Hello everyone,
I'm excited to invite you to the 30th edition of the DCW Conversation Hour,
featuring Suyash Dwivedi, a dedicated editor and community builder. He is
also the Vice Chair of the Affiliations Committee (AffCom) and is actively
associated with the Commons Wikimedia User Group and Hindi Wikimedians User
Group. In this session, we'll explore what makes a Wikimedia affiliate
healthy and sustainable, encompassing governance, inclusivity, programmatic
impact, and community engagement. Drawing from his extensive experience,
Suyash will also highlight the unique challenges emerging communities face
and share ideas for building stronger, more resilient Wikimedia affiliates.
The conversation hour is scheduled for Sunday, 29 June 2025, at 14:30 UTC
( 8:00 pm IST).
For more details, please visit the event page on our website:
https://dcwwiki.org/dc-nh
The link for registration for the event is:
https://w.wiki/ER$z <https://w.wiki/DjXX>
I'm excited to see you participate. Please bring along your questions!
Kind regards,
Ariba
Deoband Community Wikimedia
Hello everyone,
I'm excited to invite you to the 28th edition of the DCW Conversation Hour,
featuring Jon Harald Søby, a founding member of Wikimedia Norge, and a
bureaucrat and administrator on the Norwegian (Bokmål) Wikipedia, as well
as a former administrator on Wikidata. In this session, we'll explore how
Wikimedia Incubator supports the growth of new language communities and the
process of developing test projects into full Wikimedia wikis, and how new
language communities can build Wikimedia projects before launching as
independent wikis, focusing at large on its role in Language Activism.
The conversation hour is scheduled for Saturday, 26 April 2025, at 14:30
UTC ( 8:00 pm IST).
For more details, please visit the event page on our website:
https://dcwwiki.org/dc-mx
The link for registration for the event is:
https://w.wiki/DjXX
I'm excited to see you participate. Please bring along your questions!
Kind regards,
Ariba
Deoband Community Wikimedia
Be Part of Wikisource History – Share Your Voice
Dear Wikisource Community Member,
We’re thrilled to announce an exciting new initiative: the first-ever
Wikisource Loves Proofreading Campaign — a global celebration of
collaborative proofreading across Wikisource projects.
Before we launch this event in October, we want to make sure it reflects
the voices and needs of our community. That’s where you come in.
We invite you to fill out a short survey to help us shape an inclusive,
diverse, and engaging campaign. Your insights will directly influence the
planning process and help create an experience that brings Wikisource
contributors together like never before.
Complete the survey by 01 May 2025: Survey link
<https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IH8ADjFddHGaBioqqdZB18Y5GBlL6f3r72prOIWdia…>
The campaign will officially launch in October, with results and highlights
shared in November as part of Wikisource’s birthday celebration. All
responses will be used solely for planning purposes.
Let’s make this a milestone for Wikisource — and it all starts with your
input.
With gratitude,
NANöR
Wikisource Loves Proofreading Campaign Team
Hello :)
*(survey incoming, apologies for the cross posting)*
The global GLAM community is buzzing with activity! Across the world, there
are meetings, campaigns, and projects all working to connect culture and
heritage with Wikimedia initiatives.
Earlier this year, the GLOSS working group was formed to explore what kind
of GLAM structure would best serve the community at this point, and what
needs it should address. This working group builds on years of
progress—especially the recent momentum—to further embed the GLAM community
within our movement.
As mentioned during last week’s Global Call, the working group is now
launching a needs assessment survey. Its purpose is to better understand
the global community and, ultimately, help shape a new approach that
supports GLAM activities around the world.
You can learn more about the GLOSS working group on the Meta page
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/GLOSS
Most importantly, if you have thoughts on what a centralized GLAM structure
could look like—what needs it should meet, how it could support your work
and contribute to the broader movement—please take 5 minutes to fill out
the survey!
*Deadline 12 May!*
*https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/GLOSS/Survey
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/GLOSS/Survey>*
And feel free to spread the word! Share it with your local chapter, other
affiliates, or directly with fellow editors and volunteers.
