Dear All,
I am writing - on behalf of the Assamese wiki community (
http://as.wikipedia.org) - to share some very promising news from the
beautiful land of the Brahmaputra.
Assamese wiki community is tiny and has about 20 active editors now, out of
which 5 are very active editors. Assamese wikipedia has around 1050
articles now. Last year this
time<http://shijualex.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/indian-language-wikipedias-2010-s…>
Assamese
wikipedia was having just 300 articles (that were created during the span
of past 8 years) and just 4 active editors (and not a single very active
editor). So during last one year lot of things happenned in the background
which led to the current active status of Assamese. As an Indic wikipedia
community member I congratulate all the members of Assamese wiki community
who contributed to this change of status.
Over the past few weeks the community has been working on basic community
building blocks. As part of this, there are active community discussions
on the village pump, through
facebook<http://www.facebook.com/groups/assamwikigroup/>
, mailing list <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-as>
(which
was created a few weeks
ago<http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikipedia-as/2011-December/000000.html>),
and
through various other channels. The community is actively planning for
various outreach programs to increase the number of active members and
there by to increase the number of articles. As a result of this Assamese
wiki community has decided to conduct an Assamese wiki meetup cum
Wikiworkshop in Guwahati on 2012 January 29.
I do not believe there has ever been any outreach sessions in Assam -
though I could be wrong. Atleast this is the first out reach program for
Assamese wikipedia. Over the next one week, there are going to be not 1 but
2 Assamese wiki outreach sessions! One in *Guwahati* and another in *Tezpur*
.
- Sunday January 29th at Guwahati University (Meetup
page<http://as.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A7%B1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%…>
)
- Wednesday February 2nd at Tezpur University (Meetup
page<http://as.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A7%B1%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%95%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%AA%…>
)
Both these session are being promoted on facebook also to attract more
Assamese speakers. Assamese wiki community expect around 20 participants in
Guwahati, and at least 10 in Tezpur (though Tezpur has only just been
posted so this is my guess; it could increase.) I am really excited by
these developments. The Assamese community has realised both the
importance of attracting newbies and also how to work collaboratively on
outreach activities.
There are also a couple of other things that I think are worth sharing.
- Assamese community - like many community members in Indic languages -
were struggling with how to go about doing outreach. To begin with, even
something like a venue proved to be challenge and community members
approached me since their resources are limited. I personally wrote to the
Head of Guwahati University's Computer Sciences department, introducing
Assamese wiki community and myself and asking for her help - and she has
kindly agreed to give us a conference room with all the required facilities
free of cost! The reason I am sharing this is, if other Indic wikipedians
are wondering how to go about doing this, it is really simple: Be Bold!
Just write and ask! Once you mention Wikipedia and what we are trying to
do, there is a very decent chance of getting a positive reply. Remember
that while we are doing a wikipedia program for our mother language
wikipedia we are sending a powerful message to the speakers of the
respective language. So be bold and continue to due more such programs for
your respective mother language wikipedia. Language speakers will support
us.
- Assamese community is working on the FAQs booklet and other outreach
materials that they plan to release as part of this meetup. These are being
done in Assamese. I am helping them out. I am sharing this because if any
Indic wikipedians need help on this, please feel free to reach out to me.
I will help you. Also, do keep in mind that the only way things like this
can work only if outreach materials are prepared in the respective
language. Outreach materials in respective language has so much power to
attract the newbies. Also, do share it with your fellow community members
so they can use them.
I want to conclude by sharing an Assamese quote ‘Bhāxār bikāx holehe jātir
bikāx hobo’ which translate into "The nation develops only when the
language develops."
Do join in me in congratulating the Assamese community for their efforts
and wishing them all the best for their community building efforts.
This is the start of a very exciting journey!
Kind Regards,
Shiju Alex
Forwarding a thread from the Mumbai list, relevant to a similar
discussion on this list. In a nutshell, this matter was discussed at the
recent Mumbai Meetup and the local community feels that it should
concentrate more on smaller local events in the short-term to build on
grassroots rather than take up such a large undertaking like Wikimania at this point in time.
