A write up by Rishabh Tatiraju, the youngest member of Pune community!
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
29 August 2011
Heavy rains lashed the city and we were expecting very less people in the
meetup. Despite the torrential rain, ten of our brave
WikiPuneri enthusiasts managed to join the meetup on time. We had two new
young faces joining our meetup, both pursuing their higher studies in
Sinhagad College.
The meetup commenced a little late than the scheduled time of 6:00 PM.
Ashwin Baindur enlightened us with some facts about the Oral Citations
Project. The Oral Citations Project is a strategic research project intiated
byAchal Prabhala of Bangalore community and funded by the Wikimedia
Foundation to help overcome a lack of published material in emerging
languages on Wikipedia. A video presentation of the same was also seen (View
Video Here)<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:People-are-Knowledge.ogv>
.
In the final moments of the meetup, Mandar Kulkarni orated about Wiki
Conference India which is to be held in Mumbai in November 2011. He educated
us about the different ways in which we can participate in the conference
and be a part of it. With this, we ended the meetup by about 8:00 PM.
This is relevant to all those who have written to the various lists and
asked how one can participate. volunteer or help in any way.
We need people to upload images to Wikimedia Commons.
- We face a problem in that photographers are willing to go out & shoot
and donate images. But they are unfamiliar with Commons and do not upload it
there. However, we find that they know Flickr and are willing to upload it
under a suitable Creative Commons license.
- There are hundreds of free images on the net, we can show you how to
locate them. These can be uploaded to Commons. We are at this point of time
interested in images pertaining to India only.
It is a job requiring patience, care for details and intelligence as the
images need to be categorised also. Where relevant we would like to add them
to articles too.
We need a small TEAM of three to five - people, age, sex, religion, etc,
etc, no bar, except that they should have:
* Knowledge of uploading images to Commons
* know how to categorise
* know how to load images into Wikipedia
* Possess good judgement.
* Possess an abiding love for Wikipedia and willing to contribute to it.
If you are interested, let us know. This is a serious commitment under the
"India Loves Wikipedia" initiative. Dont apply if just for "time paas".
Helpers will be awarded barnstars at a suitable date after the project is
done.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
Dear friends,
The much-delayed Pune meetup will take place at SICSR , 7th Floor, at 6 PM
on Monday, 29 August 2011. The points on the agenda are :
* WikiConference update
* Meet the Campus Ambassadors & interact with them
* Oral Citations project ( video will be shown)
All Puneri Wikipedians are requested to come for the meetup. We request the
Campus Ambassadors to make it too!
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
Hello friends,
The WikiConference is going great guns and each day more progress is made
and more things are becoming real. :)
Health issues have kept me offline or on low level of activity for quite
long now. As I was occupying the post of Secretary, the load went onto the
Chairperson Pranav Curumsey & Treasurer Pradeep Mohandas. Uncomplainingly,
they have taken the load. I'm grateful to them for the support they have
constantly given me and the faith they placed in me. However, as the
Conference comes closer, more things need to be done and a lameduck
Secretary is a liability. This is not fair to Pranav/Pradeep, the hosting
communities or the Conference working group. For this reason, I'm stepping
down so that another in greater health can give the Conference the time and
attention it deserves.
In WikiConference 2011, the Secretary's post is being occupied by a
Wikimedian from Pune. Accordingly, Pune Community has requested Mandar
Kulkarni, who works in Marathi Wikipedia and is an active member of Pune
Community to please carry out these duties. I request all concerned to
please give him the support and goodwill that you gave me.
I want to thank all the good friends and colleagues on the Working Group,
Mumbai & Pune communities and also the members of the Advisory group, WMF
office and the Chapter for the help, companionship, camaderie and support.
But be of good cheer, though AshLin cant provide regular clockwork type of
work required from a Secretary, he is still around to help organise the
WikiConference, alongwith you but in a manner which gives him a few breaks
(without feeling guilty).
