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[Press]: Lessons and tips on getting media coverage
by Noopur Raval 20 Jun '12

20 Jun '12

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 Raval

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[India Program]: Monthly reports for May-June and IRC announcement
by Noopur Raval 18 Jun '12

18 Jun '12

Dear all, *Monthly reports/plans: *Here's a link to the monthly report for May: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Reports/Community_Monthly_Repo… Here's a link to the monthly plan for June: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Reports/Community_Monthly_Repo… There was an IRC meeting to discuss community building for Indic languages. Here is a link to the logs: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/IRC_meeting_2012-06-07 *IRC on 21st June: *We plan to have an IRC meeting on June 21st at 8:00 p.m on Communications. The focus will be on the Social media pilot currently running in Assamese, English and Odia. Do join us using this link: http://webchat.freenode.net/? on the #wikimedia-office channel. Apologies for the delay in sending this out. I should have sent this last week but, unfortunately some things came up. Going forward will ensure the monthly reports come out by the 10th . Please do respond with your questions and suggestions. Thank you, Best, -- Noopur Raval

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[IRC]: India Program: Community Building Pilot (7th June - 9:30 p.m)
by Noopur Raval 06 Jun '12

06 Jun '12

Hey folks, Hisham <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Hisham> had posted an update on the community building<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_…>pilot Shiju <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shiju> ran as part of India Program. This pilot was run in Assam but there are tips and pointers and suggestions from this pilot that are relevant for all Indic communities. As part of the India Programs IRCs, we propose the first monthly IRC of June to be on this topic. We'd like to discuss how to build and support communities by increasing the number of editors, assessing progress on Wikiprojects as well as fostering possibilities of new collaborations. Please join us on *7th June* at *09:30 p.m* IST using this link: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-office. Thank you, Best, Noopur On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 9:49 AM, Hisham <hisham(a)wikimedia.org> wrote: > >> Dear All >> >> I wanted to share with you an update on the work that Shiju<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shiju>[1] is >> doing on Indic languages<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Indic_Languages>[2] >> as part of India Program <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program>.[3] >> A guiding principle for the thinking and efforts of our team is that >> community building should be the most essential aspect of all the work that >> we do. In the context of small Indic communities, Shiju has been working >> to try and identify the various elements that need to come together to >> foster community building. This update is about the Community Building >> pilot<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_…>[4] that >> was run for the Assamese community. For context, community building means >> different things to different people and in fact there was a very >> interesting post<http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-December/005813.…>[5] >> that Shiju put out that articulated his thinking on this and, hence, our >> priorities. >> >> The results of these efforts have been outstanding >> >> - number of editors on Assamese Wikipedia has increased to 31 in >> April 2012 (from 18 in December 2011 and just 10 in November 2011.) >> - number of Wikiprojects increased to 6 (from a situation where there >> were no reasonably active ones in December 2011- and including 5 >> Wikiprojects independently conceptualised and managed by the community) >> - average monthly edits on Assamese Wikipedia increased to about 5000 >> in April 2012 from around 3000 in November 2011 >> >> There are 5 key factors that are responsible for this remarkable growth >> >> 1. *Strong communication*. This started with Shiju building personal >> connections with Assamese editors and then encouraging them to communicate >> with each other on-wiki, online and in meet--ups and outreach sessions. >> 2. *Initial push*. Shiju visited Assam in January where he spent >> time in 2 towns with 7 of the most active community members, who also >> conducted 2 outreach sessions. This visit has proved to be really useful >> because it helped to energise the community and also helped to establish a >> personal relationship between