WikimediaIndia-l December 2013

wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org

40 participants
43 discussions

[Press]: Lessons and tips on getting media coverage
by Noopur Raval 25 Sep '18

25 Sep '18

Dear all, Over the past one month, we've been working with community members from Assamese, Kannada Malayalam and Nepali communities to get maximum possible media coverage and press support in order to highlight their community and events and hopefully get new editors for our movement. In all cases, I help prepare the press release<http://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%…>(as, kn, ml, ne), then community members translate it and then we work together to try and reach out to the widest possible audience. Here are a few links to the press releases and newspaper articles. There are a few in local language papers that are not online. Also, all these reports are due to the collaborative effort and very important follow up by community members like Jyoti, Bishnu, Gitartha, Omshivaprakash, Anoop, Ramesh, Kannan, Sujith, Saroj and Ganesh for the communities respectively. Assamese: http://www.northeasttoday.in/our-states/assam/assamese-wikipedia-celebrates… http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=765639 http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-economy/info-tech/article3… http://www.sify.com/news/assamese-wikipedia-completes-10-years-of-existence… http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/assamese-wikipedia-completes-10-… http://issuu.com/assamese/docs/ghy_13062012?mode=window&backgroundColor#222… http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120611/jsp/northeast/story_15594299.jsp http://sevensisterspost.com/?p=17895 http://amarasom.glpublications.in/Details.aspx?id=9509&boxid=103211609 Kannada: http://epaper.udayavani.com/Display.aspx?Pg=H&Edn=MN&DispDate=6/18/2012 http://allevents.in/Bangalore/483961428297721 Malayalam: http://www.efytimes.com/e1/fullnews.asp?edid=82424 http://keralaitnews.com/state-scan/other-cities/4717-kollam-to-host-malayal… http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-kerala/article3351423.e… http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-14/social-media/3134186… http://www.techgoss.com/Story/557S12-Wiki-Malayalam-Meet-held-at-Kerala.aspx http://article.wn.com/view/2012/04/28/Malayalam_wiki_most_innovative/ http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/sci-tech/hitech/malayalam-wiki-most… http://ibnlive.in.com/news/malayalam-wikipedia-could-be-emulated/253196-60-… http://newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/article390787.ece Nepali: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/34914418/Nagarik_Article.png https://dl.dropbox.com/u/34914418/karobar_article.png Radio Sagarmatha broadcasted an interview with a Wikipedian Ganesh Paudel... Radio Nepal Bani Broadcasted an interview with Wikipedians located in Kathmandu (Mr. Ganesh Paudel and Mr. Saroj Dhakal) Just thought I'd share a few pointers based on what went right and what could have been better on my part. This may help you in the future if you too are looking to get media attention for your community and events. A few lessons: *Planning:* - Database of contacts: We have put in place a fairly comprehensive database of English as well as local press, television and radio contacts. I'd be happy to share them with anyone who needs to get in touch with journalists. - In case of local language newspapers, calling a journalist/newspaper office or personally visiting them to give the press brief always works better than e-mailing. Most local language newspapers still prefer a hard copy of the brief or even ask for a fax sometimes. - For the Assamese anniversary celebrations, we had an agenda well in advance and we (the community members and I) made sure the press release was ready in English as well as in Assamese so we could send it out to newspapers, television channels and radio stations. - Regarding English language newspapers, it is always advisable to call first and then e-mail the brief to a senior editor as well as a staff reporter (at least two people within the organization) to ensure the story receives due attention. Attaching a few photographs of your past meetups is a good idea. - It is advisable to translate the press release and attach both versions while sending it to the journalist. - If you are planning to have an event on the weekend, make sure you call and e-mail much earlier during the week. *Event:* - Always make sure to invite the journalists to your event. This will not only help in getting a comprehensive story but will also encourage them to take up editing. - Dealing with news channels and radio stations: While DY 365 channel covered the Assamese meetup, other channels did not bother to follow up. For radio, it *only* works if you speak to them in local language. *Other tips:* - It is a *must* to put in a contact number of preferably an email ID at the end of a press release. Maybe all communities should have either a chapter email ID (like bengali(a)wikimedia.in) or a gmail ID run by an active community member. This can be super useful and will avoid giving out personal details. - Building a quote pool: How about we keep a few quotes from different community members on the basics - (examples: why I edit, how I edit, what is your message to fellow Marathi/Tamil/Gujarati speakers) ? Of course, quotes from people are crucial and must not be misused but, this can help the Chapter communications team too - Getting the article right: Spelling mistakes, misquoted information, erroneous figures are a common problem with Wikipedia stories. Although it may not always be possible, do request the journalist to show you the article before publishing it. - Targeting news agencies: After the Assamese press experience, I realized having one PTI press release ensures that the story reaches at least 4-5 newspapers. This is a very effective way of maximizing media coverage. I might have missed out on a few lessons and invite community members and the chapter communication team to contribute with more inputs. Maybe we can even document this on Meta for future reference. Thank you, Best Noopur -- Noopur Raval

