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Open Movement in India (2013-23): The Idea and Its Expressions
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-movement-in-india-idea-and-its-expressions
<b>This report identifies some broad patterns that have materialized in the Open Movement in the country in the last decade. The report is based on a reading of the available literature on selected projects and conversations with academicians and advocates of the Open. The rough outline of the Open initiatives is accompanied by reflections on the nature of the Open here and the need to envision it differently from what it currently is.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The report was prepared by Soni Wadhwa, and the visual elements of this study have been sourced by Joseph Francis. CIS’s Access to Knowledge team is grateful to Soni for embarking on the study and making the recommendations. The full report can be read <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/openness/files/open-movement-india.pdf">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Open, as an idea, has not received systematic attention in India. Openness as a philosophy is rooted in the belief that sharing ideas and resources is healthy for the knowledge economy, especially in contemporary times. This sharing does not take anything away from any entity; rather, it enables collaboration and innovation for the larger social good. With the Internet and digital technology, one can see the faster spread of such innovation across the globe while also allowing for plenty of room for its adaptation to regional contexts. Anchored in the thought and efforts of individuals such as Richard Stallman (1992; 2002; 2006; 2009) and Tim Berners-Lee (Berners Lee, 2004; Berners-Lee, Hendler and Lassila, 2001; Berners-Lee et al 1992; Berners-Lee and Tim, 2010; Berners-Lee, Tim and Hendler, 2001; Berners-Lee, Tim and Shadbollt, 2011; Bizer, Heath and Berners-Lee 2011) who take a view contrary to that of keeping public funded research and innovation locked away under copyright and patent laws, the Open Movement originated in the Global North.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the West, specifically in the USA, with the support from the institutions such as the Hewlett Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the manifestation of the Open Movement through the push for OER (Open Educational Resources) translated into a greater uptake from educational institutions such as Rice University and the MIT (through MIT OCW – Open CourseWare)(Bliss and Smith, 2017). With prestigious universities offering MOOCs (massive open online courses) through platforms such as edX and Coursera, educational resources have come to be seen as a social good: keeping them available for mass access has been an intentional move towards equal access to quality educational materials. In addition to OER, Open Access (the idea that research funded by public funds need to be made available publicly rather than behind a paywall erected by commercial publishers), as an expression of the Open Movement, has also been present in institutional funding mechanisms in the West, again, especially in the USA. A lot of research emerging out of grants extended to individuals and institutions have space for allocation of funds towards the cost of Open Access publishing for dissemination of results. Several other initiatives such as the Creative Commons, and the Wikimedia Foundation have been working towards making Openness a reality by charting out various projects, pathways, and initiatives to keep knowledge accessible to all for learning as well as collaboration.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In India, the state of the Open Movement is thrown into stark relief by the much longer and much more engaged Western imagination and practice of Openness. Indeed, studying its contours here is equivalent to studying its absences and is therefore very challenging. Here, Open, as an idea, has come via the West and still seems to be struggling to be defined and accepted as an ideal to strive towards. It is an alien concept, deeply misunderstood by the stakeholders who control sharing of knowledge resources: policy makers, legislators, leaders of research and institutions, and researchers and academicians in general.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To suggest another example, a pilot survey of Indian faculty members’ attitudes towards use of Open Knowledge sources such as Wikipedia in Indian classrooms reveals that faculty members are very suspicious and skeptical of such sources. They see it as a source of misinformation and therefore, as unreliable.What gets missed is the idea that the content on these sources is not merely for consumption of information and knowledge but are also platforms for knowledge creation and collaboration. In contrast to the two scenarios of OER and Open Access mentioned above, India does not show a long history of organized effort towards making information and knowledge accessible to all, not just through earmarking funds or mechanisms for making publicly funded research available in the public domain via Open Access, but through nurturing a culture of the Open as the default mode of dissemination.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">What, then, are we to make of the direction in which the Open Movement is headed in India? Is it possible to shape its trajectory in India? Is it possible to ascertain the ways in which the ideas or benefits of the Open can be made to resonate with the Indian educational and research scenario? Can Indian educators and researchers afford to stay out of the Open ecosystem? What alternative modes of innovation do they champion? These are the questions that this study of the Open Movement in India in the last decade (2013-2023) seeks to explore.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The study is not an exhaustive one: it looks at only some examples that engage with the idea of the Open. The selective nature of the study is informed by two rationales. One, an all-encompassing review would be impossible given the constraints on time and resources: indeed, such a review would be the task of a full-fledged tracking project (which is one of the futures that this report suggests at the end). Two, given that Open does not have a clear pathway or a central, strategic vision to drive it as a movement, the selection of projects themselves is a symptom of the disjointed ways in which the idea of Open struggles to take shape or survive in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The year 2013 has been chosen as a starting point for this exploration because it was the year the Wikimedia Foundation extended a grant to the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, to work with various Wikipedia communities in India towards the growth of the Open ecosystem in India. This last decade then is of grave importance to the CIS because it helps the organization reflect on their own work vis-a-vis that of other Open advocates CIS’s work, since then, is available on its website through details of its initiatives via its Access to Knowledge and Openness Programmes (see, for instance, their work on <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/bridging-the-gender-gap-in-indian-language-wikimedia-communities">bridging gender gap</a> on Indian Wikimedia communities, apart from a host of other training and advocacy initiatives <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/cis-a2k">here</a>). This study is an aid to survey the idea and expressions of the Open as a broader movement and thus help CIS reflect on new directions and strategies to be pursued in the near future, to begin with.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">However, there is more to the year 2013 than the happenstance of the grant to CIS per se: indeed, one can spot other organized efforts emerging in the Indian ecosystem since then. NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), which was established in 2003, began to offer MOOCs on its platform in 2014. Coincidentally, 2013 was also the year the Bichitra Project (an online variorum of the work of the Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore), funded by the Ministry of Culture, went live. Together, the international foray into the Indian Open Movement and the governmental gravitas to strive towards making education and the literature of a great Indian author) accessible provide the rationale for this study’s focus on the examination of the nature of championing for the cause of the Open, its successes, failures, and potential for its growth in the next decade.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The approach or methodology to explore answers to these questions involved: analysis of primary as well as secondary research available on the different initiatives in India; interactions with experts working in the Open domain in India including some Indian academicians, especially on the discussion of Open Access which impacts their publishing record, and in turn, impacts their career advancement. The reading and the conversations supplemented each other in the process of investigation: the existing literature provided facts through texts (blogs, papers, documentation on websites and so on) while the interactions opened up more nuances of intersections through perspectives that do not always make it to the static texts.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Any study on the Open Movement in India owes a huge debt to Arul George Scaria’s gargantuan <a href="https://osf.io/m3q4s">Open Science India Report (2019)</a>. At over 350 pages, it is a detailed study of Open Access projects and also includes a survey conducted among academic fraternity. It also offers concrete suggestions to strengthen access in research. It is remarkable for the larger view it takes of access to include access for persons with disabilities and access in terms of language, suggesting that research should also be accessible in Indian languages, and also in jargon-free English for wider audiences. Apart from Scaria’s study, there are journalistic pieces about Open Data in India, given the relevance it has for governance.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">This current study does not aspire to be monumental like Scaria’s. However, it is hoped that its relevance to the ongoing conversations about openness would be noted at at least two levels. One, between 2019 (when Scaria’s report was published) and 2023 (the end point of this study), socioeconomic changes such as COVID-19 and the resulting remote work, one expects, have highlighted the significance of openness. For instance, given the serious constraints it posed for travel, a lot of commercial publishers kept their resources open so that further research, within medicine and outside, could keep happening. Thus, it becomes imperative to understand if the Indian ecosystem displayed any stronger endeavor towards openness. To anticipate a couple of suggestions discussed in the report below, certain things such as Indian researchers’ apathy or disdain for Open Access has not quite changed in the span of these four years. However, Government of India’s open initiatives such as Anuvadini and Bhashini around tools for navigating and producing content in Indian languages have started to appear.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Two, Scaria’s study subsumed all knowledge under “science”: in other words, science, in his report, is a metonym for knowledge. This current study, in being inclusive of humanities and the arts, especially as relevant to Open GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums), engages with knowledge or movement in general irrespective of its disciplinary boundaries.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With that statement on where this report is situated, some notes about its structure are in order. This study begins with an overview of the legal and policy environment in India. It then moves on to explore the nature of Open projects in India. There are many ways to organize the narrative around Openness, with the domain wise bifurcation of the different aspects of the Open (The OPEN Movements, 2023). In contrast, this goes on to organize the projects around positionalities, rather than the domains. That is, the different projects and initiatives are narrativised as:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Public funded projects: These are endeavors emerging from funds provided by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture and distributed via grants to Higher Education Institutes in India, especially the IITs. They stand out as one category in that they are characterized by:</p>
<ol> </ol>
<ul>
<li>The vision to provide basic infrastructure of education and archival material in the public domain</li>
<li>The capacity to think and execute in terms of massive impact and scale</li>
<li>A wide scope for aiming higher in terms of innovation, approach, and access</li>
</ul>
<p>Volunteer undertakings: These are projects undertaken by non governmental organizations such as the Sanchaya Foundation, SFLC (Software Freedom Law Centre) and FOSSUnited characterized by:</p>
<ol> </ol>
<ul>
<li>A niche focus on a language or a domain or an audience </li>
<li>A preoccupation with developing a community rather than delivering an output</li>
<li>A qualitative aspect to engagement and documentation, as opposed to impact in terms of numbers</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Within volunteer undertakings, the role of philanthropic foundations is very briefly touched upon. There are entities such as the SRTT (Sir Ratan Tata Trust) and SDTT (Sir Dorabji Tata Trust) that supported the cause of the Open in the initial stages via their investment in the larger educational and cultural cause. These foundations also seem to have discontinued their efforts in the long term perhaps given the scope of work involved. In addition to philanthropic foundations, mention is also made of international projects. The international Open Knowledge projects in India involve the Wikimedia Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation that have funded various initiatives in India and have continued to stay invested in the larger vision as well as execution of Openness through their grants.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The discussion of the above mentioned types of projects is followed by an examination of the attitudes of academicians teaching at Higher Education Institutes towards Open Access as a specific niche within the Open Movement. Conversation with faculty members in different institutions reveals that Open as an idea is not quite clear to the academia, or at least occupies a space of dissonance: while it is desired as an ideal, it is very strongly constrained by the judgments of fellow peers and employing institutions. In contrast, conversations with experts in Open Access reveals that Open Access deserves a much stronger effort: not just to push for policy changes but also to decolonize Indian academia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The study concludes with some threads that can be pursued from the projects the Open Movement in India has witnessed in the last decade. These points of engagement could become points of reflection for further initiatives in the next decade or two.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-movement-in-india-idea-and-its-expressions'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-movement-in-india-idea-and-its-expressions</a>
</p>
No publishersoniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpenness2024-02-13T02:57:29ZBlog EntryUsing the Wikimedia sphere for the revitalization of small and underrepresented languages in India
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/using-wikimedia-sphere-for-revitalization-of-small-and-underrepresented-languages-in-india
<b>This report explores opportunities within the Wikimedia movement and projects to help revitalise small and underrepresented languages in India and provide recommendations to CIS’s Access to Knowledge team in furthering this effort. The report is mainly based on a roundtable conversation on Digital Access in Bhubaneswar with a diverse range of backgrounds and professions, including independent researchers, representatives from non-profit organizations, retired government officials, Wikimedia contributors (both Odia and Santali), ecological activists, directors of research institutes, consultants, and journalists. This was organized by the Access to Knowledge team of CIS in collaboration with Vasundhara, Bhubaneswar.</b>
