Centre for Internet and Society

A Wikipedia Presentation at BITS, Goa

Radhakrishna Arvapally — 2015-03-09T01:21:43Z

Quark is one of India's largest science, technology and management festivals, held every February at BITS Pilani - K.K. Birla Goa Campus. This year in 2015, the event was held from February 6 to 8, 2015. This blog post captures the key moments. About 12 delegates attended the event.

How it Started?

For celebrating this annual event, "Quark 2015", BITS Pilani invited speakers from all over India. Many parallel tracks happen during this event. I got an Invite to speak about Wikimedia projects.The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) supported my event participation.

Dr. Sunil Kumar, a BITS physics professor who could not join the presentation due to conflicting meetings met me in the morning that day. He was curious to understand how Wikimedia projects work, how people collaborate to write the same article, how the conflicting views gets resolved among editors and how one can trust the content. He was excited to know the mechanics behind. We discussed about organizing a quiz for their students. He responded very positive and said that he will discuss this internally and get back to me later.

CIS team also helped me to establish contact with Luis Gomes, a local Konkani Wikipedian. We met at the event and shared our thoughts. It was a good learning for me to understand how Konkani Wikipedia is progressing.

I gave my speech in the afternoon. The participants showed great enthusiasm to learn about Wikipedia projects. The session was very interactive. The participants tried answering open ended questions like — As on today, what are the possible ways to preserve unique knowledge and skill? The participants also asked questions on the source of knowledge contribution to Wikipedia and how it survives?

My presentation showcased how anyone could contribute to Wikipedia and also explore greater possibilities of exploring existing frame work with examples like QRpedia, WikiWand, and many more.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/a-wikipedia-presentation-at-goa

An International Conclave of Odia Language

praskrishna — 2015-03-08T05:06:14Z

Subhashish Panigrahi is participating in this event.

See the invitation letter and the concept letter.

The Odia language traces its roots back to 4th Century BC. Odisha was the first state to be carved out as a separate state on the basis of the language. The dawn of 20th February 2014 was a proud moment for all Odias as Odia language was accorded the ‘Classical language’ status of our country and occupied the 6th position. This achievement was due to the relentless effort of many scholars and activists. Now it becomes the responsibility of all the Odias to preserve, propagate and carry forward the legacy of the Odia language which is spoken by around 40 million people in India and around 45 million people globally. We will see that a day will come when it will be used as the first language in all government offices for official communications.

THE INTELLECTS, a forum of progressive individuals and intellectuals in Delhi, believes it as an utmost duty and responsibility to promote Odia identity in India and abroad. In its bid to impart our language to Pravasi Odias living in and around Delhi, THE INTELLECTS is on a missionary zeal. It has started its mission called “ASA SIKHIBA AMARI BHASHA” in National Capital region.

And now, the forum in association with SHRI JAGANNATH MANDIR, TYAGRAJNAGAR is organizing a two days conclave, on 20th & 21st February 2015, to celebrate the 1st anniversary of Classical status to Odia language & the World Mother tongue Day with a special focus on our mother tongue Odia.

The Event

International Conclave of Odia Language:
The event will be a two days festival showcasing the Odia identity in the national Capital and bringing some best minds of the country to discuss on various issues of immense need on language and culture of Odisha. Around 200 eminent people from across the world including many renowned experts from various walks of life are the invited speakers.

It will be our proud privilege to have you with us for the occasion.
With Kind Regards

Debendra Rout
Convener of the conclave & Chairman of The Intellects
Email: cm.intellects@gmail.com
Mob: +91-9350127370

Programme

Celebration of 1st Anniversary of Classical status of Odia language
Date: 20th February, Friday, Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Venue: Constitution Club, Rafi Marg, New Delhi

Welcome
Inauguration of Conclave
Inauguration of Special Report on the Conclave
Felicitation of prominent personalities for their contribution to
Odia language
Addresses
Vote of Thanks
Cultural Programme
Dinner

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/international-conclave-odia-language

Winners of the Opensource.com 2015 Community Awards

praskrishna — 2015-02-12T01:23:44Z

Every year, Opensource.com awards people from our community who have excelled in contributing and sharing stories about open source.

These stories are about open source as we use it in our everyday lives as well as how it helps to build a better world and future in technology. This year, we present to you the 2015 Opensource.com Community Awards in the following categories.

People's Choice Awards

Subhashish Panigrahi

An educator and open source activist, based in Bangalore, India.

Reader's Choice Awards

Recognizes the community's favorite articles from 2014. Voted on by the community.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/opensource-2015-award-winners

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଅନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ

subha — 2015-01-31T04:51:15Z

This is an op-ed I authored for Odia newspaper the "Samaja" that got published on January 30, 2015. Through this post I intend to highlight the needs for taking the Odia language to international fora instead of keeping it confined within the books. I have covered the focus area of 3 free and open source projects: Odia Wikipedia, Odia Wikisource and Global Voices Odia in the column highlighting the need for more people to contribute.

The Unicode version of the post is below. Interestingly 10 new accounts got created on Odia Wikipedia so far which seem to be an impact of the portion explaining about Wikipedia.

