Centre for Internet and Society

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ: ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବିଶାଳତମ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଗଢ଼ିବାର ଅଭିଯାନ

subha — 2016-06-09T11:58:39Z

ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆକୁ ଆଜି ୧୪ ବର୍ଷ ପୂରିଲା । ଏ ଅବସରରେ ଏହି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଓ ତାକୁ ଗଢୁଥିବା ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ବାବଦରେ ଏକ ଆଲେଖ ।

This article. that details about the journey of the Odia Wikipedia in the last 14 years appeared in YourStory Odia on on June 3.

ଜଣାଶୁଣା ବ୍ୟକ୍ତି, ବିଷୟ, ଘଟଣା, ସ୍ଥାନ ଆଦି ବିଷୟରେ ସଂକ୍ଷେପରେ ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ବା ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷର ପରିକଳ୍ପନା । ତାକୁ ପୁଣି ଇଣ ୍ଟରନେଟର ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ୨୦୦୧ରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ (Wikipedia) । ପ୍ରଥମେ ଇଂରାଜୀରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇ ପରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାକୁ ଏହା ବଢ଼ିଲା । ଆଉ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହବାର ବର୍ଷଟିଏ ପରେ ୨୦୦୨ ମସିହାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ, ଅହମିୟା, ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ ଓ ମାଲାୟାଲାମ ଭାଷାରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା । ପ୍ରଥମ ଚାରୋଟି ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭିତରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଗୋଟେ ବୋଲି ଅନେକଙ୍କୁ ଆଜି ବି ଅଜଣା । ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ https://or.wikipedia.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ପାଖାପାଖି ୯ ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ସକ୍ରିୟ ସମ୍ପାଦନାର ଅଭାବରୁ ୨୦୧୧ ଯାଏ ଏକ ରକମ ନିଷ୍କ୍ରିୟ ହୋଇ ପଡ଼ିରହିଥିଲା । ୨୦୧୧ରେ ଏ ିରେ ଅନେକ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସମ୍ପାଦକ ବା ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନେ ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇ ଲେଖିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବା ଫଳରେ ଅଧୁନା ଏଥିରେ ୧୦,୬୧୯ ସଂଖ୍ୟକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଲେଖାସରିଲାଣି । ଆଉ ନିତି ନୂଆ ନୂଆ ଲେଖା ଏଥିରେ ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇ ଚାଲିଛି ।

ତେବେ ଜଣେ ସାଧାରଣ ପାଠକ ପାଇଁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ କଣ ରହିଛି ତାହା ଜାଣିବା ବେଶି ଜରୁରୀ । ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ବାଟ ପିଢ଼ିରୁ ପିଢ଼ିକୁ ବଦଳେ । ଆମ ପିଲାବେଳେ ଆମେ କାଁ ଭାଁ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ସୁବିଧା ପାଉଥିଲୁ । ଆଉ ସେତେବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ମିଡ଼ିଅମ ସ୍କୁଲର ପାଠାଗାର କିଛି ଗପ ଉପନ୍ୟାସ ବହି ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ ଥିଲା । ନୂଆ ବହିଟିଏ ଦେଖିବା ଆଗରୁ କାନ୍ଥରୁ ଚୂନ ଝଡ଼ିପଡୁଥିଲା । ହେଲେ ଏବେ ଘରେ ଘରେ ଏକାଧିକ ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଉ ସେସବୁ ପୁଣି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ସୁବିଧା ଥିବା ସ୍ମାର୍ଟଫୋନ ଆସିଲାଣି । ସ୍କୁଲ ପିଲାଏ ଆଉ କିଛି କରନ୍ତୁ ନ କରନ୍ତୁ କିନ୍ତୁ ଗେମ ଖେଳିବା କି ଫେସବୁକ ଆଦିରେ ସାଙ୍ଗମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଚାଟିଂ ଆଦି କରିବାରେ ପକ ହେଲେଣି । ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ କମ୍ପୁଟରରୁ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ମୋବାଇଲମୁଖୀ ହୋଇଗଲାଣି । ପିଲାଙ୍କଠୁ ବଡ଼ ଯାଏ କାହା ପାଖେ ଆଉ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ରିଟାନିକା ଭଳି ଓଜନିଆ ପୋଥି ଦେଇ କିଛି ଖୋଜିବା ପାଇଁ ବେଳ ନାହିଁ । ତେଣୁ ଏଭଳି ପରିସ୍ଥିତିରେ କୌଣସି ବିଷୟକୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକାଭିମୁଖୀ କରିବାର ସୁବିଧା ବାଟ ହେଉଛି ସେସବୁକୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା । ତେବେ ବହି ବା ଜର୍ଣ୍ଣାଲର ବିକଳ୍ପ ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ବହି ସଙ୍ଗେ ଭିନ୍ନ ଏକ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣର ବାଟ ରୂପରେ ଇଣଟରନେଟ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ପହଞ୍ଚିପାରୁଛି ।

ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ସ୍ଥିତି ଭିନ୍ନ । ତେବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ଅବସ୍ଥା ଯେତେ ଚିନ୍ତାଜନକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାକୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଅଧିକ ବ୍ୟବହାର ଉପଯୋଗୀ କରିବା ସେତେ ଅଧିକ ଲୋଡ଼ା । ୨୦୧୧ ଜନଗଣନା ତଥ୍ୟ ଅନୁସାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ମାତ୍ର ୧.୪ ଭାଗ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ସୁବିଧା ଥିଲା । ଏହି ପାଞ୍ଚ ବର୍ଷ ଭିତରେ ଏହା ବହୁ ଅଧିକ ବଢ଼ିଥିବ । ହେଲେ ସେ ସଭିଏଁ କଣ ସତରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ବ୍ୟବହାର କରୁଛନ୍ତି ନାଁ ସୀମ ିତ କେତୋଟି ସାଇଟ ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ । ଅଧିକାଂଶ ତଥାକଥିତ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀ ଫେସବୁକରେ ସାଙ୍ଗମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଭାବ ଦିଆନିଆ କି ହୁଆଟସଆପରେ ପରିଚିତଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଆଳାପ ଅଥବା ଇଉଟିଉବରୁ ଗୀତ ଶୁଣିବା ବାହାରେ ବେଶୀ କିଛି ଜାଣନ୍ତି ନାହିଁ । ଏହାର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଉଛି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ସବୁଠୁ ବେଶୀ ପରିଚିତ ଭାଷା ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ବେଶୀ ୱେବସାଇଟ ନାହିଁ । ଖବର ପଢ଼ାଳିଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ନାଁ ଭଲ ଖବର ୱେବସାଇଟଟିଏ ରହିଛି ନାଁ ଗବେଷକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଆମ ଐତିହ୍ୟ ଓ ପୁରୁଣା ଶିଳ୍ବାବଦରେ ପଢ଼ିବା ପାଇଁ ଆମ ମିଉଜିଅମ ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ସମସ୍ତ କଳାକୃତିର ତଥ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଦିଆଯାଇଛି । ସେମିତି ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟ ଜାଣିବା ପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ନିହାତି ଦରକାରୀ ବିଷୟ ମଧ୍ୟ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ନାହିଁ । ଏଭଳି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ କେଇଶହ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଭିତରୁ କେବଳ ଗୋଟେ କାଗଜର ଖବରଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜିପାଇହେବ । କାରଣ ବାକି ଖବରକାଗଜର ଲେଖା ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ଭଳି ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତିକ ମାନକକୁ ନ ଆପଣାଇ ଆକୃତି, ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଆଦି ପୁରୁଣାକାଳିଆ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ସଫ୍ଟଓଏରରେ ଲେଖି ଛବି ଭାବେ କିମ୍ବା ପିଡିଏଫ ଡକୁମେଣ୍ଟ ଭାବେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ଭିନ୍ନ ନ ଲାଗିଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଗୁଗୁଲ ବା ସର୍ଚ ଇଞ୍ଜିନରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରି ଖୋଜିହୁଏନାହିଁ କିମ୍ବା ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଦିରେ ସଳଖେ ପଢ଼ିହୁଏନାହିଁ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ୧୯୩୦ ମସିହାରେ ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭାଷାକୋଷ ଭଳି ବିଶାଳ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ରଚନା କାମ ଆଜିଯାଏ ଆଉ କିଛି ହୋଇପାରିନାହିଁ । ଆଧୁନିକ ଟେକନୋଲୋଜି ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଏବେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଅତୀତ ସହ ସନ୍ଧିଟିଏ ତିଆରି କରିପାରିବ । ଏହା ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଭାବେ ଅଣ-ଲାଭକାରୀ ଓ ଏଥିରେ ବିଜ୍ଞାପନ ନ ଥାଏ । ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖାଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଲେଖୁଥିବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଏ ସଭିଏଁ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ଓ ଲେଖାସବୁ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସ୍ୱତ୍ୱାଧୀକାରରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ । ତେବେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟରେ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ଲେଖାସବୁ କପିରାଇଟ ଦେଇ ନ ରୋକିବା ଲାଗି ସେସବୁ କ୍ରିଏଟିଭ କମନ୍ସ ସେଆର-ଏଲାଇକ ଲାଇସେନ୍ସରେ ବିତରିତ । ଫଳରେ ସଭିଏଁ ମାଗଣାରେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ, ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗଗୁଡ଼ିକ ପୁନବ୍ୟବହାର କରିପାରିବେ ଓ ଉଭୟ ଲାଭକାରୀ ଓ ଅଣ ଲାଭକାରୀ କାମରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିପାରିବେ । ଏଥି ସହିତ କୌଣସି ଲେଖାରେ ଭୁଲ ପାଇଲେ ଜଣେ ଲେଖା ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରି ସୁଧାରିପାରିବେ । ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖା ଓ ସମ୍ପାଦନା ପଦ୍ଧତି ଏତେ ଖୋଲା ଯେ ପ୍ରାୟ ସବୁ ଲେଖା ଏକ ନୁହେଁ ଅନେକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ଏକାଠି ଲିଖିତ । ତେବେ ଲେଖାର ମାନରେ ସମତା ରଖିବା ନିମନ୍ତେ କେତେଗୁଡ଼ିଏ ନିୟମାବଳୀ ଅକ୍ରିୟ ସଭ୍ୟମାନେ ମିଶି ତିଆରି କରିଛନ୍ତି । ଏଗୁଡ଼ିକ ୨୯୩ଟି ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ସବୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ମୋଟାମୋଟି ଏକା ହେଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍� � ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ଉଇକିଆଳିଗଣ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ଓ ସମାଜର ଆବଶ୍ୟକତାକୁ ଆଖିରେ ରଖି ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକୁ ସାମାନ୍ୟ ବଦଳାଇଛନ୍ତି । ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷଙ୍କ ବାବଦରେ କିମ୍ବା ଘଟଣା ବାବଦରେ ଲିଖିତ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଏକପାଖିଆ ନ ହୋଇ ନିରପେକ୍ଷ ଭାବେ ଲେଖିବା ଏହି ନିୟମାବଳୀ ମଧ୍ୟରୁ ଏକ ମୁଖ୍ୟ ନିୟମ । ସେହି ଭଳି ନିଜ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିଗତ ମତ ବଦଳରେ କେବଳ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ତଥ୍ୟ ଲେଖିବା ଆଉ ଏକ ନିୟମ । ସବୁଠାରୁ ମଜାର କଥା ହେଲା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ କୌଣସି ଦେଶ ବା ସଙ୍ଗଠନ ଅଧୀନରେ ନ ଥାଇ ଏହା ଉପରେ ପ୍ରତ ିଟି ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସମାନ ଅଧିକାର ରହିଛି । ପୁଣି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ କାମକୁ ନେଇ ଦାୟିତ୍ୱ ବଣ୍ଟାଯାଇଛି । ବିବାଦ ଉପୁଜିଲେ ବି ସୁଧାରିବାକୁ ରହିଛି କିଛି ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କୁ ନେଇ ତିଆରି କମିଟିମାନ ।

ତେବେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଥିବା ସବୁଯାକ ଲେଖାକୁ ଆଖିବୁଜି ଗ୍ରହଣ କରାଯାଇପାରିବ ନାହିଁ । କାରଣ ପ୍ୟାରିସ ଉପରେ ଥିବା ଲେଖାଟି ଶହେ କି ହଜାରେ ଲୋକ ମିଶି ଲେଖିଥିବା ବେଳେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱର ଉପରେ ଥିବା ଲେଖାଟି ହାତଗଣତି କେତେ ଜଣ ହୁଏତ ଲେଖିଥିବେ । ଯେଉଁ ଲେଖା ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ ଅଭିଜ୍ଞତା ଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ଯେତେ ଘସା ମଜା ହୋଇ ଲେଖାହୋଇଥିବ ସେ ଲେଖା ସେତେ ଉଜ୍ଜଳ ହୋଇ ଚମକୁଥିବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧିତ ଲେଖାସବୁରୁ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଭଲ ଲେଖା ଖୋଜି ପାଇବା କଷ୍ଟ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖୁଥିବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ପାଖାପାଖି ୩୦ ଭିତରେ । ସାଢ଼େ ଚାରିକୋଟି ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ଭିତରୁ ଯଦି ଏତେ କମ ଲୋକ ଏତେ ବଡ଼ କାମର ବୋଝ ଉଠାଉଥିବେ ତେହେଲେ ସବୁ ଲେଖାର ମାନ ଯେ ଏକା ଭଳି ଓ ସବୁ ଲେଖାରେ ଆବଶ୍ୟକୀୟ ସବୁ ତଥ୍ୟ ମିଳିବ ତା'ର ମାନେ ନାହିଁ । ତେଣୁ କେବେ କେବେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ମେଳା ମଉଛବକୁ ଧରି ଲେଖାଳିଏ ମିଶି ଗୋଟେ ବିଷୟରେ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରନ୍ତି । ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ଚଳଣି ଉପରେ ଲିଖିତ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁ ନବକଳେବର ସମୟରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଓ ପତ୍ରିକା ଆଦିରୁ ତଥ୍ୟ ସଂଗ୍ରହ କରି ବହୁଭାବେ ଉନ୍ନତ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ଏବେ ଏ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବାକି ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁଠାରୁ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟରେ ଭରା । ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖିବାକୁ ଆଗ୍ରହୀ ଓଡ଼ିଆମାନେ ଏହି ପୃଷ୍ଠାରେ ଦିଆଯାଇଥିବା ସରଳ ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦେଶ ପଢ଼ି ନିଜେ ମଧ୍ୟ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସ୍ଥାନ ଓ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ବିଷୟରେ ଲେଖିପାରିବେ ।

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ହେଉଛି ଏକ ଯାତ୍ରା । ଆଉ ଏ ବାଟ ଅସରନ୍ତି । ଯେତେ ଲେଖିଲେ ବି ସ ରିବନି କିନ୍ତୁ ଏ ଲେଖା ଚାଲିରହିଥିବ । ଆଜି ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ଅଳପ ଜଣା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଜଗତର ବାକି ଭାଷାରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ବାକି ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ସଙ୍ଗେ ସମକକ୍ଷ ହୋଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ମଥାକୁ ଟେକି ଧରିବା ପାଇଁ ସପନ ଦେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଲୋଡ଼ା ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ହାତ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଏ ଜୟଯାତ୍ରା ପାଳନ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରରେ ପାଳିତ ହେଉଛି ଏକ ସାଧାରଣ ସଭା ଓ ସବିଶେଷ ଏହି ପୃଷ୍ଠାରେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ ।

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/your-story-odia-june-3-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-journey-of-odia-wikipedia-in-last-14-years

ଅନଲାଇନ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଗଢ଼ା

subha — 2016-06-08T02:51:14Z

I wrote this article in Samanya Kathan, an Odia-language portal on June 5, 2016. The article is about the journey of the Odia Wikipedia and was published on the day the contributor community was celebrating the 14th anniversary of the project.

Read the originally published article here

ଜଣାଶୁଣା ବ୍ୟକ୍ତି, ବିଷୟ, ଘଟଣା, ସ୍ଥାନ ଆଦି ବିଷୟରେ ସଂକ୍ଷେପରେ ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ବା ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷର ପରିକଳ୍ପନା। ତାକୁ ପୁଣି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରିବା ପାଇଁ 2001ରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ। ପ୍ରଥମେ ଇଂରାଜୀରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇ ପରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାକୁ ଏହା ବଢ଼ିଲା। ଆଉ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଉ ଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହବାର ବର୍ଷଟିଏ ପରେ 2002 ମସିହାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ, ଅହମିୟା, ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ ଓ ମାଲାୟାଲାମ ଭାଷାରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା। ପ୍ରଥମ ଚାରୋଟି ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାରେ ତିଆରି ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭିତରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଗୋଟେ ବୋଲି ଅନେକଙ୍କୁ ଆଜି ବି ଅଜଣା। ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ https://or.wikipedia.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ। ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ପାଖାପାଖି 9 ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ସକ୍ରିୟ ସମ୍ପାଦନାର ଅଭାବରୁ 2011 ଯାଏ ଏକ ରକମ ନିଷ୍କ୍ରିୟ ହୋଇ ପଡ଼ିରହିଥିଲା। 2011ରେ ଏଥିରେ ଅନେକ ସ୍ବେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସମ୍ପାଦକ ବଉଇକିଆଳିମାନେ ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇ ଲେଖିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବା ଫଳରେ ଅଧୁନା ଏଥିରେ 10,619 ସଂଖ୍ୟକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଲେଖାସରିଲାଣି। ଆଉ ନିତି ନୂଆ ନୂଆ ଲେଖା ଏଥିରେ ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇ ଚାଲିଛି।

ତେବେ ଜଣେ ସାଧାରଣ ପାଠକ ପାଇଁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ କ’ଣ ରହିଛି ତାହା ଜାଣିବା ବେଶି ଜରୁରୀ। ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ବାଟ ପିଢ଼ିରୁ ପିଢ଼ିକୁ ବଦଳେ। ଆମ ପିଲାବେଳେ ଆମେ କାଁ ଭାଁ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ସୁବିଧା ପାଉଥିଲୁ। ଆଉ ସେତେବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ମିଡିୟମ ସ୍କୁଲର ପାଠାଗାର କିଛି ଗପ ଉପନ୍ୟାସ ବହି ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ ଥିଲା। ନୂଆ ବହିଟିଏ ଦେଖିବା ଆଗରୁ କାନ୍ଥରୁ ଚୂନ ଝଡ଼ିପଡୁଥିଲା। ହେଲେ ଏବେ ଘରେଘେ ଏକାଧିକ ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଉ ସେସବୁ ପୁଣି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ସୁବିଧା ଥିବା ସ୍ମାର୍ଟଫୋନ ଆସିଲାଣି। ସ୍କୁଲ ପିଲାଏ ଆଉ କିଛି କରନ୍ତୁ ନ କରନ୍ତୁ କିନ୍ତୁ ଗେମ ଖେଳିବା କି ଫେସବୁକ ଆଦିରେ ସାଙ୍ଗମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଚାଟିଂ ଆଦି କରିବାରେ ପୋକ ହେଲେଣି। ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରୁ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ମୋବାଇଲମୁଖୀ ହୋଇଗଲାଣି। ପିଲାଙ୍କଠୁ ବଡ଼ ଯାଏ କାହା ପାଖେ ଆଉ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ରିଟାନିକା ଭଳି ଓଜନିଆ ପୋଥି ଦେଇ କିଛି ଖୋଜିବା ପାଇଁ ବେଳ ନାହିଁ। ତେଣୁ ଏଭଳି ପରିସ୍ଥିତିରେୌଣସି ବିଷୟକୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକାଭିମୁଖୀ କରିବାର ସୁବିଧା ବାଟ ହେଉଛି ସେସବୁକୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା। ତେବେ ଏହା ବହି ବା ଜର୍ଣ୍ଣାଲର ବିକଳ୍ପ ନୁହେଁ। ବରଂ ବହି ସଙ୍ଗେ ଭିନ୍ନ ଏକ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣର ବାଟ ରୂପରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ପହଞ୍ଚିପାରୁଛି।

ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ସ୍ଥିତି ଭିନ୍ନ। ତେବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ଅବସ୍ଥା ଯେତେ ଚିନ୍ତାଜନକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାକୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଅଧିକ ବ୍ୟବହାର ଉପଯୋଗୀ କରିବା ସେତେ ଅଧିକ ଲୋଡ଼ା। 2011 ଜନଗଣନା ତଥ୍ୟ ଅନୁସାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ମାତ୍ର 1.4 ଭାଗ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ସୁବିଧା ଥିଲା। ଏହି ପାଞ୍ଚ ବର୍ଷ ଭିତରେ ଏହା ବହୁ ଅଧିକ ବଢ଼ିଥିବ। ହେଲେ ସେ ସଭିଏଁ କ’ଣ ସତରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ବ୍ୟବହାର କରୁଛନ୍ତି ନା ସୀମିତ କେତୋଟି ସାଇଟ ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ। ଅଧିକାଂଶ ତଥାକଥିତ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ବ୍ୟବହାରକାରୀ ଫେସବୁକରେ ସାଙ୍ଗମାନଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଭାବ ଦିଆନିଆ କି ହୁଆଟସଆପରେ ପରିଚିତଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ଆଳାପ ଅଥବା ଇଉଟିଉବରୁ ଗୀତ ଶୁଣିବା ବାହାରେ ବେଶୀ କିଛି ଜାଣନ୍ତି ନାହିଁ। ଏହାର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଉଛି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ସବୁଠୁ ବେଶୀ ପରିଚିତ ଭାଷା ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ବେଶୀ ୱେବସାଇଟ ନାହିଁ। ଖବର ପଢ଼ାଳିଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ନା ଭଲ ଖବର ୱେବସାଇଟଟିଏ ରହିଛି ନା ଗବେଷକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଆମ ଐତିହ୍ୟ ଓ ପୁରୁଣା ଶିଳ୍ପ ବାବଦରେ ପଢ଼ିବା ପାଇଁ ଆମ ମିଉଜିଅମ ୱେବସାଇଟରେ ସମସ୍ତ କଳାକୃତିର ତଥ୍ୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଦିଆଯାଇଛି। ସେମିତି ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟ ଜାଣିବା ପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ନିହାତି ଦରକାରୀ ବିଷୟ ମଧ୍ୟ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ନାହିଁ। ଏଭଳି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ କେଇଶହ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଭିତରୁ କେବଳ ଗୋଟେ କାଗଜର ଖବରଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଇଣଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜି ପାଇହେବ। କାରଣ ବାକି ଖବରକାଗଜର ଲେଖା ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ଭଳି ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତିକ ମାନକକୁ ନ ଆପଣାଇ ଆକୃତି, ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଆଦି ପୁରୁଣାକାଳିଆ ଅଣ-ମାନକ ସଫ୍ଟଓଏରରେ ଲେଖି ଛବି ଭାବେ କିମ୍ବା ପିଡିଏଫ ଡକୁମେଣ୍ଟ ଭାବେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସାଇଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ। ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ଭିନ୍ନ ନ ଲାଗିଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଗୁଗୁଲ ବା ସର୍ଚ ଇଞ୍ଜିନରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରି ଖୋଜିହୁଏ ନାହିଁ କିମ୍ବା ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଦିରେ ସଳଖେ ପଢ଼ିହୁଏ ନାହିଁ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ 1930 ମସିହାରେ ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭାଷାକୋଷ ଭଳି ବିଶାଳ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ରଚନା କାମ ଆଜିଯାଏ ଆଉ କିଛି ହୋଇପାରିନାହିଁ। ଆଧୁନିକ ଟେକନୋଲୋଜି ବ୍ ୟବହାର କରି ଏବେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଅତୀତ ସହ ସନ୍ଧିଟିଏ ତିଆରି କରିପାରିବ। ଏହା ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଭାବେ ଅଣ-ଲାଭକାରୀ ଓ ଏଥିରେ ବିଜ୍ଞାପନ ନ ଥାଏ। ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖାଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଲେଖୁଥିବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଏ ସଭିଏଁ ସ୍ବେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ଓ ଲେଖାସବୁ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ସତ୍ବାଧ‍କାରରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ। ତେବେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟରେ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ଲେଖାସବୁ କପିରାଇଟ ଦେଇ ନ ରୋକିବା ଲାଗି ସେସବୁ କ୍ରିଏଟିଭ କମନ୍ସ ସେଆର-ଏଲାଇକ ଲାଇସେନ୍ସରେ ବିତରିତ। ଫଳରେ ସଭିଏଁ ମାଗଣାରେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ , ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗଗୁଡ଼ିକ ପୁନଃବ୍ୟବହାର କରିପାରିବେ ଓ ଉଭୟ ଲାଭକାରୀ ଓ ଅଣଲାଭକାରୀ କାମରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିପାରିବେ। ଏଥି ସହିତ କୌଣସି ଲେଖାରେ ଭୁଲ ପାଇଲେ ଜଣେ ଲେଖା ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରି ସୁଧାରିପାରିବେ। ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖା ଓ ସମ୍ପାଦନା ପଦ୍ଧତି ଏତେ ଖୋଲା ଯେ ପ୍ରାୟ ସବୁ ଲେଖା ଏକ ନୁହେଁ ଅନେକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ଏକାଠି ଲିଖିତ। ତେବେ ଲେଖାର ମାନରେ ସମତା ରଖିବା ନିମନ୍ତେ କେତେଗୁଡ଼ିଏ ନିୟମାବଳୀ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଛି। ଏଗୁଡ଼ିକ 293ଟି ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ସବୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ମୋଟାମଟି ଏକା ହେଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ଉଇକିଆଳିଗଣ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ଓ ସମାଜର ଆବଶ୍ୟକତାକୁ ଆଖିରେ ରଖି ସେଗୁଡ଼ିକୁ ସାମାନ୍ୟ ବଦଳାଇଛନ୍ତି। ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷଙ୍କ ବାବଦରେ କିମ୍ବା ଘଟଣା ବାବଦରେ ଲିଖିତ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଏକପାଖିଆ ନ ହୋଇ ନିରପେକ୍ଷ ଭାବେ ଲେଖିବା ଏହି ନିୟମାବଳୀ ମଧ୍ୟରୁ ଏକ ମୁଖ୍ୟ ନିୟମ। ସେହି ଭଳି ନିଜ ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିଗତ ମତ ବଦଳରେ କେବଳ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ତଥ୍ୟ ଲେଖିବା ଆଉ ଏକ ନିୟମ। ସବୁଠାରୁ ମଜାର କଥା ହେଲା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ କୌଣସି ଦେଶ ବା ସଙ୍ଗଠ ଅଧୀନରେ ନ ଥାଇ ଏହା ଉପରେ ପ୍ରତିଟି ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସମାନ ଅଧିକାର ରହିଛି। ପୁଣି ସେମାନଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ କାମକୁ ନେଇ ଦାୟିତ୍ବ ବଣ୍ଟାଯାଇଛି। ବିବାଦ ଉପୁଜିଲେ ବି ସୁଧାରିବାକୁ ରହିଛି କିଛି ସ୍ବେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କୁ ନେଇ ତିଆରି କମିଟିମାନ।

ତେବେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଥିବା ସବୁଯାକ ଲେଖାକୁ ଆଖିବୁଜି ଗ୍ରହଣ କରାଯାଇପାରିବ ନାହିଁ। କାରଣ ପ୍ୟାରିସ ଉପରେ ଥିବା ଲେଖାଟି ଶହେ କି ହଜାରେ ଲୋକ ମିଶି ଲେଖିଥିବା ବେଳେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ବର ଉପରେ ଥିବା ଲେଖାଟି ହାତଗଣତି କେତେ ଜଣ ହୁଏତ ଲେଖିଥିବେ। ଯେଉଁ ଲେଖା ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ ଅଭିଜ୍ଞତା ଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ଯେତେ ଘସାମଜା ହୋଇ ଲେଖାହୋଇଥିବ ସେ ଲେଖା ସେତେ ଉଜ୍ଜଳ ହୋଇ ଚମକୁଥିବ। ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧିତ ଲେଖାସବୁରୁ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଭଲ ଲେଖା ଖୋଜି ପାଇବା କଷ୍ଟ। ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖୁଥିବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ପାଖାପାଖି 30 ଭିତରେ। ସାଢ଼େ ଚାରିକୋଟି ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ଭିତରୁ ଯଦି ଏତେ କମ ଲୋକ ଏତେ ବଡ଼ କାମର ବୋଝ ଉଠାଉଥିବେ ତେହେଲେ ସବୁ ଲେଖାର ମାନ ଯେ ଏକା ଭଳି ଓ ସବୁ ଲେଖାରେ ଆବଶ୍ୟକ ସବୁ ତଥ୍ୟ ମିଳିବ ତା’ର ମାନେ ନାହିଁ। ତେଣୁ କେବେ କେବେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ମେଳା ମଉଛବକୁ ଧ ରି ଲେଖାଳିଏ ମିଶି ଗୋଟେ ବିଷୟରେ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରନ୍ତି। ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ଚଳଣି ଉପରେ ଲିଖିତ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁ ନବକଳେବର ସମୟରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଓ ପତ୍ରିକା ଆଦିରୁ ତଥ୍ୟ ସଂଗ୍ରହ କରି ବହୁଭାବେ ଉନ୍ନତ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା। ଏବେ ଏ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବାକି ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ସବୁଠାରୁ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟରେ ଭରା। ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖିବାକୁ ଆଗ୍ରହୀ ଓଡ଼ିଆମାନେ https://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CS ପୃଷ୍ଠାରେ ଦିଆଯାଇଥିବା ସରଳ ନିର୍ଦ୍ଦେଶ ପଢ଼ି ନିଜେ ମଧ୍ୟ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ସ୍ଥାନ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ବିଷୟରେ ଲେଖିପାରିବେ।

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ହେଉଛି ଏକ ଯାତ୍ରା। ଆଉ ଏ ବାଟ ଅସରନ୍ତି। ଯେତେ େଖିଲେ ବି ସରିବନି କିନ୍ତୁ ଲେଖା ଚାଲିରହିଥିବ। ଆଜି ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ଅଳପ ଜଣା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଜଗତର ବାକି ଭାଷାରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ବାକି ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ସଙ୍ଗେ ସମକକ୍ଷ ହୋଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ମଥାକୁ ଟେକି ଧରିବା ପାଇଁ ସପନ ଦେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଲୋଡ଼ା ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ହାତ।

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/samanya-kathan-subhashish-panigrahi-june-5-2016-article-on-journey-of-odia-wikipedia

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବିକାଶ

subha — 2016-06-04T04:37:32Z

The article on Odia Wikipedia was published in the Samaja on June 2, 2016.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/samaja-subhashish-panigrahi-june-2-2016-article-on-odia-wikipedia

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ: ଏକ ଅଭିଯାନ

subha — 2016-06-04T04:26:38Z

The article which details Odia Wikipedia's 14 year-long journey was published in the Odia newspaper Suryaprava on June 3, 2016.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/suryaprava-subhashish-panigrahi-june-3-2016-article-on-odia-wikipedia-14-years-journey

Celebrating 13 Years of the Kannada-language Wikipedia

subha — 2016-06-18T16:20:37Z

The Kannada-language Wikipedia celebrated its 13th anniversary on February 14 in Mangalore. To celebrate the journey of the project and the community, Kannada Wikipedians gathered at Saint Aloysius College, Mangaluru on May 14.