I am planning to work on Outreach and also help any team requiring
assistance, besides supporting all concerned. Feel free to approach me in
these regards,
Thanks once again, everybody.
Warm regards,
Ashwin Baindur
------------------------------------------------------
cross-posting to reach pan-India; apologies if you have got it from other mailing lists.
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Hisham Mundol <hmundol(a)wikimedia.org>
> Date: August 24, 2011 8:49:42 AM GMT+05:30
> To: Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: India Programs-Monthly IRC: Welcoming Nitika & Shiju - Thursday August 25th @ 9pm IST (#wikimedia-office)
>
> Hi Folks
>
> As I mentioned earlier, we're scheduling the Monthly IRC of India Programs tomorrow (Thursday August 25th) at 9pm IST. This will be on the #wikimedia-office channel. (For those who are not familiar with IRC, it is an Internet messaging system similar to a regular chat room. It's very simple to use and you can join in by clicking on the following link: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-office)
>
> The main agenda items are to give an update on India Programs - and also for Nitika and Shiju to introduce themselves, and for you to get to know them better. For those who missed the earlier mail exchanges on this, Nitika Tandon and Shiju Alex have joined the Wikimedia Foundation's team in India. (Nitika has already started and Shiju will be starting shortly.) I'm really excited about the additions to the team and I invite you to come join us tomorrow night to welcome them aboard!
>
> Hope to see many, many of you tomorrow.
>
> Best
>
> Hisham Mundol
>
> Wikimedia India Programs
> skype : hisham.wikimedia
> gtalk : hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
> twitter : @mundol
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
>
*Sakaal Times : 1,000 city students selected to write for Wikipedia*
http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20110818/5418078935336057340.htmhttp://epaper.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimes/18Aug2011/Enlarge/page5.htm
*PUNE: Over 1,000 local students, including 843 from College of Engineering,
Pune (CoEP) alone, have become part of Wikipedia's 'India education program'
that aims at generating quality content for the world's largest online
encyclopedia with the participation from academic community in India. *
* *
*Wikipedia, during early June this year, had rolled out this initiative in
India with Pune being chosen as preferred location for the pilot launch.*
* *
*“We have framed courses in seven different disciplines of engineering as a
part of 'India education program' and a total 843 students have been
enrolled for these courses. Students assessment in these courses will
reflect in their internal evaluation,” CoEP director Anil Sahasrabudhe said.
*
* *
*“We have appointed ten faculty members for these courses, while 12
classrooms are practicing this innovation in teaching,” he told reporters on
Wednesday.*
* *
*Hishan Mundol, who is leading 'India education program' said that Wikipedia
and CoEP faculty members have signed agreement to execute the programme.*
* *
*“Our initiative has been facilitating innovative ways of teaching and
innovative ways of engaging students. Students undergo a lot of written
assignments, some of which would be replaced by writing articles for
Wikipedia,” he said.*
* *
*Symbiosis School of Economics, Modern College of Engineering and SNDT
Women's University (Pune Campus) are other local institutions, whose
students have participated in the 'India education program' in the beginning
phase.*
* *
*Prior to launch of its programme, Wikipedia had trained a group of 22
volunteers, referred as 'campus ambassadors', who are expected to reach out
to campuses to aid faculties and students in the matter of editing/creating
content on online encyclopedia.*
* *
*WIKI’S AIM*
*Wikipedia is of the view that information about India is not adequately
represented on the online encyclopedia and filling this void is their main
aim.*
Regards
Tinu Cherian
http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news#Aug_2011
*DNA : College of Engineering Pune students to co-author Wikipedia-India*
http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_college-of-engineering-pune-students…
*
A total of 843 students of the College of Engineering Pune (CoEP) will soon
get an opportunity to contribute to the popular search engine,
www.wikipedia.org.
A six-month semester was recently kicked off at the college, thanks to a
joint venture between the CoEP and the Wikipedia team, through their Indian
representative, Wikimedia (national programmes) India.