Shiju and these editors (and also, amongst >> the editors themselves.) >> 3. *Encouraging collaboration*. Wikiprojects and outreach are really >> useful to galvanise a community and helped build personal equations. It's >> wonderful to see the increase in Wikiprojects and >> 4. *Building capacity & confidence*. In all the work that has been >> done for the Assamese community, the endeavour has been to build capacity. >> For instance, support was given to get basic outreach material including >> FAQs prepared and outreach sessions were guided by Shiju. It's inspiring >> to see the Assamese community now take things to a whole new level and plan >> out an ambitious 10th anniversary<http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/05/16/ten-glorious-years-of-assamese-wikipedi…> >> .[6] >> 5. *Healthy environment*. This is the last - but probably the most >> essential point - and it is something I want to call out because it is what >> will help or severely hinder the abilities of individual communities >> realise their dreams and potential. The reason why the Assamese community >> is making such wonderful steps forward is because there is >> - a set of editors with the right level of initiative and >> motivation >> - a strong sense of co-operation and good spirit amongst the >> editors >> - an extremely welcoming approach to new editors >> >> None of this would have been possible without the efforts of every single >> Assamese community members. In the early days when Shiju started off, he >> was interacting with Bishnu, Dipankar, Gitartha, Jyoti & Prabhakar - who >> helped organise the first meet-ups and outreach sessions. Thanks to their >> efforts, a list of thank-yous would now be 31 strong! Thank you and >> congratulations to all of you! >> >> To the Assamese community, I wish you the very best for your 10th >> anniversary<http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/05/16/ten-glorious-years-of-assamese-wikipedi…>.[6] >> There are exciting plans including your photo contest and your article >> contest and the meet-up and the outreach session. I know that you are >> doing most of the event largely independently (with Noopur<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Noopur28>[7] providing >> media assistance for the 10th anniversary and an India Chapter<http://wikimedia.in/> >> [8] grant<http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Grants/Photo_and_Article_Competition_and_Wiki_Work…>[9] supporting >> you.) This is the true signs of a community that is coming of age. There >> are tremendous opportunities in outreach to get new editors, initiatives >> like your article & photo contests to improve content and in proposed >> projects like offline to make transformational changes in the community. >> >> With regard to the way forward for India Program, the pilot design page<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_…> >> [4] on meta <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program>[3] has now >> been updated. The next steps are going to be to see how we can adapt or >> build on these experiences with other communities, and as we move to other >> communities, do them in a more scaleable manner. >> >> To all community members - across languages across India - if you did >> want any help in any aspect of community building, please feel free to >> reach out to Shiju <http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shiju>[1] at >> shiju(a)wikimedia.org. Please also do add comments or ideas or >> suggestions you might have to the Community Building Pilot's talk page<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Commu…> >> .[10] >> >> *hisham <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hisham>[11] >> * >> Notes >> [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Shiju >> [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Indic_Languages >> [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program >> [4] >> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Community_… >> [5] >> http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2011-December/005813.… >> [6] >> http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/05/16/ten-glorious-years-of-assamese-wikipedi… >> [7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Noopur28 >> [8] http://wikimedia.in/ >> [9] >> http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Grants/Photo_and_Article_Competition_and_Wiki_Work… >> [10] >> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Basic_Commu… >> [11] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Hisham >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list >> Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org >> To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l >> >> > > > -- > Noopur Raval > -- Noopur Raval