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Please add your name to the Geographical List of Indian Wikipedians
by Ashwin Baindur 30 Jul '18

30 Jul '18

Hello friends, This is a link I recommend you to bookmark. http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Geographical_distribution_of_Indian_Wikipedians This list is useful for outreach & also whenever someone needs Wiki-Help in a particular city. It would be great if Wikipedians could update this list.:) We have the following completely unrepresented states/UTs: * Andaman & Nicobar Islands * Arunachal Pradesh * Assam * Chandigarh * Chhattisgarh * Dadra, Nagar & Haveli * Daman & Diu * Goa * Himachal Pradesh * Jammu & Kashmir * Jharkhand (AngPradesh is in Mumbai) * Lakshadweep * Manipur * Meghalaya * Mizoram * Puducherry * Punjab (oye, ye ki hoya!) * Nagaland * Uttar Pradesh * Uttarakhand Okay, all you admins, please update your status (Mikey my boy, that means you too)! Abroad, we dont have Indic Wikipedians listed for: * Africa * Australia * Asia (other than India) * Middle East * North America * South America Unless you would like to stay off list, of course that's acceptable too. May I also request Tinu / list admins to please forward it all the Indic language & city Wikimedia lists. We need this resource to be as comprehensible as possible. Warm regards, Ashwin Baindur ------------------------------------------------------

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Updated Aksharyogini font release in Open Font License
by Sudhanwa Jogalekar 01 Nov '14

01 Nov '14

Dear friends, You may be aware that we (my family) have released a font family earlier. Here is some background if you are not aware of it. On the first death Anniversary of Yogini Joglekar(my aunt), our family released AksharYogini (Normal) Font on 1st Nov. 2006. This font is primarily for Marathi language but can also be used for Hindi (for any language using Devanagari). It also has English support. Later on, on the occasion of Gudhipadwa (Chaitra Shuddha 1, 1931; that is 27th March 2009) , we released the additional fonts to complete the "AksharYogini font family". This font family was/is made available on the site http://aksharyogini.sudhanwa.com for free usage/distribution/sharing. Today, on the occasion of Eighth Death Anniversary of Yogini Joglekar, we are now releasing an updated "AksharYogini font". This font is also available on the same website http://aksharyogini.sudhanwa.com This is an updated font and has support for the new (MS Windows) operating systems where the internal mechanism for font rendering is changed. Also, it has additional characters for the current Unicode standard and the Rupee Sign is also included. Most important is the licensing. The new release is under the Open Font License. As such, all Linux distributions will be able to freely use it in their packaging. Please feel free to use, share, distribute the new font. You can download it from http://aksharyogini.sudhanwa.com . Give us feedback on my email id or the official id for the font " aksharyogini at sudhanwa.com " You can also comment on the guestbook on the website. Do share this news and also the font. Wishing you a Very Happy Diwali !! Thanks and regards -Sudhanwa -- ~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~!~! web: www.sudhanwa.com blog: www.sudhanwa.in Twitter: sudhanwa Check on FB, Linkedin for more.