While briefing mediapersons on Wednesday, director of CoEP, Anil
Sahasrabudhe, said students from seven disciplines — mechanical, electrical,
electronics and telecommunication, production, computer, information
technology, and mathematics — would undergo the course.
“After the students complete the six-month course, they would need to
contribute to the website. They would be given internal marks for these
assignments,” he said.
Wikimedia consultant Hisham Mundol, who also attended the press briefing
said, “We are inviting students and educators in India to join us in this
mission by taking part in the India education programme. Information about
India and contribution by people from India are not adequately represented
on Wikipedia, and we want to change that.”
According to Mundol, the national programme in India has its genesis in a
similar pilot project, a public policy initiative started by Wikimedia in
the US that was received well. Mundol said that a total of four colleges in
Pune, CoEP, Symbiosis School of Economics, SNDT Women’s University and
Modern College of Engineering would be part of the Wikimedia initiative.
“Our goal is to encourage professors and teachers in Pune to join a growing
global community of educators, who use Wikipedia as a teaching and learning
tool in their classrooms,” he said.
*
Regards
Tinu Cherian
http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news#Aug_2011
*Times of India : " Editing Wiki is now part of CoEP's syllabi"*
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Editing-Wiki-is-now-part-of-Co…
*PUNE: Over 800 students from seven engineering disciplines of the College
of Engineering Pune (CoEP) will now engage in editing Wikipedia pages, as a
mandatory activity for first semester of their B.Tech programme. *
*
*
*"Articles written by students for the web-based free content encyclopaedia,
will carry weightage in terms of internal evaluation at the end of
semester," said CoEP director Anil Sahasrabudhe on Wednesday. "The exercise
is aimed at developing research, writing and review skills, critical
thinking and collaborative work ethics among students," he said. *
*
*
*Students from mechanical, electrical, electronics and telecom, production,
computer, infotech and mathematics disciplines will work on select topics,
under the guidance of trained faculties, for writing articles. Most topics
relate to their respective engineering branches. *
*
*
*"In all, 843 students from seven disciplines and 10 courses have been
identified for the content writing activity. Details of topics have been
posted on the Wikipedia site, which can be accessed by going to search for
`WP:INDIAEDU' or `Wiki India Education Program'," said Sahasrabudhe. *
*
*
*Wikipedia, which ranks among the world's biggest and most referred
encyclopaedias, have signed an agreement with the CoEP to facilitate
training of students as well as faculty in content editing and article
writing aspects. *
*
*
*Incidentally, the Wikimedia Foundation, which runs the online free
encyclopedia, has chosen Pune as the first place outside San Fransico, US,
for a pilot program in India that aims at promoting web-based free content
writing as a tool of learning in higher education. *
*
*
*"Apart from CoEP, we are working with the Symbiosis School of Economics;
Progressive Education Society's Modern College of Engineering; and Shrimati
Nathibai Damodar Thackersey (SNDT) University," said Hisham Mundol,
Wikimedia's national programs consultant for India. *
*
*
*As of now, Wikipedia has over 400 million users worldwide including 8
million in India. The free encylopedia logs 12 billion page requests every
month. Yet, it presents a unique model of content development through
writing, editing and re-editing entirely by community members, who share a
strong passion for various subjects. *
*
*
*Mundol said, "The advent of internet has only ensured that accessing
information has become easier, but on the flip side, it has also given way
to intellectual laziness that was first recognised by professors and
teachers at leading US institutions in terms of paper writing by their
students. This also led to skepticism and hatred for the online
encyclopedia." *
*
*
*To dispel doubts, Wikimedia launched a pilot project called 'Public Policy
Initiative' to explore the potential of formally using Wikipedia as a
teaching and learning tool in higher education, he said. *
*
*
*"Professors at Harvard University, University of California, Berkeley and
Georgetown University, among other institutions, have implemented Wikipedia
into their class curricula, asking their students to create and improve
articles on the English-language Wikipedia. The success of this programme
prompted us to undertake similar projects elsewhere," he added.*
Regards
Tinu Cherian
http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news#Aug_2011