WikimediaZA May 2011

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7 participants
4 discussions

Re: [Wikimedia ZA] Education opportunity in South Africa
by David Richfield 20 Jun '11

20 Jun '11

Thanks Kieran: this is a very interesting perspective on the situation, and one that I wasn't aware of. I would be perfectly happy to work with a profit-making organisation to help them provide Wikipedia for Schools to a wider audience, as long as their aims are compatible with ours, but I would never knowingly support an organisation that is inimical towards software freedom, so I'll wait to hear a bit more before committing my time to this. Kind regards, David On 13 May 2011 9:44 PM, "Jessie Wild" <jwild(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:

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Fwd: [Internal-l] "Worthy Online Resource, but Global Cultural Treasure?" (The New York Times)
by Achal Prabhala 23 May '11

23 May '11

If you haven't already seen this - nice mention of Wikimedia South Africa! -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [Internal-l] "Worthy Online Resource, but Global Cultural Treasure?" (The New York Times) Date: Sun, 22 May 2011 21:07:18 -0700 From: Steven Walling <swalling(a)wikimedia.org> Reply-To: Local Chapters, board and officers coordination (closed subscription) <internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> To: Communications Committee <wmfcc-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> CC: Local Chapters, board and officers coordination (closed subscription) <internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> Interesting press with direct link to ten.wikipedia.org <http://ten.wikipedia.org/>. :-) Nice work Wikimedia Deutschland! Worthy Online Resource, but Global Cultural Treasure? By Kevin J. O'Brien http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/technology/23wikipedia.html?_r=1&hpw=&pag… <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/23/technology/23wikipedia.html?_r=1&hpw=&pag…> BERLIN — In its 10 years of existence, Wikipedia, the global online encyclopedia, has amassed an archive of 18 million entries in 279 languages. It is one of the 10 most popular Web sites on the Internet. But is the volunteer-driven data depository an endangered world cultural treasure worthy of protection, like French cuisine, the Argentine tango or the Grand Canyon? That is the long-shot bet being made by Wikipedia, which plans to begin a global petition drive Tuesday to earn a spot on one of the world heritage lists of the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. The bid, the first by a digital entity for a place on a Unesco list, will no doubt be controversial among heritage professionals advising Unesco, who tend to view online innovation as lacking the necessary effect or maturity for listing. “Heritage professionals tend to be rather conservative types, or they wouldn’t choose this kind of occupation,” said Britta Rudolff, a heritage consultant who teaches on the subject at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus, Germany. “They like to play with the past, and something only a decade old is going to face challenges.” The idea of landing Wikipedia on a Unesco world heritage list came out of Germany, where volunteers have produced 1.2 million entries, second only to the number in English. Wikipedia’s German overseer, a Berlin nonprofit called Wikimedia, proposed the idea in March to Wikipedia chapters at a global conference in the German capital. The reception was enthusiastic, said a Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales. “The basic idea is to recognize that Wikipedia is this amazing global cultural phenomena that has transformed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people,” Mr. Wales said in an interview. He said the online encyclopedia had helped educate people around the world, providing a wealth of basic facts, background information and key context. Mr. Wales also said that one aim of the petition drive — supporters can register at a special Web page, Wikipedia 10 — is to raise awareness of Wikipedia. “Of course, part of what we are trying to do is promote the idea of Wikipedia as a cultural phenomenon,” Mr. Wales said. “Too often, people think about us purely in terms of technology, when this is about culture, high tech and learning.” Wikipedia is hoping to earn a place on Unesco’s most prestigious list, the World Heritage List, which so far includes only historic monuments and natural sites like the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China. Failing that, Wikipedia could aim for Unesco’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, a