The survey is already available in 4 languages. You can translate the
survey meta page, and we will update the survey with your translation!
Best,
GLOSS Working Group!
Dear Wikisource Community,
We are thrilled to invite you to be part of Wikimania 2025—a special celebration marking 20 years of our vibrant global community! This year's conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from August 6-9, with a pre-conference on August 5. The theme, "Wikimania at 20: Inclusivity. Impact. Sustainability.", reflects our commitment to building a stronger, more inclusive, and impactful future for Wikimedia projects.
As valued members of the Wikisource community, your contributions are crucial to achieving these goals. We encourage you to submit program proposals that highlight the important role Wikisource plays in preserving and sharing primary source texts. To help spark ideas, here are a few topics that may align with the conference theme:
● Strategies to expand access to rare texts, translations, and diverse languages on Wikisource.
● Case studies on how Wikisource collections have supported education, research, or cultural heritage.
● Best practices for digitization, preservation, and collaborations that ensure long-term access to primary source texts.
Your session can take any format—whether you prefer presenting onsite in Nairobi, remotely from your location, or via a pre-recorded presentation. The submission deadline is March 31, 2025. Visit the program submission site at https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2025:Program to send in your proposal.
For inquiries, comments, or assistance with your proposal, please email wikimania(a)wikimedia.org. Our team of dedicated volunteers will be happy to guide you.
Additionally, to support you in developing your proposals, the Programme Subcommittee will host a consultation hour: 📅 Today, Thursday, 20 March 🕐 13:00 UTC (Find your local time at https://zonestamp.toolforge.org/1742475600) 🌐 Video Call Link: https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/84172058297 💬 Live Interpretation Available in Arabic, French, and Swahili
Let’s make Wikimania 2025 a memorable celebration of our collective achievements. We can't wait to see the inspiring proposals from the Wikisource community!
Warm regards,
Butch Bustria
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2025:Organisers
[picked the wrong mailing list the first time, sorry for that]
This is amazing! Congrats to the team.
Magnus is raising a good point (thanks!), there is a standard API to integrate catalog into epub reader apps. It's called OPDS [1] and some Wikisource(s) publishes one [2] since a decade. However, it's not very user friendly and we never made outreach to integrate it natively into apps so it's not much used. This OPDS feed is not based on Wikidata but on metadata present inside of Wikisource.
I still think having our own Wikisource branded app is relevant for outreach and visibility, maybe building on OPDS instead of doing something bespoke would allow to reuse even more code?
Congrats again,
Thomas
[1] https://specs.opds.io/
[2] https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Help:OPDS
>
> Le vendredi 17 janvier 2025 à 15:37, Magnus Manske <magnusmanske(a)googlemail.com> a écrit :
>
> > This is great!
> >
> > Silly question: Considering that the reader app will display epub format, is there no existing (open source) epub reader app that could use Wikisource as a, well, source? I would be surprised if there is not a single app where you can set/add an API URL, we would just have to be compatible with that API spec.
> >
> > This could avoid a whole load of development and technical debt.
> >
> > On Fri, Jan 17, 2025 at 7:07 AM Bodhisattwa <bodhisattwa.rgkmc(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Hello Wikisourcerers,
> > >
> > > We are excited to announce that we have been developing a Wikisource reader app for Android mobile users for the last three months and the beta version of the app is almost ready for testing. The development of the mobile app was a much-awaited request from the Wikisource community and when fully released, hopefully, it will help bring more readers to Wikisource platforms.
> > >
> > > Necessary links of the reader app
> > >
> > > - A documentation page is in draft on meta wiki here - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource_reader_app
> > > - The Github repo of the code is here - https://github.com/cis-india/Wikisource-Reader
> > >
> > > Wikidata integration
> > >
> > > We have been using the FRBR data model used in the Wikidata WikiProject Books to handle the descriptive metadata needed for filtering and categorizing the contents of the app. To be included in the app, an edition should have
> > >
> > > - fully proofread or validated
> > > - transcluded into the main namespace or NS:0
> > > - a Wikidata item with descriptive metadata property like title, author etc.
