*Press release*
Growing and sharing together: Kannada Wikipedia turns 9 years old
(Bangalore, May 29 2012): Kannada Wikipedia
(*kn<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ>
.
<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ>wikipedia<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ>
.
<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ>org<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ಮುಖ್ಯ_ಪುಟ>
*), the Kannada version of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia is all
set to complete 9 years on 12th June. A meet up of Wikipedians will be held
to celebrate this landmark day.
Wikipedia is the free online encyclopedia with almost 40 lakh articles on
different subjects – and is read by 48.9 crore people, which makes it the 5
th most visited website in the world. It also exists in 20 major Indian
languages including Kannada. Kannada Wikipedia has over 12,000 articles and
has 11.5 lakh page views per month. A lesser known fact about Wikipedia is
that all the content is contributed by volunteers. Currently, 27 volunteers
from all over the world contribute to the content on Kannada Wikipedia.
In this community members collaborate with each other to add and enhance
content on a wide variety of topics. Depending on their interests, they
edit articles on Kannada cuisine, culture, traditions, music and much more.
Some write about physics, biology, chemistry, medicine and other subjects
so that fellow Kannadigas don't have to learn English to know more about
any subject in the world!
However, the journey has only just begun. Omshivaprakash HL, an active
member of the project explains, “In order to cover the incredibly diverse
and rich culture in Karnataka from *Dharwad peda* to Bandipur forests to
Coorg coffee estates, we welcome as many fellow lovers of Kannada to our
project. All you need to know is how to read and write Kannada – and follow
some basic principles such as writing about notable subjects, writing from
a neutral point of view and adding references for any facts that you
include. You can start by clicking the 'edit' (ಸಂಪಾದಿಸಿ) button you see on
any article and start adding useful information on that topic. You can
reference content from newspapers, journals or books.”
To celebrate their 9th anniversary, the Kannada Wikipedia Community has
planned a get together at XXX on 9th June 2012 at XX pm. They will explore
ways in which Kannada Wikipedia can be improved and also plan to teach new
folks on how they can add content. All those passionate about sharing
knowledge and who want to celebrate Kannadiga heritage are invited to join
in - students, professionals, housewives, etc. As Tejas Jain, another
Wikipedian from Bangalore puts it, “There is nothing more satisfying than
sharing knowledge for free, that too in your mother tongue. So many of the
nearly 5 crore Kannada speakers can gain from these efforts! ”
Hisham Mundol, who heads the Wikimedia Foundation’s India Program (which is
the initiaitive to support Wikipedia in India) adds, “Wikipedia’s dream is
to make all knowledge available to everyone for free. We invite Kannadigas
to join the small but wonderful community of Kannada Wikipedians so that
this is realised to benefit crores of people whose mother tongue is
Kannada.”
To know more about the 9th anniversary celebrations and to attend, you can
join them on Facebook (*https<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
://
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>www<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
.
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>facebook<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
.
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>com<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
/
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>groups<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
/
<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>kannadawikipedia<https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>
/ <https://www.facebook.com/groups/kannadawikipedia/>*) or write to
wikikn-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org.
--
Omshivaprakash H L | ಓಂಶಿವಪ್ರಕಾಶ್ ಎಚ್.ಎಲ್ | ॐ शिवप्रकाश् एच्. एल्
Kannada SIG
Wikimedia India Chapter
[image: File:Wikimedia India logo.svg] <http://wiki.wikimedia.in/>