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Wikidata labels
by Gerard Meijssen 08 Jan '14

08 Jan '14

Hoi, I am looking for people who are willing to spend 2 hours adding labels to wikidata in the languages of India and, in their own language. For several languages it will be possible to add 1% more labels in that time. Typically every Wikipedia article has a link to Wikidata. What I want to learn is if you find it easy to have Wikidata work for you in YOUR language. When you go to a Wikidata item, you will find that both "properties" and "qualifiers" may show up as numbers. They need a label in your language. Once a label has been added, it will be available everywhere. What I like to know is if you recognise that this is happening. Once you have added all the labels for one "item" or article, have a look at what Wikidata knows about an article about a similar subject. Have a look at what is in the news [1] change the "en" into the language code for your language. Please add some labels ... What I am particularly interested in is, if there are sequences where the labels can be automatically added. (for instance numbers representing years). Wikidata is used by the Tamil Wikipedia to extend search. I know that for some people this works well while for others it does not. This is a bug that is being looked after. With one percent more labels that are related to the information that exists and to what is in the news, Wikidata will provide better information. When these labels refer to horse [2] or any other subject that has a category in Commons, you will be able to find pictures by searching in YOUR language. Please let me/us know if and how this works for you. We want to learn how we can get to the tipping point where Wikidata is actually useful [3]. We want to learn what is needed to make Wikidata useful for you. Thanks, GerardM [1] http://tools.wmflabs.org/wikidata-todo/cloudy_concept.php?q=4597488&lang=en [2] https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q726 [3] http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.nl/2013/12/wikidata-how-to-reach-its-tippin… PS if you add the #babel template on your user page, Wikidata itself will become easier for you to use.

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Digital Language Death
by A. Mani 06 Jan '14

06 Jan '14

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0077056 __________________ Abstract: Of the approximately 7,000 languages spoken today, some 2,500 are generally considered endangered. Here we argue that this consensus figure vastly underestimates the danger of digital language death, in that less than 5% of all languages can still ascend to the digital realm. We present evidence of a massive die-off caused by the digital divide. ________________________ Best A. Mani A. Mani [Last_Name. First_Name Format] CU, ASL, AMS, ISRS, CLC, CMS http://www.logicamani.in

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Komarraju Lakshmana Rao Wikimedia Puraskaram Results
by Ravi Vyzasatya 31 Dec '13

31 Dec '13

Dear fellow Wikimedians, Thank you all for your encouragement of Telugu Wikipedia community's initiative to recognize the contributors by a special award called Komarraju Lakshmana Rao Wikimedia Puraskaram[1], named after first modern encyclopedist in Telugu, perhaps the first among Indian languages (c.1912-13). We got 28 nominated proposals for the awards[2] out of which 18 were complete, based on the acceptance criteria outlined in the initial announcement. Selection council analyzed all proposals based on quantitative metrics like wiki statistics and qualitative assessment of each nominee's contribution and it's impact on Wiki 's growth and development. We would like to thank all the people who participated in the nomination and proposal development process and also those who helped to improve the process by their feedback during its roll out. As this is the debut year for the awards, Selection council decided to award 10 recipients recognizing their contributions during the last decade of Telugu Wikipedia. In the order of final assessment score, the awardees are *Chaduvari, M Pradeep, Chava Kiran, Veeven, Palagiri, Ravichandra, Ahmed Nisar, Veera.sj, JVRK PRASAD and Bhaskaranaidu.* They will be presented with cash prize and certificate during the Telugu Wiki Ten Celebrations . You can see their pictures, citation remarks in Telugu and English [3]. The background material[4] and scoring sheet[5] are also available, if you are interested. To recognize members who contributed significantly to Telugu wikimedia projects but could not/ did not give their consent for the award nomination and/or did not get selected for the award, Selection council decided to award Jury appreciation certificates. These will be given to 30 members selected by the council[6]. An electronic certificate will be presented in their user talk pages shortly It's been an arduous effort and the selection council members have put in nearly 1000 hours of effort as a group in the past couple of months since award conception. Can't thank enough the selection council members Arjuna Rao Chavala, A. Rajasekhar, T. Sujatha and A. Radhakrishna. Special thanks to Arjuna Rao Chavala, Selection council secretary for taking the major responsibility for this initiative. We also thank Tewiki 10 Celebrations committee[7] for ensuring necessary funds to support this award. As with any first time endeavor, I am sure there is room for improvements in this process. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions for future attempts. Sincerely, Ravi Vyzasatya 1. Award details and rules (in Telugu) https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:KLRWP 2. Proposals https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Komarraju_LakshmanaRao_Wikimedia_Aw… 3. Award winner details https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:KLRWP/2013/Winners 4. Applicants work statistics and factors aiding growth https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:KLRWP-2013_Applicants_work_Statistics_an… 5.Scoring sheet https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:KLRWP/2013/Scoring 6. Jury Appreciation certificate winners https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:KLRWP/2013/Jury_Appreciation_Winners 7. Tewiki 10 Celebrations Committee https://te.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:TEWIKI10/Committee