<p>This strategic note discusses a broad program idea of offering barrier-free open access to resources in various underrepresented languages in India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Languages spoken in the Republic of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-Aryan languages spoken by 78.05% of Indians and the Dravidian languages spoken by 19.64% of Indians. Languages spoken by the remaining 2.31% of the population belong to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austroasiatic_languages">Austroasiatic</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sino-Tibetan_languages">Sino–Tibetan</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kra%E2%80%93Dai_languages">Tai–Kadai</a>, and a few other minor language families and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Language_isolate">isolates</a>. According to the People's Linguistic Survey of India, India has the second highest number of languages (780), after Papua New Guinea (840). Ethnologue lists a lower number of 456.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.unesco.org/languages-atlas/index.php"><span>UNESCO endangerment classification</span></a> is as follows:</p>
<ol> </ol><ol>
<li><i>Vulnerable</i>: most children speak the language, but it may be restricted to certain domains (e.g., home)</li>
<li><i>Definitely endangered</i>: children no longer learn the language as a 'mother tongue' in the home</li>
<li><i>Severely endangered</i>: language is spoken by grandparents and older generations; while the parent generation may understand it, they do not speak it to children or among themselves</li>
<li><i>Critically endangered</i>: the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently</li>
<li><i>Extinct</i>: there are no speakers left</li>
</ol><ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">North-East India is home to more than 200 languages, out of which 82 are listed as <i>Vulnerable</i>, 63 as <i>Definitely Endangered</i>, 6 as <i>Severely Endangered</i>, 46 as <i>Critically Endangered </i>and 6 as <i>Extinct </i>(<a href="https://www.kaggle.com/the-guardian/extinct-languages"><span>The Guardian Dataset</span></a>). Arunachal Pradesh is the state with the highest number of languages, with as many as 66 languages spoken there, while West Bengal has the highest number of scripts, nine, and around 38 languages.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The state of Odisha has 62 Scheduled Tribes who speak as many as 74 dialects. Their ethos, ideology, worldview, value orientations and cultural heritage are rich and varied. Odisha has the unique distinction of having 93 different Scheduled Caste communities spread over 30 districts and 314 blocks of the state having different dialects. Apart from the languages of the North-East and the state of Odisha, there are several other languages all over India that deserve better representation on the Internet. While a handful of these languages enjoy status and visibility as official languages of the states and thereby hold some currency as widely spoken languages in their linguistic territories, there are many more languages that do not have speakers counting beyond a few hundred. Examples include the Bellari language (Spoken in Karnataka by 1000 speakers), the Toda language (Spoken in Tamil Nadu by 1600 speakers) and the Naiki language (Spoken in Maharashtra by 1500 speakers). What these languages do share in common with the languages of the North-East mentioned earlier is that they all lack free and open source knowledge and data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some of these languages are the official languages of the states and are widely spoken in this region. On the other hand, some of the languages have a few hundred native speakers. However, irrespective of the size of the native population or official status of the language, they all lack free and open source knowledge & data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These languages show a range of marked cross-linguistic features which pose several interesting questions to Linguistic theories and speech processing research. Moreover, the close geographical proximity of these languages makes them vulnerable to changes in multiple linguistic levels, making these languages an excellent resource to study language change. Despite this, these languages severely lack digital preservation. One of the major reasons that contribute to the lack of resources is the difficulty in human access to some of the areas in these regions. Moreover, with English and Hindi being used as a lingua franca in these regions, the actual number of speakers proficient in their native language is much fewer than the number shown in the census reports. This makes it more important than ever to initiate a preservation process which does not primarily depend on fieldwork while also increasing the presence of the language in the digital sphere.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As language technologies advance and more sophisticated tools are built using Artificial Intelligence, the divide between low resource languages and others is likely to get even larger as a common prerequisite of these advanced systems is the existence of a large amount of digital data. Low resource languages are at a risk of being left behind.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Research on these languages by researchers are mostly conducted by collecting data personally, which causes a huge hindrance to the research process, as most of it remains as a private collection or published in closed journals. Moreover, data collection through fieldwork is particularly challenging in this region due to the restricted access to most of the disturbed areas.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The goal of this program is to facilitate the study of these languages by making existing resources discoverable and building open-source structured datasets and tools using the Wikimedia sphere to enrich the language research landscape of small and underrepresented Indian languages.</p>
<p><b>Role of CIS-A2K</b></p>
<ul>
<li>To design and commission relevant research studies in collaboration with language communities to define the premises of the program. The plan is to work with languages which are being written in single or multiple scripts in the pilot phase.</li>
<li>To develop strategies regarding the integration of language datasets with Wikimedia projects</li>
<li>Skill building of volunteers and community leaders in Wikimedia projects</li>
<li>Structure of local knowledge to be compiled for contribution</li>
<li>To identify the specific Wiki projects such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, Lingua Libre etc to build the archives of these languages</li>
<li>Designing outreach and knowledge dissemination processes</li>
<li>To develop partnerships with other academic, social, cultural and research institutions in the language sector for the sustainability of the project</li>
<li>Material support - Sound recorders, microphones, hard discs, laptop, scanner, internet hardware</li>
<li>Financial support - Remuneration of intern/fellow, internet data recharge</li>
</ul>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Specific objectives</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ol> </ol><ol>
<li>Empowering the communities by enhancing digital literacy and connecting them with the world of knowledge and people outside.</li>
<li>Revitalizing/enriching the languages by increasing their use, coverage and depth using technological interventions.</li>
<li>Creating an ecosystem for developing language learning resources and tools; particularly, in the context of the New Education Policy.</li>
<li>Enabling scholars and researchers to overcome the challenge of finding appropriate data and expanding the knowledge on these languages.</li>
<li>By using the Wikimedia sphere, the infrastructural and technological support is secured, so that these languages are able to function in the digital world.</li>
</ol><ol> </ol>
<p>It is important to realise that these objectives can introduce new dynamics into other spheres of activity, such as education and the development of language.</p>
<p><b>Methodology</b></p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p>Our target languages broadly belong to two sets:</p>
<ol>
<li>Languages which are primarily spoken in various states of India and have some or no digital presence on the internet.</li>
<li>Endangered languages which have extremely limited or no digital presence.</li>
</ol>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Survey of ongoing work</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Several individuals and institutions are working on languages across the globe. There are significant initiatives in India also to revitalise the small languages in the digital sphere. Some of these are listed in the reference section at the end. An exhaustive survey of all such efforts will be done to map the present status as well as a listing of stakeholders. The target languages for A2K’s future work and the potential collaborators will also be identified through these exercises.</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Digital Dictionary Making</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">A dictionary is a vital resource for any language learning. The idea of collaborative dictionaries using platforms like Wiktionary or Wikidata Lexemes eliminates the need for expert lexicographers and terminologists and rather follows the method in which the users enter data as new entries, definitions, and so on, and the same is reviewed by editors, once published. An offline e-dictionary application using this dataset could be developed to overcome the problem of sparse internet connectivity where the user is only expected to download & install the application once and use the dictionary offline at any moment.</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Data Acquisition Strategies</b></p>
<ol> </ol><ol>
<li>Leveraging Crowdsourcing using <a href="https://lingualibre.org/wiki/LinguaLibre:Main_Page"><span>LinguaLibre</span></a> for the creation of Speech CorporaGiven the scarcity of text and speech corpora for these low-resource languages, the main potential source for dataset creation is by crowdsourcing.</li>
<li>Using Optical Character Recognition techniques -</li>
</ol>
<p>The digitisation of texts in the public domain would be done and made available freely by uploading them on Wikimedia projects. The digital copy will be made machine-readable using Optical Character Recognition (OCR).</p>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Processing the acquired data</b></p>
<ol>
<li>Preprocess</li>
<li>Processing Speech Corpora</li>
<li>Processing Bilingual Parallel text Corpora</li>
</ol>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Housing datasets</b></p>
<ol>
<li><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page"><span>Wiki Commons</span></a> for media files</li>
<li><a><span>Wikidata</span></a> for Lexemes</li>
<li><a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page"><span>Wikisource</span></a> for texts</li>
</ol>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Capacity Building workshops</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Promoting the language among the young speakers of the community, since they are the future of the language and if it survives, it will belong to them.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Help language speakers possess up-to-date digital competencies and feel confident about them to actively participate in the digital world and increase content in their own native language.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Promoting contributions on platforms like <a href="https://storyweaver.org.in/"><span>Storyweaver</span></a>, <a href="https://prathambooks.org/"><span>Pratham Books</span></a>, <a href="https://www.eklavya.in/index.php/about-us-eklavya"><span>Eklavya</span></a> etc.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Promote the upskilling of native speakers and other disseminators</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Facilitate knowledge exchange through participatory mechanisms both virtually and face-to-face.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>The potential communities would be introduced to <a href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Incubator:Main_Page"><span>Incubator</span></a> for building new Wikimedia projects</li>
</ul>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p><b>Educational development</b></p>
<ul>
<li>Applying Open access philosophy to advance language pedagogy.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Develop language learning resources and tools, particularly, in the context of the New Education Policy.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>References</b></p>
<ol>
<li>Wikipedia articles</li>
<li>SCSTRTI, Odisha - <a href="https://www.scstrti.in/index.php/resources/mle-initiative/bilingual-dictionaries"><span>https://www.scstrti.in/index.php/resources/mle-initiative/bilingual-dictionaries</span></a></li>
<li>Most populous languages of Odisha - <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Languages_of_Odisha.svg"><span>https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Languages_of_Odisha.svg</span></a> </li>
<li>People’s Linguistic Survey of India - <a href="https://www.peopleslinguisticsurvey.org/"><span>https://www.peopleslinguisticsurvey.org/</span></a></li>
<li>The state and fate of linguistic diversity and inclusion in the NLP world - <a href="https://aclanthology.org/2020.acl-main.560/"><span>https://aclanthology.org/2020.acl-main.560/</span></a></li>
<li>Bhasha India - <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/bhashaindia"><span>https://www.microsoft.com/en-in/bhashaindia</span></a> </li>
<li>Omniglot - <a href="https://www.omniglot.com/index.htm"><span>https://www.omniglot.com/index.htm</span></a></li>
<li>Bharatavani - <a href="https://bharatavani.in/"><span>https://bharatavani.in/</span></a></li>
<li>Storyweaver - <a href="https://storyweaver.org.in/"><span>https://storyweaver.org.in/</span></a> </li>
<li>Dimasa Thairili - <a href="https://www.dimasathairili.com/"><span>https://www.dimasathairili.com/</span></a></li>
<li>SIL International - <a href="https://www.sil.org/"><span>https://www.sil.org/</span></a></li>
<li>Ethnologue - <a href="https://www.ethnologue.com/"><span>https://www.ethnologue.com/</span></a></li>
<li>Global Recordings Network - <a href="https://globalrecordings.net/en/"><span>https://globalrecordings.net/en/</span></a></li>
<li>Glottolog - <a href="https://glottolog.org/"><span>https://glottolog.org/</span></a></li>
<li>Endangered Languages Project - <a href="https://endangeredlanguages.com/"><span>https://endangeredlanguages.com/</span></a></li>
</ol>
<hr />
<p>This is a report by Subodh Kulkarni with editorial oversight and support by Tanveer Hasan and Soni Wadhwa. Click to download the PDF <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/files/underrepresented-languages-and-wikimedia-projects.pdf">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/using-wikimedia-sphere-for-revitalization-of-small-and-underrepresented-languages-in-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/using-wikimedia-sphere-for-revitalization-of-small-and-underrepresented-languages-in-india</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K Research2024-02-10T04:35:45ZBlog EntryCommemorating Ulo Senthamizh Kodai (1945 - 2024): A Luminary of Tamil Open Knowledge Movement
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/commemorating-ulo-senthamizh-kodai-1945-2024-a-luminary-of-tamil-open-knowledge-movement
<b>பயன்தூக்கார் செய்த உதவி நயன்தூக்கின்
நன்மை கடலின் பெரிது. (௱௩ - 103)
திருவள்ளுவர் (Payandhookkaar Seydha Udhavi Nayandhookkin
Nanmai Katalin Peridhu (Transliteration). The contribution made without weighing the return, When weighed, outweighs the sea.