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[Blog post]: Numerals in Indic languages
by Noopur Raval 01 Jun '12

01 Jun '12

Hey folks, Shiju has published an interesting post on numerals in an Indic context. It's a really fascinating overview - including how numerals are depicted across Indic languages, their use across languages, the policies adopted by the various Indic communities, the need for some community decisions to take things forward, a bit of Shiju's personal grumble on the fact that Hindi film posters are no longer in Hindi :-) and a picture of a Northern Railways bed sheet! Intrigued? Read more on either on meta<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Indic_Languages/Numerals_in_In…> and or the Chapter blog<http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/06/01/numerals-in-indic-languages-indic-wikip…> . [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Indic_Languages/Numerals_in_In… [2] http://blog.wikimedia.in/2012/06/01/numerals-in-indic-languages-indic-wikip… Regards, Noopur -- Noopur Raval

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[Press]: Medianama - Wikipedians Digitizing Out-Of-Copyright Texts In Eight Indian Languages
by Noopur Raval 01 Jun '12

01 Jun '12

Dear all, Here's an article by Medianama on Wikisource in Indic languages ( http://www.medianama.com/2012/05/223-wikipedians-digitizing-out-of-copyrigh…<http://www.medianama.com/2012/05/223-wikipedians-digitizing-out-of-copyrigh…> ). There are a couple of minor misses on the article - but it does refer to two important aspects about Wikisource: a) It is a door through which many have entered our projects and communities (i.e., they start with Wikisource, and indeed Wiktionary, because it's relatively easier to contribute to, and then they move on to contribute to other projects too, such as Wikipedia) - especially in Indic languages. b) The initiative run by Malayalam community (written about in the article) to encourage school children to contribute to Wikisource is something that could be of interest to many other communities. If anyone wants any help to start conversations with schools in their states, Nitika and I would be happy to help out. Please reach out to us at noopur(a)wikimedia.org or nitika(a)wikimedia.org -- *Wikipedians Digitizing Out-Of-Copyright Texts In Eight Indian Languages* *-Nikhil Pahwa In what is a painstaking process, Wikipedians are digitizing Indian language, out-of-copyright texts online, trying to address the comparative paucity of Indic language texts online. Wikisource is a repository of documents and archived material that serves as a reference source for Wikipedia, and a means of improving access to information sources. Of the 64 languages Wikisource is available in, 8 are Indian: Tamil<http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/TablesWikipediaTA.htm>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryTA.htm>), Malayalam<http://ml.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryML.htm>), Telugu<http://te.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryTE.htm>), Kannada<http://kn.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryKN.htm>), Sanskrit<http://sa.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummarySA.htm>), Marathi<http://mr.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryMR.htm>), Bengali<http://bn.wikisource.org/>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryBN.htm>) and Gujarati<http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/TablesWikipediaGU.htm>( stats <http://stats.wikimedia.org/wikisource/EN/SummaryGU.htm>). What’s particularly notable about this digitization is that the texts are being typed out by volunteers on their own time, one word at a time.* *How It Began* *Users were adding bhajans of Mirabai to Wikipedia, but according to Wikipedia’s policies, recipes, poems and song lyrics belong to Wikibooks or Wikisource, Noopur Raval, Communications Consultant (India Program) at the Wikimedia Foundation told MediaNama. One user raised this issue, and following discussions, it was decided to create a Wikisource for Gujarati. The first text to be digitized, though, was Rachnatmak Karyakram, a book by Mahatma Gandhi. The project, involving the digitization of 60 pages, took six volunteers a week. This was followed by another project, the digitization of Gandhi’s autobiography, with a group of 13 people typing out the book over a month.