Wikipedia-OR June 2012

wikipedia-or@lists.wikimedia.org

4 participants
9 discussions

Wiki Loves Monuments India 2012
by Karthik Nadar 27 Jun '12

27 Jun '12

Sorry if you have already read it. Cross posting to reach the mass. Hi, hope all fine :) This is to inform you about Wiki Loves Monuments (WLM) 2012, a global public photo contest around monuments, organized by Wikimedia chapters and groups. WLM was first organised in Netherlands in 2010, while 18 European countries participated in 2011. In total, more than *165,000* pictures of European monuments were uploaded in 2011. Happy to inform you that, this year, Indian community is confirmed to participate in the international contest<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012>. Photo contests and events have been organised in India till 2011, however in different cities at different period of time. In an attempt to organise the contest nationally, we will need some dedicated volunteers who can assist us in following ways: - Helping to prepare the list of monuments - Coordinating in your own city - Online support, especially from Wikimedia Commons users while pre, during and post the contest for categorization, OTRS team, and many more stuff's Anyone interested are welcome to sign-up at the volunteers section! [1] Do use Commons event talk page for discussion. 1. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2012_in_India 2. Official website <http://www.wikilovesmonuments.in/> 3. Wiki Loves Monuments India mailing list<https://lists.wmnederland.nl/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wlm-in> (wlm-in(a)lists.wmnederland.nl<https://lists.wmnederland.nl/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/wlm-in> ) 4. One minute fact sheet about Wiki Loves Monuments<http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_Fact_Sheet.pdf> -- Thanks and regards, (User:Karthikndr <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Karthikndr>) *Karthik Nadar.*

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Presenting Chatasabha
by Subhashish Panigrahi 25 Jun '12

25 Jun '12

Juhara, New editors across Indic Wikipedias often face problems while editing for which need they help. However, most don't know where they can ask questions or get clarifications as they are usually unfamiliar with village pumps or mailing lists or even talk pages on basic editing. Many existing editors want to help new editors and could appreciate a central place where they can meet and help new editors. India Program has started a pilot to support the Odia community's help desk, Chatasabha<http://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AC%89%E0%AC%87%E0%AC%95%E0%AC%BF%E0%AC%AA%…>. (Incidentally, "Chata" means student and "Sabha" means community, in Odia.) This pilot will build on the community's existing efforts - and seeks to provide a structured way of designing and running a Help Desk. It takes learnings from English Wikipedia's Tea House<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:Teahouse>as well as other experiences on Help Desk and similar services. The Help Desk that is being piloted is user friendly, has guidelines to provide simple answers to new editors and tries to manage the work load of existing community members by providing ready answers to frequently asked questions. The user friendliness of the Help Desk is in the form of being able to ask questions without getting stuck on Wiki markups as well as illustrated answers to some questions. I have put a page on meta which has the pilot design<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Community_buildi…>. Eventually, we would like to help other Indic languages build similar Help Desks. Please do provide your feedback on the talk page<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Community_b…> . Best -- *Subha* *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!*

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[IRC]: Social Media pilot IRC at 8:00 p.m (IST) on 21st June (today)
by Noopur Raval 21 Jun '12

21 Jun '12

Dear all, Just a gentle reminder for today's IRC on Social Media pilot at 8:00 p.m (IST). You can join the meetup by clicking on this link: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=#wikimedia-office . Enter a nickname and channel name is #wikimedia-office. Since there is another IRC scheduled at 9:00 p.m for Wiki Loves Monuments in India, we'll try and wrap this up by sharp 9:00 p.m. We'll be discussing the progress on the already active social media groups (English and Odia), explaining strategies to start it on new groups, discussing ways to retain new editors. For those of you who may not have been following this discussion, here's the link to the Social Media pilot<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Program/Pilot_Designs/Social_Media>that we are running on Facebook right now. Here's the link to the blog post<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2012/06/20/social-media-for-wikipedia-outreach-i…>on the Social Media pilot. Since this has been a collaborative process, I would urge all the mentors (existing editors who are helping out on Facebook) to attend the IRC. Your inputs and suggestions would be really helpful in deciding the course of action further. See you there! -- Noopur Raval

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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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ଓଡିଆ ଉଇକି ଖବର
by Gyan 19 Jun '12

19 Jun '12

ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ନମସ୍କାର, ଏହି ଲେଖାଟିରେ ଗତ ସପ୍ତାହରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ମାନଙ୍କର କାର୍ଯ୍ୟ ଏବଂ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକି ବିଷୟରେ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ନୂଆ ଖବର ଏବଂ ତଥ୍ୟ ବିଷୟରେ ଲେଖାଯାଇଛି । #୧ ପ୍ରଥମ ଖବରଟି ଉଇକି ବିଷୟରେ । ରଜ ପର୍ବ ଅବସରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକି ପରିବାରରେ ଏହାକୁ ଏକ ଭିନ୍ନ ଉପାୟରେ ପାଳିଥିଲେ । ରଜରେ ଖାଉଥିବା ପାନ, ରଜ ପର୍ବ ଇତ୍ୟାଦି ଭଳି ନୂଆ ଲେଖାମାନ ଆସିଥିଲା । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକି ଆପଣ ମାନଙ୍କ ଭଳି ସଭ୍ୟ ମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ବର୍ତମାନ ଟିକେ ଆଗ ଠାରୁ ଅଧିକ ସଚଳ ହୋଇ ଉଠିଛି । ସେଥି ପାଇଁ କିଛି ପୁରୁଖା ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନଙ୍କ ସହଯୋଗ ଓ ନୂଆ ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନଙ୍କର ସଦ୍ଦିଛା ହିଁ ଦାୟୀ । ସେଥିପାଇଁ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ଧନ୍ୟବାଦ । # ୨ ଦ୍ଵିତୀୟ କଥାଟି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକି ସଦସ୍ୟ ମାନଙ୍କର ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ଫାଉଣ୍ଡେସନର କନସଲଟାଣ୍ଟ ଶ୍ରୀଯୁକ୍ତ ଅଶୋକ ମିଶ୍ରଙ୍କ ସହ ଭେଟ ବିଷୟରେ । ଅଶୋକ ମିଶ୍ର ହେଉଛନ୍ତି ଉଇକିମିଡ଼ିଆ ଫାଉଣ୍ଡେସନର ଜଣେ କନସଲଟାଣ୍ଟ ଯିଏକି ଆମେରିକାରେ ବାର୍ଷିକ ଅନୁଦାନ ସଂଗ୍ରହ ସମୟରେ ଭାରତୀୟ ମୁଦ୍ରା ଉପରେ କାମ କରନ୍ତି । ଆଗରୁ କରାଯାଇଥିବା ସମୟ ତାଲିକା ଅନୁସାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଆଳି ଦୀପ୍ତିମାନ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନରଞ୍ଜନ ସାହୁ ତାଙ୍କ ଘରେ ଶ୍ରୀଯୁକ୍ତ ମିଶ୍ରଙ୍କୁ ଭେଟିଥିଲେ । ଶ୍ରୀଯୁକ୍ତ ମିଶ୍ର କେତେ ଗୁଡିଏ ପ୍ରଶ୍ନ ପଚାରିଥିଲେ ସେଗୁଡିକ ମଧ୍ୟରୁ କିଛି ହେଲା : * ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିରେ କେତେଜଣ ସଚଳ ସଭ୍ୟ ଅଛନ୍ତି ? * କେତେଜଣ ସଭ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ସଚଳ ଅଛନ୍ତିଏବଂ କେତେଜଣ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବାହାରେ ? * ଉଇକି ପିଡ଼ିଆର ଓଡ଼ିଶା/ଭାରତରେ କେତୋଟି ସର୍ଭର ଅଛି ? * କିଏ କିଏ ଏହାକୁ ନିୟନ୍ତ୍ରଣ କରୁଛନ୍ତି ? * କେତେ କେତେ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଏବଂ ମେଳଣ ହୋଇଥିଲା ଓ କେବେ କେବେ ? * ଆଗକୁ କଣ ସବୁ ଯୋଜନା ଅଛି ? * ତାଙ୍କ କହିବା ଅନୁସାରେ ଭାରତରୁ ବହୁତ ଗୁଡିଏ ଅର୍ଥ ଦାନ ହେଉଛି । ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ କିପରି କିଛି ଲୋକ ଦାନ କରିବେ ସେଥି ପାଇଁ ଆଗକୁ ପ୍ରୟାସ କରିବା । ଏହି ପରି ଅନେକ ଗୁଡିଏ ଆଲୋଚନା ହେଇଥିଲା । ଏହି ମିଳନଟି ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ ଭାବେ ବସରକାରୀ (unofficial) ଥିଲା । *ଦୀପ୍ତିମାନ ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନଙ୍କ ସହ ହୋଇଥିବା ଆଲୋଚନାରୁ କିଛି :* ବର୍ତମାନ ସଚଳ ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ଯେଉଁମାନେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ରହୁଛନ୍ତି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ବହୁତ କମ ଅଛି । ତେଣୁ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ବଢେଇବାକୁ ପଡିବ ଯୋଇଥି ପାଇଙ୍କି ଫେସବୁକରେ ଅଧିକ ସଚଳ ହେବାକୁ ପଡିବ ଏବଂ ବର୍ତମାନର ଉଇକିଆଳି ମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅଧିକ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣ କରିବାକୁ ପଡିବ । ବର୍ତମାନ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ବରରେ କିମ୍ବା କଟକରେ ଗୋଟିଏ କାର୍ମଶାଳା କରିବାକୁ ଚେଷ୍ଟା କରାଯାଉଛି । ଯେଉମାନେ ସହଯୋଗ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଇଚ୍ଛୁକ ଅଛନ୍ତି ଦୟାକରି ଏଠି ଜଣାନ୍ତୁ । ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକି ପରିବାରରେ ଏହି ଅଳ୍ପ କିଛି ଦିନ ହେବ ଅନେକ ନୂତନ ସଭ୍ୟ ଯୋଗ ଦେଇଛନ୍ତି ଯାହା ଏକ ସୁଖବର । ଅଧୁନା ୧୩ ଜଣ ସକ୍ରିୟ ସଭ୍ୟ ଅଛନ୍ତି । ଉପୋରକ୍ତ ସମସ୍ତ ତଥ୍ୟ ଆପଣ ମାନଙ୍କୁ ଜଣାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଏବଂ କିପରି ଅଧିକ ସହୋଯାଗ କରିବେ ସେହି ବିଷୟରେ ଅବଗତ କରାଇବା ପାଇଁ । ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ବହୁତ ବହୁତ ଧନ୍ୟବାଦ !! Thanks & Regards, *Jnanaranjan Sahu* *Bhubaneswar*

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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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Wikipedia-OR June 2012