My two cents worth
On Arthapedia
- Attempting to use wikis is a commendable effort on the part of government officers. Lack of competence shouldn't be confused for poor intentions.
- The site does mention any license (copyleft/right) at all. They have clear contact details of some officers so I am bringing it to their attention. Lets see if they respond.
- I will suggest to them that the Wikimedia community may be able to offer a training session in Delhi. Possibility of experts (ala GLAM) editing Wikipedia is a good thing.
On Wikipedia vs Wiki
- Increasingly, and especially in India, all wiki sites will be termed as 'Wikipedia-like' sites by the media even though they may differ entirely in their modus operandi (licensing, content, etc). The community needs to take a call whether they want to keep emphasizing on how Wikipedia is different or let the lines blur. So for insance, should Kaushik Basu (very notable economist and the brain behind the site) of Arthapedia be invited as a speaker for WikiConference India (possibly yes if community is ok with the lines blurring, possibly no if they want to keep it distinct). My concern with the name WikiConference India was on similar lines during the voting for the name.
- Irrespective of the above, the community also should have a point of view on whether they should have academies and such for other wiki sites run by particular groups (IES economists for instance). Pro - Increases the base of wiki editors (and in this case experts). The wiki site in question could extensively end up using Wikimedia Commons. Con - Spreading already very thin resources of the community.
Best regards,
Sohel.
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 11:43:25 +0530
From: Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Arthapedia - Indian Gov Site on the
lines of Wikipedia
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
<CA+30aUN0pcc7or7rUXXjfpCE1W9+jzgMjCv8PTkckW3+z1cKZw@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 22:20, Gautam John <gautam@prathambooks.org> wrote:
> Not really a Wikipedia model, what?
>
> Crying shame about the license.
>
Only valid concern is about license, but then if its about bridging the gap
between policymakers and general public, I feel it will be yet another
"tam-tam" site from govt and will have no encyclopedia content. We could
still use the content as RS since it comes from govt.
> Wondering if the Chapter and the Office can do anything?
>
FYI: Arthapedia is available at arthapedia.in
I dont think there is a room for involvement since the goals are not even
intersecting except that they use Mediawiki. Looking at the site, an academy
about how to put Wiki texts(syntax), making successful Interlinked content
can be given a shot, but then it will help only their project and public
over all and may be a fraction of them editing Wikipedia. Currently they are
just copy pasting documents without interlinking. Some Mediawiki
help(tips/advice) too can be given.
--
Regards
Srikanth.L
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 12:11:33 +0530
From: Vickram Crishna <vvcrishna@radiophony.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Arthapedia - Indian Gov Site on the
lines of Wikipedia
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
<CACRkhvrGikFVMrqZB5R7GRCSdG5+crU9CVoVvu6r11ut2pfNhQ@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 22:20, Gautam John <gautam@prathambooks.org> wrote:
>
>> Not really a Wikipedia model, what?
>>
>> Crying shame about the license.
>>
> Only valid concern is about license, but then if its about bridging the gap
> between policymakers and general public, I feel it will be yet another
> "tam-tam" site from govt and will have no encyclopedia content. We could
> still use the content as RS since it comes from govt.
>
>
>> Wondering if the Chapter and the Office can do anything?
>>
>
Perhaps the Chapter can offer to conduct training programs for government
servants in all states (cascading model) to upload and maintain information
on government procedures and processes. It could be a steady source of
income for the Trust.
What is also needed is information on what we might call 'ground reality'
processes. For instance, when the information asked for in the form etc does
not match the information actually needed by the officer concerned, or at
least claimed to be needed. For obvious reasons, such processes cannot be
authenticated with references to official documents, yet it is precisely
these that are needed by ordinary applicants, who are otherwise driven to
the arms of pimps (ie, consultants). The arthapedia site will also
necessarily fail in this respect, so either wikifyindia or Wikipedia itself
must provide a meaningful solution.
> FYI: Arthapedia is available at arthapedia.in
>
>
> I dont think there is a room for involvement since the goals are not even
> intersecting except that they use Mediawiki. Looking at the site, an academy
> about how to put Wiki texts(syntax), making successful Interlinked content
> can be given a shot, but then it will help only their project and public
> over all and may be a fraction of them editing Wikipedia. Currently they are
> just copy pasting documents without interlinking. Some Mediawiki
> help(tips/advice) too can be given.
>
> --
> Regards
> Srikanth.L
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
--
Vickram
Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com>
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