The article was published in DNA on May 22, 2016.

The larger community including long-time Wikipedians and new members like the students faculty involved in Wikipedia Education Programs gathered to participate in a day long edit-a-thon and chalk out plans for the future. The event was organised by the Kannada Wikimedia community and Dr. Vishwanatha Badikana, Wikipedian and Assistant Professor of Kannada department at St. Aloysius College, who coordinated the event locally.

Prior to the event, four edit-a-thons were organised in four different cities of Karnataka. The local organisers also took the participants through a heritage walk in the village of Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, an open library of the rich cultural heritage of Karnataka. Prior to the event, four edit-a-thons were organised in four different cities of Karnataka. The local organisers also took the participants through a heritage walk in the village of Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, an open library of the rich cultural heritage of Karnataka.

117 people gathered at the event out of which 96 were active editors of the Kannada Wikipedia to celebrate thirteen years of Kannada Wikipedia, arguably the largest online encyclopedia in Kannada language. Noted Kannada-computing researcher Kinnikambla Padmanabha Rao (widely known as KP Rao) addressed the public event and engaged with the audience about defining Kannada Wikipedia’s large role in widening the language’s presence on the internet. The heritage walk resulted in over 300 image uploads on Wikimedia Commons ranging from the life and culture of coastal Karnataka to select rich heritage of the state. 20 new editors also participated in the event and they were oriented on basics of Wikipedia editing and Creative Commons licenses.

Much before the event, preparation was begun to organise four different thematic edit-a-thons; Kannada literature in Mysore, Mechanical Engineering in Sagara, Science-related articles in Bengaluru and article on notable women of the coastal Karnataka region in Mangaluru. Follow up edit-a-thons were organised after the anniversary celebration, based on the same themes in the first three places.

Triveni K, one of the participants who is now pursuing her M.Sc at Christ University, called this event a great learning platform for learning core Wikipedia policies in detail. “I’m little occupied for my exams but when it is over, I will be back on Wikipedia”, shares Triveni.

The first ever edit on Kannada Wikipedia was made on June 12, 2003 with a message saying “Kannada Vishwa Koshakke Suswaagatha!” (meaning ‘Welcome to the Kannada encyclopedia’). However it took over a year, July 12, 2004, before the first article, about a city Shimoga, was created. Over the last decade, Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for theKannada language where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name. 7,05,199 unique visitors read the articles every month as per the December 2015 statistics. The annual average of active editors for last year was 48, 91 (in February) being the highest, 22 (in May) the lowest and 80 being the count in December 2015. The peaks and valleys also signify that major outreach like Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University, Bengaluru could have boosted the total number of editors during the months when the program was being rolled out. The project since its inception has gone through many ups and downs over time, the major one being a small community to edit and curate such a high level task of creating new articles in Kannada, editing and enriching them with more information and citations, and cleaning up many articles. The biggest hurdle, as explained by Wikimedian Hari Prasad Nadig, has been cleaning up the articles created by paid translations of Google when Kannada Wikipedia along with many other Indian language Wikipedias was used as testing ground for improving Google Translate, a multilingual machine translation tool. Vasanth SN, a Kannada Wikipedian who has cleaned up over 60 such articles, prefers to use an existing good quality encyclopedia like the 14 volume Kannada Vishwakosha published by Mysore University and relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 by the university, as a resource to create and improve articles.

The 14th anniversary was another milestone in the journey and there are many more to come. You can read more about it here on Kannada Wikipedia.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/dna-may-22-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-celebrating-13-years-of-kannada-language-wikipedia

ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ "ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ" ବିକାଶ ପାଇଁ ଏକାଠି ହେଲେ ପୁରୀର ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ

subha — 2016-06-18T16:21:07Z

ସଂସ୍କୃତିର ସହର ପୁରୀରେ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀମାନେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାକୁ ଅଧିକ ବ୍ୟବହାରଯୋଗ୍ୟ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ତଥା ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଅଧିକ ପଠନଯୋଗ୍ୟ ଲେଖାର ବିକାଶ ଲାଗି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ପୁରୀର ୫ଟି ଭିନ୍ନ ଭିନ୍ନ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନର ପାଖାପାଖି ୧୨ ଜଣ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ନିୟମିତ ଭେଟି କର୍ମଶାଳା ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ତଥ୍ୟଭିତ୍ତିକ ଲେଖାମାନ ତିଆରି ଓ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରୁଛନ୍ତି ।

The article that came May 20 on YourStory Odia, is about WikiTungi Puri and highlights a female editor Adyasha Sahu. WikiTungi Puri is a collective of the Odia Wikimedia community members that are based in the city of Puri.

ପୁରୀରେ ଆୟୋଜିତ ଏକ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ କର୍ମଶାଳା ପରେ ସେଠାରେ ଆଗରୁ ଗୁଗୁଲ ଡେଭଲପର୍ସ ଗ୍ରୁପରେ ସକ୍ରିୟ ଥିବା ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ କର୍ମୀମାନେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଯୋଗ ଦେଇ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ଲେଖିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କଲେ । କେଇଟା ଦିନ ଭିତରେ ଆଗରୁ ଅବହେଳିତ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟ ଯଥା ମୋବାଇଲ, କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧିତ ଲେଖା, । ଏହି ୧୨ ଜଣିଆ ଦଳରେ ଥିବା ୪ ଜଣ ଝିଅ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବାହାରର ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଜଣାଶୁଣା ନାରୀଙ୍କ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଲେଖାସବୁ ତିଆରିବା ସହିତ ଆଗରୁ ଥିବା ଲେଖାଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଉନ୍ନତ କରିଆସୁଛନ୍ତି । ଏମାନଙ୍କ ଅବଦାନ ଫଳରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଜଣାଅଜଣା ବିଷୟରେ ଉପାଦେୟ ଲେଖାସବୁ ପାଠକମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଖୋଲାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହେଉଛି । ଆଗକୁ ଛାତ୍ର, ଶିକ୍ଷକମାନେ ବହି ବାହାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କିଛି ପଢ଼ିବାକୁ ଚାହିଁଲେ ଏସବୁ ବ୍ୟବହାରରେ ଲାଗିବ ।

ଏମାନଙ୍କ ଭିତରୁ ଜଣେ ଉଇକିଆଳି ଆଦ୍ଯାଶା କହନ୍ତି, "ମୁଁ ପ୍ରଥମେ ଲେଖିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କଲାବେଳକୁ ରବୀନ୍ଦ୍ରନାଥ ଠାକୁରଙ୍କ ବାବଦରେ ଛୋଟ ଲେଖାଟେ ଥିଲା । ଆଉ ମୋର ତାଙ୍କ ବାବଦରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କିଛି ପଢ଼ିବା ପାଇଁ ଇଚ୍ଛା ଥିଲେ ବି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ କିଛି ଖୋଜି ପାଉଲି ନାହିଁ । ତେଣୁ ନିଜେ ଇଂରାଜୀରୁ ଅନୁବାଦ କରିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କଲି । ନିକଟରେ ଗୋଟେ ପରୀକ୍ଷାରେ ତାଙ୍କ ବିଷୟରେ ପଡ଼ିଥିଲା ଯେ ମୁଁ ମୋର ନିଜ ଲେଖା ଅନୁଭୂତି କେତେ କାମରେ ଆସିଲା ତାହା ଜାଣିଲି", ବଖାଣନ୍ତି ଆଦ୍ୟାଶା ।

ଆଉ ଜଣେ ମହିଳା ଉଇକିଆଳି ଅଲିଭା ସାହୁ କହନ୍ତି, "ମୁଁ କାକଟପୁର କଲେଜରେ ପଢ଼ିଲା ବେଳେ ବାଦ୍ୟଯନ୍ତ୍ର ଉପରେ ଲେଖାଟିଏ ଥିଲା । ସେତେବେଳେ ମୁଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ବିଶେଷ କିଛି ପଢ଼ିବାକୁ ପାଇନଥିଲି । ଏମିତି ଖୋଜୁଖୋଜୁ ଦିନେ ସେ ବାବଦରେ ଲେଖାଟିଏ ପାଇଲି । ଇଂରାଜୀ ଲେଖା ଆଉ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଲେଖା ଦୁଇଟିରୁ ମିଶାଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ଅନୁବାଦ କଲି ।"

ଅନୁବାଦ ହେଉ କି ମୌଳିକ ଭାବେ ହେଉ, ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଲେଖାର ଆଧାରରେ ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନେ ତିଆରିଚାଲିଛନ୍ତି ଭଳିକି ଭଳି ନୂଆ ଲେଖା ।

