No subject
Fri Sep 2 16:33:14 UTC 2011
into a mammoth, ever-expanding encyclopaedia with more than 19 million
articles in 282 languages at last count. The English Wikipedia alone has
3.73 million articles, followed by German (1.28 million) and French (1.14
million). According to Alexa.com, an Internet information company that
tracks traffic to websites, wikipedia.org ranks fifth in terms of traffic.
More than 14 per cent of global Internet users visit Wikipedia at least onc=
e
a day. *
*India too has been part of the phenomenon, so much so that Wikimedia
Foundation, a non-profit body which manages Wikipedia=92s affairs, has deci=
ded
to set up its first office outside the US in New Delhi later this year.
=93India is our new focus area,=94 says Bishakha Datta, one of the global
trustees of Wikimedia Foundation. =93The experience that we gain from India
will provide us with a blueprint to expand Wiki activities in other
countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.=94 *
*Right now, Wikipedia is available in 20 Indian languages and 20 other
language versions are under incubation. *
* *
*What sets Wikipedia apart from other encyclopaedia, which are written by
renowned subject experts, is not just that it is free and accessible to
everyone, but also its dynamic nature. Anybody can contribute a Wikipedia
article. =93You don=92t even need to register to be able to edit 99 per cen=
t of
the pages on Wikipedia,=94 says Tinu Cherian Abraham, a software engineer w=
ith
a Bangalore-based firm, who has been associated with Wikimedia activities
since 2006. Abraham has so far contributed more than 2,000 Wiki articles an=
d
done more than 53,000 edits on the English Wikipedia. *
* *
*However, because of its free and open character, Wikipedia is also liable
to abuse and misinformation being fed into it. And that is where feisty
rollbackers like Vaibhav come into play. Recently, a Wiki article on Team
Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was ambushed by a miscreant and his name was
changed to Neelabh Kaushik. However, the watchful Vaibhav caught the fraud
in no time and rolled it back. *
* *
*Developing events find their way to Wikipedia almost instantaneously,
thanks to more than 1,40,000 registered editors around the world who
contribute and edit Wiki articles free of charge. =93Everyone can be an edi=
tor
on Wikipedia,=94 quips Hisham Mundol, a consultant with Wikimedia Foundatio=
n,
who is slated to head its India operations. =93We genuinely feel that with
inputs from various quarters, Wiki articles can be more rounded,=94 adds
Datta. *
* *
*The policy has paid off, with a growing number of online editors and
contributors adding their bit to the burgeoning resource. Take K.
Ravichandar, who is an employee of Karnataka Bank in Bangalore. He wrote
about Melattur, a tiny town in Tamil Nadu that is famous for a unique form
of dance drama called Bhagavatha Mela. =93Very little was known about this
dance form till my article in Wikipedia,=94 says Ravichandar, who has made
more than 35,000 contributions to the resource by way of articles and edits=
.
*
* *
*It=92s the energy and enthusiasm of people like Ravichandar, Vaibhav and
others that=92s spurring the Wikimedia Foundation to woo India in a big way=
.
