribute amongst the participants as it will excite the
participants even more, as well as it will encourage them to attend
your session with more enthusiasm.
I hope to hear a positive reply from the Wikimedia India Chapter.
Those of you, who are willing and interested in coming, please
register on our website:
http://osscamp.in/event/osscamp-lucknow-1103
Thanks & Regards
Abhinav Upadhyay
We had hoped to have a good attendance for the Wikipedia meetup. However,
only five Puneri Wikipedians User:AshLin, Sudhanwa, Mandar
Kulkarni, User:Rangilo Gujarati and User:Nikhilsheth met for the meetup.
Since there were few people, we waited for almost 45 minutes during which a
master class was conducted on finer points of Wikipedia markup, techniques
and issues facing newbies.
This was followed by discussions on planned activities. The following were
discussed :
* There is an urgent need for outreach, no matter how fruitless results may
seem in the short term, both for editors in English and Marathi wikipedias.
* The planned activities approach should be replaced by the "How can
Wikipedia help you - how can you help Wikipedia" approach.
* It was felt that only one event be planned to be undertaken in different
directions. However, if more was achieved in that field - great. Example -
only one GLAM was to be approached this year, but if opportunity, or more
important volunteer effort was forthcoming, do more.
* Work on Wikipedia for Schools Offline Edition should continue despite
recent criticism however the concerns of the community need to be taken note
of.
* The monthly meetup must continue, so that a hard core of Wikipedians is
built up and activities discussed here even if the actual work was done by
people in between in their individual capacities and individual interests.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
The next meetup of Pune wikipedians, WikiPuneri, is planned for Saturday 12
Mar 2011, from 1830 to 1930 hrs at Symbiosis Institue of Computer Science
and Research, Atur Centre, Model Colony (near Om Supermarket), 7th Floor,
Room Room No 704.
The intended purpose of the meetup is:
to set up a long-term plan for a year's worth of activities, with detailed
planning for photo outreach activities for Wikimedia Commons.
The detailed planning for each project will be done, one project at a time.
The next project for which planning will be done, Marathi Wikipedia, will be
discussed in detail in the April 2011 (Pune 12) meetup.
Please sign up here :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Pune/Pune11#Participants
This is a very interesting and important meet so be sure to be present to
push your ideas about what you would like to do!
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
A wikipedia introduction and editing session was held at SNDT Pune on 01
March 2011. Ádvance notice could not be given to other members of the Pune
wikipedian community due to short notice and yours truly being extremely
busy with academics - this is deeply regretted.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
*WIKIPEDIA SESSION AT SNDT, PUNE (01 March 2011)*
The Department of Communication Media for Children, SNDT College Of Home
Science, Pune, recently organised a film workshop called "Filmi Chashma" in
conjunction with the Comet Media Foundation on the College premises. I came
to know about it from an email from Bishakha Datta, Trustee (Wikimedia
Foundation) asking Pune wikipedians to please respond to a request from
Comet Media Foundation's Chandita Mukherjee to conduct an editing session
for the particpants. The aim apparently was to get the participants, mostly
students of the department and locals of Pune, to edit in Marathi Wikipedia.
The session was to last one and a half hours and was scheduled for 01st
March 2011, a Tuesday.
Since I am the only "unemployed" member of WikiPuneri, being on a
sabbatical, while my fellow friends are busy earning their living, I agreed
to take on the assignment. I was also happy to earn some brownie points with
my spouse, an SNDT alumnus, albeit from the Mumbai college. So I happily
went to SNDT following the accurate directions given by Dr Radha Misra, HOD
and landed up in time for a sumptious mid-morning snack with the workshop
participants. :-)
Mandar Kulkarni, our local Marathi Wikipedia enthusiast had promised to try
to make it in his lunch break but was unable to do so due to the distance
his office was from the location.
I was warmly greeted by Dr Misra and two members of Comet Media Foundation -
Lajpat Dhingra and Suresh Dhadave. We then moved to a computer lab in the
Education department. There a Ubuntu :-) laptop was connected and my
presentation materials were loaded. One of Dr Misra's colleagues, Ms Payal
Khombhadia, project officer for Filmy Chashma, introduced me and we were
off.
The presentation began with the three-minute W10 video created by JESS3,
followed by a short presentation made by me! Which reminds me that we need
some really good presentations for introduction to newbies! Strangely, that
doesn't seem to be around! We really need improvement in this!
The presentation was followed by an editing session. We had to close on time
though people wanted to go on as another academic event was scheduled in
that lab.
One of the motifs put forth was the utility of Wikipedia in the sphere of
activities of the workshop participants - children. Few people realise that
how lacking the internet is in interactivity. Wikipedia allows children,
like it does all people, to edit and the difference made to the encyclopedia
is not only tangible and highly visible; moreso, it is immediately reflected
back to the editor. This instantaneous response acts like a gratification -
a primary reason why wikipedia can be addictive. So editing in itself can be
rewarding for children, especially today when they have short attention
spans.
The important point that one should make to children is that this is one
program where you can actually change the world; by making more information
available one edit at a time.
There was not much chance to mention schools and wikipedia, or the relevant
resources on the web, as the thread of discussion drifted away to how
editors got to learn new skills through editing on Wikipedia. I was able to
mention the skills I learnt, that a lifetime of education including a B.Sc.
(PCM), B.Tech. (Electrical), M.Sc. (Defence Studies) and now an M.Phil. (Def
Studies) had not or did not teach me - namely, writing accurately,
neutrally, skilfully; with proper citation of all kinds of resources, to
avoid copyright violation; rewriting to avoid plagiarism; how to interact in
online communities; learning the niceties of English grammar, punctuation,
and issues pertaining to copy-editing and desktop publishing.
The editing session, I have found, is the most exciting for people new to
Wikipedia. People like to be shown how to edit. We looked at a typical
Wikipedia standard article, the left-hand panel links, the tabs, navigation
by links, categories and by using search. Featured content and good content
were discussed. We then edited an article first anonymously, undid it and
repeated the edit under my login. We then created a stub about the Pune
campus of the SNDT. Then we ran out of time.
Though the session was scheduled for an hour and a half, activities such as
meeting people, introductions, moving to a classroom, etc takes time and
effectively the session had lasted just about an hour. The lesson learnt is
a session needs to be at least two hours long, especially if its the only
session to be scheduled.
We then moved to the tea-room where I addressed the audience for a few
minutes, mainly acquainting them with details of activities being undertaken
by the Puneri wikipedian community, exchanging contact details and
distributing W10 swag - I am pleased to tell you that I was able to give
away twenty tee-shirts to the participants, an unlooked for treat which
brought out happy smiles of all.
I would like to close with this note - that the participants were mostly
women; there was only one male particpant and we three "faculty" guys were
male. I mentioned the gender gap and how important it was for the health of
the community that we get more women involved. After returning home, a thank
you email was sent to each participant with an invite to the
Wikimedia-IN-PUN list and to WikiPuneri group on Facebook.
My deep gratitude to Chandita Mukherjee of Comet Media Foundation and Dr
Radha Misra of SNDT College Of Home Science, Pune for giving this
opportunity to me and the WikiPuneri community.
Images at : http://www.flickr.com/photos/81267486@N00/tags/sndt/
Ashwin Baindur
_
__,_._,___
Dear All,
I am working on a not-for-profit venture that involves a wiki-enabled website.
Am looking for guidance on building a simple website based on MediaWiki software.
Let me know if you can help.
Best,
Sohel.