* *Identification & Prioritization Of Texts For Digitization* *Selection of text for digitization is entirely community driven: they decide what is important. Editors put up a notice for the project, and user participation is sought. For example, the Gujarati Wikisource editors chose a text by Mahatma Gandhi. The community has an intensive process for checking if a book is out of copyright, either using the publication date, and there are mailing lists which discuss when books go out of copyright. “It’s not as if there is a shortage of texts that are out of copyright,” Hisham Mundol, Consultant (India Program) at the Wikimedia Foundation said, adding that “The kind of projects that the community is undertaking (at present) involves iconic books, where you know the author and the publisher.”* *Overcoming Technological Challenges* *Mundol points out that the process of digitization is brutal, compounded by the fact that there is no reasonably functional OCR (Optical Character Recognition) in Indic languages. Texts are thus manually typed out, followed by a phase of correction and proofreading. In comparison, English texts can be scanned and uploaded and OCR’ed. The lack of tools points towards an issue which Wikipedia faces with Indic languages. “If a MediaWiki tool comes to an English language project, the possibility of implementing it, the kind of people using it, all of that happens very quickly, because most of this is written English. It takes time to localize it. For a bug to be filed for a local language project takes a lot more time. That gap makes for a lot of difference: how many people (use it), how easily is the work done, the kind of ease, at every step you need people who know the language to work with people who know the technology,” says Raval.* *Still, the situation with Indic language fonts has improved over the past year according to Mundol:”The font input problem is no longer the burning issue. There’s been an increase in the volumes on Indic language scripts, emails, mobiles. We’re seeing a doubling of readership of our Indic languages.” One reason for the increase, according to Raval, has been the implementation of a multiple input tool called Narayam, integrating both Inscript and transliteration.* *Reducing Entry Barrier & Involving Schools* *The Wikisource project is really small in India right now, but it plays an important role: “It allows people to enter the Wikimedia world of projects in a much easier manner than editing a Wikipedia article. Wikisource is much more accessible,” Mundol says.* *In Kerala, community members involved schools in the process of digitizing Ramchandra Vilasam. ”As a part of the 7th or 8th standard, the school curriculum encourages typing in Malayalam. So the community members work with the teacher, and instead of 40 students typing out the same two pages that they would have done in a class assignment, they split a book between them, and each types out a separate page. It’s great because if everyone gave in the same page, it would go to the recycle bin quite promptly,” Mundol said, adding that “We are looking at involving more schools, and discussions are on with Malayalam schools and colleges.”* *The Culture Of Knowledge & The Importance Of Community For Wikimedia* *“It’s interesting to see how a culture develops, not just editors and technology, but the whole interaction that builds up the identity of a community,” Raval says. “When Gujarati Wikisource or Marathi Wikisource comes to your mind, you’re actually thinking of a bunch of people you don’t necessarily know, and their attitudes towards knowledge, and why they would go out of their way, spend hours, just to make sure that the knowledge that they think is important in a language should survive and be digitized, and they’ll go through the pain to make it available.” While each project has an individual taking responsibility as a project manager, and a group gets created around each project, since it is volunteer work, whenever someone has exams or has other work, someone else compensates.* *The focus on fostering an involved community often determines Wikimedia’s approach: “The temptation could be to take a bunch of the 4 million articles on the English Wikipedia, and run it through a translator. Very quickly, you can build a huge content base (in Indic languages), but it does nothing for that community. We’ve seen that it not only does no good, it does a great deal of harm because they no longer feel that this is actually their project. It’s about ‘I wrote this paragraph’, or ‘I contributed to this article’,” Mundol says. “Anything that Wikimedia does, we encourage the participation of an individual member as much much more important than anything else because community members edit, contribute, and no technology solution can get you that.”* Best, Noopur -- Noopur Raval