lesser-known directory that includes endangered traditions and practices, like flamenco. Getting Wikipedia on either list will be an uphill battle. It will have to negotiate a complicated approval process and overcome the skeptical regard of Unesco and heritage consultants to be considered for recognition. Susan Williams, the head of external media relations at Unesco in Paris, said a bid by a digital entity like Wikipedia would be unprecedented. “Anyone can apply,” said Ms. Williams, who added that she was not aware of Wikipedia’s plans. “But it may have difficulty fulfilling the criteria.” One of the criteria for inclusion, she said, is that the culture or practice be endangered. She said that Wikipedia might consider applying for a third, even less known honor, the Unesco Memory of the World Register list, which recognizes valuable archive holdings and library collections. That list, however, lacks the prestige of the others, which are funded more generously and promoted more assiduously by Unesco and its member countries. Mr. Wales said Wikipedia was hoping to set off a debate over the role of digital innovation in world culture. While Wikipedia, which allows anyone to write or edit entries, has had problems with accuracy and plagiarism, the organization has worked to improve its editorial controls and to help people in repressive or less affluent societies. In Iran, where the government has periodically shut down or censored portions of Wikipedia’s service, the online Web site is helping young Iranians obtain information on health issues like HIV and has given some a rare forum to post information and share views about recent anti-government demonstrations. “I think Wikipedia is playing a significant role in spreading information in Iranian society at the moment,” said one Iranian college student in Germany, who is a regular contributor to Wikipedia’s Farsi content, which includes 128,000 entries. The student, who did not want to be identified for fear of government reprisal against his family, said that about 100 students accounted for the bulk of Wikipedia Farsi entries. Volunteers use pseudonyms when making or editing entries, he said, adding that the site was well read in Iran, inviting censorship and periodic government shutdowns during civil unrest. In the past three months, the Iranian government has allowed access to the site. “This gives us a window on the world that we would not normally have,” he said. Similarly, in South Africa, Wikipedia is playing a role in providing free information and learning materials in schools, many of which lack the money to buy books and maintain libraries, said Charlene Foster, an organizer of Wikipedia South Africa. The group in March began generating entries in Afrikaans and Northern Sotho and will do so eventually in the country’s nine other official languages. Aside from providing local-language access to basic information, Wikipedia is giving South Africans a chance to write their own history, Ms. Foster said. “South Africa and the African continent has been marginalized in terms of information and cultural value,” Ms. Foster said. “But Wikipedia is helping us with access to information for education not found in libraries.” On a practical level, Wikipedia will have to do more than just gather signatures on a petition. Under Unesco rules, Wikipedia must find a country to sponsor its nomination to either the World Heritage or Intangible Cultural Heritage List. In the interview, Mr. Wales said he hoped that Germany would sponsor Wikipedia’s bid for the World Heritage list. Getting nominated for the Intangible Cultural Heritage list will be more difficult. The United States and Germany are not signatories to the 2003 convention that created this list and cannot act as sponsors. But South Africa did sign on, and Ms. Foster, who lives in Johannesburg, said she was in the early stages of asking officials in the government to discuss the country’s making a bid on behalf of Wikipedia for one of the lists. Even if Wikipedia’s South African supporters can persuade their government to nominate Wikipedia, getting selected is by no means guaranteed. Winners are selected by an intergovernmental committee of 24 countries. For the intangible heritage list, those members include Iran and Cuba. But Ms. Foster, an organizational development consultant, said it was worth a try. “We are realistic about it,” Ms. Foster said. “This has never been done before. But we believe that the contribution Wikipedia has made is a good argument in itself.” ### -- Steven Walling Fellow at Wikimedia Foundation wikimediafoundation.org <http://wikimediafoundation.org>