From: wheredevelsdare(a)hotmail.com
To: wikimedia-in-mum(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 05:33:13 +0000
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-in-mum] Wikimania 2013 bid
+1
From: mokshjuneja(a)gmail.com
Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:51:33 +0530
To: wikimedia-in-mum(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-in-mum] Wikimania 2013 bid
I like Nikita's idea i think we should try and build the smaller event to build the visibility for more volunteers, then pitch for Wikimania.
Moksh Juneja
On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:43, nikita belavate <niki8891(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Also as discussed in the meetup we should undertake more city bound programs to generate awareness and committed volunteers. Also we can do 'Wiki loves monuments' in the coming months to engage more common people.
Regards,Nikita Belavate.
On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 10:17 AM, Karthik Nadar <karthikndr(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Withdraw it as discussed in the Meetup. All time committed Manpower is very less as of now.
--
Thanks and Regards,
Karthik Nadar.
On Tue, Jan 24, 2012 at 9:00 AM, Pradeep Mohandas <pradeep.mohandas(a)gmail.com> wrote:
hi,
Should the Mumbai community pursue the bid for Wikimania 2013 or
withdraw it? Community input is welcome.
pradeep
Handheld
--
Pradeep Mohandas
How Pradeep uses email - http://goo.gl/6v1I9
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Fyi
Sent from Mobile.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "James Hare" <messedrocker(a)gmail.com>
Date: Jan 24, 2012 3:48 AM
Subject: [Wikimania-l] Wikimania 2012 registration is OPEN!
To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" <
wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, <wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>,
<wikimedia-dc(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Hello everyone!
After much delay, I am pleased to announce that Wikimania 2012, the
eighth annual Wikimedia conference, has opened registration! Wikimania
2012 will be held in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United
States. We will announce the specific venue shortly.
To register, please read
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration> and then
proceed to the linked registration form. Until April 23, the
registration fee is $55; Wikimedia students and volunteers can
register at the discounted $35 rate. This does not cover
accommodations, which will be handled by a separate process. If you
need financial aid to attend, consider applying for a scholarship:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships>.
Wikimania is made possible by the excellent presentations delivered by
enthusiastic Wikimedia volunteers. If you are interested in presenting
at Wikimania, please read our Call for Participation:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions>.
If you have any issues during the registration process, do not
hesitate to email wikimania-registration(a)wikimedia.org. For other
inquiries, see our Contact page:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Contact>.
Thank you for your patience, and we hope to see you in Washington!
Sincerely,
James Hare
Wikimania 2012 Coordinator
_______________________________________________
Wikimania-l mailing list
Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l
FYI.
Regards,
Jyothis.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Hare <messedrocker(a)gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Jan 23, 2012 at 5:18 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia-DC] Wikimania 2012 registration is OPEN!
To: "Wikimania general list (open subscription)" <
wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>, wikimediaannounce-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org,
wikimedia-dc(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Hello everyone!
After much delay, I am pleased to announce that Wikimania 2012, the
eighth annual Wikimedia conference, has opened registration! Wikimania
2012 will be held in Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United
States. We will announce the specific venue shortly.
To register, please read
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Registration> and then
proceed to the linked registration form. Until April 23, the
registration fee is $55; Wikimedia students and volunteers can
register at the discounted $35 rate. This does not cover
accommodations, which will be handled by a separate process. If you
need financial aid to attend, consider applying for a scholarship:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scholarships>.
Wikimania is made possible by the excellent presentations delivered by
enthusiastic Wikimedia volunteers. If you are interested in presenting
at Wikimania, please read our Call for Participation:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Submissions>.
If you have any issues during the registration process, do not
hesitate to email wikimania-registration(a)wikimedia.org. For other
inquiries, see our Contact page:
<http://wikimania2012.wikimedia.org/wiki/Contact>.
Thank you for your patience, and we hope to see you in Washington!
Sincerely,
James Hare
Wikimania 2012 Coordinator
_______________________________________________
Wikimedia-DC mailing list
Wikimedia-DC(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-dc
We just finished the San Francisco hackathon, which was quite a success:
about 90 participants, more than a dozen project demonstrations, and a
lot of engagement with San Francisco technologists and designers. I
want to let you know that we ran a few tutorials that now have reference
notes/documentation available:
* Customizing your experience with JavaScript (using user scripts & Gadgets)
* Using our web API
* Building & working on a Wikipedia app for Android using Phonegap
I hope you find these tutorials useful as syllabi or references when you
are running your own meetups, hackathons, and other events. The links
are all centralized here:
https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Hackathon_January_2012
The storytelling staff also helped us out by recording video and audio
of the tutorials so people can watch them later! They will upload those
recordings soon.