ଭାଷାଟି ଆମର ଏ ଦେଶର ମୋଟ ୬୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଭାଷା ଓ ତହିଁରୁ ୬ଟି ପୁରୁଣା ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଗୋଟିଏ ବୋଲି ମାନ୍ୟତା ପାଇଲା । ଆମ ଭାଷା ମୂଳ ବିଶାଳ କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଭୂଖଣ୍ଡର ସତ୍ତାକୁ ଧରି ରଖିଥିବା ବୋଧେ ଏକଇ ଭାଷା । ଏତେ ସବୁ ପରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ଆମ ଭାଷା ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତିକ ସ୍ତରରେ କେତେ ପରିଚିତ, ତାହା ନକହିବା ଭଲ । ଯେଉଁଠି ନିଜ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଲୋକେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ କଥା ହେବାକୁ ନାରାଜ ସେଠି ଦେଶବିଦେଶରେ ପତିଆରା କଥା କହିବା ତୁଚ୍ଛା ପାଗଳାମି ବୋଲି ପାଠକେ ହୁଏତ ଭାବୁଥିବେ । ତେବେ ଏ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିବା ପଛରେ ରହିଛି ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଜାତିର ମାନସିକତା ବିଦେଶରୁ ଆସିଥିବା ଲୋକଟେ ଅଧିକ ଆଦର ପାଏ, ନିଜ ଲୋକେ ବିଦେଶ ଯାଇ ବାହୁଡ଼ିଲେ ଅଧିକ ସମ୍ମାନର ଅଧିକାରୀ ହୁଅନ୍ତି, ଏମିତି ଲୋକେ ମଦ ପିଇଲେ ବିଦେଶୀ ଭାଷାରେ ବକନ୍ତି ବୋଲି ଶୁଣାଯାଏ! ଏଣୁ ନିଜ ରାଇଜ ଆଉ ଦେଶରେ ଯେବେ ଆମ ଭାଷାଟି ଗାଁ କନିଆଁ, କାଳେ ବିଦେଶରେ କାଟ୍‍ତି ବଢ଼ିଲେ, ଭାଷାଟି ଏକ ଅନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ଭାଷା ବୋଲି ବିଖ୍ୟାତ ହେବ ଆଉ ନିଜ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ତା' ପ୍ରତି ଆଦର ବଢ଼ି ।ରେ ବୋଲି ବିଚାରିବା । କେଇଦିନ ତଳେ ଇଟାଲିରୁ ଜଣେ ସାଙ୍ଗ ଜଣାଇଲେ "ଓଡ଼ିଆ' ଶବ୍ଦଟି (ସେମାନେ, ପର୍ତ୍ତୁଗୀଜ ଓ ସ୍ପାନିସ ଭାଷାଏ "ଓଦିଆ' ବୋଲି ଉଚ୍ଚାରଣ କରନ୍ତି) ଘୃଣା କରିବା ପାଇଁ ବ୍ୟବହାର ହୁଏ । ମୁହଁରେ କହିଲି ନାହିଁ, ହେଲେ ମନରେ ଭାଜିଲି ଆମ ଲୋକେ ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ କ'ଣ କମ ହୀନିମାନ କରନ୍ତି! ଯଦି ଆମ ଭାଷା ଜଗତର ଛାମୁଆଁ ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ ଗୋଟେ ହୋଇପାରନ୍ତା ତା'ହେଲେ ଏ "ଘୃଣାର ଭାଷା' ହୋଇ ଆଉ ରହନ୍ତା ନାହିଁ । ତେବେ ଆମ ଭିତରୁ କେତେଜଣ ଜଗତର ଆଉ ଭାଷା ଗବେଷାଳିଙ୍କ ସଙ୍ଗେ ନିଜ ଭାଷା କଥା ପକାଉଛୁ? ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସୀମା ଡେଇଁଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆମାନେ ଏତେ ଅନର୍ଗଳ ହିନ୍ଦୀ କହିବେ ଆପଣଙ୍କୁ ବୋଧ ହେବ ବୋଧେ ଏମାନେ ମାଆ ପେଟରୁ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଶିଖିଥିଲେ । ଅଧିକ ଭାଷା ଶିଖିଲେ ଭଲ, କାମରେ ଆସେ । ହେଲେ ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ ତୁଚ୍ଛକରି କିଏ ନୂଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଏତେ ପାରଙ୍ଗମ ହୁଏନା । ଆଜି ଯାଏ ଆମ ଭାଷାର ଏତେ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଯେ ଗଢ଼ା, ତା'ଭିତରୁ କେତେ ଅନ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରେ ଅନୁବାଦ ହୋଇଛି? ଯେଉଁମାନେ ଆମ ସାହିତ୍ୟର ମୁଖିଆ ବୋଲାଇ କାଳକାଳ ଧରି ଗାଦି ମାଡ଼ି ବସିଛନ୍ତି, ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ ପୁଚ୍ଛିବାର ବେଳ ଆସିଛି କାହିଁକି ଆମେ ଖାଲି ଅନ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରୁ ଅନୁବାଦ କରୁଛୁ, କାହିଁକି ଆମର କାଳଜୟୀ ଲେଖାମାନ ଦେଶ ଓ ଦେଶ ବାହାରେ ପଢ଼ାଯାଉନାହିଁ? ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ଭିତରୁ କେବଳ ତାମିଲ ଭାଷା କଥା ଚର୍ଚ୍ଚା ହୁଏ ଦେଶବିଦେଶରେ । କାରଣ କ'ଣ ଜାଣନ୍ତି? ବାକିସବୁ କାରଣ ବାଦ୍‍ ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ କାରଣଟି ହେଲା ସେ ଭାଷାର ପୁରୋଧାମାନେ ରାଜ୍ୟ କି ଦେଶ ଭିତରେ ବାନ୍ଧି ନହୋଇ ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ ସାରା ଜଗତକୁ ନେଇଛନ୍ତି । ଖାଲି ପଇସାର ଟାଣରେ ଏ କାମ ହୋଇନାହିଁ, ଏଥିରେ ଧନ, ରାଜନୀତି ଆଉ କୂଟନୀତି ଲାଗିଛି । ଆମ ସାହିତ୍ୟିକମାନେ ଥରୁଟେ ବିଦେଶ ଗଲେ ସେଠି ନିଜ ଭାଷା, ରାଇଜ କଥା କେତେ ଯେ ଗପନ୍ତି ତା ମା' ଗଙ୍ଗେଇଙ୍କି ଜଣା । ଗପୁଥିଲେ ତାଙ୍କ ପରିଚିତ ମହଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ବାବଦରେ ମଞ୍ଜିଟିଏ ପୋତା ହୋଇଥାନ୍ତା, ଅନ୍ତତଃ କିଛି ଭାଷାରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହି ଅନୁଦିତ ହୋଇଥାନ୍ତା, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପୁରୁଣାପଣ ବାବଦରେ ବିଦେଶୀ ବ୍ଲଗରେ, ଖବରକାଗଜରେ, ଟେଲିଭିଜନରେ ଚର୍ଚ୍ଚା ହୋଇଥାନ୍ତା । ହୋଇଛି କି ଏଥିରୁ କାଣିଚାଏ? ଆଜିର ପିଢ଼ି ଯାହାଦେଇ ଶିଖୁଛନ୍ତି, ତାଙ୍କୁ ସେଇ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଶିଖାଇପାରିଲେ ସିନା ସେମାନେ ଶିଖିବେ । ଖାଲି ଏବର ପିଢ଼ିକୁ ଦୋଷ ଦେଇ ଭାଷା ମରିଯାଉଛି ବୋଲି କୁମ୍ଭୀର କାନ୍ଦଣା କାନ୍ଦିଲେ କି ହେବ କି ଆମେ ନିଜ ଭାଷାର ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ କଥା ବିଚାରୁଛୁ, ହେଲେ ଆକାଶ କଇଆଁ ସ୍ୱରୂପ "ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା କେନ୍ଦ୍ର ଅନୁଦାନ ରାଶି' ଆସିବାକୁ ନଚାହିଁ ବିଦେଶରୁ ରାଶି କେମିତି ଆସି ଏ କାମରେ ଲାଗିବ ତା ପାଇଁ ବାଟ ତିଆରୁଛୁ କି? ତେବେ ଏ ଦୁଃଖ ବଖାଣିଲେ ନସରେ । ଚୋରକୁ ମାନ ମାରି ଖପରାରେ ଖାଇଲେ ଏଠି ଘରବୁଡ଼ି ଆଣ୍ଠୁଏ ହେବ । ତେଣୁ ବେଳ ଥାଉଁଥାଉଁ କିଛି ନିଅଁ ପୋତା ଚାଲୁ, ତେଣିକି ଘର ଯେବେ ଗଢ଼ାଯିବ ଏ ସାହା ହେବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆର ପରିଚିତି ଦେଶବିଦେଶରେ ଯେତିକି ଉଣା, ଜଗତର ବାକି ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ତିଆରି ହୋଇଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଜ୍ଞାନର ଭଣ୍ଡାରରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ସେତିକି ଅଜଣା । ଇଂରାଜୀ ବାଦ୍‍ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଭାଷାର ଲେଖାର ପ୍ରକାଶନ ପାଇଁ ଅନେକ ସ୍ଥାନ ରହିଛି । ତେବେ ଏମିତି କେତୋଟି ଜାଗତିକ ସ୍ଥାନରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ଚିହ୍ନଟେ ଯେ ରହିବା ଲୋଡ଼ା ତା କହିବା ବାହୁଲ୍ୟ । କାନ୍ଦିବୋବାଳି ରାମମୋହନ ଲାଇବ୍ରେରି ସକାଶେ କେଇଶହ ବହି ଛାପି ଯେଉଁମାନେ ନିଜର ବା ଭାଷାର ଉନ୍ନତି କରିବେ ବୋଲି ସାଧି ବସିଥିବେ ତାଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ନାକରା ଖବର- ଆଉ ପିଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପଢ଼ୁନାହାନ୍ତି । ଓଡ଼ିଆ କଥା ଛାଡ଼ନ୍ତୁ, ପିଲେ ବହି ପଢ଼ୁନାହାନ୍ତି । ତାଙ୍କୁ ଆଜିକାଲି ଲୋଡ଼ା ଭଳିକି ଭଳି ଗେମ, ଆନିମେସନ ଆଉ ଗ୍ରାଫିକ୍‍ ନଭେଲ (କମିକ୍ସ ଭଳି ଛବି ସମ୍ବଳିତ ବହି) । ପୁଣି ପିଲାଏ ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଉ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜି ବସିୁଛନ୍ତି ନୂଆନୂଆ କଥା । ଆଜିର ପିଢ଼ି ଯାହା ଦେଇ ଶିଖୁଛନ୍ତି ତାଙ୍କୁ ସେଇ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଶିଖାଇପାରିଲେ ସିନା ସେମାନେ ଶିଖିବେ । ଖାଲି ଏବର ପିଢ଼ିକୁ ଦୋଷ ଦେଇ ଭାଷା ମରିଯାଉଛି ବୋଲି କୁମ୍ଭୀର କାନ୍ଦଣା କାନ୍ଦିଲେ କି ହେବ? ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ: ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ପହଞ୍ଚôଲେ କୌଣସି ବିଷୟ ଖୋଜିବାକୁ ପ୍ରଥମେ ଖୋଲାହୁଏ ଗୁଗୁଲ କି ୟାହୁ ଭଳି ସର୍ଚ୍ଚ ଇଞ୍ଜିନ । ଖୋଜିଲାପରେ ଯାହା ପ୍ରଥମ ଲିଙ୍କ୍‍ରେ ଆସେ ସେ ହେଲା ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ । ଏଇଟି ଜଗତର ବିଶାଳତମ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ । ୨୦୦୧ରେ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ପରେ ପ୍ରଥମ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ଭାବେ ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ ଓ ଅହମିୟା ସହ ଯେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏଥିରେ ସ୍ଥାନ ପାଇଲା ତା' ଅନେକ ଜାଣିନଥିବେ । ୨୦୦୨ରେ ତିଆରି ସିନା ହୋଇଗଲା । ହେଲେ ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖିବ କିଏ? ଇଂରାଜୀର ପାଠକ ଓ ଲେଖକ ଅଧିକ । ଆଉ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖିଲେ କଉଡ଼ିଟିଏ ମିଳେନାହିଁ । ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ଲେଖିବାକୁ ବିଦେଶରେ ଯେମିତି ଲୋକ ବାହାରନ୍ତି ଆମର ସେ ଅବସ୍ଥା ନାହିଁ । ତଥାପି ୨୦୧୧ ବେଳକୁ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବାହାରେ ଥିବା କିଛି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଏ ତିମିରରେ କିଛି ଆଲୁଅ ଜଳାଇଲେ । ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ଥିବା ଓଡ଼ିଆମାନେ ମଧ୍ୟ ସେଥିରେ ଯୋଡ଼ିହେଲେ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ବିଶାଳତମ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ । or.wikipedia.