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Re: [Wikimedia ZA] WikimediaZA Digest, Vol 10, Issue 1
by Douglas Scott 13 May '11

13 May '11

I would be happy to help any way that I can however I will only be back in South Africa for one month this year in late August/early September so I am not so sure how helpful I can be. I agree with Kieran in that we should proceed cautiously. Although I must admit that I am just as distrustful of NGOs as I am of private firms; which is another way of saying I dont really care how or who is responsible for the rollout of this project on the ground so long as it is done as transparency, efficiently and cost effectively as possible. I also would not like my free labour to be subsidising the some firms profit margin and would like to know that it the savings are instead going to the department of education and maximising the rollout. Best, Douglas. On 13 May 2011 22:34, <wikimediaza-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote: > Send WikimediaZA mailing list submissions to > wikimediaza(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaza > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wikimediaza-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wikimediaza-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of WikimediaZA digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Education opportunity in South Africa (Jessie Wild) > 2. Re: Education opportunity in South Africa (David Richfield) > 3. Re: Education opportunity in South Africa (Kieran O'Neill) > 4. Re: Education opportunity in South Africa (Kieran O'Neill) > 5. Re: Education opportunity in South Africa (Jessie Wild) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Fri, 13 May 2011 10:38:23 -0700 > From: Jessie Wild <jwild(a)wikimedia.org> > Subject: [Wikimedia ZA] Education opportunity in South Africa > To: wikimediaza(a)lists.wikimedia.org > Message-ID: <BANLkTinZh6zK6ZhQ=C0cM5nWc-=L+BLXVw(a)mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" > > Hi South Africa Chapter! > > By means of and introduction, my name is Jessie Wild, and I am a Special > Projects manager for the Global Development department at WMF. I work on a > variety of projects for the WMF dealing most specifically with Wikimedia & > Education and increasing the opportunities for access to Wikipedia. > > One such initiative, which I hope you are mostly all aware of, is the > Offline Wikipedia projects[1]. This is basically about penetration of the > encyclopedic materials into areas ? particularly secondary schools ? > without > consistent access to the Internet. Content subsets of Wikipedia which are > small enough to fit onto a standard USB stick have been created and > uploaded > onto computers in schools around the world as essentially a piece of > software. ?Wikipedia for Schools? is the most commonly distributed content > package[2]. > The distribution of this material has been mostly done thus far throughout > Africa by organizations with broad reach. Wikimedian volunteers, though, > have done a tremendous amount of work to push this effort, and you may have > heard specifically of the work done by the Wikimedians in Kenya on this > front earlier this year. > > I am writing to let you know about a recent email I got from Sangari SA, > who > has helped contribute since 2004 Wikipedia for Schools in over 1000 schools > in South Africa. Amazing! He said the Minister of Basic Education is asking > for more information about the materials, given the great expense of the > alternatives (Microsoft Encartha and Brittanica). > > I bring this up for two reasons: > > 1. > > Pending endorsement from the Minister, the demand for this project could > be really great across the ~26000 schools in SA. > 2. > > There is an updated version of Wikipedia for Schools to be released in > about a months time > > So I am thinking and wanted to know what YOU all thought: would your > chapter be interested in getting involved with the potential distribution > and corresponding training associated with these distributions? That is, > showing teachers what the materials are like, teaching about the importance > of open education resources, giving sample classroom usages. > > > If this is not something anyone is interested in, that is definitely ok, > though I of course think it is a great opportunity let alone a great cause > :) If there are some individuals who would like to join the discussion > please email me and we could organize a plan for execution! > > > Jessie > > > > [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Offline_Projects > > [2] http://schools-wikipedia.org/ > > [3] > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Kenya/Project_for_Kenyan_Schools > > > -- > *Jessie Wild > Global Development, Manager > Wikimedia Foundation > * >

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Education opportunity in South Africa
by Jessie Wild 13 May '11

13 May '11

Hi South Africa Chapter! By means of and introduction, my name is Jessie Wild, and I am a Special Projects manager for the Global Development department at WMF. I work on a variety of projects for the WMF dealing most specifically with Wikimedia & Education and increasing the opportunities for access to Wikipedia. One such initiative, which I hope you are mostly all aware of, is the Offline Wikipedia projects[1]. This is basically about penetration of the encyclopedic materials into areas – particularly secondary schools – without consistent access to the Internet. Content subsets of Wikipedia which are small enough to fit onto a standard USB stick have been created and uploaded onto computers in schools around the world as essentially a piece of software. “Wikipedia for Schools” is the most commonly distributed content package[2]. The distribution of this material has been mostly done thus far throughout Africa by organizations with broad reach. Wikimedian volunteers, though, have done a tremendous amount of work to push this effort, and you may have heard specifically of the work done by the Wikimedians in Kenya on this front earlier this year. I am writing to let you know about a recent email I got from Sangari SA, who has helped contribute since 2004 Wikipedia for Schools in over 1000 schools in South Africa. Amazing! He said the Minister of Basic Education is asking for more information about the materials, given the great expense of the alternatives (Microsoft Encartha and Brittanica). I bring this up for two reasons: 1. Pending endorsement from the Minister, the demand for this project could be really great across the ~26000 schools in SA. 2. There is an updated version of Wikipedia for Schools to be released in about a months time So I am thinking and wanted to know what YOU all thought: would your chapter be interested in getting involved with the potential distribution and corresponding training associated with these distributions? That is, showing teachers what the materials are like, teaching about the importance of open education resources, giving sample classroom usages. If this is not something anyone is interested in, that is definitely ok, though I of course think it is a great opportunity let alone a great cause :) If there are some individuals who would like to join the discussion please email me and we could organize a plan for execution! Jessie [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Offline_Projects [2] http://schools-wikipedia.org/ [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Kenya/Project_for_Kenyan_Schools -- *Jessie Wild Global Development, Manager Wikimedia Foundation *

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WikimediaZA May 2011