[Wikimediaau-l] Aboriginal languages ...

Liam Wyatt liamwyatt at gmail.com
Sun Aug 3 03:04:49 UTC 2008 

Bruce,

I think your summary is quite correct. And the shortest answer to  
your question is probably "we don't know either". At the moment, as  
you're probably aware Wikimedia AU is still in its nascent stage and  
as I see it (others please correct me if you disagree) we are kicking  
around some ideas as to what we should/could do. Some of these ideas  
include working with university societies to gain exposure on  
campuses whilst others - such as this one - involve working in one  
way or another with Aboriginal communities with specific focus on  
Aboriginal language preservation/digitisation/usage.

I personally don't think that wikimedia AU is ready to set out on any  
formal project of this type at this stage. If anything, I imagine  
that this kind of project would begin on the basis of one or two  
individuals getting involved on behalf of WM-AU and it might grow  
from there to be something more formal. What these people might do is  
quite varied and would probably be a factor of their particular  
interests/experiences. This could include oral history transcription  
for Source, creating media files for Commons, creating mapping data  
for OpenStreetMap, writing articles on en-wikipedia about topics  
relevant to that community...

It looks like YOU are in fact one of the better placed people to  
advise US on what could/should be done. Perhaps it might be possible  
for some form of scholarship from the Australian Institute of  
Aboriginal Studies to send a wikipedian to live there for a few weeks/ 
months to help out. Again, this is just me kicking ideas around...

Basically, at this stage, you know just as much as we do (again,  
others, please correct me if I'm wrong) and probably more. Maybe you  
could suggest an existing project some individuals might be able to  
join in on and give it a wiki spin.

-Liam

www.wikipediaweely.org
Skype - Wittylama
Wikipedia - [[User:Witty lama]]



On 03/08/2008, at 12:45 PM, Bruce White wrote:

Liam

Please forgive my Wikimeida ignorance, lack of familiarity ... I have  
some interest in these kinds of matters (particular with a North  
Queensland focus):

1.  I see some wikimedia-AU members are looking for/ and suggesting  
an Aboriginal language type project for wikimedia-AU (in this UN  
International Year of languages)?

2.  I see it has been suggested that some language and other  
expertise, aside from wiki skills and committment, will be  
necessary .. and, therefore, possible partner/s found to be able to  
engage i a project of this kind??

[There are Aboriginal langauge groups - as part of an Australian  
Institute of Aboriginal Studies and other's program - within North  
Queensland who are actively working to record, transmit, and/or  
revive langauges .. which may also be interested in participating ..  
Similarly, the Queensland State Library has been actively involved in  
establishing what they call Knowledge Centres within Aboriginal  
communities providing computer etc facilities for people to  
particularly store/use local knowledges (including languages)]

3.  I see that people have ideas and/or may be identifying Aboriginal  
language communities with whom such project may be usefully undertaken

[There are also Aboriginal langauges and/or creols still spoken in  
the North Queensland/Cape York areas .. which might also stand to  
benefit?]

What I don't quite understand, and can't imagine .. is what, exactly,  
it is that wikimedia-AU may be offering??

I have been a Wikipedia editor .. and have some familiarity as to the  
uses to which that particular Wiki are put .. but I don't really  
understand what it is you/others are actually suggesting/offering ..  
that might serve, so usefully, to help people record/preserve/use  
other languages ....

I guess, from what you're saying, it may not be just another language  
equivalent to Wikipedia .. within which people might be expected to  
start creating articles / dictionaries in local languages, also  
recording ??

It would be greatly appreciated if you were able to point me in the  
right direction and/or just help me better understand the  
possibilities and potential of what is being suggested.  It may be  
that I am able to do a little to faciliate and assist from up this  
way .. if it is truly practical and useful

(At present, I believe, people up this way (with Cwlth Natural  
Resource Management support), who may be using computers to assist  
record, arrange etc languages .. are using various purpose designed  
databases, with their own servers & storage, and, for some, internet  
browser access strcitly restricted to pre-approved account holders ..??)

Again .. I am interest .. but don't really understand/ can't really  
imagine .. if you/anyone might be able to help/point me in the right  
direction

With thanks and regards

Bruce White
(Wikipedia user name - bruceanthro)









--- On Sun, 8/3/08, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt at gmail.com> wrote:
From: Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaau-l] Aboriginal languages (reply)
To: "Wikimedia-au" <wikimediaau-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Date: Sunday, August 3, 2008, 10:22 AM

Speaking of which, there was this article in today's, August 3,  
Sunday Herald in Sydney (and presumably syndicated in other Fairfax  
papers):
"Ancient Path to Universal Knowledge" by Sarah Price
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/ancient-path-to-universal- 
language/2008/08/02/1217097610608.html

I describes a programme by the Australian Literacy and Numeracy  
Foundation http://www.alnf.org/ to write down what had only been oral  
language amongst aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory as  
a way of both (A) cultural preservation and (B) gaining literacy skills.

This might be exactly the kind of other organisation that Angela  
referred to. Those amongst us with the time and effort to set aside  
might be able to travel to the NT with the ALNF and participating in  
some way. Another option would be to simply receive a hard copy when  
the programme ends and transcribe their results into Wikisource  
(without necessarily participating in the programme itself).
The article does not mention the internet or any technical aspect but  
I don't believe this is any barrier.

As I said In a previous post, I don't personally believe that even  
with institutional support (such as ALNF might be able to provide)  
that this justifies the creation of a wikiPedia edition for that  
particular language due to the small population size and lack of  
literacy in the first place (let alone internet access and learning  
how to use wikis). Rather, this could justify the creation of a  
wikiSource/wikiQuote for that language as the transcription of oral  
history matches these projects nicely (and we can do all the  
technical work for them).

Does anyone thinks this is a possible "first project" for wikimedia-AU ?

The final paragraph of the article gives us the contact:

"The foundation is hosting a celebrity chef fund-raising dinner at  
the Shangri-La Hotel in Sydney on September 20.
You can email alnf at bigpond.net.au for tickets to the dinner."

Best,
-Liam

www.wikipediaweekly.org
Skype - Wittylama
Wikipedia - [[User:Witty lama]]



On 31/07/2008, at 8:39 PM, Angela wrote:

On Thu, Jul 31, 2008 at 11:16 AM, Gnangarra <gnangarra at gmail.com> wrote:
> The first question is do we have anyone with the language skills,  
> the wiki
> skills and the time to dedicate to getting an aboriginal language 
> (any one of
> them) Wikipedia up and successful.
>
> Literally we can could do more harm to the language, culture and WMAU
> through ignorance and misspent good intentions.

We have people with the wiki skills and for the language skills, we
might do better to parter with another organization that does have
those skills. Preferably one with experience so that we can avoid the
potential harm you mentioned. I expect there are grants available for
this sort of work which is definitely something the chapter should
look into.

Angela

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