Dear All,
I wanted to share interesting examples of what two Indic communities are doing to reach out to speakers of respective language, record its editing history, improve communication, increase motivation, and inspire participation.
Tamil and Malayalam communities prepare an annual community report. The 2011 report of Tamil and Malayalam communities are available here:
- Malayalam community 2011 annual reporthttp://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%80%E0%B4%A1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AF:%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BE%E0%B5%BC%E0%B4%B7%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%95_%E0%B4%B1%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%AA%E0%B5%8B%E0%B5%BC%E0%B4%9F%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%9F%E0%B5%8D/2011/All_projects (Malayalam community's report includes report of all Malayalam wiki projects (Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wiktionary, Wikiquotes, and Wikibooks)
Tamil community is maintaining the annual report from the year 2005. Following are Tamil communiy's report of previous years
- Tamil Community 2006 annual reporthttp://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE:2006_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE_%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%A3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88/2006_Tamil_Wikipedia_Annual_Review - Tamil Community 2007annual reporthttp://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE:2007_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE_%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%A3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88/2007_Tamil_Wikipedia_Annual_Review
- Tamil Community 2008 annual reporthttp://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE:2008_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE_%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%A3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88/2008_Tamil_Wikipedia_Annual_Review - Tamil Community 2009 annual reporthttp://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE:2009_%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%B5%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%AA%E0%AF%80%E0%AE%9F%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%BE_%E0%AE%86%E0%AE%A3%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%9F%E0%AF%81_%E0%AE%85%E0%AE%B1%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%88/2009_Tamil_Wikipedia_Annual_Review
Malayalam community published previous years report in its mailing list. But from 2011 Malayalam community also started recording its annual editing history in wiki itself.
(The above reports are not available in English since its aim was to communicate to the respective language speakers. It will be good if some volunteers translate it to English so that rest of the world can read and understand what happened in the respective wikis)
Personally, I think these reports serve multiple purposes.
- It help the current active community to share with the larger community (including retired or not current active editors) all the many things that individual volunteers are doing - which gives a sense of momentum to a community. - It help the community to reach out to the rest of the language speakers and tell them about what is happening in their respective language wiki - It allows other community members to learn from others' experiences - and also provides a contact point for any queries they might have. - It is very useful for media / PR - because it gives a tangible story for the press which is newsworthy and uplifting - it documents the editing history of community every year
My main objective behind sharing this is that I know most communities don't do this. My guess is that many of them don't know that such a thing is possible. Another concern that you might have is whether there is enough to fill into an annual report. I think if you just step back and think of all the many things that are happening in your communities, you would be amazed by how much is actually taking place. Even if it has not happened historically, the increased activity in India over the past few months should reassure you that there is so much to write about. In this context, I would specifically call out the wonderful activity levels of Assamese, Marathi, Nepali, Odia and Sanskrit as just 5 illustrations of communities which have load of stories to share.
If you are interested and need some help, please feel free to ask me and I will help out.
Happy Reporting!
Shiju Alex