- Thiruvalluvar</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of Ulo Senthamizh Kodai (December 22, 1945 – February 1, 2024), a distinguished technologist, author, academician, and prolific contributor to the Tamil Wikipedia community.[1] Born on December 22, 1945, in the village of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiruvallur_district" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Puducherrypalli</a> in Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India, He devoted his life to engineering, science, and promoting scientific knowledge in Tamil.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ulo Senthamizh Kodai earned his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_Engineering,_Guindy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Guindy Engineering College</a> and a Master's degree from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PSG_College_of_Technology" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PSG College of Technology</a> in Coimbatore. His illustrious 33-year career at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TNEB" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tamil Nadu Electricity Board</a> included earning a Ph.D. He authored the acclaimed book "<a href="https://www.noolulagam.com/tamil-book/1188/makkal-ariviyal-ilakiyam-nokkum-pokkum-book-type-ilakiyam/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Makkal Ariviyal Ilakkiyam: Nokkum Pokkum</a>" and received the Tamil Nadu Government's award for best book in engineering and technology in 2007.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Passionate about Tamil Nadu's science and technology history, Ulo Senthamizh Kodai contributed extensively to scientific vocabulary in Tamil. He served on the editorial board of the <a href="http://www.aubit.edu.in/library/Journals_magazines.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bharathidasan University Journal of Science and Technology</a> and significantly contributed to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Virtual_Academy" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tamil Virtual Academy</a>'s glossary of technical terms.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to academia, He was a luminary in the Tamil Wikipedia community, starting his contributions in 2014. He created over 2000 articles and had an edit count of 28513 in <a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%81%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%B1%E0%AF%8D_%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AE%AE%E0%AF%8D" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tamil Wikipedia</a>, focusing mainly on scientific articles. He was actively involved until his final days, participating in discussions and editing articles until January 29, 2024.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ulo Senthamizh Kodai leaves behind a legacy continued by his son Vanchi. His impact on Tamil science and the Wikipedia community is immeasurable, with notable contributions to projects like the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/100wikidays" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">100 WikiDays</a> and the Tamil Teachers' Articles Cleanup Drive.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Members of the Tamil Wikipedia community mourn his passing. Fellow Wikipedian Mahalingam noted, "The passing of Ulo Senthamizh Kodai is a great loss to us all." Former colleague Jambulingam remembered his dedication and encouragement, while longtime contributor K. Murthy recalled Ulo Senthamizh Kodai's resilience despite physical challenges.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ulo Senthamizh Kodai's contributions were recognized with accolades, including featuring on the main page of Tamil Wikipedia in 2016 and various barnstars and medals from fellow Wikipedians.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As we bid farewell to Ulo Senthamizh Kodai, we remember him not only for his significant contributions to Tamil science and Wikipedia but also for his unwavering dedication to knowledge, education, and the Tamil language. His passing leaves a void in the community, and he will be dearly missed.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We are planning to host a condolence meeting online and we will soon provide information about that. We encourage people to share their memories/experiences of their association with Ulo Senthamizh Kodai on this thread.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Tamil Wikimedians & CIS-A2K.</p>
<p dir="ltr">[1] <a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%89%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8B._%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%88" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Biographical Article about Ulo Senthamizh Kodai</a> in Tamil Wikipedia</p>
<p dir="ltr" style="text-align: justify; ">[2] <a href="https://ta.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%AE%AA%E0%AE%AF%E0%AE%A9%E0%AE%B0%E0%AF%8D:%E0%AE%89%E0%AE%B2%E0%AF%8B.%E0%AE%9A%E0%AF%86%E0%AE%A8%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%A4%E0%AE%AE%E0%AE%BF%E0%AE%B4%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8D%E0%AE%95%E0%AF%8B%E0%AE%A4%E0%AF%88" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Userpage of Ulo Senthamizh Kodai</a> in Tamil Wikipedia</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/commemorating-ulo-senthamizh-kodai-1945-2024-a-luminary-of-tamil-open-knowledge-movement'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/commemorating-ulo-senthamizh-kodai-1945-2024-a-luminary-of-tamil-open-knowledge-movement</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanA2K ResearchWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2024-02-08T14:59:50ZBlog EntryInformation Disorders and their Regulation
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/information-disorders-and-their-regulation
<b>The Indian media and digital sphere, perhaps a crude reflection of the socio-economic realities of the Indian political landscape, presents a unique and challenging setting for studying information disorders. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In the last few years, ‘fake news’ has garnered interest across the political spectrum, as affiliates of both the ruling party and its opposition have seemingly partaken in its proliferation. The COVID-19 pandemic added to this phenomenon, allowing for xenophobic, communal narratives, and false information about health-protective behaviour to flourish, all with potentially deadly effects. This report maps and analyses the government’s regulatory approach to information disorders in India and makes suggestions for how to respond to the issue.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In this study, we gathered information by scouring general search engines, legal databases, and crime statistics databases to cull out data on a) regulations, notifications, ordinances, judgments, tender documents, and any other legal and quasi-legal materials that have attempted to regulate ‘fake news’ in any format; and b) news reports and accounts of arrests made for allegedly spreading ‘fake news’. Analysing this data allows us to determine the flaws and scope for misuse in the existing system. It also gives us a sense of the challenges associated with regulating this increasingly complicated issue while trying to avoid the pitfalls of the present system.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Click to download the <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/files/information-disorder-their-regulation.pdf/">full report here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/information-disorders-and-their-regulation'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/information-disorders-and-their-regulation</a>
</p>
No publisherTorsha Sarkar, Shruti Trikanad, and Anoushka SoniInformation DisordersAccess to KnowledgeInternet GovernanceInformation SecurityInformation Technology2024-01-31T14:20:20ZBlog EntryWIPO SCCR 43: Notes from Day 3
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-3
<b></b>
<ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Working towards a binding international L&E instrument</b><br /> Iran, Pakistan and Kenya highlighted their support toward the African proposal as well emphasized the need for an internationally binding treaty on L&E. Saudi Arabia mentioned the need for Limitations and Exceptions to benefit the preservation and sharing of cultural heritage, as well as for persons with disabilities. Iran emphasied on the need for adequate balance and copyright protection and a balance between different national legislations. Iran stated that there was a need to have an international legal instrument in order to harmonise national legislations, in the absence of which there would not be a free flow of information. Iran also emphasised on the need to look at the priorities of developing countries with respect to the Development Agenda. Pakistan also highlighted the issues that came to light during the pandemic, especially with regard to cross border use of information by educational institutions. In addition to this Pakistan stated that it looked forward to a binding instrument that was not too prescriptive. Kenya shed light on the concerns around the increasing knowledge gap between the developed and the developing countries, and the migration from analogue to digital environment.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>WIPO SCCR 43: Notes from Day 4 <br /> <br /> Limitations and Exceptions and Cross Border Flow of Data <br /> </b>Nigeria, South Africa, Russia, Brazil, Argentina, Iran, Uganda and Algeria extended their support to the Work Programme on L&E by the African Group. Nigeria in their statement expressed how L&E were essential for research, cultural exchange, and how it had the potential to help people around the world who still lack access to educational and research materials. Nigeria also highlighted that a legally binding international treaty would help harmonise and balance the copyright system with other instruments such as the TRIPS agreement and the WIPO internet treaties, and facilitate smooth transborder trade in both online and traditional media. Iran stated that the creation of L&E for online and crossborder use of data is imperative, especially for the benefit of online teaching and research as well as bridge the digital divide by facilitating access to knowledge and technology. <br /> <br /> The European Union (EU) and France however were not in support of a legally binding instrument.The EU stated that they would prefer a non-binding instrument such as a toolkit, while France stated that the current international framework of copyright is sufficiently flexible to allow members to implement L&E in their national legislations, as well as to find appropriate tools to meet the needs of education, research and preservation. France expressed their reservation in moving towards a normative framework and stated that the states could look at the exchange of best practice at national level and support in drafting national legislations. The United States stated that topics such as text and data mining and contract override were not issues that were fully discussed yet at the committee level.</p>
<p><b>Observations by the Chair </b></p>
<ol>
<li>The Chair noted that there continued to be a disagreement on whether to pursue international instruments for Limitations and Exceptions.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">The Chair also noted that while there was a lot of support for the proposal, there still was no consensus on the proposal. The Chair suggested that the African Group work with the member states that highlighted their reservations and work together with the Chair to see if the proposal could be revised, or to look at portions of the proposal that enjoyed the support to be advanced.</li>
</ol>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-3'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-3</a>
</p>
No publishershwetaBroadcast TreatyBroadcastingLimitations & ExceptionsAccess to Knowledge2023-04-28T13:03:42ZBlog EntryWIPO SCCR 43: Notes from Day 1
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-1
<b>Member states delivered opening statements and deliberated on the progress, substantive provisions, and method of work on the draft broadcasting treaty text. This blog post summarises positions and contentions that supported: 1)The need for balance between rights of broadcasters and that of users and researchers 2) Questions around fixation and signal piracy 3) Need for consensus and towards a diplomatic conference </b>
<h3>Opening Statements by Group Coordinators</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Uruguay on behalf of the GRULAC spoke about the Marrakesh treaty and highlighted how this was the first treaty that looked at human rights and copyright. Uruguay also mentioned the need to look at exclusion and the need for dissemination of knowledge.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On behalf of the Baltic states, Poland expressed their interest in discussing the Limitations and Exceptions (L&E) agenda, with focus on persons with other disabilities, as well as conveyed their interest in examining the <a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_43/sccr_43_4.pdf">T</a><a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_43/sccr_43_4.pdf">oolkit</a><a href="https://www.wipo.int/edocs/mdocs/copyright/en/sccr_43/sccr_43_4.pdf"> on Preservation</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The African group coordinator Ghana, highlighted the need to look at the contribution to Sustainable Development Goals<b>, </b>they also showed support for Senegal and Congo on their work on artist copyright and resale rights.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Singapore made the statements on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific Group (APG) group coordinator Indonesia, they commented on the need to work towards a fair and balanced broadcast treaty, and to narrow existing gaps which would require a delicate balance. They also stated that the treaty needs to be comprehensive and inclusive, with limitations and expectations for Libraries, Archives and Museums and areas of cultural importance, as well as access to broadcast content for education and research.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Agenda Item 5: Protection of Broadcasting Organisations</h3>
<ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>The need for Balance between rights of broadcasters and that of users and researchers</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b>China, Ghana, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, in their statements highlighted the need for balance between the rights of the broadcasters with suitable limitations and exceptions. Iran in their statements also highlighted the work of libraries, archives and museums in education. Iran also highlighted that different parameters for Limitations and Exceptions in member states' national legislations has the potential to cause barriers in the free flow of data for researchers and educators.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Colombia spoke about their concerns regarding the fixation rights laid out in the treaty and the working of limitations and exceptions under Article 11. Colombia stated that the use of the term “may” in Article 11 could result in countries ignoring the limitations and exceptions provisions when they adopt this treaty into their national legislations. They suggested the changing of the wording in Article 11 from “may” to “shall” to reflect a balanced and progressive treaty.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Nigeria in their statement highlighted the difficulties that were faced by students and educators during Covid 19, when schools and libraries were closed. They also shed light on how limitations and exceptions were not granted uniformly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Pakistan also emphasised on the need to look at the interests of educators, and supported the inclusion of mandatory limitations and exceptions while protecting the rights of the creators.</p>
<ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Questions around fixation and signal piracy</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Central European and Baltic States Group (CEBS) group, The United Kingdom (UK) , Canada, Tajikistan and The United States of America and Japan in their statements mentioned the need to protect broadcasters especially with respect to stopping piracy. The CEBS group stated that in the era of rapidly evolving technologies and changing digital environments there was a need to extend international protection against piracy to different types of transmissions of broadcasting organizations, including those over computer networks. Similarly, the United Kingdom also highlighted the rapid advancements in technology, which enables signal piracy through redirecting. The UK stated that Article 7 of the draft treaty did not provide sufficient protection, an issue that needed more deliberations.</p>
<ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Need for consensus and progress towards a diplomatic conference </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>P</b>akistan, China, Kingdom of Eswatini, The African Regional Intellectual Property Organization (ARIPO) in their statements mentioned that they were looking forward to a diplomatic conference. Pakistan highlighted the need for open and inclusive negotiation in the diplomatic conference.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">India expressed that the scope of protection in the revised draft is more comprehensive and in line with technological developments. The definition of the term broadcasting has also been made more comprehensive with the inclusion of the word “any means”. The definition provided for fixation has been provided along with the rights of fixation under Article 7, which may be the most relevant steps to prevent unauthorised exploitation by a third party to the values represented by the signal. India also stated that the treaty is capable of covering piracy in the digital environment and includes broadcasting of all types of broadcast. India also stated that they support the finalisation of the treaty, maintaining the interest of all member states on fundamental issues.</p>
<h3>Presentation by the Chair and Vice Chair</h3>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">On Article 11 the Chair stated that the list could be made clearer, and also clarified that the list is not a closed list. With respect to the works in the public domain the Chair clarified that the broadcasting and distributing of works in public domain, only the work carrying the signal will be under the treaty.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">With regard to the scope of fixation the Chair clarified that the scope of fixation is only for the entity emitting the signal. The focus of the treaty is to limit the rights to signal based rights. </li>
</ol>
<p><b> </b></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-1'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-1</a>
</p>
No publishershwetaBroadcast TreatyBroadcastingLimitations & ExceptionsAccess to Knowledge2023-04-28T12:01:31ZBlog EntryWIPO SCCR 43: Notes from Day 2
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-2
<b></b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Rights of broadcasters<br /></b>Iran wanted clarifications about whether the rights granted to broadcasters under the treaty would be a negative right (right to prohibit) or a positive right (right to authorise). Iran also highlighted that there was a need to clarify definitions in the treaty, particularly with respect to user generated contents shared on websites such as Youtube, in comparison with traditional broadcasters.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Chair clarified that the treaty provides two sets of rights, positive rights under Article 6 and 7 and negative rights under Article 8 and 9. The Chair also clarified that the treaty aimed to bridge the various legal frameworks, based on copyright, under a rights based approach and a signal based approach. In the signal based approach, the positive right under Article 6 is based to protect only live signal and the protection ends at the point of fixation, hence there is no relation between the right of fixation Article 7 and the right to prohibit transmission and deferred transmission under article 8. The Chair further clarified that the positive right ends at fixation after which the right to prohibit comes into play. With respect to User Generated Content the Chair clarified that the current draft of the treaty focused protection to traditional broadcasters and not other service providers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Terms of the Right </b>The USA highlighted their concern over the possible perpetual term of fixation rights and requested that a revised text could have some explicit time limit. Singapore echoed USA’s concern over the absence of limitations on the duration of the rights of the broadcasters which could give broadcasters perpetual protection of a programme. Similarly Pakistan questioned the need for a right of fixation highlighting that piracy was an enforcement issue. With respect to the term of protection the Chair clarified that the treaty sought to provide practical protection to broadcasters of their live signal, and not the content of the broadcast. Further clarifying that one of the main aims of the treaty was the protection of simultaneous retransmission, and to provide protection in case there was a fixation of the signals. <b> </b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Limitations and Exceptions<br /></b>Iran and Brazil highlighted issues about limitations and exceptions. While Iran stated that the inclusion of the three step test in the treaty would water down the limitations and exceptions provisions, Brazil highlighted that the Article 11 of the treaty did not follow the text of the Marakesh convention or the Beijing treaty regarding Limitations and Exceptions. Brazil highlighted that there was a need to clarify in the text of the treaty itself that the list provided under the Article is illustrative and not exhaustive. In addition to this they stated that the text of the treaty should also establish the presumption that all the examples listed have already fulfilled the three steps. Brazil also highlighted the question about the consequence of the proposal on works in the public domain that are not sufficiently clear. The draft should ensure that public domain content when broadcasted should not receive another layer of protection.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Communia, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) and Innovarte also highlighted issues that might come up with broadcasting works that are in the public domain. Communia provided examples where the broadcasters might have the only good copy of historic events and reporting that have now become a part of the public domain, however the broadcasters could reappropriate these which are in the public domain with new exclusive rights through this treaty. Communia hence suggested a need for exclusion of public domain works in the treaty. Innovarte highlighted Article 6 of the Berne convention which allows for exceptions related to public interest such as use of excerpts.</p>
<h3><b>Agenda Item 6 and 7 - Limitations and Exceptions for Libraries and Archives, for Educational and Research Institutions and for Persons with Other disabilities </b></h3>
<p><b> </b></p>
<ol> </ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Working towards a binding international L&E instrument</b><br />The beginning of the discussion on Limitations and Exceptions began with the CEBS Group, Group B, the European Union and the USA emphasising on the need to look at other avenues to implement L and E without going for a legally binding international instrument. Some of the solutions provided included strengthening existing national legislations, existing solutions within the framework of the existing international treaties, exchange of best practices, and capacity building for countries to implement L&E’s in their national legislations.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ghana on behalf of the African Group stated that there was a need to provide mutual benefit between those who generate and those who use creative works. Ghana also highlighted the issues with cross border access and sharing of copyrighted materials which is becoming increasingly difficult for libraries, archives, museums and research institutions to access. Ghana highlighted the need for a strong support in development of a legal instrument on Limitations and Exceptions, for libraries, archives, museums and for persons with disabilities other than blindness. South Africa in their statement also highlighted the benefit L&E’s would provide to both creators and users, and the cross border transfer of data. And extended their support to the statement of Ghana and work towards an international instrument whether model law, joint recommendation or a treaty.<b> </b></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-2'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-43-notes-from-day-2</a>
</p>
No publishershwetaBroadcast TreatyBroadcastingLimitations & ExceptionsAccess to Knowledge2023-04-28T12:22:24ZBlog EntryCIS Statement in WIPO SCCR 43
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-statement-in-wipo-sccr-43
<b>Shweta Mohandas delivered a statement on behalf of CIS, on day 1 of the 43rd WIPO SCCR session on the Broadcast Treaty. </b>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><br />Thank you, Mr. Chair.<br /><br />I’m speaking on behalf of the Centre for Internet and Society, India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The second revised draft text for the WIPO Broadcasting Organisations Treaty presents certain concerns.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The absence of a provision on term allows perpetual rights to both traditional broadcasters and streamers. Further, the provision on limitations and exceptions is narrow, and not mandatory. It undermines the existence of open-licensing models on the internet. In the absence of a strong mandatory limitations and exceptions provision, the text gives broadcasters rights over openly-licensed content and works in the public domain.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Thank you.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-statement-in-wipo-sccr-43'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/cis-statement-in-wipo-sccr-43</a>
</p>
No publisherShweta Mohandas and Anubha SinhaCopyrightAccess to KnowledgeWIPO2023-03-28T14:12:21ZBlog EntryExploring Knowledge Repositories on Water Resources in India
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-exploring-knowledge-repositories-on-water-resources-in-india
<b>This research study explores knowledge repositories on water resources in India, with a focus on how the digital transition has impacted the process of creation & access to these resources and possible collaborations to build open digital repositories around water. The research was undertaken by Subodh Kulkarni, with editorial inputs by Puthiya Purayil Sneha, and Chiara Furtado. This is part of a series of short-term studies undertaken by the CIS-A2K team in 2021–2022.</b>
<p>Read this report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Exploring_Knowledge_repositories_on_Water_resources_in_India"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Water is the most precious natural resource for the existence of all living organisms on earth. As human beings have not treated it respectfully in recent years, there are increasing challenges with accessibility and availability of water across large parts of the world today. In India, the groundwater levels are depleting at an alarming rate due to over exploitation<sup>.[1]</sup> The quality of surface water reserves is degenerating due to pollution caused by discharge of wastewater, sewage and untreated industrial effluents.<sup><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Exploring_Knowledge_repositories_on_Water_resources_in_India#cite_note-2">[2]</a></sup> The condition of rivers is getting worse due to illegal and unregulated use of these resources across India. Due to damming almost all the rivers flow for only 8-10 months in a year. Above all, the pollution caused due to solid wastes and effluents have destroyed living organisms and aquatic life. Therefore most of the rivers in India are called ‘dying rivers’.<sup><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Exploring_Knowledge_repositories_on_Water_resources_in_India#cite_note-3">[3]</a></sup> There have been several discussions and debates happening around this degradation of rivers, especially in the last decade.<sup><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Exploring_Knowledge_repositories_on_Water_resources_in_India#cite_note-4">[4]</a></sup></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Efforts by various organisations are afoot to document the state of affairs, spread awareness and undertake activities on the ground with community participation. Citizen-led efforts have also been instrumental in strengthening several water conservation efforts in India. It is seen that these peoples’ movements have been further strengthened due to empowerment through enhanced awareness of these issues around conservation, and better access to knowledge on the subject, especially through scientific studies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">CIS-A2K has initiated <a title="CIS-A2K/Events/Partnerships under Project Jal Bodh - Knowledge resource on Water" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Partnerships_under_Project_Jal_Bodh_-_Knowledge_resource_on_Water">Project Jalbodh</a> in 2017 in collaboration with a few organisations to generate water related content. During one of the ‘River dialogues’, a CIS-A2K member was invited to introduce Wikimedia projects to the organisations working on water resources. In the discussions, it was revealed that there is negligible content about rivers, water pollution, floods, irrigation system etc. in Wikimedia projects. Following this, an analysis of content on these subjects on Marathi, Hindi & English Wikipedia and media on Wikimedia Commons was undertaken. The need to develop structured categorisation of content was also felt. As the organisations are trying their best to disseminate knowledge about water issues, they realised the potential of Wikimedia projects due to the high level of searchable content available on these platforms which can be accessed by the general public. In keeping with these objectives, over the last two years, various workshops were conducted with organisations working at the grassroots to develop the structure of articles, categorisation and re-licensing of source material on these topics across various Wikimedia projects. <a class="text external" href="http://tarunbharatsangh.in/" rel="nofollow">Tarun Bharat Sangh</a> is leading this process, and has uploaded <a title="c:Category:Books published by Tarun Bharat Sangh, India" class="extiw" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Books_published_by_Tarun_Bharat_Sangh,_India">90 books & reports on Wikimedia Commons</a> under free licences, and created articles on rivers in Marathi, Hindi and English Wikipedia projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">During these content generation events it was realised that the organisations are working closely with communities which are conversant mostly with local or regional Indian languages only. The availability and access to water related resources in these languages is therefore an important issue. The communities are in need of simple, accessible and ready to use content in various forms. They also require a platform on which they can document/archive their water conservation efforts for other communities to take lessons and motivation from these projects.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Research Questions</h2>
<p>This study was framed by the following questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>How has the digital transition impacted the process of creation and access to water related resources in India.</li>
<li>What are possible collaborations and processes to build open digital repositories around water, with special reference to rivers.</li></ol>
<h2></h2>
<h2>Methods</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The study adopted a qualitative approach, with the method comprising online/offline, semi-structured interviews with organisations working in the water resources sector. Based on desk research and conversations with existing partners in the sector, a long list of organisations was developed.(See Annexure I). Further, eight organisations were shortlisted for interviews based on their experience and impact of work in the water conservation sector. Due to various constraints, eventually interviews with three organisations were completed. The interview questionnaire focused on the nature, objective and scope of the offline and online resources available, human resources involved, language aspects, documentation practices, methods of dissemination, utility, accessibility, training value of the material, intellectual property rights (IPR) policies and public outreach efforts. These interviews were conducted online and in-person and recorded with consent from the participants, along with a clear explanation on the objectives of the study and the data collection. As mentioned above, there were a few constraints with the research process and methods adopted, as well as external factors. These included restrictions on travel and in-person meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic, and challenges with online platforms. Some of the organisations were not comfortable with online or telephonic interviews and insisted upon physical interactions. The online interviews were less effective with the organisations as they were unaware about the free & open knowledge platforms like Wikimedia, Internet Archive etc. In addition to this, introductory sessions were conducted to give them a background to the work of the programme and context of the study. A general challenge here was also logistical issues related to scheduling conversations etc. given that personnel were located across different departments.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Description of Organisations Interviewed</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Advanced Centre for Water Resources Development and Management [ACWADAM]'</strong><em> </em></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://www.acwadam.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=featured&Itemid=101" rel="nofollow">ACWADAM</a> is an organisation dedicated to establish a groundwater management agenda in India. It is a premier education and action research institution engaged in developing and disseminating knowledge on groundwater management. It is also involved in facilitation of projects on groundwater management through action research programmes, training and policy advocacy, with a collaborative, participatory approach. ACWADAM's mission is to facilitate groundwater management programmes in partnership with various organisations spread across the country. Over the years, it has developed expertise on aquifer-based groundwater management based on the science of hydrogeology.</p>