Apart from setting up an office in Delhi, the foundation is also organising
its first ever WikiConference in India in November this year. The
conference, to be held in Mumbai, is expected to become an annual feature
and will draw up a road map to develop Wikipedias in =93Indic=94 languages,=
says
Pranav Curumsey, one of the Wikimedians behind the meet. The conference wil=
l
also discuss how to make Wikipedia available offline to schools in rural
India, which do not have Internet access, reveals Curumsey. More than 400
Wikimedians from India are expected to participate in the conference. *
* *
*=93The Wikimedia movement is strong and vibrant in India. But we need more
people to join us,=94 says Abraham. =93People from India can make an import=
ant
contribution to global knowledge, and we want both Indians and the broader
world to benefit from that.=94 *
*Indian Wikimedians say they face some challenges in achieving these
objectives. First, the general public is mostly unaware of the fact that it
can actually edit Wikipedia articles. Second, most people do not know that
Wikipedia is available in many of the Indian languages. *
*But some point out that Indian language Wikipedia often fall short in term=
s
of quality and quantity. Among the Indian languages, Hindi has the largest
number of articles =97 99,815. This is followed by Telugu (48,000), Tamil
(35,700) and Marathi (34,400). Malayalam and Bengali are two other Indian
languages that have been witnessing some active contributions in recent
times. *
* *
*=93It=92s not just the number of articles; the depth of the content is als=
o
important. For instance, though Malayalam Wikipedia has only 19,000
articles, I would say that they are of far better quality than those in the
other Indian languages,=94 says Bala Jeyaraman, a Coimbatore-based Wikimedi=
an
who played a significant role in expanding the Tamil version. *
* *
*Shiju Alex, a Bangalore-based technical writer, who has played a pivotal
role in the Malayalam Wikipedia movement, says there is a need to take the
movement beyond Wikipedia. =93Wikipedia is just one of the many products fr=
om
the Wikimedia community. There are sister products like Wikisource, which
involves digitalisation of old books, Wikictionary which deals with
dictionary development in a particular language, and so on,=94 says Alex. *
*Mundol, reveals that in an effort to expand Wikimedia=92s reach in India, =
the
foundation has plans to work with Indian college students. As part of a
pilot project, students from two colleges in Pune have been roped in to
create content in academic subjects. =93The programme, taken up with the
consent and involvement of the college administration, will also be used fo=
r
the internal assessment of volunteering students,=94 says Mundol. *
* *
*Clearly, in its 10th year, Wikipedia is all set to go from strength to
strength in India.
*
**
Regards
Tinu Cherian
On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 1:06 PM, Srikanth Lakshmanan <srik.lak at gmail.com>wr=
ote:
> http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110911/jsp/7days/story_14492284.jsp
>
> --
> Regards
> Srikanth.L
> http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In_the_news#Sep_2011
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimediaindia-l mailing list
> Wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
>
>
--bcaec5299a9dd3421304acacd753
Content-Type: text/html; charset=windows-1252
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<div>Thank Srikanth, for sharing this. </div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div>The article can be viewed on epaper : </div>
<div><a href=3D"http://epaper.telegraphindia.com/PUBLICATIONS/TT/TT/2011/09=
/11/index.shtml">http://epaper.telegraphindia.com/PUBLICATIONS/TT/TT/2011/0=
9/11/index.shtml</a>=A0</div>
<div>( Nice to see Vibhi's photo and huge heading "Wiki Warriors:o=
n the main page ) </div>
<div>Don't forget to full article on page 13 too.</div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div>The full text of the article :</div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div>
<div>
<div><em>Wikipedia, the world=92s largest online encyclopaedia, has a vibra=
nt community of editors and contributors in India. And on its 10th annivers=
ary it is looking to enlarge its base in the country, says T.V. Jayan </em>=
</div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em><strong>Vaibhav Jain</strong>, 13, looks like any other child. The=
Delhi resident is crazy about animated characters Pok=E9mon and Shin-chan,=
and cheers for the Delhi Daredevils whenever his home team is playing at t=
he IPL. But looks, as they say, can be deceptive. Vaibhav assumes a complet=
ely different persona when he is on the Web =97 that of a vigilant cop wagi=
ng a war against vandalism. </em></div>
<div><em>Vaibhav is one of the 4,200-odd =93rollbackers=94 of Wikipedia =97=
the world=92s largest free and open online encyclopaedia. When he is not s=