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Kolkata Bookfair report
by Jayanta Nath 30 Dec '13

30 Dec '13

Dear all, Now another wrong report.... http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Wikipedia-stall-at-book-fai… Jayanta

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How can we make Wikidata useful
by Gerard Meijssen 29 Dec '13

29 Dec '13

Hoi, I blogged [1] about the question how we can make Wikidata useful. In it I refer to Muhammad Shah [2] who was a mogul and relevant to the history of India. What is necessary for it to work in a language anyway is that the labels exist in "your" language. The information for Muhammad Shah is shown [3] here in Gujarati with a fall back to Hindi and a final fall back to English.. You can add labels starting from this and, you will notice how quickly it has an effect to related / similar content. Obviously you can change the language codes in the URL to suit your needs.. What I am looking for is ideas on how we can make Wikidata useful for you and for our readers. I hope to get many ideas from you that can we can put into practice. At this time what I think is most useful is that we can point to pictures that exist in Commons categories. This too will work when we have labels in your language.. The challenge I give you is to come up with ideas that we can put into practice that makes Wikidata useful for the people in India. Thanks, GerardM [1] http://ultimategerardm.blogspot.nl/2013/12/wikidata-how-to-reach-its-tippin… [2] http://tools.wmflabs.org/reasonator/?q=558714 [3] http://tools.wmflabs.org/reasonator/?q=558714&lang=gu,hi<http://tools.wmflabs.org/reasonator/?q=Q558714&lang=gu,hi>

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Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] WMIN meet at Lal Bagh Bangalore- Schedule (Sowmyan Tirumurti)
by Sowmyan Tirumurti 26 Dec '13

