Konkani Wikipedia from Goa University in 6 months
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Konkani-Wikipedia-fr…
PANAJI: Piles of the thick four volumes of Konkani vishwakosh or encyclopedia waiting to
be picked up by users at the Goa University (GU) will now attain a modern avatar. The
volumes, work on which was first started by renowned Goan writer and academician late
Manoharrai Sardessai at GU, will not only be available in digitized format, but will form
the base for a Konkani Wikipedia.
Goa University has become the first varsity in the country to enter into a creative
commons licence that will allow data produced and copyrighted by an Indian university
available to internet users and open to modification, making GU a champion of sorts of
free knowledge. The Konkani Wikipedia is expected to be ready for use within six months,
officials said.
The university has signed a three-year memorandum of understanding with the Centre for
Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge Programme, which represents Wikipedia in
India, for the Konkani Wikipedia project.
"Professors, students and anyone with expertise or love for Konkani can come forward
to help with the project for which training will be provided. Information in the Konkani
vishwakosh will also be updated as per the current developments," Vishnu Vardhan of
the centre said.
The Wikipedia is the fourth most used property on the internet after Google, Facebook and
Yahoo, which acts as an internet based encyclopedia where any of the users can upload new
information or update or modify an existing chapter. The Konkani Wikipedia too will offer
similar privileges to users and GU's Konkani department and the centre will oversee
the process from the university campus.
"The Konkani vishwakosh covers all realms of knowledge like any other encyclopedia.
The Konkani Wikipedia will act as a digitized repository of knowledge for future
generations and Konkani speakers across the world. I look forward to the pleasure of going
to the internet and clicking away to access a Konkani Wikipedia," GU vice-chancellor
Satish Shetye said.
Shetye said that GU is glad to associate with Wikipedia which has become a global
phenomenon and broken the monopoly of publishers and converted distribution of knowledge
into a democratic process.
"At present, it takes time for a page with information in a regional language to
download because they are usually found in the form of scanned pages, which are accessible
as images and not text. The Konkani Wikipedia will make the text accessible as is the case
of any English text on the internet," GU registrar Vijayendra Kamat said. tnn
The Konkani vishwakosh was created over a period of 14 years.
Edited by late Manoharrai Sardessai and later Tanaji Halarnkar. GU staffers Ranjan Naik,
Kalpana Naik, Kanchan Mordekar, Surekha Naik, Mukesh Thali and Shailendra Mehta
contributed to the compilation process.
Contains four large volumes of 3,632 of total pages.
Konkani vishwakosh or encyclopedia encompasses world information in a nutshell with
special emphasis on Goa, Konkani, Goan culture, folklore, history, geography etc.
Wikipedia is available in 20 Indian languages including Telugu, Assamese, Marathi, but not
in Konkani so far.
Students, professors and anyone interested in contributing to the project can do so by
enrolling online at bit.ly/konkanivishwakosh before October 5.
Thanks
Nitika