tudying or playing, he scours Wikipedia articles for recent editorial chang=
es that are suspect and reverts them to the original. Vaibhav, who set up h=
is Wikipedia account earlier this year because he =93got bored with social =
networking sites and online games=94, has a Wiki user page that says it all=
: =93This user reverts vandalism faster than Rajinikanth=85=94 </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>Seventy-three-year old <strong>G. Balachandran</strong> from Parav=
ur, Kerala, has a different story to tell. Paralysed for nearly two decades=
, this retired junior commissioned officer of the Indian Army got a new lea=
se of life, thanks to Wikipedia. When his son presented him with a laptop, =
Balachandran started contributing to Wikipedia in Malayalam. =93Wikipedia n=
ot only helped me rediscover myself, but also gave me the strength to fight=
my condition,=94 says Balachandran, who has contributed nearly 100 article=
s to the Malayalam Wikipedia since 2008 and has more than 2,000 edits to hi=
s credit. </em></div>
<div><em>Vaibhav and Balachandran belong to a vibrant global community of W=
ikipedians who contribute to the resource in one way or another. And there =
is a growing number of Indians among them =97 those who have taken it upon =
themselves to add, edit and improve Wikipedia in their spare time. </em></d=
iv>
<div><em>=A0=A0<br>=A0<br>INDIAN MOVERS: (From top) Vaibhav Jain, K. Ravich=
andar and G. Balachandran are part of the global community of Wikipedians <=
/em></div>
<div><em><br>From a little known resource on the Web 10 years ago, Wikipedi=
a has grown into a mammoth, ever-expanding encyclopaedia with more than 19 =
million articles in 282 languages at last count. The English Wikipedia alon=
e has 3.73 million articles, followed by German (1.28 million) and French (=
1.14 million). According to Alexa.com, an Internet information company that=
tracks traffic to websites, <a href=3D"http://wikipedia.org">wikipedia.org=
</a> ranks fifth in terms of traffic. More than 14 per cent of global Inter=
net users visit Wikipedia at least once a day. </em></div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div><em>India too has been part of the phenomenon, so much so that Wikimed=
ia Foundation, a non-profit body which manages Wikipedia=92s affairs, has d=
ecided to set up its first office outside the US in New Delhi later this ye=
ar. =93India is our new focus area,=94 says <strong>Bishakha Datta</strong>=
, one of the global trustees of Wikimedia Foundation. =93The experience tha=
t we gain from India will provide us with a blueprint to expand Wiki activi=
ties in other countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.=94 </em></div>
<div><em>Right now, Wikipedia is available in 20 Indian languages and 20 ot=
her language versions are under incubation. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>What sets Wikipedia apart from other encyclopaedia, which are writ=
ten by renowned subject experts, is not just that it is free and accessible=
to everyone, but also its dynamic nature. Anybody can contribute a Wikiped=
ia article. =93You don=92t even need to register to be able to edit 99 per =
cent of the pages on Wikipedia,=94 says<strong> Tinu Cherian Abraham</stron=
g>, a software engineer with a Bangalore-based firm, who has been associate=
d with Wikimedia activities since 2006. Abraham has so far contributed more=
than 2,000 Wiki articles and done more than 53,000 edits on the English Wi=
kipedia. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>However, because of its free and open character, Wikipedia is also=
liable to abuse and misinformation being fed into it. And that is where fe=
isty rollbackers like Vaibhav come into play. Recently, a Wiki article on T=
eam Anna member Arvind Kejriwal was ambushed by a miscreant and his name wa=
s changed to Neelabh Kaushik. However, the watchful Vaibhav caught the frau=
d in no time and rolled it back. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>Developing events find their way to Wikipedia almost instantaneous=
ly, thanks to more than 1,40,000 registered editors around the world who co=
ntribute and edit Wiki articles free of charge. =93Everyone can be an edito=
r on Wikipedia,=94 quips <strong>Hisham Mundol</strong>, a consultant with =
Wikimedia Foundation, who is slated to head its India operations. =93We gen=
uinely feel that with inputs from various quarters, Wiki articles can be mo=
re rounded,=94 adds Datta. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>The policy has paid off, with a growing number of online editors a=
nd contributors adding their bit to the burgeoning resource. Take <strong>K=
. Ravichandar</strong>, who is an employee of Karnataka Bank in Bangalore. =
He wrote about Melattur, a tiny town in Tamil Nadu that is famous for a uni=
que form of dance drama called Bhagavatha Mela. =93Very little was known ab=