<div><strong>Action for Agricultural Renewal in Maharashtra [AFARM]</strong></div>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://www.afarm.org/index" rel="nofollow">AFARM</a> was founded in 1969 as an apex Institution to coordinate programmes of voluntary organisations engaged in providing drinking water and agricultural extension services to villages in drought affected Maharashtra. It is one of the pioneering networking organisations in the country working in the areas of sustainable agriculture, irrigation, disaster relief and drinking water resource management. It acts as a platform for several civil society organisations for the promotion of sustainable and equitable development. The emphasis is on capacity building of organisations through action research, advocacy and field projects at grassroots. AFARM is providing support and consultancy at the policy level.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>BAIF Development Research Foundation [BAIF]</strong></p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://baif.org.in/" rel="nofollow">BAIF</a> was established on the strong foundation of Gandhian values with the aim to improve quality of life through development research and capacity building. BAIF’s vision is to build a self-reliant rural society assured of food security, safe drinking water, good health, gender equity, low child mortality, literacy, high moral values and clean environment. It is striving towards the mission to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for the rural and tribal families with a focus on disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, healthy environment, better quality of life and good human values. BAIF believes in field research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Observations</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Availability of digital datasets on water resource projects:</strong> Many organisations in the sector rely on online information and databases on sites such as – <a class="text external" href="https://censusindia.gov.in/census.website/" rel="nofollow">Census of India</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://mausam.imd.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">IMD</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://earth.google.com/web/" rel="nofollow">Google Earth</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://bhuvan.nrsc.gov.in/home/index.php" rel="nofollow">Bhuvan</a>, <a class="text external" href="http://cgwb.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">CGWB</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://gsda.maharashtra.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">GSDA</a>, <a class="text external" href="http://mrsac.maharashtra.gov.in/mahagsda/" rel="nofollow">MRSAC</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://bhulekh.mahabhumi.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Bhumi Abhilekh</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://www.surveyofindia.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Survey of India</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://www.indiawaterportal.org/" rel="nofollow">India Water Portal</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://farmer.gov.in/stateagridepartments.aspx" rel="nofollow">Agriculture Department</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://wrd.maharashtra.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Irrigation Department</a>, <a class="text external" href="http://moef.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Forest Department</a>, <a class="text external" href="https://maharain.maharashtra.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Maharain</a> etc. Many of the global datasets on water resources and related topics such as agriculture, population, topography, forestry, climate change etc. are also in the public domain. However, the updating of data is not done regularly. For example, we have to refer to census data for 2011 even in 2022. Many of the datasets are also at a macro level, providing very little granular data. The water resource projects mostly need micro level data which is collected through on-ground surveys.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Effectiveness of digital platforms, and challenges with internet coverage:</strong> Organisations have found the use of digital platforms and tools effective for quick exchange of common training modules, process videos, drawings and manuals, as part of their water resource projects. The digital format has also been very effective for dissemination of advisories, alerts etc. through smartphones, which have enabled better access to information on gadgets quickly. However, two-way communication is necessary when timely solutions to queries of the farmers are to be provided, and that has been difficult to set up in a sustained manner through a digital format.<br />Many organisations in the sector also engage in capacity-building efforts for staff, volunteers and communities. When building these communities and mobilising them for action, the process needs spontaneous feedback, live conversations, reading the expressions and actual interactions with each other. All these things are completely missing from virtual interactions. These organisational processes and capacity-building efforts were grossly hampered during the pandemic due to a reliance on online meetings alone.<br />There are still challenges of internet connectivity in rural and remote areas where the communities are involved in water management projects. The consistency of bandwidth is a major issue when it comes to streaming of audio-visual content, uploading of content, online workshops, etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Lack of documentation skills, and challenges with language:</strong> Most of the documents used in water resources related projects are technical in nature. The technical team invests more time in the implementation, hence the time and skills required for documentation are limited. This gap between technical skills and documentation skills is challenging. There are ample structures, technological methods, apps etc. for collecting the data but at the same time, the resources for data collection or structured data development are not sufficiently provided. There are also several language-related challenges at the field level. Crucial parts of the training and awareness material need to be translated in the local languages as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Mobilisation and motivation for communities and wider public:</strong> The offline and online content is not very effective to mobilise or motivate the people involved in action at the field level in water conservation efforts. The organisers are exploring all the modes of communication and content available, but there is no alternative for human leadership.<br />Some organisations like Paani Foundation have beautifully captured the success stories of these efforts in dramatic short films. These films inspire the public temporarily, but the content can not be used often. Also, the production costs of such content are high resulting in very few options for wider outreach to engage a general audience.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Negligible content about water sector in public domain or Wikimedia projects in local languages:</strong> All the organisations agree upon the lack of searchable content on water related topics on the internet and in the public domain through projects like Wikimedia. The activists looking for solutions on some technical issues, the community searching for good projects in other parts of India or the planners looking for some structured databases on impact of projects, all of them get very little content on the internet. The local language content on water resources has almost negligible presence.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Need for a comprehensive portal giving information to stakeholders at different levels:</strong> The different stakeholders concerned with water resources seek information and data on various levels and diverse formats according to application and purpose. As of now, no such comprehensive platform in multiple languages exists which caters to these needs. The requirements include a wide range like, sample design of water conservation structures, contour maps of region, rainfall data, estimates of raw material, ground water aquifer maps, water pollution parameters, operation of dams, irrigation systems, water policies, water treaties, government notifications, etc. A well structured and categorised knowledge repository and database on water resources is the need of the hour. Such a knowledge base would strongly support the actions on the ground.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Recommendations</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Developing a Process Documentation Strategy:</strong> The continuous changes in knowledge resources and data regarding various topics related to water resources need to be documented from time to time. The dynamic nature of water related issues requires a proactive process documentation strategy for the organisation as well as the citizen science groups in the society. The ideal example is the trajectory of the monsoon season in India every year and the rainfall in various agro-climatic regions. The watershed conservation projects, river rejuvenation programs, pollution control projects are long term processes with long term impacts. The journey of several years is painstaking, needs patience and struggles on the ground with constant motivational efforts. The persons directly engaged in these efforts may not be able to spend time on documentation of the many resources that are a result of these efforts. Hence, a solid process documentation strategy is required. The process documentation is also crucial for assessment of project impact on environment, livelihoods, economy, geography and people. There are also citizen movements which have been active for a long time, which are instrumental in giving birth to new laws, rules, guidelines, notifications, etc. The different milestones and turning points in these processes are to be documented in time. This documentation can guide the larger citizens’ movements to design their strategies and to resolve issues arising during the course of this work, and across different thematic areas as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Accessible datasets open for all in the public domain:</strong> There is an important need to compile the datasets on water resources developed by different agencies with people’s participation and government funding for the planning of public works or schemes. The open access to such reliable and factual datasets in the public domain serves the purpose of transparency and accountability of public infrastructure programmes. This facility for society would provide impetus to rigorous analysis, studies, research and innovative designing of public infrastructure. The processing and presentation of data in visual formats, including infographics can boost understanding, awareness, and logical thinking processes among enthusiasts who would like to engage with water conservation efforts. Different perspectives can emerge after relating and comparing datasets. The networking of agencies, organisations, experts and citizen forums would further develop complementary datasets. This synergy will definitely create a community data pool beneficial for everyone.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Digital and open access content development for capacity building of field level activists:</strong> Various organisations have developed training material for field level activists in different formats. Most of this is not online or digitised. Through networking efforts, the integration could be done to develop systematic modules for capacity building. The modules would be hosted as Open Educational Resources (OERs) on Wikimedia projects or other free knowledge platforms. The topic wise categories will make the selection easier. These categories can include local water source, rivers, waste water disposal, pollution, water based livelihoods, water conservation treatments etc. The format combining course work with some hands-on experiments is beneficial to facilitate the process of self-study, self-assessment and self-design. This online repository can be accessed by the field activists working on water resources anytime, anywhere when they need guidance to resolve issues or trouble-shooting on site.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Orientation of organisations towards free knowledge platforms and Wikimedia projects:</strong> Over the years, the organisations working in this sector have created valuable material for wider circulation to create awareness and empower communities. These resources have been used effectively and in a few locations for a certain period of time. The outreach and dissemination through integration of these resources will have more impact in the coming years if digital platforms are utilised efficiently. The basic orientation of the organisations regarding such free knowledge digital platforms, including copyright issues, Creative Commons licences, digitisation process and internet technologies is necessary to kick start this knowledge dissemination movement. Some pilot projects could be executed to demonstrate the potential of Wikimedia projects in database generation, documentation of case studies, audio-visual repositories and reference libraries.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;"><br /></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">References<br /></h2>
<ol><li>"Groundwater". edugreen.teri.res.in. Retrieved 2022-09-28.</li><li>"‘Discharge of untreated industrial effluents, sewage major source of river pollution’". The Indian Express. 2018-12-21. Retrieved 2022-09-28.</li><li>Naresh Singaravelu & Harshita Mishra (6 June 2019). "Rivers in India: a reality check". https://www.thehindu.com/. The Hindu. Retrieved 28 Sep 2022.</li><li>"Living rivers, dying rivers: Everything you wanted to know about rivers in India | India Water Portal". www.indiawaterportal.org. Retrieved 2022-09-28.</li></ol>
<hr />
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-exploring-knowledge-repositories-on-water-resources-in-india'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-exploring-knowledge-repositories-on-water-resources-in-india</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen Content2022-10-21T13:23:24ZBlog EntryInfrastructural Needs of Indian Language Wikisource Projects
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-infrastructural-needs-of-indian-language-wikisource-projects
<b>This is a short study on identifying the infrastructural gaps on Indian language Wikisource projects, and potential strategies to address the same. The study was undertaken by Jayantha Nath, Puthiya Purayil Sneha and Satdeep Gill, with writing and editorial oversight by Puthiya Purayil Sneha and an external review by Divyank Katira. This is part of a series of short-term studies undertaken by the CIS-A2K team in 2021-22.</b>