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Monthly Net Meeting-3rd June
by Dhaval S. Vyas 29 May '12

29 May '12

Friends, Next Sunday, 3rd June, we will be having our next net-meetup on our usual adda, gu.wikipedia@skype. We start gathering just before 11 AM IST. We will be discussing progress of our Substub Karyakarini, who is working hard on substubs. Hope to see you all there. Will appreciate if you could RSVP on gu.wiki page Goshthi. Thanks, Dhaval

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Updates on Social Media pilot
by Noopur Raval 28 May '12

28 May '12

Dear all, Greetings! Here's an update on the Social Media pilot program<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media>. Just a small recap before I go on to the numbers. *Why Facebook?* Why we decided to go with Facebook at all is because potential new editors are more comfortable and familiar with the channel. To illustrate, after outreach sessions, we tried staying in touch with around 100 participants using a combination of email and talk page messages and got just 3 responses. When we sent an invite to a Facebook page where they could get help and inputs on how to edit, we got 300 signed up in less than 3 days. Also, social media requires relatively lower investments of time and resources from our community and many Internet savvy people are comfortable using it. The Social Media program was started in order to effectively utilize platforms like Facebook and community groups there (like the Odia Wikipedia group, Kannada Wikipedia group) in order to engage more new editors and give them basic lessons on editing. However, running a Facebook group is very different from using Facebook for personal updates. That's why after observing how these groups work and interacting with a few editors who started these groups, we developed a systematic 19 point guide that looks at various aspects of how to do use Facebook effectively including aspects like discipline in messaging, structuring the interactions, tone of messaging, selecting articles, being cautious with Wikispeak etc. (Of course, it keeps in mind WP:NOTFACEBOOK.) Here's a sneak peek into what we've been doing on two different groups: 1) You can also write on Wikipedia<https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/> This group was primarily started to give lessons in English editing. Although all of us use social network sites, it is important to understand that the way we interact on Wikipedia is very different from Facebook. This is the gap we are trying to bridge through more deliberate messaging. As mentioned in the detailed program guide<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media#Pro…>, we try and do regular editing sessions with fun, interesting articles that have adequate space for improvement (therefore making it easier for new editors to make their first edits.) Through a series of 5 basic tasks like creating a username, correcting a spelling mistake, adding a line of information, adding a reference and adding an interwiki link, we try and get the user to make their first 5 edits in less than 10 minutes. Our initial experiments show promise and of the 400+ members right now, over 30 users have participated in these mini-editing sessions and have now edited for the very first time. (You can see their usernames in the doc<https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/doc/353268748054711/>on the group; do note that are the names of 7 existing editors also on that list, who are the mentors.) To cite examples, User: Zamsam<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Zamsam>(a young new editor) came to the group and wanted to create the article on cricketer Ajit Chandila <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajit_Chandila>. Once we helped him create the article, he started contributing to Chandila's article and moved on to another cricketer, Manvinder Bisla's<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manvinder_Bisla>article. Similarly, User:10gible <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/10gible>joined us to edit the article on Lalu Prasad Yadav <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalu_Prasad_Yadav> while User:Neeasmaverick<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Neeasmaverick>edited the article on his college, Jawaharlal Nehru University <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jawaharlal_Nehru_University>, Vicky Donor <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicky_Donor> and Amul girl<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amul_girl>and User:Saranshkataria<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Saranshkataria>edited Aloo Chaat <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aloo_Chaat> and Rasgulla<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasgulla>. This could not have been possible without a group of wonderful mentors like Debanjan, Karthik, Deepon, Sheel, Pratik and Harsh who volunteered and constantly keep helping new editors. We had Skype calls and regular chats just to ensure that we connect with new users in a way they find most comfortable. The first hurdle of getting new editors to do a set of basic tasks has been crossed for some. The challenge going forward will always be is to sustain the interest of these new editors and make them long term editors hopefully by multiple editing sessions. That still needs to be figured out. Any inputs, comments and help are welcome. 2) Odia Wikipedia group <https://www.facebook.com/groups/OdiaWiki/> This group caters to Odia Wikipedians as well as people who speak the language and might be interested in knowing about Wikipedia. We used similar techniques as above to expand the group conversations beyond existing Wikipedians and encourage new editors to participate. Once when an article on Handia <https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handia> (a local beverage) was posted, a new User:Swetapadma<https://or.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E0%AC%AC%E0%AD%8D%E0%AD%9F%E0%A…>came forward to contribute images. Since then, she has been contributing to articles on Odia cuisine and adding images to articles on Tribes of Odisha. User:Hellohappy<https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AC%AC%E0%AD%8D%E0%AD%9F%E0%AC%AC%E0%AC%B9…>edited the article on Capital High School, Bhubaneswar<https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_High_School,_Bhubaneswar> . So far almost 10 new users have joined in and made their first few edits in the past month. Given the small size of Indic communities, this could be a very effective way of encouraging newbies. This also helps because it means that it filters in those who have Internet connectivity, are passionate about the language and (in most cases) are familiar with typing in Indic languages). Again, this was done with the help of existing Odia Wikipedians like Gorvachove, Mrutyunjay Kar, Gyanranjan Sahu, Suratha Parhi, Diptiman and others. *Challenges*: Now that we've figured out a way of engaging so many new editors and getting them to make their first 5 edits, the challenge is to integrate them into our community and make sure they continue editing. Also, it would be ideal to expand this initiative to other Indic and Wikipedia user groups. (I am already working with the Kannada community and I know that Wikipedia Club Pune has already been trying something similar). I would like to invite all community members interested to write to me ( noopur(a)wikimedia.org) and then we can have a brief skype call and figure how to implement it for your group. [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media [2] https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/ [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media#Pro… [4] https://www.facebook.com/groups/wikipediasupport/doc/353268748054711/ [5] https://www.facebook.com/groups/OdiaWiki/ Regards, Noopur -- Noopur Raval -- Noopur Raval