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏ ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ସୀମିତ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ସମ୍ପାଦିତ ହେଉଥିବାରୁ ସେତେ ବିଶାଳ ନୁହେଁ ସତ, କିନ୍ତୁ ଏହା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ବିଶାଳତମ ୱେବସାଇଟ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ମାସିକ ପାଠକ ୫ ଲକ୍ଷରୁ ଅଧିକ । ବହିର ପାଠ ବହି ବାହାରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର ହେବାରେ ପୁଣି ଟାଇପ କରିବାର ଯେଉଁ ବାଧକ ତା' ଏଥିରେ ନାହିଁ । ମଜାର କଥା ଯେ ଅନେକ ସମୟରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ଉଇକିଆଳିଗଣ (ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ସମ୍ପାଦକ) ବେଳେବେଳେ ଆପୋଷରେ ଏକ ଆଉଜଣଙ୍କ ଦେଶ-ଭାଷା-ଚଳଣି-ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିତ୍ୱଙ୍କ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଲେଖିବା ଦେଖାଯାଏ । ୨୮୮ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ଏମିତି ଅଗଣିତ ଲୋକ ଯେଉଁଠି ମିଶି ଲେଖନ୍ତି ସେଠି ଭାଷାଟିଏ ଯୋଜନଯୋଜନ ଡେଇଁ ଜଗତର କୋଣ ଅନୁକୋଣ କେଡ଼େ ସହଜରେ ପହଞ୍ଚିପାରେ ଏ ତା'ର ଏକ ଉଦାହରଣ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର: ଆମ ଭାଷାରେ ଏଯାବତ୍‍ କେଇ ଲକ୍ଷ ବହି ଛପାଯାଇସାରିବଣି । ହେଲେ ଏ ସବୁ ବହି କ'ଣ ସଭିଁଏ ପଢ଼ିବାର ସୁଯୋଗ ପାଆନ୍ତି? କାହାପାଖରେ ପାଠାଗାର ଯିବାପାଇଁ ବେଳ ନାହିଁ ତ ହାତପାହାନ୍ତାରେ ବହି ନଥିବାରୁ କିଏ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଛାଡ଼ି ବାକି ଭାଷାର ଲେଖାପଢ଼ା ଆଦରୁଛି । ଆମ ଭାଷାର ପାଠକ କମିକମି ଯାଉଛନ୍ତି । ସମାଧାନର ପନ୍ଥା କ'ଣ ହୋଇପାରେ? ଆମ ଭାଷା ଖାଲି କ'ଣ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଆଉ ସାହିତ୍ୟକଙ୍କ ଭାଷା କି ଲୋକମୁଖର କଥିତ ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ରହିଯିବ? ଆଜିର ପିଢ଼ି ପାଖରେ ପହଞ୍ଚôବାଲାଗି ତାକୁ ମନ ପଢ଼ିବାକୁ, ଜିଣିବାକୁ ହେବ । ଏଥି ।ଇଁ ପ୍ରାଥମିକ କାମଟି ହେଲା ବିରଳ ଓ ଛପା ହେଉନଥିବା ଅନେକ ପୁରାତନ ବହି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଜରିଆରେ ପାଠକମାନଙ୍କ ନିକଟକୁ ନେବା । ଯଦି ପାଠାଗାରରୁ କୌଣସି କାରଣରୁ ବହିଟି ଚୋରିହୁଏ କି ପୋକ ଖାଇଯାଏ ତା'ହେଲେ ଲେଖକର ଶ୍ରମର ଦେଉଳ ଭୁଶୁଡ଼ି ଡ଼େ । ତାକୁ ସାଇତିବାର ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ ବାଟ ହେଉଛି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‍ । ପୁରୁଣା ଓ ବିରଳ ବହିମାନ ଛପାଇବାରେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରର ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନର କାମ ଏକ ଐତିହାସିକ ପଦକ୍ଷେପ । ୧୮୪୦- ୧୯୪୦ ଭିତରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ପତି୍ରକା, ୨୫ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଅଭିଧାନ ତଥା ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣଚନ୍ଦ୍ର ଭାଷାକୋଷ ଭଳି ପୋଥିକୁ ମିଶାଇ ୭୪୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ବହିକୁ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ରୂ ଦେବାରେ ସେମାନଙ୍କ ଅବଦାନ କାହିଁରେ କେତେ । ହେଲେ ଏ ବହିର ଲେଖାସବୁ ଆଉଥରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର ହେବା, ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‍ରେ ଖୋଜିପାଇବା ତଥା ମୋବାଇଲ ଆଦିରେ ପଢ଼ିବା ପାଇଁ ଆଉଥରେ ଟାଇପ ହେବା ଜରୁରୀ । ସବୁଯାକ ବହିକୁ ଟାଇପ କରିବା ସମ୍ଭବ ନୁହେଁ, ହେଲେ କିଛିକିଛି ବହି ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ଟାଇପ ହୋଇପାରିବ । ସେ କାମଟି ଅଧୁନା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିାଠାଗାରରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ or.wikisosurce.org ରେ ପାଠକେ ଏହାକୁ ଖୋଲି ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଗବତଠୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ଭଞ୍ଜ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏବଂ ଗୋପବନ୍ଧୁଙ୍କ ପରି ଏ ଯୁଗର ମହାନ ସାହିତ୍ୟିକଙ୍କ ରଚନାବଳୀ । ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପଟି ଅଣଲାଭକାରୀ, ଆଉ କପିରାଇଟ ନଥିବାରୁ ବହି ସବୁ ଖୋଲାରେ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ।