out this dance form till my article in Wikipedia,=94 says Ravichandar, who =
has made more than 35,000 contributions to the resource by way of articles =
and edits. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>It=92s the energy and enthusiasm of people like Ravichandar, Vaibh=
av and others that=92s spurring the Wikimedia Foundation to woo India in a =
big way. Apart from setting up an office in Delhi, the foundation is also o=
rganising its first ever WikiConference in India in November this year. The=
conference, to be held in Mumbai, is expected to become an annual feature =
and will draw up a road map to develop Wikipedias in =93Indic=94 languages,=
says <strong>Pranav Curumsey</strong>, one of the Wikimedians behind the m=
eet. The conference will also discuss how to make Wikipedia available offli=
ne to schools in rural India, which do not have Internet access, reveals Cu=
rumsey. More than 400 Wikimedians from India are expected to participate in=
the conference. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>=93The Wikimedia movement is strong and vibrant in India. But we n=
eed more people to join us,=94 says Abraham. =93People from India can make =
an important contribution to global knowledge, and we want both Indians and=
the broader world to benefit from that.=94 </em></div>
<div><em>Indian Wikimedians say they face some challenges in achieving thes=
e objectives. First, the general public is mostly unaware of the fact that =
it can actually edit Wikipedia articles. Second, most people do not know th=
at Wikipedia is available in many of the Indian languages. </em></div>
<div><em>But some point out that Indian language Wikipedia often fall short=
in terms of quality and quantity. Among the Indian languages, Hindi has th=
e largest number of articles =97 99,815. This is followed by Telugu (48,000=
), Tamil (35,700) and Marathi (34,400). Malayalam and Bengali are two other=
Indian languages that have been witnessing some active contributions in re=
cent times. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>=93It=92s not just the number of articles; the depth of the conten=
t is also important. For instance, though Malayalam Wikipedia has only 19,0=
00 articles, I would say that they are of far better quality than those in =
the other Indian languages,=94 says <strong>Bala Jeyaraman</strong>, a Coim=
batore-based Wikimedian who played a significant role in expanding the Tami=
l version. </em></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em><strong>Shiju Alex,</strong> a Bangalore-based technical writer, w=
ho has played a pivotal role in the Malayalam Wikipedia movement, says ther=
e is a need to take the movement beyond Wikipedia. =93Wikipedia is just one=
of the many products from the Wikimedia community. There are sister produc=
ts like Wikisource, which involves digitalisation of old books, Wikictionar=
y which deals with dictionary development in a particular language, and so =
on,=94 says Alex. </em></div>
<div><em>Mundol, reveals that in an effort to expand Wikimedia=92s reach in=
India, the foundation has plans to work with Indian college students. As p=
art of a pilot project, students from two colleges in Pune have been roped =
in to create content in academic subjects. =93The programme, taken up with =
the consent and involvement of the college administration, will also be use=
d for the internal assessment of volunteering students,=94 says Mundol. </e=
m></div>
<div><em>=A0</em></div>
<div><em>Clearly, in its 10th year, Wikipedia is all set to go from strengt=
h to strength in India.<br>=A0</em></div><em></em></div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div>Regards</div>
<div>Tinu Cherian</div></div>
<div>=A0</div>
<div><br><br>=A0</div>
<div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Sun, Sep 11, 2011 at 1:06 PM, Srikanth Lakshm=
anan <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:srik.lak at gmail.com">srik.lak at g=
mail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote style=3D"BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex=
; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex" class=3D"gmail_quote"><a href=3D"http://www.telegraphi=
ndia.com/1110911/jsp/7days/story_14492284.jsp" target=3D"_blank">http://www=
.telegraphindia.com/1110911/jsp/7days/story_14492284.jsp</a><br clear=3D"al=
l">
<font color=3D"#888888">
<div><br></div>-- <br>Regards<br>Srikanth.L<br><a href=3D"http://wiki.wikim=
edia.in/In_the_news#Sep_2011" target=3D"_blank">http://wiki.wikimedia.in/In=
_the_news#Sep_2011</a> </font><br>_________________________________________=
______<br>
Wikimediaindia-l mailing list<br><a href=3D"mailto:Wikimediaindia-l at lists.w=
ikimedia.org">Wikimediaindia-l at lists.wikimedia.org</a><br><a href=3D"https:=
//lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l" target=3D"_blank">=
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br>
--bcaec5299a9dd3421304acacd753--
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