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ପୁରୀର ଏହି ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନେ ଏକାଠି ହୋଇ ଗଢ଼ିଛନ୍ତି "ଉଇକିଟୁଙ୍ଗି ପୁରୀ" । ପୁରୀରେ ଯୁବପିଢ଼ିଙ୍କୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ପର୍କରେ ଅବଗତ କରାଇବା, ପୁରୀ ସାମନ୍ତ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ରଶେଖର ସ୍ୱୟଂଶାସିତ କଲେଜରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ପ୍ରଚାର ପ୍ରସାର କରାଇବା, ପୁରୀରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଓ ମେଳଣ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ ଶିଖାଇବା ଓ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ନିଜ ଅଞ୍ଚଳ ଓ ଆଗ୍ରହର ବିଷୟ ବାବଦରେ ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ ଆଗଭର କରାଇବା ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଢଗଢମାଳି-ଲୋକକଥା ଆଦିକୁ ଗୋଟେ ସ୍ଥାନରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଉଇକିକଥା ନାମରେ ଆଉ ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ବିକାଶ କରାଇବା ହେଉଛି ଏହି ଦଳର ମୁଖ୍ୟ ଲକ୍ଷ୍ୟ ।

ବାକି ଭାରତୀୟ ଓ ଏସୀୟ ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏକ ପୁରୁଣା ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ସୁଦ୍ଧା ଓଡ଼ିଆର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର ଖୁବ ଊଣା । ଯଦିଓ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ନିୟମିତ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ବଢ଼ି ବଢ଼ି ଚାଲିଛି ସେସବୁ ଏଯାବତ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଦ ହେଉନଥିବାରୁ ଲେଖାଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜିଲେ ମିଳୁନାହିଁ । ଆଉ ସବୁ କାଗଜର ପୁରୁଣା ଅଭିଲେଖ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହେଉନଥିବାରୁ ଜଣେ ଲୋଡ଼ାପଡ଼ିଲେ ଖବରଟେ ଖୋଜି ପାଇପାରିବ ନାହିଁ । ଏ ଦିଗରେ ପ୍ରକାଶନ ସଂସ୍ଥା, ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିବିଶେଷ ଓ ସରକାର ସଭିଏଁ ଚେଷ୍ଟା କଲେ ଯାଇ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହୁଅନ୍ତା । ଏଯାଏ ଗୁଗୁଲର ପ୍ରଧାନ ପୃଷ୍ଠାରେ ଯେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆସୁନାହିଁ ବୋଲି ଅନେକେ ମତ ଦିଅନ୍ତି ତା'ର ମୁଖ୍ୟ କାରଣ ହେଲା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖାର ଘୋର ଅଭାବ । ଏ ଦିଗରେ ଅଣଲାଭକାରୀ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କ ଦ୍ୱାରା ପରିଚାଳିତ ସମୂହ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଭୂମିକା ଉଲ୍ଲେଖଯୋଗ୍ୟ । ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ (Wikipedia) ୨୦୦୧ରେ ପ୍ରଥମେ ଇଂରାଜୀରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ବାକି ଭାଷାରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲା । ଆନନ୍ଦର ବିଷୟ ଯେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ୨୦୦୨ ମସିହାରେ ପ୍ରଥମ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭାବେ ଅହମୀୟା, ମାଲାୟାଲାମ ଓ ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ ସହିତ ଗଢ଼ାହେଲା । ଅଧୁନା କେବଳ ଇଂରାଜୀ ନୁହେଁ ୨୮୭ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏହି ଖୋଲା ଅନଲାଇନ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ । ଅନେକେ ଜାଣି କାବା ହେବେ ଯେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖୁଥିବା ସମ୍ପାଦକ ବା ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ପାଖାପାଖି ୨୫-୩୦ ହେଲେ ହେଁ ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖା ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ୧୦,୬୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ । ପୁରୀର ଉଇକିଆଳିମାନଙ୍କ ଆସିବା ପରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଆଳିଙ୍କ ସଂଖ୍ୟା ପାଖାପାଖି ଦୁଇଗୁଣା ବଢ଼ିଛି ବୋଲି କହିହେବ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଥିବା ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ http://or.wikipedia.org ରେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ । ଏଥିରେ ସଭିଏଁ ଲେଖିପାରିବେ (ଲେଖିବା ବାବଦରେ ଦରକାରୀ ସୂଚନା) ।

ଫଟୋ: ସ୍ନେହାଶିଷ ନାୟକ (CC-BY-SA 4.0)

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/b07b23b4db1fb30b28b47b1fb30b47-b13b21b3cb3fb06-b0fb28b38b3eb07b15b4db32b2ab3fb21b3cb3fb06-b09b07b15b3fb2ab3fb21b3cb3fb06-b2cb3fb15b3eb36-b2ab3eb07b01-b0fb15b3eb20b3f-b39b47b32b47-b2ab41b30b40b30-b1bb3eb24b4db30b1bb3eb24b4db30b40

Draft Law Would Prohibit Showing ‘Disputed Areas’ on Maps of India

subha — 2016-05-15T13:05:41Z

Maps that label geographic areas of conflict as “disputed” territories in India could put one behind bars for seven years with 1B Indian Rupees (US$15M) penalty if a recently proposed bill becomes law.

The article was published in Global Voices on May 11, 2016.

The controversial bill, also known as Geospatial Information Regulation Bill 2016 would make it illegal to “depict, disseminate, publish or distribute any wrong or false topographic information of India including international boundaries through internet platforms or online services or in any electronic or physical form.”

If approved, it could put large corporations like Google (with its Google map), free and open source projects like Wikipedia and Open Street Map, and several other organizations in trouble for showing areas of conflict as disputed. Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Arunachal Pradesh near the China border are two well-known examples of such areas.

The Indian government ruled by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been quite critical of the depiction of the PoK and China border in Arunachal Pradesh.

If passed in the parliament as law, it could prevent Indians and foreigners, government employees and people traveling in ships and aircrafts that are registered in India, to acquire geospatial imagery or data. To acquire such data, one needs to obtain permissions from the security vetting authority.

In recent years, the Indian government has targeted numerous foreign publications including Al Jazeera for showing distorted maps of India that excluded parts of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and even another state Arunachal Pradesh. While the bill does not explicitly mention these efforts, it seems to fall in line with these previous attempts to control the free flow of geospatial information.

A news article about the proposed bill published on the portal MediaNama explains how the potential law could affect map portals like Open Street Map and Google Maps, taxi, e-commerce and public safety sites and many other services that allow marking and sharing coordinates. “Most digital photographs contain location meta-data, and by sharing your photos online, you’re adding to a repository of data related to man-made phenomenon,” suggests the same article. Open data advocates also have published list of 25 different services, seven major news portals, and 14 nonprofits that would be affected if the bill is approved.

The Open Data community of India also has come up with a campaign “SaveTheMap” to draft a request to the government to not pass the bill. The draft request states:

Request for comments / suggestions on draft “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016” To regulate the acquisition, dissemination, publication and distribution of geospatial information of India which is likely to affect the security, sovereignty and integrity of India, a draft “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016” has been prepared. Copy of the draft “The Geospatial Information Regulation Bill, 2016” is attached herewith for comments/suggestions. The comments/suggestions on the draft Bill may be forwarded to the Joint Secretary (Internal Security-I), Ministry of Home Affairs, North Block, New Delhi at email id: jsis@nic.in within 30 days.

There has been a lot of discussion with hashtag #GeoSpatialBill and humorous comments on social media:

Many have already started tweeting with the hashtag #savethemap:

Twitter user Prasanto Roy explained the implications of geospatial bill for various companies including Google, Uber and Open street maps:

Here's what other experts have to say:

Arup. R writes in Geospatial World:

This Act needs to be dropped. In its attempt to cover all bases it has been made so broadband and all encompassing that it may actually impede the progress of work on Geospatial systems and therefore on key Government programmes and projects. The Act does not take into account the fact that with the advent of the Cloud, Data as a Service, Software as a Service and Platform as a Service there is no need for ‘persons’ to possess data. They can just access data, do their work and retain only the final results. This Act does not, in fact cannot, even begin to comprehend the paradigm shift in geospatial technologies which makes it a non-starter.

India does need a Geospatial Information Act, but it has to be an enabling and encouraging Act that makes for faster and better implementation of programmes, not a regressive and punitive Act as the proposed one.

Devdutta Tengshe writes about the overreaching ambit of Geospatial bill on Medium:

Worst of all, it (the bill) is trying to implement Security by Obscurity, which is expecting the country to become secure by hiding information from its citizens. This is dangerous, because the real mischief creators, be they terrorists, Foreign government agencies, or domestic criminals, will most likely have access to kind of data from foreign sources, and will not even think about getting permits and licenses from these Indian Authorities.

Cyber law expert Pavan Duggal told The Wire:

The draft legislation has the intrinsic problem that it has been given extra-territorial applicability in terms of jurisdiction. It is applicable to any person anywhere in the world. We have historically seen that such jurisdiction does not work well in practical terms. What if global players do not want to take your licence or subject themselves to your jurisdiction?

Duggal further spoke about how the law could impact the growth of e-commerce and m-commerce in India.

Under this law, Google Maps will be illegal without a licence, which means that all mobile or e-commerce applications working on Google Maps will also become illegal. The licence will also only be applicable to the concerned person. So if I am a taxi aggregator like Ola or Uber, I will have to get a separate licence over and above what Google Map has.

Indian Express calls the Geospatial bill a death note for Cartography:

The draft Geospatial Information Regulation Bill of 2016 is so perfectly ridiculous that one can only hope that it falls off the map before it can be tabled in the House. Publishers the world over have learned, to their bewildered amusement, that India censors maps of itself. Now, to strike fear into their anti-national gizzards, the government has invoked an official map censor, a babu-led organisation whose prior permission will be required to publish geospatial information, which is newspeak for maps. Failure to correctly depict the borders of India could attract a fine of up to Rs 100 crore, before the poor offending bozo is dragged away to the cooler for seven years. With this draft, the government has embarked on a journey without maps, which must rapidly become directionless.

Not the first time around?