<p>Read this report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Infrastructural_Needs_of_Indian_Language_Wikisource_Projects"><strong>here</strong></a>.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This research project is an effort to understand some of the infrastructural needs of Wikisource platforms in India. With a focus on technological capacity, resources and training, this short pilot study collected baseline data from <a title="Indic Wikisource Community" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Indic_Wikisource_Community">Indian language Wikisource communities</a> to identify key knowledge gaps and areas of improvement. The final report here offers an overview of the current challenges in this space, and some learnings and recommendations on potential strategies to address these gaps, including through collaborative intervention and training.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Context</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><a title="Wikisource" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> projects have been an important part of the open knowledge movement in India, as it is a hub of out of copyright and freely licensed texts in a number of languages from across the world. With a focus on creating a ‘growing free content online library of source texts, as well as translations of source texts in any language', it functions as an important open knowledge repository that supports content development on various sister projects such as <a title="Wikipedia" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia">Wikipedia</a>, <a title="Wikiquote" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikiquote">Wikiquote</a> etc. <a title="Wikisource" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a> projects in Indian languages have seen tremendous growth, especially over the last decade with increased efforts in content donation under free licences, digitization initiatives and availability of source texts. There have also been several advancements in Indic language computing and availability of digital infrastructure, such as more Indian language fonts, many with Unicode support, and increased flexibility in working with texts due to <a title="en:Optical character recognition" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition">Optical Character Recognition (OCR)</a> technologies. There has also been a general growth in awareness about the need for sourcing and making available more content in Indian languages, and better access to platforms like Wikisource has aided these efforts to a great extent.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">However, several Indian language communities also continue to grapple with persistent challenges in this space, across diverse Wikimedia projects. Similarly, with Wikisource, there have been concerns about a lack of active participation and efforts towards bringing more content on the platform, including translations, and encouraging the use of source texts across projects among others. While a majority of the contributors are comfortable with <a title="wikisource:Help:Transclusion" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Help:Transclusion">transcribing texts</a>, more technical tasks such as importing new books, creating Index pages and transcluding books are left to a very small number of contributors. These point to a lack of not just awareness and resources, but also a need for capacity-building efforts to address the skill gaps, improvements in digital infrastructures to resolve basic issues with platforms, and diversification of the scope of work undertaken. For instance, the most recent <a title="Community Wishlist Survey 2022" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey_2022">Community Wishlist Survey 2022</a> highlights some basic fixes that need attention− such as bugs with the search and replace function to improve search and mass uploads −to more advanced work such as expanding existing functionality in indexing, integrating structured data and <a title="Content translation group" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Content_translation_group">translation tools</a> and functionalities across Indian languages, to name a few.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A research needs assessment survey conducted by CIS-A2K last year also highlighted the need for better technological support for Wikimedia projects, and capacity-building in important areas of work in the Indian language communities. While this is not specific to Wikisource alone, observations by community members and active Wikisource contributors over the last few years illustrate that many of these concerns and knowledge gaps are prevalent in this community as well. This study was therefore an attempt to identify these challenges, by collecting baseline data on key areas of work in Indian language Wikisource projects, beginning with a focus on selected language communities, and areas of interest. The attempt was also to enable contributors to achieve a more detailed understanding of the requirements of communities, in the contexts of certain languages, and aid in developing potential strategies to address them.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Research objectives</h2>
<p>The study had two areas of focus:</p>
<ul>
<li>What are the key challenges with working on Indian language Wikisource projects currently? These may include anything from obstacles in Wikisource workflow, policies and open licences, to challenges such as quality of content and lack of community engagement?</li>
<li>What are gap areas and spaces for improvement in the infrastructure of these platforms, especially related to technological capacity, resources and training?</li></ul>
<h2>Research methods</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The study adopted a mixed methods approach, comprising a survey and interviews with community members. The survey focussed on key areas of ongoing work, and potential challenges for Wikisource projects in India - including technological support, skill-building, policies on content donation and curation, and open access and licensing. The survey was opened to all Wikisource communities and publicised on relevant mailing lists and community platforms. Simultaneously, a detailed interview questionnaire was also prepared, along with the selection criteria for interviews with community members. The project team worked with one short-term research assistant over a 2–3-month period for the data collection through interviews and surveys. The research assistant also provided translation support as needed and worked closely in coordinating with community members.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The criteria considered for selection of the language communities for the study were language family and size, amount of content on Wikisource (according to bytes/number of proofread pages), recent activity and a good track record/sustained progress and challenges with the same over the last several years. External factors, such as visibility and prevalence of the languages on other online platforms, technical and cultural resources and complexities of working with certain languages etc. were also considered during the selection process. Keeping these in mind, the languages selected for this study were as follows:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://ta.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Tamil Wikisource</a> (One of the largest Wikisource communities in India, which has considerable content, is active and has seen steady growth over the last few years)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://as.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Assamese Wikisource</a> (A growing Wikisource community, which has also seen a lot of activity in recent years)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;"><a class="text external" href="https://ml.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Malayalam Wikisource</a> (A large and active Wikisource community, which in recent years has some decline in engagement, despite good resources and activity on other Wiki platforms)</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Using a purposive sampling technique, the team identified community members for interviews across these three languages and reached out over the course of six months in order to conduct semi-structured interviews. The criteria for selection of interviewees included a mix of senior/experienced and new contributors, those working across several projects and languages, those with expertise in specific/advanced technical areas of Wikisource, licensing and content donation efforts, and keeping in mind gender parity within the sample. There were however several challenges with this exercise, including basic barriers such as bad internet and phone connectivity, digital fatigue and unavailability of people due to the second wave of the pandemic, and limited time on Wikimedia projects. As a result, this method was unsuccessful, as it managed to gather very limited data for the study. The timeline of the survey was also extended as a result, and it received a total of 21 responses. The survey data offers several insights into some of these key areas of work and challenges, and the following is a report based on an analysis of this limited data set and observations on the same. Given the limited sample size and final dataset, it would be important to note that we may need several steps before the observations/findings may be considered to be representative at any scale.</p>
<h2>Observations and Learnings</h2>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As mentioned earlier, the dataset comprised of 21 respondents on the survey, many of them contributors across diverse Wikimedia projects including English and Indian language Wikipedia projects, <a title="Wikisource" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource</a>, <a title="Wikibooks" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikibooks">Wikibooks</a>, <a title="Wikidata" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikidata">Wikidata</a>, <a title="Wikiquote" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikiquote">Wikiquote</a>, <a title="Wiktionary" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiktionary">Wiktionary</a>, <a title="Wikivoyage" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikivoyage">Wikivoyage</a>, <a title="Wikimedia Commons" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Commons">Wikimedia Commons</a>, software such as Media Wiki, and initiatives like Wikimedia in Education. The respondents ranged across nine languages (in alphabetical order) – <a class="external text" href="https://as.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Assamese</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://bn.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Bengali</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">English</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://hi.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Hindi</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://kn.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Kannada</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://mr.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Marathi</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://ml.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Malayalam</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://pa.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Punjabi</a>, <a class="external text" href="https://te.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Telugu</a> and <a class="external text" href="https://ta.wikisource.org/" rel="nofollow">Tamil</a>. Several of them are also part of user groups working in some of these languages. The experience of the contributors’ ranges from 6 months to 12 years.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Almost all the respondents note that contributions towards proofreading, and bringing more content on the <a title="Wikisource" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikisource">Wikisource projects</a> (including work on related processes by the <a title="Volunteer Response Team" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Response_Team">Volunteer Response Team</a>, previously known as <a title="Open-source Ticket Request System" class="mw-redirect" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Open-source_Ticket_Request_System">Open Source Ticket Request System</a>, and OCR) have been key milestones in their work, either as individuals or communities. Some respondents have also pointed out some new work such as audio books, and working on technological aspects, especially with gadgets and best practices shared by other global communities. The data offers some key insights into the kinds of challenges currently faced by <a title="Indic Wikisource Community" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Indic_Wikisource_Community">Indian language Wikisource contributors</a>, and what could be potential areas of improvement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As noted in Fig.1, an overwhelming percentage of the respondents noted that ‘capacity-building and training’ (81%) is an area that needs the most improvement, followed closely by ‘community engagement’ (66%) and ‘technological infrastructure’ (57%). These are key areas that show repetitive patterns across the data set, in terms of recurring challenges as well. As noted by respondents, training in Wikisource workflows, procedure and guidance, learning to use advanced templates/techniques, recruiting new volunteers etc. have been key challenges. Community engagement has seen a dip, especially over last year with the pandemic and related decline in activity on projects, as well as events and therefore opportunities to meet. There is a need for more contributors and strategies to encourage work and retain them on the projects. Scanning and post-production processing of scans emerged as a significant challenge, given lack of resources and infrastructure, and related issues such as poor quality of scanned work and no uniformity in the book selection criteria. There are also some areas of technical support such as broken tools on Wikisource projects, missing symbols in some language tool bars, and an abundance of formatting tags which could present barriers for new contributors.</p>
<p>The following are some of the responses and observations in specific areas mentioned above:</p>
</td>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_Figure2.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="Figure 2" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>Capacity-building and training</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As most contributors would be well aware, capacity-building and technological infrastructure are two closely connected aspects of Wikimedia projects. The responses under this thematic reflect the same, in terms of a need for better training in optimising the use of available and advanced technical skills for Wikisource projects. This includes training on specific skills and processes such as <a title="Scanning old books" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Scanning_old_books">scanning</a>, <a title="en:Optical character recognition" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition">text conversion</a>, <a title="wikisource:Help:Beginner's guide to proofreading" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Help:Beginner%27s_guide_to_proofreading">formatting</a>, sourcing, <a title="wikisource:Help:Transclusion" class="extiw" href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Help:Transclusion">transclusion</a>, creating gadgets, writing bots. There is a need for better writing and spelling skills to improve the quality of content generated. The survey also suggested potential ways to address these skill gaps, all of which were seen as relevant by a majority of respondents (66.7%). [See Fig 2]</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Community Engagement</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Community engagement ranked second in terms of the challenges noted by respondents on the survey. The survey also looked at engagement in comparison with Wikipedia projects, as it has been observed that the latter see more active participation. This was confirmed by some of the responses as well. Some of the main reasons for lack of participation as noted by respondents is that Wikisource is a specialised project, that needs a specific skill-set and demands time and effort, hence may not appeal to all contributors. Also, it has lesser content and visibility compared to some of the Wikipedias or other projects which may be more easily updated. Thus, there is a need for actively recruiting new volunteers, and capacity-building to enable more contributions, as well as targeted outreach efforts in spaces related to literature and books to enhance discoverability. Some respondents also mentioned that a lack of awareness, coordination and interaction among contributors could be potential reasons. Finally, there are also external factors such as balancing volunteer work with other commitments such as family and financial problems, many contributors being students who move on to full-time careers, effects of the pandemic and paucity of time and interaction, and loss of interest over time in the projects.</p>
<p>Again, efforts to address community engagement need some strategic measures, including but not limited to community interaction, incentives and better visibility for work in, as noted in Fig.3.</p>
<h3>Technological infrastructure</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Technological infrastructure, which is one of the key areas of focus for this study, has also been a persistent challenge for Indian language communities, also given the resource-heavy work any form of computing with Indic languages entails. While some respondents did not notice any specific issues in their communities, there were some patterns or gaps that were reflected across communities. There is a need for basic hardware like scanners and good computers, or rather centralised facilities for scanning and good internet connectivity in order to cover more collections and regional areas. In addition to this, there is also a need for technical improvements such as easy-to-use widgets, gadgets and better tags to enhance formatting work as part of the transcription of texts, incorporating certain signs and symbols within toolbars, spell-checker, full list of syntaxes while proofreading, and stages for fixing mistakes and adding formatting tags. An important observation was that some language communities access and edit Wikisource on mobile phones, so there is a need for a mobile application that can provide a seamless editing experience, and connect more people with the projects. As mentioned earlier, there are also several technical fixes such as a number of pending bugs in projects. A related requirement therefore is for MediaWiki developers with good language skills to work on translation of interfaces. A few respondents also mentioned additional challenges such as improvement of new books, Graphical User Interface (GUI) and page layout, and the functionality to view Wikisource in other formats as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Some specific areas of improvement were also assessed on the survey, drawing upon a review of the <a title="Community Wishlist Survey" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist_Survey">community wishlists</a> for the last few years. These included Optical Character Recognition (OCR), translation, visual editor, transclusion, user interface, search function and export of books. While all these functionalities did not receive responses from the entire set, many found these to be key challenges. OCR received the most responses (19), with 31.6% assessing this at 1 (needs minimal updates, functional with space for innovation). Translation received 18 responses, with 38.9% marking this at 4 (major challenges, requires focused work). Similarly, transclusion also received 18 responses with about 27.8% voting at 5 (significant challenges, requires long-term effort and resources). Visual editor, search function and export of books all received 17 responses each, with a majority in all three assessing these as 5. Of these search function had more people assessing the functionality at 5 (41.2%), followed closely by visual editor and export of books (35.3% each). User interface received 16 responses, with 31.3 % of respondents assessing it at 5 as well.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Wikisource.png/@@images/5072e098-7223-42ce-b52b-71503241c5e4.png" alt="null" class="image-inline" title="" /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Open Access and Content Creation</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In addition to the above, content curation and related aspects of open access and relicensing are also spaces with prevalent knowledge gaps in terms of protocols and best practices, which poses a challenge for content generation on Wikisource projects. Lack of awareness about Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and relicensing in fact has been a significant impediment in content donation efforts, across projects. In this survey, a large number of respondents (42.6%) also said they were either unaware of these issues with Wikisource or about IPR itself, or mentioned that it was not applicable in this context. Among the challenges/issues mentioned, the need for simple, easily accessible advocacy material in print about open access was prominent, in order to encourage content creators/authors to share work on open licences. It was also noted that this process may be difficult for people who are not well-versed in the technical/legal aspects of the project, especially in terms of tracking down individual creators for consent to re-license and share their work. Respondents also noted that this work needs support from institutions to help set up collaborations, such as with educational organisations, publishing houses and authors, as also an understanding of official documentation and wider promotion etc. which may encourage more people to share content on open licences.</p>