ଗ୍ଲୋବାଲ ଭଏସେସ: ଉପର ଦୁଇ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ତ ଗଲା ବହିର ରକ୍ଷଣାବେକ୍ଷଣ ଆଉ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ବା ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିଆ ଗଢ଼ିବାର କଥା । ହେଲେ ଘଟୁଥିବା ଘଟଣା ଆଉ ଜନମତର ମହତ ମଧ୍ୟ ଊଣା ନୁହେଁ । ଘଟୁଥିବା ଘଟଣାବଳୀ ଓ ତହିଁରେ ଜନ-ଅଭିମତକୁ ଭରିବା ଲକ୍ଷ୍ୟରେ ଏକ ବିଶ୍ୱବ୍ୟାପୀ ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନ ହେଉଛି ଗ୍ଳୋବାଲ ଭଏସେସ । ସୌଭାଗ୍ୟର କଥା ଯେ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଓ ବଙ୍ଗଳା ପରେ ଏଥିରେ ୩ୟ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ଭାବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସ୍ଥାନୀତ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଖବର ବୋଲି ଯାହା ଖବରକାଗଜରେ ଆସେ ତା ବାହାରେ ଘଟୁଥିବା ଘଟଣା ସହ ପରିଚିତ ଲାଭ ପାଇଁ ଏ ଏକ ବଡ଼ ମାଧ୍ୟମ ହୋଇପାରେ । ଏହା or.globalvoicesonline.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ଏ ମଧ୍ୟ ଏକ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ପରିଚାଳିତ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଯାହାର ଦୁଆର ଭାଷା ଦକ୍ଷତା ଥିବା ଲେଖକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଖୋଲା ।