> > > - Wikisource index page url (P1957) property linked with that item
> > > - Wikisource sitelink for the NS:0 transcluded page linked with that item
> > > - a proofread and/or validated badge linked with that sitelink.
> > >
> > > Here are a few example of the book editions which are included in the app
> > >
> > > - An example of a Bangla book edition is this one
> > > - A list of all French books to be included in the app can be found here - https://w.wiki/CkMP
> > >
> > > Pilot languages and API
> > >
> > > In the beta version, we have piloted with English, French and Bangla as these three languages are storing their metadata on Wikidata. We will roll out for other languages gradually. An API was built using Django and deployed on Toolforge which serves a catalogue of books following the data model described above. It periodically runs a set of SPARQL queries to retrieve data, processes that data and updates the database.
> > >
> > > - Link - https://wsindex.toolforge.org/books/
> > > - Repo - https://codeberg.org/ph4ni/wsindex
> > >
> > > Features
> > >
> > > We have decided to display the books in epub format which will be generated through WS-export tool. Any issues related to epub generation can be reported here.
> > >
> > > Right now, the following features are available
> > >
> > > 1. Browse through a list of works which are completely proofread or validated.
> > > 2. Filter based on the language or literary form of your choice.
> > > 3. Search for books by title or author.
> > > 4. Download books to your local device for offline access.
> > > 5. Share links to the Wikisource page of each book.
> > > 6. Read, delete, and track completion percentage of books in your local library.
> > > 7. Change font size, look up words, and access a dictionary.
> > > 8. Switch between dark and light themes for comfortable reading.
> > > 9. Use the app in multiple languages.
> > >
> > > Currently, we are working on the following areas
> > >
> > > - Internal epub reader which can render the styling of the contents as much as possible
> > > - Design of the contents and metadata within the app
> > > - Fixes here and there
> > >
> > > Next steps
> > >
> > >
> > > In coming days, we will
> > >
> > > - start conversation with the Wikisource communities to make aware about the app, share the workflow needed to include contents there and get feedback for further development. (We had one call with the Marathi Wikisource community already).
> > >
> > > - Next community conversation hour
> > >
> > > - Sunday, 26 January 12:00 – 13:00 UTC
> > > - Video call link: https://meet.google.com/khd-qvfy-nsr
> > >
> > > - discuss with all stakeholders regarding necessary steps.
> > > - register for Google Play Store and release the stable version of the app there
> > > - release the app in other play stores gradually.
> > >
> > > We would like to specially thank Sai Phanindra, who has developed the app as an assignment from CIS-A2K.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > > Bodhisattwa
> > > (Part-time consultant, CIS-A2K)
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Wikisource-l mailing list -- wikisource-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > > To unsubscribe send an email to wikisource-l-leave(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Hello Wikisourcerers,
We have some announcements to make from our end related to the Wikisource
reader app.
-
The Wikisource reader app entirely depends on the WS-export
<https://ws-export.wmcloud.org/> tool while downloading the books. As
the maintainers of the WS-export tool are currently working to make it more
robust and dependable than before, we have decided to wait for them to
finish their work and slightly postpone the launch of the app on play
stores for everyone to use.
-
CIS-A2K has sponsored the development of the app. As some of you might
know from recent official communications coming from them that they are
recently in a critical situation. That jeopardises the future maintenance
of the app for the next few years. We have explored a few stable Wikimedia
affiliates from different parts of the world who can host and help maintain
the app in upcoming years, but as we have received repeated assurances from
the current leadership of CIS-A2K team, the app will be hosted by them
under their play store account for now, until it cannot be sustained there.
The app will also be available on F-Droid.
-
We have worked on a few improvements including fetching titles and
thumbnails, localising language names, improving text selection options,
etc.