--
Sumana Harihareswara
Volunteer Development Coordinator
Wikimedia Foundation
FYI - since we are looking to start GLAM in India, I thought this would make an interesting read. Answer to a petition for digitalising all Public Records in the US by a Wikimedian.
From: The White House <info(a)messages.whitehouse.gov>
Date: January 20, 2012 6:27:44 PM EST
To: filbertk(a)gmail.com
Subject: Petition Response: Digitizing Federal Public Records
Reply-To: The White House <info(a)messages.whitehouse.gov>
Digitizing Federal Public Records
By David Ferriero, the Archivist of the United States
Thank you for signing a petition asking the Obama Administration to digitize all public records.
The Obama Administration believes increasing access to our collections by digitizing our records is a great idea. Our most recent efforts to do this ourselves as part of our OpenGov initiative, include the Citizen Archivist project, a Wikipedian in Residence, Tag it Tuesdays, and Scanathons. We are also moving forward on implementing the President’s recent Memorandum on Managing Government Records, which focuses on the need to update policies and practices for the digital age.
But all those things aren’t enough. Your petition, and the Yes We Scan effort broadly, calls for a national strategy, and even a Federal Scanning Commission, to figure out what it would take to digitize the holdings of many federal entities, from the Library of Congress to the Government Printing Office to the Smithsonian Institution.
These ideas bring up a host of questions that still need to be answered: What should the National Archives’ priorities be? Do we focus on preserving deteriorating paper records, still bound with red ribbons from two centuries ago? Do we make digital copies of Vietnam Era film footage? Should we focus on preserving those older paper records while citizens volunteer to digitize more recent, and better preserved, records?
The National Archives – which houses the Nation’s permanent records – is looking for your input to help answer these important questions on how we move forward. What are your thoughts on how the National Archives and other agencies should proceed? What questions should we be asking ourselves?
You can add your thoughts over on the National Archives blog, and I’m looking forward to having a longer discussion with the creators and signers of this petition on this important issue in the coming weeks– more details on that will follow.
Thank you again for your interest in this important issue. I’m looking forward to your ideas on how we can proceed with digitizing federal public records.
Check out this response on We the People.
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Hi Everyone,
*Update on Wiki11 Pune Meet up:*
On behalf of Pune Community and Pune chapter, we celebrated the 11th
Anniversary of Wikipedia and the 1st Anniversary of India Chapter at
Jnyan Prabodhini, Pune. We started the session with the introduction
by Chapter Marathi SIG (Special Interest Group) followed by Chapter
briefing by EC Member Sudhanwa Jogalekar. Pune SIG lead Mandar
Kulkarni shared a presentation of Marathi Wikipedia which included the
history and the journey of Marathi Wikipedia. The presentation also
explained the common mistakes made by users during editing. The
details statistics of no. of pages, no. of users, no. of articles
since last 6 years and where we stand now was explained in details.
Being Makar Sankranti, as per the Indian tradition we gave Til Gul
(sweets made of sesame & jaggery) to all the participants including
the refreshments. (Please note that for next many decades, Makar
Sankranti is going to be on 15th January only and we will have same
opportunity to celebrate the Wikipedia Anniversary on the day of Makar
Sakranti.)
The next session was handled by senior editors of Wikipedia by
coaching the members in actual wiki academy in the lab. All the new
users created their login accounts and started editing in the
articles. This was very interesting as many members were new to this
would and finding some challenges in tying in Marathi. Some of the
members created new articles and also linked them to English
Wikipedia. Overall, it was a great learning experience for all of us.
*Next Steps:*
1. In the coming months, we have planned number of wiki academies in
English and in Marathi at various places all over Pune.
2. We are also proposing to have one interesting session during our
monthly meet on every 2nd Saturday.
Best regards,
Mandar Kulkarni and other Wikipuneris.
~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!
web: www.sudhanwa.com blog: www.sudhanwa.in
Twitter: sudhanwa Check on FB, Linkedin for more.