26 Dec '13

This event happened today. A total of 15 members attended. We were taken around the botanical garden to identify a few notable trees by Mr Krishnam Raju, and his colleague Mr Thimmaraya. A few members from other NGOs who love trees had also joined the meet. Our next target is to get access to the libraries and the archives. The library is closed on Sundays and public holidays. Hence this will have to be on a Saturday. Another good outcome at the end of the day's meet was visit to the Director's office to thank them before leaving. Arjuna and Omshivaprakash met the Director along with me. This meeting and a demo of QR code by Omshivaprakash resulted in the Director requesting for a training of his department personnel on 4th Jan 2013. They wish to expand the scope of support beyond Lal Bagh and cover Horticulture in general. Their enthusiasm and excitement are good signs for further collaboration. Omshivaprakash will be organizing the training. Hopefully this can be followed by access to the Library and the archives. Regards, Sowmyan > Date: Thu, 12 Dec 2013 23:05:56 +0530 > From: Sowmyan Tirumurti <tsowmyan(a)wikimedia.in> > To: "wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" > <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] WMIN meet at Lal Bagh Bangalore- > Schedule > Message-ID: > <CAAsdjz4+EGu9e3iGeiUsZH+QqqN=m= > KQ2jrRv39XUcLQ8HKjMQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > Change in schedule of WMIN monthly meet at Lal Bagh as requested by > officials at Lal Bagh > > Date: Dec 25, 2013 Christmas day. > Start Time : 11 AM > Expected duration of interaction - 2 hours > Interactions with : Shri Gunavantha - Dy Director > Location: Office of the Dy Director of Horticulture. As you approach Glass > House from the Bandstand, the office building will be about 50 meters to > the right. > > Regards, > Sowmyan > > > Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 20:05:55 +0530 > > From: Sowmyan Tirumurti <tsowmyan(a)wikimedia.in> > > To: "wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org" > > <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > > Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Wikimediaindia-l Digest, Vol 621, > > Issue 1 > > Message-ID: > > < > > CAAsdjz4-qB13VAM_oeFsWKUk8iDPaJAgMbTJHyvXPthOb_7U6w(a)mail.gmail.com> > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > > > Hi Shyamal, > > > > You are welcome to invite others. Just wait till Tuesday. I plan to meet > > the Director on Tuesday and will confirm to you. > > The wealth of information you posted is very interesting. I guess we need > > to form category specific interest groups for greater shared interest. > > > > For long i have wondered how to revive Bangalore meets. Meets for talking > > and sharing do not seem to enthuse many. Meets to do some joint action is > > more appealing. > > > > I have invited some people from UAS, GKVK too. Let us see how things > work > > out. If the invited team from UAS carries back nice memories more > > enthusiasts from UAS can join us in future ventures too. > > > > Regards, > > Sowmyan > > > > > > > > > > Message: 5 > > > Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 12:26:14 +0530 > > > From: "Shyamal L." <lshyamal(a)gmail.com> > > > To: Wikimedia India Community list > > > <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > > > Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Opportunity to embellish Lal Bagh > > > Botanical Garden related WP article before the flower show on > Jan > > > 26. > > > Message-ID: > > > <CAB6bDongvStabTJ7Ta-poRXM= > > > KnVTRdY8YhvFZWQiGs3oHukNQ(a)mail.gmail.com> > > > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > > > > > Sowmyan, this is great news indeed! I know a number of people who are > > > interested. It would be great if some of their archives can be > accessed. > > > Most of the trees that are out there are somewhat more readily > accessible > > > as indeed are the ornamentals. > > > > > > There are some really historic material including some amazing artwork > > > (some of which I believe is by some unfortunately little-known > botanical > > > artists like K. Cheluvayya Raju who died more than 70 years ago). > > > There is probably some interesting material related to G H Krumbiegel, > > Hugh > > > Cleghorn and the Agri Horticultural Society. > > > There are also some interesting publications made by the Horticulture > > > Department that are largely inaccessible - over the years I have had > > > enquiries from the Royal Botanical Gardens Edinburgh for looking up a > > book > > > called "Glass House – The Jewel of Lalbagh" published in 1991 that has > > > hardly been seen by people who are interested in it. I have likewise > had > > > requests for archive data relating to John Cameron (Krumbiegel's > > > predecessor). > > > > > > There is also a great deal of as yet un-written history on plant > > > introductions such as > > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chayote ("Seemay Badnekayi" = foreign > > > brinjal > > > - one of the introductions to our diet thanks to the work at Lalbagh) > as > > > well as the numerous avenue trees (like the pink poui currently in > bloom > > > and chosen by Krumbiegel as part of his Ritu Samhara idea for > Bangalore) > > > > > > For a glimpse of the excellent artwork of an unfortunately little-known > > > botanical artist - K. Cheluvayya Raju - see > > > > > > > > > http://www.benakaartconservation.com/Restoration/Portfolio_-_Art_Conservati… > > > and we have several other botanical artists who as yet have no articles > > on > > > even on the en.wiki (for example the somewhat famous pair of Govindoo > and > > > Rungiah). > > > > > > I have been postponing my own plans to research the archives there and > > > would be very happy to join you in your meetings if possible. There are > > > some active tree groups in India who will be interested too. > > > > > > best wishes > > > Shyamal > > > > > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Shyamal > > > > > > > > > > >

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accommodation in Delhi - can some one help?
by Sowmyan Tirumurti 24 Dec '13

24 Dec '13

While we plan to be in Delhi from 29th Dec to 8th Jan for the GLAM project, our effort to get guest house accommodation at Delhi University South Campus for this period did not materialize. Can any one help us with some affordable source of accommodation? We are looking for accommodation for 4 people. Two people from 29/31Dec to 8 Jan, and two people from 2 Jan to 6 Jan. Regards, Sowmyan 9632911650

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WikimediaIndia-l December 2013