-
For titles, as discussed on the Meta-Wiki talk page, the app will
query in the following manner,
-
Title (P1476 <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P1476>) in
native language
-
label in native language, if the above is not present
-
label in multiple language (mul), if the above is not present
-
For thumbnails, the app will query in the following manner
-
Image (P18 <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P18>)
-
title page number (P4714
<https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P4714>) qualifier used in
P996 <https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Property:P996>, if the above
is not present
-
Apart from the existing language support for Bangla, English, French,
Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Spanish, Tamil, Telugu, we have added Assamese,
Indonesian and Malay after getting requests from some of the participants
of the Wikisource conference speaking these languages. The app interface is
also available in all these languages to some extent.
-
We are also working towards localisation of the app, however it will
require some time from our end to host the strings on TranslateWiki.
Meanwhile, you can reach out to us if you are interested in assisting us
with localisation.
-
Now that the core development is done, future work will be done
voluntarily. We are more than happy to invite the Wikimedia developer
community to send bug reports
<https://github.com/cis-india/Wikisource-Reader/issues>, fixes, and
features. We are also looking forward to including app related development
in upcoming hackathons and internships.
-
We will also be publishing some tutorials and guides to easily structure
wikidata items related to works on Wikisource. We hope the community takes
interest in improving Wikidata items so that we can bring more works into
the app and also into broader access.
-
The app now lists 6,577 completed works in 12 languages 🎉
-
Assamese - 23
-
Bangla - 457
-
English - 1785
-
French - 3690
-
Hindi - 1
-
Indonesian - 21
-
Malay - 9
-
Marathi - 65
-
Punjabi - 23
-
Spanish - 345
-
Telugu - 77
-
Tamil - 81
Regards,
Bodhisattwa and Sai Phanindra
Hello everyone,
I’m excited to invite you to the 27th edition of the DCW Conversation Hour,
featuring Jacqueline Chen, a Senior Program Officer at the Wikimedia
Foundation, who works with the Community Resources Team. In this session,
we'll explore the erstwhile Wikimedia Alliances Fund Programme and focus on
learnings from the experience, strategies for aligning funding programmes
with partnership sourcing, and the broader implications for movement goals.
The conversation hour is scheduled for Sunday, 16 March 2025, at 05:30 UTC
(11:00 am IST).
For more details, please visit the event page on our website:
https://dcwwiki.org/dc-iy
The link for registration for the event is:
https://w.wiki/DKF7
I'm excited to see you participate. Please bring along your questions!
Kind regards,
Ariba
Deoband Community Wikimedia
Hello everyone,
I’m excited to invite you to the 26th edition of the DCW Conversation Hour,
featuring Dr. Martin Poulter, a seasoned digital knowledge specialist, who
has worked extensively with GLAM institutions and the Khalili Foundation to
bridge the gap between academia, cultural institutions, and open knowledge
platforms. In this session, we will explore the significance of GLAM
initiatives, focusing on how digital tools and open knowledge platforms
enhance public engagement with cultural heritage.
The conversation hour is scheduled for Saturday, 22 February 2025, at 13:30
UTC (7:00 pm IST).
For more details, please visit the event page on our website:
https://dcwwiki.org/dc-i4 <https://dcwwiki.org/dc-i4>
The link for registration for the event:
https://w.wiki/Cz3L
I'm excited to see you participate. Please bring along your questions!
Kind regards,
Ariba
Deoband Community Wikimedia
Hello everyone,
I’m excited to invite you to the 25th edition of the DCW Conversation Hour,
featuring Satdeep Gill, a Program Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation's
Culture and Heritage Initiative. In this session, we will explore how
Wikisource bridges historical archives and modern accessibility, offering a
platform where texts from diverse cultures and eras are preserved,
digitized, and made freely available to the world.
The conversation hour is scheduled for Saturday, 25 January 2025, at 14:30
UTC (8:00 pm IST). For more details, please visit the event page
<https://dcwwiki.org/dc-hg> on our website. Registration is mandatory for
the Conversation. Hour and you can register from here <https://w.wiki/ChQe>.
I'm excited to see you participate. Please bring along your questions!
Kind regards
Ariba
Deoband Community Wikimedia