Click to read a copy of the original article published by the Samaja here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/op-ed-samaja-jan-2015

Musician donates Gwalior Gharana songs to free e-library

praskrishna — 2015-01-22T15:25:49Z

A few years ago, Mumbai-based musician Neela Bhagwat realized that her old notebooks filled with lyrics and notations of age-old 'bandishes' were in tatters. Afraid that she might lose them forever, Bhagwat decided to make fresh copies.

The article by Sandhya Soman was published in the Times of India on January 20, 2015. T. Vishnu Vardhan gave his inputs.

Once she wrote it all down, Bhagwat handed over the notebooks to a team to upload her collection of around 330 bandishes of the Gwalior gharana to a free, online library.

"I was always keen on sharing the compositions with others. Digitization is the way to go as it can be accessed from anywhere," says Bhagwat. Based on her notebooks, around 337 bandishes have been converted to PDF format by student and music researcher Tejaswini Niranjana. "I will be uploading them soon to Wikisource, which is one of the platforms of Wikipedia," says Niranjana.

Bhagwat and a few other music-lovers like her are taking up digital archiving projects to preserve India's cultural heritage without any institutional support or grant. "I have about 337 bandishes, my guru had more than 1,000 and his guru would've had still more. So much has got lost now," says Bhagwat. Even if she is willing to teach, few are able to understand, internalize and work on these classical compositions. "No student of mine has learnt all of it. So I thought it best to keep them in the public domain," says Bhagwat.

Along with music students, scholars also find these projects helpful.

For example, Andhra Pradesh-based lexicographer Peddi Sambasiva Rao has created a master index of all the compositions of Annamacharya for Telugu Wikisource recently. Now, he is in the process of digitizing the lyrics of all the 15,000 songs of the 15th century composer along with a fellow enthusiast. "Carnatic music lovers find it difficult to locate individual songs as there are 29 volumes of Annamacharya's works. Instead of publishing the index as a book, I thought of approaching Wikipedia, which is known to everyone," says Rao.

As the index is in Unicode, the standard text encoding format, the Telugu kirtanas will soon come up on search engines, says T Vishnu Vardhan, programme director, Access to Knowledge, CIS, which helped host these projects. "By June, we hope to have the entire Annamacharya kirtanas at a single source and eventually do the same for the songs of the Gwalior Gharana. This is the only way to make our cultural heritage accessible to future generations," says Vardhan.

Bhagwat says cultural and educations institutions should take the lead in digital archiving as the benefits are multi-fold. Once the bandishes are online, Bhagwat's students abroad will have the text along with the DVDs that she has brought out. "By the second or third Skype lesson, they would've learnt it," says Bhagwat.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-times-of-india-january-20-2015-sandhya-soman-musician-donates-gwalior-gharana-songs-to-free-e-library

Centre should partner local communities in 'Digital India': Expert

praskrishna — 2015-01-16T02:34:54Z

The central government needs to partner communities at the grassroots level and integrate the country's vernacular component to make the Digital India initiative a success, an expert said here Friday.

The blog entry originally published by IANS was mirrored in Zee News on January 9, 2015. T.Vishnu Vardhan was quoted.

"Whatever money it (Centre) is spending on culture, heritage conservation and preservation etc., it is always a very centralised activity.

"It is very, very essential to partner local communities," T. Vishnu Vardhan, programme director (Access to Knowledge), The Centre For Internet and Society, Bengaluru, told IANS here.

Vardhan was attending the 10th anniversary celebrations of Athe Bengali Wikimedia community at the Jadavpur University here.

Aiming to turn the country into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy, the Narendra Modi government has envisaged the Rs.1 lakh crore Digital India project.

Global IT giant Microsoft and Google have offered to help with the programme.

Vardhan said that while going forward with the project, the Centre must integrate the vernacular components. Else it will be restricted to Delhi and metro cities. Access to culture on digitised platforms should not be limited, he observed.

"The current government talks about Digital India. But when you talk about digital India, the key thing that one needs to take into consideration is not the India but the Bharat -- the vernacular imagination of India, the regional imagination of India.

"Otherwise whatever grand plans they have will only be limited to Delhi and other metropolitan cities," said Vardhan.

He suggested that the central government take note of examples like Wikipedia's regional language domains to further the Digital India project.

"Wikipedia or wikisource where you put up the original prints source in digitised form and make it searchable... these are the examples that the government should look at because these are done with the help of local volunteers who come from the remotest regions," said Vardhan.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/zee-news-january-9-2015-centre-should-partner-local-communities-in-digital-india

Odia Wikisource workshop at New Delhi

subha — 2014-12-30T01:08:00Z

The Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team in collaboration with "The Intellects" organized a seminar in New Delhi on December 14, 2014. Subhashish Panigrahi gave a talk.

The seminar was on the Relevance of Bhagabat Tungi in the evolution of Odia language from Buddha era to digital age. After attending the event one of the participants Pankajmala Sarangi took great interest in Odia Wikisource which was then an incubator project. Since then she has digitized three books and is now proofreading Odia Bhagabata, an Odia language classic from the 14th century. Having the highest number of edits in Odia Wikisource, Ms. Sarangi took interest to build a community in Delhi. Another Odia Wikilibrarian Sitikantha Kheti also joined in to organise the first Odia Wikisource workshop in Delhi. These Wikimedians, a Delhi based group The Intellects and CIS-A2K collaboratively conducted a workshop.

The Intellect's president Debendra Rout addressed the participants and broadly spoke about the goal of the workshop and long term plans in Delhi. Both the Wikilibrarians shared their experience on Odia Wikisource. The workshop started with self introduction of the participants followed by screening of a documentary "Odia: Silalekharu Mobile".

Video

A handbook with details on the project, Odia input and keyboard layout was distributed among all. Subhashish Panigrahi demonstrated Odia input and the process of digitization of books on Wikisource. Plans for more workshops and digitization sprints were also charted out.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikisource-workshop-new-delhi-december-14-2014

Access to Rare Books Made Easy

praskrishna — 2014-12-27T01:56:57Z

Rare Odia books that are out of print and not easily accessible on the internet, will now be available at the click of the mouse. In a bid to make them available online, the Odia Wikipedia community last week launched WikiSource, an Odia e-library and a sister project of Odia Wikipedia that has been trying to popularise use of Odia language on the Internet since 2002.