Meanwhile, this clearly isn't the first time that services such as Google Maps have come under the federal scanner in India. In 2014, India's prime investigation agency Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had launched a probe into Google Maps’ irregularities in Mapathon 2013 and had accused the company of running the competition without procuring proper governmental permissions. But the agency had called off the case citing lack of ‘adequate evidence to corroborate the allegations’.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/draft-law-would-prohibit-showing-2018disputed-areas2019-on-maps-of-india

Eight Challenges Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome

subha — 2016-06-18T17:09:38Z

Even after a decade of existence, Indian language Wikipedias are not yet known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia, the largest available encyclopedia made in the human history, is what it is today because of the hundreds and thousands of volunteer editors.

The article was published in Global Voices on April 27, 2016. A version of this post was previously published on The Wire.

But while native-language Wikipedias are becoming game-changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. Here, from my point of view, are some of the challenges that Indian-language Wikipedias are currently facing.

1. Language communities

The language communities of many of the Indian languages are such that many of them do not know how to search for information online, in language typed in their script. Some of these communities even believe that because Google’s home page does not display their script, their language does not exist on the Internet. Google, which starting with five Indian languages as options in its interface, now has has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a Santali or Manipuri user from searching in Unicode Ol chiki (the script for Santali) or in Unicode Meithei (the script for Manipuri). Google, or any search engine, for that matter, will display anything available in any script on the Internet. But the perceived lack of this very function is keeping many people from connecting to the Internet, and to Wikipedia in particular.

2. Wikipedia’s editor community

Wikipedia is written by people like you and me. And everything, from writing to editing, is done by volunteers. And anybody can correct the mistakes and inaccuracies that exist in many Wikipedia articles. While several Indian languages are spoken by millions of people, the Wikipedia editor communities for these languages are very small, with only a handful editors contributing to editing those language versions of Wikipedia. In January this year, Hindi Wikipedia, for instance, had only 89 editors, while the total number of Hindi speakers is over 550 million.

3. Language input on computers

A vast majority of people in India do not know how to type in their own language. There is also little documentation instructing users about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing a proliferation in computer use and Internet access, native language input and other essential training of basic computing are not widely taught in schools in all states. This is unfortunate, as there is a wide variety of free software for native-language input, and the challenges of typing in Indian languages that existed a few years back are now almost non-existent.

4. Language input on mobile devices

With over 1 billion mobile phone users, India's 15% internet penetration rate will soon start growing at a faster pace. This in turn—along with the tough competition that will compel TSPs to lower data charges—will help many Indians get access to the Internet. If these people are not educated about native language input they will be victims of the English-centric Internet and fail to enjoy the virtues of the former. Many Indians who have smartphones need full Indian language support, and especially built-in input methods, to be able to contribute to Wikipedia in their own languages.

5. Scarcity of Indian-language content on the Internet

The relative lack of native language content on the Internet is another major factor in the low adoption of Indian language Wikpedias. According to an Internet and Mobile Association of India survey conducted in 2012, over 6% of the population is left behind with regard to joining the online sphere simply because of a scarcity of content in their languages. Take my home state of Odisha, for instance: while the Kerala state government’s official tourism portal is available in Odia and other Indian languages, at the time of writing the Odisha government’s tourism portal had no information in Odia. It is unfortunate that our languages are neglected largely within our own states.

6. Incompatibility between new and traditional media standards

Instead of adopting the Unicode standard, many traditional media outlets continue to use non-standard variants of the ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems Unicode, a global standard, has been available for Indian languages for almost 25 years now, but most of India's vernacular print media has failed to adopt it. As a result, many popular Indian-language newspapers are unavailable in Unicode on the open Internet.

7. Lack of Open Access

The majority of the information published on the Internet, and by the Indian government, in particular, is copyrighted. This paywalled garden of copyright restrictions restricts access of this information and prevents people from sharing and learning more. Wikipedia, on the other hand, is distributed under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license that allows anyone to make use of the content, and even distribute it commercially. Opening up information for the masses under free license regime could make it easily accessible to millions of people.

8. Failure to cater for people with disabilities

Many people in India cannot read, speak or write, and the country has over 60 million people with some form of hearing impairment. There is a desperate need for a high-quality text-to-speech and speech-to-text engines for people with physical disabilities. These products also be freely available so that those who cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like JAWS can contribute to Wikipedia in their languages. Many of the text-to-speech engines available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is difficult for the average speaker to use them.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/global-voices-april-27-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome

Celebrating the 13th anniversary of Kannada Wikipedia

subha — 2016-05-23T09:08:23Z

The Kannada-language Wikipedia, arguably the largest online encyclopedia in Kannada language, celebrated its 13th anniversary on February 14, 2016 in Mangalore.

To celebrate the journey of the project and the community, Kannada Wikipedians gathered at St. Aloysius College Mangalore, Karnataka. The larger Kannada Wikimedia community including long time Wikipedians and new members like the students, faculty involved in Wikipedia Education Programs gathered, participated in a day long edit-a-thon and chalked out plans for the future. The event is organised by the Kannada Wikimedia community and Dr. Vishwanatha Badikana, Wikipedian and Assistant Professor of Kannada department at St. Aloysius College coordinated the event locally.

117 people gathered in the event out of which 96 were active editors of the Kannada Wikipedia community. Noted Kannada-computing researcher Kinnikambla Padmanabha Rao (widely known as KP Rao) addressed the public event and engaged with the audience about defining Kannada Wikipedia’s role a large role in widening Kannada’s presence on the Internet. The local organisers also took the event participants through a heritage walk in the heritage village of Pilikula Nisarga Dhama, an open library of the rich cultural heritage of Karnataka. The heritage walk resulted in over 300 image uploads on Wikimedia Commons ranging from the life and culture of coastal Karnataka to select rich heritage of the state. 20 new editors also participated in the event and they were oriented on basics of Wikipedia editing and Creative Commons licenses.

Triveni.K, one of the participants who is now pursuing her MSc. at Christ University, explains this event as a great learning platform for even core Wikipedia policies in details apart from many other Wikipedia policies she learnt here. “I’m little occupied for my exams but when it is over, I will be back on Wikipedia”, shares Triveni.

Prior to the event, four edit-a-thons were organised in four different cities of Karnataka. Themes chosen for the cities were Kannada literature in Mysore, Mechanical Engineering in Sagara, Science-related articles in Bangalore and article on notable female of the coastal Karnataka region in Mangalore. Follow up edit-a-thons were organised after the anniversary celebration with the same themes that were there in the previous session for the first three places where the follow up edit-a-thons in St. Aloysius College and St. Agnes College were both on medicinal plants.

The first ever edit on Kannada Wikipedia was made on 12 June 2003 with a message “Kannada Vishwa Koshakke Suswaagatha!” (meaning “Welcome to the Kannada encyclopedia” in Kannada). However it took over a year -- on July 12, 2004 the first article about a city Shimoga was created. Over the last decade Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for the Kannada language where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name -- needless to say that 705,199 unique visitors read the articles every month as per the December 2015 statistics. The annual average of active editors for last year was 48, 91 (February) being the highest and 22 (May) the lowest and 80 being the count in last December. The peaks and valleys also signify that major outreach like Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University Bengaluru could have boosted the total number of editors during the months when the program was being rolled out. The project since its inception has gone through many ups and downs over time, the major one being a small community to edit and curate such a high level task of creating new articles in Kannada, editing and enriching them with more information and citations, and cleaning up many articles. The biggest hurdle, as explained by Wikimedian Hari Prasad Nadig, has been cleaning up the articles created by paid translations of Google when Kannada Wikipedia along with many other Indian language Wikipedias were used as testing grounds for improving Google Translate, a multilingual machine translation tool. Vasanth S.N., a Kannada Wikipedian who has cleaned up over 60 such articles prefers to use an existing good quality encyclopedia like the 14 volume Kannada Vishwakosha, published by Mysore University and relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 by the university, as a resource to create and improve articles.

The 14th anniversary of Kannada Wikipedia was another milestone in the long journey of Kannada language and there are many more to come. More about the event could be read on the event page on Kannada Wikipedia.

Ananth Subray, Programme Associate, CIS-A2K contributed to this blog.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/kannada-wikipedias-13-year-old-journey-of-knowledge-sharing

Eight Challenges That Indian-Language Wikipedias Need to Overcome

subha — 2016-03-29T17:05:36Z

Even after a decade of existence, Indian language Wikipedias are not yet known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia, being the largest available encyclopedia made in the human history, it what it is today because of the hundreds and thousands of volunteer-editors. But while native-language Wikipedias are becoming game-changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. In my experience, here are a number of challenges that Indian-language Wikipedias are currently facing.

The article was published in the Wire on March 17, 2016. A version of the article was also mirrored by Opensource.com on March 28, 2016.

1. Language communities:

The language communities of many of the Indian languages are such that many of them do not know how to search for information online, in their language typed in their script. Some of these communities even believe that because Google’s home page does not have their script, their language does not exist on the Internet. Starting with five Indian languages as the language of its interface, Google now has has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a Santali or Manipuri user to search in Unicode Ol chiki (script for Santali) or in Unicode Meithei (script for Manipuri). Google or any search engine for that matter will display anything available in any script on the Internet. But the lack of this very thing is keeping many people away from being connected to the Internet in general and Wikipedia in particular.\

2. Wikipedia’s editor community:

Wikipedia is written by people like you and me. And from writing to editing everything happens voluntarily. As many people do not probably know, or do not try to learn, anybody can correct the mistakes and inaccuracies that exist in many Wikipedia articles. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. While these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a handful editors contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages. In January this year, the Hindi Wikipedia, for instance, had only 89 editors while the total number of Hindi speakers would be over 550 million.

3. Language input in computers:

A vast majority of people in this country do not know how to type in their own language.. There is also little documentation for users to learn about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing a proliferation of more computers and Internet access, native language input and several other essential training of basic computing are not widely taught in schools in all states. What is sad is that there is a wide variety of free software for native-language input and the challenges of typing in Indian languages that existed a few years back has almost gone.

4. Language input in mobile devices:

With over 1 billion people with mobile phones, the 15% internet penetration rate will soon grow at a faster pace. This in turn — and also tough competition that compel TSPs to drop data charges — will help many Indians get access to the Internet . If these people are not educated about native language input then they will be victims of the English-centric Internet rather than being able to enjoy the virtue of the same. Many Indians that have smartphones need full Indian language support and especially inbuilt input methods to be able to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.

5. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet:

Lack of native language content on the Internet is another major factor in the low adoption of Indian language Wikpedias. As per an Internet and Mobile Association of India survey conducted in 2012, over 6% of the population is left behind from joining the online sphere simply because of lack of content in their languages. Take, for instance, my state odisha.While the Kerala government’s official tourism portal is available in Odia and other Indian languages, the Odisha government’s tourism portal itself has no information in Odia-language today. Our languages are neglected largely in our own states.

6. Mismatch of conventional and new media:

Many conventional media houses still continue to use non-standard variants of the ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems, instead of adopting the Unicode standard. Unicode being a global standard, and having the advantage of unifying the world, has been available for Indian languages for almost 25 years now. But much of our vernacular print media has failed to adopt this. Consequently, many popular Indian-language newspapers are yet to become available in Unicode on the open Internet.

7. Lack of Open Access:

Majority of the information produced on the Internet in general and by the government, in particular, are mostly copyrighted. The paywalled garden of copyright restrictions keeps the information closed and stop people from sharing and learning more. On the contrary, Wikipedia is available under a Creative Commons Share-Alike license which allows anyone to make use of the content and even distribute commercial copies of its content. The idea of opening up information for masses in a free license could make information reach millions of people.

8. People with disabilities:

Many people cannot read, speak and write. India has over 60 million people with some form of hearing impairment. There is a desperate need for a high-quality text-to-speech and speech-to-text engine for people with physical disabilities. Also, these software products have to be free software so that common people, that cannot afford to buy expensive proprietary software like JAWS, can contribute to Wikipedia in their language. Many text-to-speech engines that are available today for Indian languages sound so mechanical that it is difficult for common speakers to use them.

Subhashish Panigrahi is an educator and free knowledge evangelist, and currently works for Communications, Program Capacity & Learning at Wikimedia Foundation, and Access to Knowledge at the Centre for Internet and Society. Portions of this article came from a speech that Panigrahi gave at BHASHA: Indian Languages Digital Festival in New Delhi.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-wire-march-17-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-eight-challenges-that-indian-language-wikipedias-need-to-overcome

8 Challenges for Improving Indian Language Wikipedias

subha — 2016-03-29T17:05:15Z

After more than 10 years in existence, the Indian-language Wikipedias still are not known to many Indian language speakers. Wikipedia became the largest encyclopedia in history as a result of thousands of volunteer editors.

The article was originally published in the Wire on March 17, 2016 and later mirrored on Opensource.com on March 28, 2016.

Whereas native-language Wikipedias are becoming game changers in other corners of the world, the scenario in India is skewed. While speaking at the "BHASHA: Indian Languages Digital Festival," a day-long discourse at New Delhi on Indian languages and their state in the new media (especially on the digital platforms), I shared challenges that Indian language Wikipedias are facing.

1. Language communities

Many native Indian language speakers do not know how to search online using language typed in their script. Because Google's home page does not display their language script as an option, people often think that their language does not exist on the Internet. Google now has nine Indian languages. But this does not stop a Santali or Manipuri speaker from searching in Unicode Ol chiki (script for Santali) or in Unicode Meithei (script for Manipuri). Google and other search engines will display content in any script on the Internet, but not knowing this keeps many people off the Internet, which also means off of Wikipedia.

2. Wikipedia's editor community

Wikipedia is created by people like you and me. From writing to editing, everything happens voluntarily. Many people do not understand that they can correct mistakes and help improve Wikipedia articles. The Wikipedia editor communities for several Indian languages are really small. Although these languages are spoken by millions of people, only a handful of editors contribute in editing the Wikipedia in these languages. As of January 2016, the Hindi Wikipedia had only 89 editors, whereas Hindi falls right behind English on the list of top languages by number of native speakers.

3. Language input in computer

A majority of people in India do not know how to type in their own language. Also, there is little documentation for users to learn about language input. Even though many government-run schools in India are seeing more computers and have Internet access, native language input and several other basic computer training are not widely taught in schools in all states. Free software for language input is available, and the challenges of typing in Indian languages (PDF) that existed in the past are mostly resolved.

4. Language input in mobile devices

With more than 1 billion people in India (PDF) with mobile phones, the 15% Internet penetration rate will soon grow at a faster pace. This growth and tough competition is compelling telecom service providers to drop data charges, which will help more Indians get access to the Internet. If these people are not educated about native language input, then they will be stuck inside an English-centric Internet rather than being able to navigate in their own languages. Many Indians who have smartphones need full Indian language support—and especially built-in input methods—to contribute in their own language Wikipedia.

5. Low availability of Indian-language content on the Internet

Lack of native language content on the Internet is a barrier to accessing knowledge. For example, let's look at my state Odisha. The Kerala (Indian state) government's official tourism portal is available in Odia and other Indian languages, but the Odisha government's tourism portal has no information in the Odia language today. Our languages are largely neglected in our own states.

6. Mismatch of conventional and new media

Many conventional media houses still use non-standard variants of ASCII/ISCII script encoding systems instead of adopting the Unicode standard. As a global standard, Unicode can help unify the world and has been available for Indian languages for almost 25 years. But many of our print media have failed to adopt this, and many popular Indian-language newspapers still aren't available in Unicode.

7. Lack of open access

Much information online, including content created by the government, is under copyright licensing. The pay-wall gardens and copyright restrictions keep information closed and prevents people from sharing content. Wikipedia content, on the other hand, is available under Creative Commons Share-Alike licensing, which allows anyone to use the content (and even distribute commercial copies of it). The idea of opening up content under free licenses can help information reach countless additional people.

8. Accessibility

India has more than 60-million people with hearing impairments. Many people with physical disabilities need good text-to-speech and speech-to-text engines. And these software solutions must be free, so that anyone, regardless of their finances, can contribute to Wikipedia in their own languages.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-source-march-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-8-challenges-for-improving-indian-language-wikipedias

Can Wikipedia revive dying Indian languages?

subha — 2016-02-29T14:54:10Z

Yes, by encouraging content and involvement, Wikipedia language communities keep languages relevant.

The article originally published in the Hoot on February 19, 2016 was also mirrored by Pratham Books on February 22, 2016

As the world gets ready to celebrate International Mother Language Day on Feb 21, it is important ask whether Wikipedia, the free, multi-lingual online encyclopaedia that turned 15 last month, can play a role in helping not just to save some Indian languages from irrelevance but to inject new energy into them.

Indian languages that made an early entry to the Wiki-world back in 2002 - Assamese, Malayalam, Odia and Punjabi - are helping scale up the representation of Indian languages on the Internet. More languages started being added after these initial ones. Today, there are 23 South Asian language Wikipedia projects including the 20 languages listed in the 8^th schedule of the Constitution of India.

Many might not have noticed that the “en” in Wikipedia's URL en.wikipedia.org denotes that the language code of English can be replaced with “or” to visit Odia Wikipedia or “kn” for Kannada Wikipedia.

But the Indian language Wikipedias have a long way to go as compared to many other world languages. There lies a huge gap in the access to knowledge on the Internet. Of 1.26 billion people, only about 15-18% are connected online and that too largely from mobile devices.

Most Wikipedia projects in Indian languages are fairly small but are active and playing an important role. For example, the Tamil and Malayalam Wikipedia communities have played a central part in implementing Wikipedia basics learning in the state-run school syllabus along with many other free software and free knowledge projects to help students learn.

Many Indian languages are in the pipeline to become active Wikipedia projects under the scope of Incubator Wikipedia. Maithili Wikipedia and Goan Konkani Wikipedia are two that have gone live in recent years. There are many more to come and it is certain they will help to ensure that languages do not fade or become irrelevant.

Dying Indian languages mapped over map. Source: UNESCO Interactive Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger

According to UNESCO, 197 of a total of 1652 Indian languages are dying. Given that there is more and more encyclopedic content in Indian languages, Wikipedia will definitely save some from extinction by bringing more content in varied subject areas, bringing readers to Wikipedia, and attracting more contributors to bring information online in the respective language.

Two other ways that it help keep them alive is, first, the fact that the media uses freely-licensed content from Wikipedia and refers to citations on Wikipedia and secondly, the fact that more Wikipedia content also means more digital activism. Often languages become extinct because of verbal-only usage. That’s where language digital activism can help to keep going. Hebrew, for instance, has risen like a phoenix for this reason.

Apart from Wikipedia, there are many other sister projects (also known as Wikimedia projects) such as Wiktionary, a multilingual dictionary, Wikisource, a free library, Wikimedia Commons, the world’s largest media repository of freely-licensed multimedia files, and Wikidata, a big data project that connects all the Wikimedia projects.

The English Wikipedia has crossed the 5 million article mark. With a population of over 354 million online users, India still has a long way to go in increasing Indian language content on the web. The Government of India's new campaign Digital India aims at digital literacy and the availability of digital resources/services in Indian languages. This is closely aligned with the Wikimedia movement's goal to provide free access to the sum of all human knowledge.

In addition to Wikipedia, many other open educational resources and free knowledge projects that are not already a part of the Digital India campaign signal the need for the government campaign to be more collaborative and open.

Community-government collaborations like the NROER project to make NCERT books under Creative Commons licences and the IT@School project in Kerala to provide education using free and open tools, have gained massive traction and helped more Indian language content come online.

Many of the Malayalam Wikipedia editors in Kerala have worked with the IT@School project to help school children edit and enhance Wikipedia articles and digitise old public domain text. The Wikipedia Education Programme, a global pedagogic programme running in over 87 countries to use Wikipedia as a tool for academic assignment and assessment, has been able to bring a paradigm shift in several languages such as Arabic and Spanish.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/the-hoot-feburay-19-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-can-wikipedia-revive-dying-indian-languages

Looking ahead to the future of the Kannada Wikipedia: Vasanth S.N.

subha — 2016-02-29T14:15:41Z

Vasanth S.N. has edited the Kannada-langauge Wikipedia since 2006. As part of the WikipediansSpeak series, I caught up with Vasanth to learn about his contributions to the Kannada Wikipedia, which just celebrated its 13th anniversary. In the discussion Vasanth shares his long time involvement in the Wikimedia movement, and what drives him every day to edit Wikipedia and helping other fellow Wikimedians.