<p>All of these aspects are further reflected in terms of strategies to address these issues as well, as observed in Fig. 4.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">A similar disparity exists with content curation best practices as well, with a majority of respondents noting that their respective communities do not have clearly defined protocols for content curation. While such benchmarking is naturally difficult given several socio-cultural and linguistic subjectivities of each project, this also means that what makes it to Wikisource in a particular language can be defined by many factors, which also informs the quality, types and formats of content produced. Potential methods to address this include developing guidelines for content creation, and forms of review by experts as well as community members, all of which ranked high in the survey responses. ( See Fig 5)</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As we did not receive enough responses on the interview questionnaires, there was not much additional qualitative data that could be gathered. There are however resonances with the survey responses, namely in terms of technical/hardware challenges such as poor quality of scanning, and the need for an app which is user-friendly and will further facilitate mobile editing, especially in areas with limited digital infrastructure and access. Some observations include the importance of the <a title="Volunteer Response Team" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Volunteer_Response_Team">OTRS process</a> in adding new content, and the need for better online and offline training, especially for new volunteers, in technical skills. Similarly, collaborations with educational institutions and local print media could be useful in creating more awareness, and therefore tapping into more content and resources in terms of new volunteers. Additionally, there are also some interesting observations on individual communities working on connecting work across projects, for example Wikisource and Wikiquote.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Conclusions and Recommendations</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">While the scope of the study had to be reduced significantly given several methodological challenges and external factors as mentioned earlier, the analysis of data does offer some significant learnings on the current challenges prevalent across Indian language Wikisource projects. Needless to say, many of these are also fairly contextual and nuanced, depending on how well-resourced certain languages are, given factors such as basic internet connectivity and digital literacy. The following is a short summary of key recommendations from this exercise.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Technological Infrastructure:</strong> Across the board, gaps in development of technological infrastructure have been prominent, ranging from basic fixes to advanced tools and user-friendly apps that may help mitigate some of the issues related to access. It is also notable that early challenges such as OCR and translation do not present as significant obstacles here (but continue to remain areas of ongoing work); features such as the visual editor, search and export functionalities emerged as continual challenges. The need for a user-friendly mobile app is also an important observation here. Some of this work is also quite resource-intensive in terms of funding; it would be prudent to look at collaborations with related organisations and local fundraising efforts that may help facilitate the same.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Capacity-Building:</strong> Similarly, capacity-building efforts need to be strengthened within communities, given the nature of work which is specialised and often quite technical( for example the process of transclusion). In addition to bringing in new volunteers, and equipping them with the requisite skill-sets to contribute effectively, there is a need for contributors with advanced skill-sets who may be able to address more technical challenges. Efforts here could include reaching out to the wider free and open source communities for external expertise, and working on a collaborative model of workshopping around strategic issues, and developing relevant skill-sets. Community-engagement: As noted by many respondents, bringing in new volunteers and their retention on projects has been a continual challenge, also due to the factors mentioned above. Improvements in technical infrastructure and capacity-building would help address some of these challenges as well. In addition to this, as noted by respondents, developing proactive collaborations with diverse institutions and individuals (educational/media/creative practice) would help widen networks, hence creating better awareness and visibility for work, such as through social media content and may also foster better engagement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Content Curation and Open Access:</strong> As is widely understood, discourse around open access and relicensing is layered, and the protocols often vary widely depending on linguistic factors and cultural context. Instead of developing benchmarks, it may be prudent therefore to develop accessible content on existing, global relicensing protocols, in translation across languages. These may be further used by communities to understand and engage better with efforts in content donation. Guidelines for content curation will again need to be similarly developed and modified, keeping in mind how policies also evolve and change. An important consideration here in addition to quality, is also that of ethics of access and use, especially by communities themselves.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">This short study was an effort to map some of the prevalent infrastructural challenges that underlie work on Indian language Wikisource projects. The observations from this report may offer useful insights in thinking through and developing strategies to address these gaps, through collaborative efforts in training and building resources for projects.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-infrastructural-needs-of-indian-language-wikisource-projects'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-infrastructural-needs-of-indian-language-wikisource-projects</a>
</p>
No publisherPuthiya Purayil SnehaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen Content2022-10-21T13:21:20ZBlog EntryMapping Content on Gender and Sexuality in Indian Languages
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-mapping-content-on-gender-and-sexuality-in-indian-languages
<b>This research study explores content production processes on gender and sexuality in Indian languages, its digital documentation and factors that affect its availability and use on open access platforms. The research was undertaken by Yashashwini Srinivas, with editorial inputs by Puthiya Purayil Sneha, and Torsha Sarkar. This research was part of short-term studies undertaken at the CIS-A2K programme 2021-22.</b>
<p>Read the report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Mapping_Content_on_Gender_and_Sexuality_in_Indian_Languages">here</a>.</p>
<hr />
<h2>Introduction</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Mapping Content on Gender and Sexuality in Indian languages is a research project that studies the content production process on gender and sexuality in Indian languages and challenges it with its digital documentation. It examines the diverse nature of content creation on these topics, processes of its digitalisation and related challenges that contribute to the disparity in its availability and use on open knowledge platforms such as Wikimedia projects, and potential strategies to address the same.<br /><br />Through conversations with individuals and institutions working on gender, sexuality and allied topics like feminism, with a focus on women, non-binary and LGBTQIA+ related content, the study explores various aspects of content creation across multiple Indian languages, its access and use. Based on analysing this data and drawing on ongoing work within the mainstream discourse on gender and sexuality, the report offers a set of observations on ways to address challenges related to the gender gap in the content creation process on open knowledge platforms.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Context and Methods</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Collaborative knowledge production platforms such as Wikimedia projects have recognised the existence of a <a title="Gender gap" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Gender_gap">gender gap and bias</a> across its projects, understood largely as disparities in participation by and content related to women and, by extension, individuals across diverse gender and sexual identities. As observed in global literature as well as by work done by Indian language communities (with a focus largely on women Wikimedians), the gap is a result of various infrastructural and socio-cultural factors, including limited access to devices and the internet; balancing professional, domestic and volunteer work; lack of technical capacity-building and communication skills; limited presence in leadership positions, and the need for safe and healthy working environments among others. Several efforts have been made globally and in Indian language communities to address these challenges.<br /><br />The issue of the gender gap, or indeed the challenges identified, are not unique to Wikimedia projects alone but are reflective of gender disparities in the public sphere and across the internet more broadly. Key learning from previous work in this space has been the need to connect these conversations and efforts to bridge the gender gap with the wider public discourse related to content creation on gender and sexuality online and in Indian languages. This study aimed to map such content with perspectives drawn from diverse gender and sexual identities. Importantly, it sought to understand better some of the infrastructural and cultural factors that shape creating such content and making it publicly available in diverse languages.<br /><br />This study was done across four Indian languages - Kannada, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu (while English remained inevitable), focusing on content under two sub-themes– a. Cultural History and b. Feminist Production/Publication. The respondents in the study included organisations and individuals working in the areas of gender, sexuality and allied areas like feminist interventions and publishing, with a focus on writers, translators, artists, and multi-format content creators and curators. The study adopted a qualitative approach and comprised 19 semi-structured interviews (including four focused group discussions with organisations). Owing to the pandemic, all interactions for this study were done through telephonic conversation, email and virtual conferencing. These interactions have helped us understand the process of content creation in these areas. These problems manifest as gendered disparities in engagement with online platforms and potential solutions to address the same.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Key Research Areas</h2>
<p>The three major thematic areas this research study focused on are as follows.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Nature of the Knowledge Produced</strong><br />Content production on gender and sexuality in Indian languages spans several areas, including education, activism, advocacy and rights and justice, to name a few, given the location of much early writing in this space within the women’s rights and several other social movements in India. Important observations on the nature of this content by respondents include the emergence of a feminist critique across fields and disciplines, active interventions in the public discourse around gender and sexuality and the need for an intersectional approach to the process of content production. The growth of content in Indian languages and their increased availability on online platforms is also an important step towards addressing the predominance of Anglocentric and academic perspectives in these areas of research and work.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Digital Spaces, and movement of Content from Paper to Pixel</strong><br />The cohort of the participants of this study has pointed out the evolution of the internet and digital tools from a luxury to a necessity but also acknowledged the widespread disparity in their access and use. However, the interesting outcome of this has been the transformation of traditional publishing methods and the emergence of cost-efficient space to produce content in various formats (like on social media) which fosters wider dissemination and engagement. However, increasing digital content production also comes with the need for advancements in digital literacy, resources and infrastructure. Digitalisation and open access to content on gender and sexuality in Indian languages is, therefore, a resource-intensive process, with related challenges such as copyright restrictions and technical limitations to access and use of Indian language content etc.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Indian Languages</strong><br />The content creation process on gender and sexuality in Indian languages is complex given the country's diversity. Still, socio-cultural factors continue to determine the growth and use of languages, often resulting from asymmetries of power amongst diverse communities. This includes the marginalisation of certain forms of language use and content production processes that are not seen as within the ambit of dominant languages. Further, the lack of a gender-neutral vocabulary across many Indian languages and the significant challenges in the translation are important issues that emerged in this space. While the translation of content on gender and sexuality into Indian languages from English and other foreign languages is challenging due to the lack of a gender-neutral and conceptual vocabulary, as noted earlier; the lack of reverse translations and limitations within publishing and wider circulation of content are some of the factors that continue to affect work in this space.</p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify;">Learnings</h2>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The learnings from this study outline the many challenges in content production on gender and sexuality, especially in Indian languages and its availability in digital spaces. These include the need to recognise that gendered disparities result from asymmetries of power, thus calling for a more critical outlook and intersectional approach towards the processes of content production (and related work such as translation, digitisation and archiving). They also offer several strategies and best practices drawn from observations by the respondents to address some of these gaps in content creation and circulation to ensure sustainable knowledge production ecosystems.<br /><br />These include the dire need to bridge technical and infrastructural gaps, facilitate visibility and engagement with content through collaborations with key institutions and individuals in this space, and capacity-building through developing pedagogy and tools. Further, there is a need to diversify the approach towards creating and sourcing content and creating safe working environments by developing redressal mechanisms for marginalised and vulnerable communities. As Wikimedia projects constitute a major part of the digital knowledge ecosystem and have been working towards more diversity and inclusion across their projects, a sustained approach to bridge these gaps may be adopted in the Indian context. This would contribute immensely to efforts to bridge the gender gap across Wikimedia projects and in the larger digital public sphere.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-mapping-content-on-gender-and-sexuality-in-indian-languages'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/research-mapping-content-on-gender-and-sexuality-in-indian-languages</a>