The article by Diana Sahu was published in the New Indian Express on December 5, 2014

The online library has 69 books by authors Jagannath Mohanty, Upendra Bhanja, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Gopabandhu Das, Baladeva Rath and Ram Das. Besides, the complete volume of Bhagwad Gita in Odia language is available on WikiSource.

The project has been implemented by Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society’s Access to knowledge programme. Odia Wikipedian Subhashish Panigrahi, also a programme officer of the Centre for Internet and Society, said work on digitisation of the books was started in April this year by a team of 12 Wikipedians, comprising mostly students and working professionals.

Apart from them, 50 tribal students and nine faculty members of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) helped them with the digitisation job. As most of the books were typed in Akruti font - a proprietary Indian Script Code for Information Interchange (ISCII) compliant font - the font was converted to Unicode text type to make the books searchable and accessible universally in all mobile and web platforms.

In the first phase, 11 books focusing on children’s literature, travelogue and biographies of noted people from Odisha by eminent Odia author Jagannath Mohanty were digitised. Subsequently, works of other authors were added to the e-library and made available on the internet with open access through free licence.

Subhashish said the WikiSource project was started in 2013 as an incubator project. It went through a tough process of being accessed by the Wikimedia Language Committee and Wikimedia Foundation’s board before being released last week. “There are several precious books that are out of print and not easily accessible on the internet. So we thought of digitising them and taking them to the masses. Apart from the 69 books, 81 of seven Odia authors that were already scanned and digitised by Bhubaneswar-based voluntary organisation, Srujanika, have been re-licensed and added to the library,” he said. Srujanika has digitised 740 old Odia magazines and books so far.

Generally a technique called Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is used for digitising scanned books, which currently is in testing phase in Odia. “Faculty member of ITER in Bhubaneswar Ajit Nayak along with his students have rectified the bugs and made character recognition more accurate.

But because of problems with OCR, the books had to be re-typed by the students of KISS on Odia Wikisource, Subashish added. Old books apart, books by contemporary authors like Debiprasanna Pattanayak, Ramakrushna Nanda, Subrat Prusty, Bharat Majhi and Nirmala Kumari Mohapata, and many other authors have been taken up for digitisation by Odia WikiSource team. Odia WikiSource is now live at or.wikisource.org.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/new-indian-express-december-5-2014-diana-sahu-access-to-rare-books-made-easy

ICT for Development

praskrishna — 2014-12-28T03:26:03Z

Dr. U.B. Pavanaja was a speaker at this event organized by Christ University on December 3, 2014 in Bangalore.

Download the presentation on ICT4D.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/ict-for-development

‘Tulu Wikipedia’ in incubation stage, 600 articles uploaded, says U.B. Pavanaja

praskrishna — 2014-12-07T03:21:11Z

In all, 600 articles have been uploaded to the Tulu Wikipedia which is still in its incubation stage, according to U.B. Pavanaja, Wikipedia representative and Programme Officer, The Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru.

The article by Ravi Prasad Kamila was published in the Hindu on November 26, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja gave his inputs.

Speaking at a workshop on writing articles in Tulu, using Kannada script, for Wikipedia at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management here on Wednesday, he said that since 2007 till this January there were 135 Tulu articles. The remaining 465 articles were added in the last over nine months.

Workshops on writing articles in Tulu for Wikipedia organised in Udupi and Mangaluru had helped in adding more articles.

Mr. Pavananja, originally hailing from Sullia in Dakshina Kannada, said that if Tulu Wikipedia was to be kept alive at least 50 to 60 articles would have to be uploaded a month and it required at least 10 dedicated writers.

If one wants to write articles in Tulu, he or she would have to log on to bilty.com/tuluwiki and later register there like registering while creating a new e-mail id. Later one can write, edit or read articles written in Tulu using Kannada script.

Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy had organised the workshop as a prelude to the three-day ‘Vishwa Tuluvere Parba’ (Global Tulu Festival) scheduled at the college from December 12.

President of the academy M. Janaki Brahmavar requested the participants to write articles about Tulu language and culture and about the coming festival and upload.

One can contact Mr. Pavanaja through pavanaja@gmail.com.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-26-2014-ravi-prasad-kamila-tulu-wikipedia-in-incubation-stage

Teaching in the Age of Wikipedia

vishnu — 2014-12-28T04:04:47Z

This course is conceived by CIS-A2K. It is currently envisaged as an add-on Certificate Course jointly offered by CIS-A2K and the Nirmala Institute of Education (NIE)-a premier teacher training establishment in Goa, India.

Read the original on Wikipedia page here.

Problem Statement

In India and in other developing countries a lot of emphasis is being laid of late on the use of ICT for improvement of literacy and education.

Massive efforts are afoot by the Government of India, provincial governments within each state, civil society organizations and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives to include ICT (especially digital technology and the internet) into the teaching learning process. Most of these approaches are techno-utopian and think that giving a tablet to a child will automatically transform the learning environment.

Thus, substantial focus is on either technology or digital content creation (lesson plans, etc.) and almost singularly focussed on the student. There is very little done to empower or train the teachers on how to use digital technology in the classroom. When teachers are not equipped to deal with a digital classroom, use of digital technology is not optimised.

