[Wikimediaindia-l] Arthapedia - Indian Gov Site on the lines of Wikipedia
Sohel Bohra
sohelbohra at gmail.com
Tue Sep 6 13:57:07 UTC 2011
My two cents worth
*On Arthapedia
*
- Attempting to use wikis is a commendable effort on the part of
government officers. Lack of competence shouldn't be confused for poor
intentions.
- The site does mention any license (copyleft/right) at all. They have
clear contact details of some officers so I am bringing it to their
attention. Lets see if they respond.
- I will suggest to them that the Wikimedia community may be able to
offer a training session in Delhi. Possibility of experts (ala GLAM) editing
Wikipedia is a good thing.
*On Wikipedia vs Wiki*
- Increasingly, and especially in India, all wiki sites will be termed as
'Wikipedia-like' sites by the media even though they may differ entirely in
their modus operandi (licensing, content, etc). The community needs to take
a call whether they want to keep emphasizing on how Wikipedia is different
or let the lines blur. So for insance, should Kaushik Basu (very notable
economist and the brain behind the site) of Arthapedia be invited as a
speaker for WikiConference India (possibly yes if community is ok with the
lines blurring, possibly no if they want to keep it distinct). My concern
with the name WikiConference India was on similar lines during the voting
for the name.
- Irrespective of the above, the community also should have a point of
view on whether they should have academies and such for other wiki sites run
by particular groups (IES economists for instance). Pro - Increases the base
of wiki editors (and in this case experts). The wiki site in question could
extensively end up using Wikimedia Commons. Con - Spreading already very
thin resources of the community.
Best regards,
Sohel.
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 11:43:25 +0530
From: Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Arthapedia - Indian Gov Site on the
lines of Wikipedia
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
<
CA+30aUN0pcc7or7rUXXjfpCE1W9+jzgMjCv8PTkckW3+z1cKZw at mail.gmail.com>
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On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 22:20, Gautam John <gautam at prathambooks.org>
wrote:
> Not really a Wikipedia model, what?
>
> Crying shame about the license.
>
Only valid concern is about license, but then if its about bridging the
gap
between policymakers and general public, I feel it will be yet another
"tam-tam" site from govt and will have no encyclopedia content. We could
still use the content as RS since it comes from govt.
> Wondering if the Chapter and the Office can do anything?
>
FYI: Arthapedia is available at arthapedia.in
I dont think there is a room for involvement since the goals are not
even
intersecting except that they use Mediawiki. Looking at the site, an
academy
about how to put Wiki texts(syntax), making successful Interlinked
content
can be given a shot, but then it will help only their project and public
over all and may be a fraction of them editing Wikipedia. Currently they
are
just copy pasting documents without interlinking. Some Mediawiki
help(tips/advice) too can be given.
--
Regards
Srikanth.L
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Message: 6
Date: Sat, 3 Sep 2011 12:11:33 +0530
From: Vickram Crishna <vvcrishna at radiophony.com>
Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] Arthapedia - Indian Gov Site on the
lines of Wikipedia
To: Wikimedia India Community list
<wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org>
Message-ID:
<
CACRkhvrGikFVMrqZB5R7GRCSdG5+crU9CVoVvu6r11ut2pfNhQ at mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
On Sat, Sep 3, 2011 at 11:43 AM, Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak at gmail.com
>wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, Sep 2, 2011 at 22:20, Gautam John <gautam at prathambooks.org>
wrote:
>
>> Not really a Wikipedia model, what?
>>
>> Crying shame about the license.
>>
> Only valid concern is about license, but then if its about bridging
the gap
> between policymakers and general public, I feel it will be yet another
> "tam-tam" site from govt and will have no encyclopedia content. We
could
> still use the content as RS since it comes from govt.
>
>
>> Wondering if the Chapter and the Office can do anything?
>>
>
Perhaps the Chapter can offer to conduct training programs for
government
servants in all states (cascading model) to upload and maintain
information
on government procedures and processes. It could be a steady source of
income for the Trust.
What is also needed is information on what we might call 'ground
reality'
processes. For instance, when the information asked for in the form etc
does
not match the information actually needed by the officer concerned, or
at
least claimed to be needed. For obvious reasons, such processes cannot
be
authenticated with references to official documents, yet it is precisely
these that are needed by ordinary applicants, who are otherwise driven
to
the arms of pimps (ie, consultants). The arthapedia site will also
necessarily fail in this respect, so either wikifyindia or Wikipedia
itself
must provide a meaningful solution.
> FYI: Arthapedia is available at arthapedia.in
>
>
> I dont think there is a room for involvement since the goals are not
even
> intersecting except that they use Mediawiki. Looking at the site, an
academy
> about how to put Wiki texts(syntax), making successful Interlinked
content
> can be given a shot, but then it will help only their project and
public
> over all and may be a fraction of them editing Wikipedia. Currently
they are
> just copy pasting documents without interlinking. Some Mediawiki
> help(tips/advice) too can be given.
>
> --
> Regards
> Srikanth.L
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
--
Vickram
Fool On The Hill <http://communicall.wordpress.com>
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