</p>
No publisherYashashwini SrinivasCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen Content2022-10-21T13:03:20ZBlog EntryDigitisation of O Bharat, a bilingual biweekly published in Goa from 1912 to 1949
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-of-o-bharat
<b>The digitization project of O Bharat, a historic biweekly published between 1912 to 1949 in Goa was completed through collaboration of different organizations. The trustees of Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust initiated the project in collaboration with Marathi department of Goa University, Bhakti Dnyan Marg Sanstha and Goa Central Library. The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge Programme facilitated the project with technical and financial assistance. Two local students scanned 12000 pages in 8 days. The year wise volumes of O Bharat are now freely available on Wikimedia Commons in the form of archive.</b>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/OBharatPortuguese.jpg" alt="O Bharat Portuguese" class="image-inline" title="O Bharat Portuguese" /></th><th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_OBharatMarathi.jpg" alt="O Bharat Marathi" class="image-inline" title="O Bharat Marathi" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Above: Front page of O Bharat in Portuguese</td>
<td>Above: Front page of O Bharat in Marathi</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<h3>Context</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It all started like this. During the Wikimedia session at Goa University in October 2021, it was realised that there is very little documentation about the ‘Goa Liberation Struggle’ on Wikimedia projects. So, in the meeting Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar from the Marathi language department took the lead to develop a project around this theme.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The exhaustive list of freedom fighters, major incidents in history, the places related with struggle, monuments and memorials was prepared. The next day, to have a glimpse of the situation on ground, we toured a few places and <a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monuments_and_memorials_in_Goa">monuments in South Goa</a>. As we were shocked to see the sorry state of the memorials, we came across a monument of Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai known as Bharatkar (an editor of O Bharat), in a lush green forest near Quepem village. Being curious to know about the history of O Bharat publication, Prof. Vinay introduced us to the grandson of Bharatkar, Adv. Khagendra Desai who founded <a class="text external" href="http://www.bharatkar.info/" rel="nofollow">Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust</a>, non-profit organisation in Goa to archive the works of Bharatkar.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As both of us share the same vision, CIS-A2K partnered with Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust, to relicense and digitise freedom fighter Bharatkar’s ‘O Bharat,’ a Marathi-Portuguese bilingual weekly, currently housed at <a class="text external" href="http://centrallibrary.goa.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Goa Central Public Library</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">About the 36 Year Run of ‘O Bharat’ upto India’s Independence</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Freedom fighter, social reformer and journalist 'Bharat'kar Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai, (7th Nov 1885 - 15th Aug 1949), started 'O Bharat' (in Portuguese) or 'Bharat' (in Marathi) on 6th November 1912. For 36 years thereafter, Bharatkar courageously protested the Portuguese occupation, relentlessly advocated radical and progressive social reforms and doggedly championed the cause of an independent and sovereign Indian Goa.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Partnerships</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The partnerships with various stakeholders were developed after a <a class="text external" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Digitisation_review_and_partnerships_in_Goa">series of discussions</a> and official communications. The Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust obtained official permissions from the State Government departments for the access of O Bharat volumes in the library. Goa Central Public Library provided access to the bound volumes of O Bharat and permission to scan them. Another local organisation, Bhakti Dnyan Marg Sanstha in association with Goa University Marathi Department identified few students for the digitisation.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Digitisation process and launch on Wikimedia Commons</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The trustees of Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust relicensed the two volumes of selected editorials published in 2018 and the whole O Bharat issues into CC-BY-SA 4.0. We conducted digitisation training with Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar and students, Shravani Parab and Shridhar Raut, from Goa University to scan 12000 pages in 8 days. The officials of Goa Central Public Library cooperated in access to original volumes and in the process of digitisation. The Chief Minister of Goa inaugurated the <a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:O_Bharat">project on Wikimedia Commons</a> on India’s 75th Independence day, 15 August 2022. The year wise volumes of ‘O Bharat’ are now freely accessible to anyone in the world at any time anywhere. The uploading of the volumes is in progress.</p>
<h3>Media links</h3>
<p>The event of launching digitised content on Wikimedia was very well received by the people in Goa. The researchers, students, readers and journalists will have this reference value content while exploring the history of Goa. Various national and local media published the news covering all the aspects of this archive. The links are given below -</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="text external" href="https://epaper.dainikgomantak.com/FlashClient/Show_Story_IPad.aspx?storySrc=http://epaper-sakal-application.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/DainikGomantakEpaperData/DainikGomantak/GOA/2022/08/18/Main/DainikGomantak_Goa_2022_08_18_Main_DA_013/588_1306_1362_2406.jpg&uname=" rel="nofollow">News in Gomantak</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="https://epaper.navhindtimes.in/" rel="nofollow">News in Navhind Times</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="http://epaper.thegoan.net/m5/3564268/Goan-Varta/Goan-Varta#page/3/1" rel="nofollow">News in Goan Varta</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="http://epaper.navprabha.com/" rel="nofollow">News in Navprabha</a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>This was originally published on <a class="external-link" href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/September_2022/Contents/India_report">Wikimedia Blog</a> in September 2022</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-of-o-bharat'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-of-o-bharat</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaGLAMWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen ContentOpenness2022-10-11T14:53:58ZBlog EntryDigitisation of O Bharat, a bilingual biweekly published in Goa from 1912 to 1949
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat
<b>It all started like this. During the Wikimedia session at Goa University in October 2021, it was realised that there is very little documentation about the ‘Goa Liberation Struggle’ on Wikimedia projects. So, in the meeting Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar from the Marathi language department took the lead to develop a project around this theme.</b>
<h3><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Bharat.png" alt="Bharat" class="image-inline" title="Bharat" /></h3>
<h3>Context</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span>The exhaustive list of freedom fighters, major incidents in history, the places related with struggle, monuments and memorials was prepared. The next day, to have a glimpse of the situation on ground, we toured a few places and </span><a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Monuments_and_memorials_in_Goa">monuments in South Goa</a><span>. As we were shocked to see the sorry state of the memorials, we came across a monument of Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai known as Bharatkar (an editor of O Bharat), in a lush green forest near Quepem village. Being curious to know about the history of O Bharat publication, Prof. Vinay introduced us to the grandson of Bharatkar, Adv. Khagendra Desai who founded </span><a class="text external" href="http://www.bharatkar.info/" rel="nofollow">Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust</a><span>, non-profit organisation in Goa to archive the works of Bharatkar.</span></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As both of us share the same vision, CIS-A2K partnered with Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust, to relicense and digitise freedom fighter Bharatkar’s ‘O Bharat,’ a Marathi-Portuguese bilingual weekly, currently housed at <a class="text external" href="http://centrallibrary.goa.gov.in/" rel="nofollow">Goa Central Public Library</a>.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">About the 36 Year Run of ‘O Bharat’ upto India’s Independence</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Freedom fighter, social reformer and journalist 'Bharat'kar Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai, (7th Nov 1885 - 15th Aug 1949), started 'O Bharat' (in Portuguese) or 'Bharat' (in Marathi) on 6th November 1912. For 36 years thereafter, Bharatkar courageously protested the Portuguese occupation, relentlessly advocated radical and progressive social reforms and doggedly championed the cause of an independent and sovereign Indian Goa.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Partnerships</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The partnerships with various stakeholders were developed after a <a class="text external" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Digitisation_review_and_partnerships_in_Goa">series of discussions</a> and official communications. The Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust obtained official permissions from the State Government departments for the access of O Bharat volumes in the library. Goa Central Public Library provided access to the bound volumes of O Bharat and permission to scan them. Another local organisation, Bhakti Dnyan Marg Sanstha in association with Goa University Marathi Department identified few students for the digitisation.</p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">Digitisation process and launch on Wikimedia Commons</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The trustees of Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust relicensed the two volumes of selected editorials published in 2018 and the whole O Bharat issues into CC-BY-SA 4.0. We conducted digitisation training with Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar and students, Shravani Parab and Shridhar Raut, from Goa University to scan 12000 pages in 8 days. The officials of Goa Central Public Library cooperated in access to original volumes and in the process of digitisation. <span>The Chief Minister of Goa inaugurated the </span><a class="text external" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:O_Bharat">project on Wikimedia Commons</a><span> on India’s 75th Independence day, 15 August 2022. The year wise volumes of ‘O Bharat’ are now freely accessible to anyone in the world at any time anywhere. The uploading of the volumes is in progress.</span></p>
<h3>Media links</h3>
<p>The event of launching digitised content on Wikimedia was very well received by the people in Goa. The researchers, students, readers and journalists will have this reference value content while exploring the history of Goa. Various national and local media published the news covering all the aspects of this archive. The links are given below -</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="text external" href="https://epaper.dainikgomantak.com/FlashClient/Show_Story_IPad.aspx?storySrc=http://epaper-sakal-application.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/DainikGomantakEpaperData/DainikGomantak/GOA/2022/08/18/Main/DainikGomantak_Goa_2022_08_18_Main_DA_013/588_1306_1362_2406.jpg&uname=" rel="nofollow">News in Gomantak</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="https://epaper.navhindtimes.in/" rel="nofollow">News in Navhind Times</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="http://epaper.thegoan.net/m5/3564268/Goan-Varta/Goan-Varta#page/3/1" rel="nofollow">News in Goan Varta</a></li>
<li><a class="text external" href="http://epaper.navprabha.com/" rel="nofollow">News in Navprabha</a></li>
</ul>
<hr />
<p><span>This was originally published on </span><a class="external-link" href="https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/GLAM/Newsletter/September_2022/Contents/India_report">Wikimedia Blog</a><span> in September 2022</span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen ContentOpenness2022-10-11T13:11:15ZBlog EntryWIPO SCCR 42: Statement by CIS on the Limitations and Exceptions Agenda Item
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-limitations-and-exceptions-agenda-item
<b>Anubha Sinha delivered a statement on behalf of CIS, on day 3 of the 42nd WIPO SCCR session on the Limitations and Exceptions Agenda Item.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you, Mr. Chair.</p>
<p>I’m speaking on behalf of the Centre for Internet and
Society, India.</p>
<p>The Proposal by the African Group for a Draft work program
on Exceptions and Limitations has the potential to address issues faced in the
domains of access to information, culture and education, keeping in mind that
there have been systemic shifts in the knowledge ecosystem since pandemic,
which will endure in the long term as well.</p>
<p>In India, researchers at public and private institutions in
both in science and social science disciplines over the period of 2020-2021,
submitted to a court of law that they faced serious challenges in remotely accessing
research, especially journal articles during the pandemic.In the same vein, a study by the Confederation of Open
Access Repositories found that copyright and licensing were an impediment to discovery of, and access to, COVID-19 research outputs, inhibiting research
collaborations.</p>
<p>At WIPO, in the past few years, numerous exercises such as action
plans and regional seminars implemented by this committee recognised
limitations and exceptions for education and research as a priority. Digital Preservation emerged as a consensual solution that
could be acted on - as identified in the regional seminar report as well.</p>
<p>We believe that the Proposal by the African Group for a
Draft work program on Exceptions and Limitations effectively prioritises these
actionable aspects without prejudging the outcome of the negotiations on the
limitations and exceptions agenda. Hence, we look forward to member states
making progress by constructively considering and acting on the way forward
laid in the Proposal.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-limitations-and-exceptions-agenda-item'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-limitations-and-exceptions-agenda-item</a>
</p>
No publishersinhaLimitations & ExceptionsAccess to KnowledgeWIPO2022-05-12T08:41:01ZBlog EntryWIPO SCCR 42: Statement by CIS on the Protection of Broadcasting Organisations Agenda Item
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organisations-agenda-item
<b>Anubha Sinha delivered a statement on behalf of CIS, on day 2 of the 42nd WIPO SCCR session on the Protection of Broadcasting Organisations Agenda Item. </b>
<p> </p>
<p>Thank you, Mr. Chair.</p>
<p>I’m speaking on behalf of the Centre for Internet and
Society, India.</p>
<p>Mr. Chair we would like to congratulate you and the
vice-chair on your election.</p>
<p>The current draft text of the WIPO Broadcasting
Organisations treaty carries a rather weak framework of limitations and exceptions,
when we consider the long duration of protection of twenty years that has been
proposed.</p>
<p>The limitations and exceptions are not aligned to the
ongoing discussions on the L&E agenda, where there is an agreement evolving
amongst many member states to revisit and revise limitations and exceptions for
purposes of preservation, online and cross-border uses, and research for
benefit of education, research, libraries, archives and museums.</p>
<p>The framework does not rise to these standards, and also
makes enacting of limitations and exceptions in national law optional.</p>
<p>Seen from this perspective, the draft text of the WIPO
Broadcasting Organisations treaty is neither a balanced treaty nor a modern
one.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organisations-agenda-item'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/wipo-sccr-42-statement-by-cis-on-the-protection-of-broadcasting-organisations-agenda-item</a>
</p>
No publishersinhaBroadcast TreatyLimitations & ExceptionsAccess to Knowledge2022-05-10T14:38:48ZBlog Entry