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Re: [Wikipedia-gu] Wikipedia-gu Digest, Vol 6, Issue 12
by Ashok Vaishnav 11 May '12

11 May '12

Congraqtulations for the publication Wikiparika. Indeed, all the efforts and pains that undergo such an exercise do show thier worth in the final outcome of this issue. Can this be enabled for a wider circulation, say,via blogaggregators like Indiblogger / Blogadda etc.? This can bring in much wider involvement of bloggers to the wikimedia and realated projects. WBR< Ashok Vaishnav >________________________________ > From: "wikipedia-gu-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org" <wikipedia-gu-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org> >To: wikipedia-gu(a)lists.wikimedia.org >Sent: Friday, May 11, 2012 5:30 PM >Subject: Wikipedia-gu Digest, Vol 6, Issue 12 > >----- Forwarded Message ----- > >Send Wikipedia-gu mailing list submissions to > wikipedia-gu(a)lists.wikimedia.org > >To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-gu >or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wikipedia-gu-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org > >You can reach the person managing the list at > wikipedia-gu-owner(a)lists.wikimedia.org > >When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific >than "Re: Contents of Wikipedia-gu digest..." > >Today's Topics: > > 1. [Wikipatrika]: Announcing the third issue of Wikipatrika! > (Noopur Raval) > >Dear all, > >I am very happy to tell you all that the third issue of Wikipatrika - the community newsletter is finally out! You can check it here: http://wiki.wikimedia.in/WikiPatrika/2012-05 > >First things first, a humble acknowledgement to all the editors who helped out with this issue of the newsletter. A special thanks to Gitartha (as), Debanjan (bn), Karthik (en and mr), Pratik (en), DS Vyas and Sushant (gu), Siddhartha (hi), Omshivaprakash (kn), Anoop, Kannan, Sreejith, Viswaprabha and Shiju (ml), Abhishek (mr), Rajesh and Saroj (ne), Mkar and Srikant Kedia (or), Abhiram (sa), Logicwiki and Shanmugam (ta), Arjuna and Rahimanuddin (te). In other contributions, thanks to Srikanth R for Commons, Logic, Santhosh, Achal for Free culture news and Tinu for Press news. >This entire venture could not have been possible without Tanvir's constant support with templates and tweaks. Forgive me if I have missed someone. > >So, what has changed from last time? Since all the Wikimeetups are listed on Wikipedia here and on the respective community pages, we've omitted the section on events and meetups. Instead, we've added a section onFeatured Interviews which has a GLAM interview this time and the EPOV column (Editor's point of view: INCOTM report). > >The idea is to make Wikipatrika a supplement to the mailing lists and village pumps and not replicate the same information in all places. Hopefully, by the next issue, with more featured interviews, insightful pieces from editors and free culture persons we will be able to achieve that. > >The way forward: > >It's a proud moment to see the amount of activity that all our language communities are involved in. We should definitely strive to make Wikipatrika regular and hopefully get more editors to contribute. This is one space where editors can express the dreams, visions and challenges that their Wikipedia community faces. If you have projects you want to publicize or successful projects that could be started in other communities, this is the space to express your opinion! From next time onward, we will coordinate Patrika on https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-newsletter mailing list. I welcome you all to join right away and we can discuss ideas for features, changing the format and more! > >-- >Noopur Raval > >_______________________________________________ >Wikipedia-gu mailing list >Wikipedia-gu(a)lists.wikimedia.org >https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-gu > > >

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[Wikipatrika]: Announcing the third issue of Wikipatrika!
by Noopur Raval 10 May '12

10 May '12

Dear all, I am very happy to tell you all that the third issue of Wikipatrika - the community newsletter is finally out! You can check it here: http://wiki.wikimedia.in/WikiPatrika/2012-05 First things first, a humble acknowledgement to all the editors who helped out with this issue of the newsletter. A special thanks to Gitartha (as), Debanjan (bn), Karthik (en and mr), Pratik (en), DS Vyas and Sushant (gu), Siddhartha (hi), Omshivaprakash (kn), Anoop, Kannan, Sreejith, Viswaprabha and Shiju (ml), Abhishek (mr), Rajesh and Saroj (ne), Mkar and Srikant Kedia (or), Abhiram (sa), Logicwiki and Shanmugam (ta), Arjuna and Rahimanuddin (te). In other contributions, thanks to Srikanth R for Commons, Logic, Santhosh, Achal for Free culture news and Tinu for Press news. This entire venture could not have been possible without Tanvir's constant support with templates and tweaks. Forgive me if I have missed someone. So, what has changed from last time? Since all the Wikimeetups are listed on Wikipedia here and on the respective community pages, we've omitted the section on events and meetups. Instead, we've added a section on* Featured Interviews* which has a GLAM interview this time and the *EPOV* column (Editor's point of view: INCOTM report). The idea is to make Wikipatrika a supplement to the mailing lists and village pumps and not replicate the same information in all places. Hopefully, by the next issue, with more featured interviews, insightful pieces from editors and free culture persons we will be able to achieve that. *The way forward: * It's a proud moment to see the amount of activity that all our language communities are involved in. We should definitely strive to make Wikipatrika regular and hopefully get more editors to contribute. This is one space where editors can express the dreams, visions and challenges that their Wikipedia community faces. If you have projects you want to publicize or successful projects that could be started in other communities, this is the space to express your opinion! From next time onward, we will coordinate Patrika on https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-in-newsletter *mailing list*. I welcome you all to join right away and we can discuss ideas for features, changing the format and more! -- Noopur Raval

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[India Program]: Monthly report and updates
by Noopur Raval 08 May '12

08 May '12

Dear all, Time for monthly updates and reports. Here's the India Program report for the month of April: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Reports/Community_Monthly_Repo… and, the proposed work plan for the month of May: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Reports/Community_Monthly_Repo… Also, while I am sure the official report on the very successful WikiSangamolsavam is on it's way, here's a blog post by Barry Newstead who heads Global Development at the Wikimedia Foundation, on his experience of the conference: http://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/05/04/focusing-on-90-percent-of-india/ Thank you, Regards -- Noopur Raval

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