Subhashish Panigrahi (SP): Hi Vasanth, thanks for agreeing to share about yourself. Can you tell me little about yourself and how you started contributing to Kannada Wikipedia?

Vasanth S.N. (VSN): I grew up in a small town in the Indian state of Karnataka. After completing my PG Diploma in Human Resources studies from Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) I started working at Dharmasthala temple in Karnataka where I have been working over last 35 years. As a student, I was voracious reader of Kannada-language books. Science, art and culture were my favorite subjects back then. I started contributing to Kannada Wikipedia back in 2006. Shushrutha, a scientist based outside India helped me with several technical needs like creating templates in Kannada Wikipedia. With his help, I contributed to articles related chemical elements. He helped a lot in importing templates then. These days another Wikipedia editor Omshivaprakash is helping in importing templates and several other technical needs I have, thanks to Pavanaja who is also helping and encouraging me regularly.

SP: What are you currently working on?

VSN: After the 14 volume Kannada encyclopedia “Kannada Vishwakosha” got relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 license by Mysore University, we have started digitizing it on Kannada Wikisource. I am taking the digitized articles from here to Kannada Wikisource. I first check for the English Wikipedia article, use some of the updated content from there with citations, and wikify the Kannada Vishwakosha articles to create articles on Kannada Wikipedia.

SP: What are the kind of challenges you generally face?

VSN: Something that really bothers me is the low participation of Kannadiga s in contributing to Kannada Wikipedia. I wish there could be more discussions in the village pump and collaborations between fellow editors. Many of the long time Wikimedians like Radhatanaya, who is probably over 70 years old, need more support with complex Wikipedia policies, and more appreciation. And so are B.S. Chandra from Sagara, Karnataka and many other editors so that every single editor feels to be an important aspect of the community. We also have to bring back editors like Tejas Jain who were active some time back but have slowed down over time. I feel bad that we are lagging behind our neighboring Wikimedia communities like Tamil and Malayalam. When we cannot scale up too fast, a valuable resource like Kannada Vishwakosha that I mentioned before would be really useful in populating Kannada Wikipedia with good quality article. The Vishwakosha is not just compiled by subject experts but has been updated over time. I am more than happy if more editors are willing to join use this encyclopedia as a resource and I am sure we could create over 14,000 articles that a handful of editors like me will take over years to complete otherwise. However the community is skeptical about just one citation but i think we could always rely on English Wikipedia and search for more resources for additional citations.

SP: What do you suggest we—all the Wikimedians, the Wikimedia India chapter, and us (CIS-A2K)—should work on?

VSN: I feel that we are focusing so much only on cities and there might be potential editors in rural areas. But may be reaching out to people who have access to computer and internet is a low hanging fruit as compared to outreach in rural Karnataka. There are over 46,000 state-run schools and many have computers. Taking Kannada Wikipedia to select schools with the facilities needed might result in bringing in flesh blood to the community. I also think that the veteran professors and educators could help grow Wikipedia by correcting articles and wikifying if not writing articles. There might be collectives of such people that I do not know of but in my opinion, it is worth trying. I tried to request some professors in Ujjire, Karnataka to help with correcting over 60 articles related to plant varieties of Karnataka but could not get much help. But that is just one failure and should not stop reaching out to more professors. And if a collective of professors does not exist we could find a common area of interest and create a group.

Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society

This post is part of the WikipediansSpeak series, which aims to chronicle the voices of the Wikipedia community. You can find more of these posts on the Wikimedia Commons. The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Wikimedia Foundation or Wikipedia; responses and critical commentary are invited in the comments section below.

Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-february-28-2016-subhashish-panigrahi-looking-ahead-to-future-of-kannada-wikipedia

Community Digest—Estonians working on a new feedback system for Wikipedia articles

subha — 2016-02-27T06:30:41Z

Community digest is a weekly publication on Wikimedia Blog. This week, I have authored a section on the Kannada Wikipedia's 13th anniversary that is being celebrated today. It includes a small section from a longer interview with Kannada Wikipedian Vasanth S.N. The two blogs on creating Odia-language character encoding converters I had written before in the Huffington Post and the DNA are also featured in the digest.

Read the original published on Wikimedia Blog here.

Sites that rely on the cooperation of people need to be able to easily exchange information. When there are some problems with an article, you could always add some templates to specific places or point to them on talk page—but that can sometimes be painful and time consuming.

The problem can grow even greater when articles are written inside a Wikipedia Education Program. You may need to follow up with hundreds of students and provide them feedback so that they can easily understand what should they fix. This can be a rather tricky job when dealing with people who have never before written to Wikipedia.

For example, in Estonia we have a course called “Estonian Composition and Conversation” in the University of Tartu, where there are on average more than 200 students per year writing articles on Wikipedia. We are keenly interested in providing good quality feedback, but with that number of students and with the use of the usual wikisystem, that is hard to achieve.

So we needed a solution.

When using the usual method (the talk page), you need to point out where are all of the mistakes located and then express your concerns about them. With a lot of comments, that does get rather messy and it’s hard to understand where are those comments directed to; it’s not an ideal medium for feedback in massive scale and not that useful for neither the students nor the person giving feedback. So the goal was simple: to ease the process of giving feedback to students who write wikiarticles as their coursework.

What we did was to create a system called WikiComment.

What does it do? Well, at first it allows to add comments to exact letters/sentences/paragraphs to speed up the commenting process and make it easier to locate the issues. In addition to adding comments, it also provides various highlighting options and a possibility to strike through text. Secondly, it allows for better monitoring of the articles of interest. That means the wikiComment user has information about which pages have been modified and he or she can easily check if the changes have solved the marked questions.

We hope that this will make it easier to focus on text and to the quality of writing.

Obviously WikiComment could be used outside the education initiative and in many other ways as well, but that is just how it all started. For example we’ll soon add support for sites like Meta-Wiki, Wikisource, Wikivoyage, Wikinews, and Wikiquote, among others. Having a discussion about some details in grant request or talking about local tourist sites may have just become easier. But to really optimize the system and to make it as good as possible we’ll need your feedback, so please go on and test that site—if you have any suggestions, just let us know.

Ivo Kruusamägi, Estonian Wikipedian

In brief

Kannada Wikipedia anniversary: The Kannada Wikipedia is all set to celebrate its 13th anniversary. The first ever edit on Kannada Wikipedia was made on 12 June 2003 with a message “Kannada Vishwa Koshakke Suswaagatha!” (meaning welcome to the Kannada encyclopedia in Kannada). However, it took over a year—on July 12, 2004 the first article about a city Shimoga was created. Over the last decade Kannada Wikipedia has been a great gamechanger for the Kannada language where the Wikipedians have played a great role in making it a household name—there were about 700,000 pageviews in December 2015. The annual average of active editors for last year was 48, 91 (February) being the highest and 22 (May) the lowest and 80 being the count in last December. The peaks and valleys also signify that major outreach like Wikipedia Education Program at Christ University Bengaluru could have boosted the total number of editors during the months when the program was being rolled out. Since its inception, the project has gone through many ups and downs over time, the major one being a small community to edit and curate such a high level task of creating new articles in Kannada, editing and enriching them with more information and citations, and cleaning up many articles.

The biggest hurdle, as explained by Wikimedian Hari Prasad Nadig, has been cleaning up the articles created by paid translations of Google when Kannada Wikipedia along with many other Indian language Wikipedias were used as testing grounds for improving Google Translate, a multilingual machine translation tool. Vasanth S.N., a Kannada Wikipedian who has cleaned up over 60 such articles prefers to use an existing good quality encyclopedia like the 16 volume Kannada Vishwakosha, published by Mysore University and relicensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0 by the university, as a resource to create and improve articles. To celebrate the journey of the project and the community, Kannada Wikipedians are gathering at Saint Aloysius College Mangalore, Karnataka this 14th. The larger community, including long time Wikipedians and new members like the students faculty involved in Wikipedia Education Programs, will gather and participate in a day-long edit-a-thon and chalk out plans for the future.

Innovation and revolution in the Odia language: Wikimedian Subhashish Panigrahi has written two pieces recently. In dnaindia.com, he described a Unicode converter that in revolutionizing Internet access in the Odia language; in the Huffington Post, he wrote about why contributing and adding to Wikipedias in Indian language is so important.

Coming together across the divide: Saanjh (ਸਾਂਝ سانجھ), a Punjabi word which means collaboration, was an online edit-a-thon between the Gurmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia and Shahmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia in January 2016. The plan came together after two editors, one from each side, met at Wikimania 2015. Organized by the Punjabi Wikimedians User Group, 23 editors participated; you can read more about their story on Meta.

Subhashish Panigrahi, Wikimedian and Programme Officer, Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K), Centre for Internet and Society
Ed Erhart, Editorial Associate, Wikimedia Foundation

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wikimedia-blog-subhashish-panigrahi-community-digest-estonians-working-on-new-feedback-system-for-wikipedia-articles

Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER

subha — 2016-02-27T06:00:20Z

My submission titled "Cultural institution AKA GLAM for more OER" under the theme of "Innovative approaches to opening up cultural heritage collections for education" has been selected for the OER16 conference to be held in Edinburg, Scotland from 19 to 20 April 2016.

GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) is a global initiative for making cultural data open targeting galleries, libraries, archives and museums in particular. GLAM projects are run in collaboration with these cultural institutions where the artifacts and other institutional collections get all sorts of digital treatment, from digitizing manuscripts and books to creating meta data and developing tools to automate and ease the life of contributors, building and 3D models of artifacts and creating multilingual virtual museum experience by using Wikipedia.

These institutions historically being the reservoir of knowledge need more attention with more digital innovation coming in day by day. There being a synergy between the fundamental focus of OER and GLAM initiative, it leaves scholars and GLAM and/or OER practitioners to explore this area that is currently not widely covered. GLAM projects are centered around data mining, digitizing and publishing the work in both machine and human readable forms. The output of all the GLAM projects could directly contribute to creating OERs classifying and customizing the OERs for different age groups and people with accessibility needs. This, in return will also benefit the GLAM projects and institutions for both expanding their reach and replicating these initiatives. The presentation will be around the best practices of several GLAM initiatives and how these projects could lead to create useful OERs. I will also shed some light on the methodology of creating OERs during the development of a GLAM project.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cultural-institution-aka-glam-for-more-oer