There are instances where the students were given free laptops or tablets by the government and the teachers banned their use in the classroom. Is the average Indian teacher equipped to handle a class of students who are always gazing at their screens?

How will an average Indian teacher approach a class with access to Wikipedia? Do we need to re-imagine the classroom? If yes, how? Consequently, do we need to re-imagine the role of the teacher in the age of Wikipedia?

How does this course attempt to address this problem?

This course is a small step in the direction of empowering the teacher trainees (mostly digital immigrants) to get a grasp on how the digital and internet has changed our mode of learning and approach to knowledge. It will show the macro and bird's eye view of how we have moved on from a Tree of Knowledge to a Web of Knowledge. The course will also introduce them to practical experiments that are being done within the Indian and global context and to also critically evaluate the relevance of a digital knowledge platform like Wikipedia.

Background

The knowledge production, consumption, dissemination and distribution is undergoing a tectonic shift with the advent of digital technologies. Within this context of the digital turn, openness and transparency have gained new significance.

On the one hand, emerging participatory knowledge production models of openness like Wikipedia are increasingly pushing us to look beyond the traditional models of the past century; on the other hand, these models are being thought of to be effective in diverse fields like pedagogy, governance and policy making.

This has been impacting the way how teaching and learning happens at the school level. Open Educational Resources for instance is becoming a key asset for the students and educational institutions alike in imagining better pedagogy models.

This creates a pre-condition for the transformation of society into a ‘Knowledge Society’, wherein the student is increasingly repositioned from a ‘spectator’ to a ‘spect-actor’, from a consumer of knowledge to a “prosumer” (producer+consumer) of knowledge.

Within this context it becomes crucial that the teacher (a key pillar to building a robust knowledge society) is familiarized with the working of digital technology, especially within the context of the classroom.

Course Objectives

This certificate course is aimed at Teacher trainees and Teachers who teach up to High school in India. This course will give the Teacher participant:

a comprehensive understanding of the changes that are brought about by digital technology to the knowledge domain
an introduction to various openness movements that have informed the discourse on Open Educational Resources
exposure and training to participate on open knowledge platforms like Wikipedia
practical examples and best practices of using Wikipedia and sister projects within the classroom context.

Key Concepts

Digital, Digital literacy, FOSS, Internet, Knowledge, Knowledge Platforms, Mirrored Technology, Openness, Open Access, Open Educational Resources, Open-Data, Sugar, Wiki, Wikipedia, Wikisource, Wikitionary, Wikimedia Commons.

Course Design

The course will approach each of these issues within the context of Indian languages and school education, so that the teacher could take back the learning to his or her immediate pedagogic environment. The course will be delivered through lectures, demonstrations and hands-on training sessions. Every participant is expected to do 2 hours of pre-course work before coming for the first contact session. The face to face contact sessions will be done in two rounds with a gap of less than 40 days in between Round 1 and Round 2. The participant is expected to spend approximately 13 hours working on a real-time project with digital output.

Duration

This course involves 45 hours of effort.

30 hours face to face contact sessions
15 hours virtual contact

Resources

YouTube: Hindi Video Tutorials Play-list - FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD, REDISTRIBUTE AND REMIX THESE VIDEOS AS THEY ARE LICENSED UNDER CC-BY-SA 3.0.
YouTube: Kannada Video Tutorials Play-list - FEEL FREE TO DOWNLOAD, REDISTRIBUTE AND REMIX THESE VIDEOS AS THEY ARE LICENSED UNDER CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Registration

Step 1: All participants are expected to register themselves on Wikipedia. Please note that once you register on a Wikipedia project, you can use that 'Username' (i.e. same log-in details) across all Wikipedias and Wikimedia platforms. This should be done by September 4, 2014 (10.00 am). This tutorial will help you with Registration on Wikipedia: Registration Tutorial
Step 2: Once you create a Wikipedia user id, please fill up this form to complete the registration process.

Above: Flyer of the course to be held in November 2014 and January 2015

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/teaching-in-age-of-wikipedia

Odia Wikisource, its Potential

subha — 2014-12-05T01:47:37Z

I wrote an editorial in Odia newspaper the "Samaja" on November 17, 2014. I have written about Odia Wikisource, its potential and how people can get involved in it with a short note about the digitization done already. I have also highlighted the authors and copyright holders who kindly have donated their work under CC-by-SA license.

The original article published by the Samaja in Odia on November 17 could be read here.

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହି ପ୍ରକାଶନ ପାଇଁ ନୂଆ ରାହା
ଶୁଭାଶିଷ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ
ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ପ୍ରଥମ ଛାପାଖାନା ସ୍ଥାପିତ ହେବାଠୁ ଆଜିଯାଏ ବିତିଛି ଏକ ଲମ୍ବା କାଳ । ଏ କାଳ ଭିତରେ କେତେ ଲକ୍ଷ ପାଣ୍ଡୁଲିିପି ଲେଖା ହୋଇଥିବ, କେତେ ବହି ଛପା ହୋଇଥିବ । ଏ ଭିତରେ କେତେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ବାହାରକୁ ଯାଇଥିବେ । ତାଙ୍କ ଭିତରୁ ପଢ଼ାରଙ୍କୁଣା ଲୋକେ କ'ଣ ସବୁବେଳେ ସବୁ ବହି ପାଇପାରୁଥିବେ? ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ଥିବା ଅନେକ ମଧ୍ୟ ଲାଇବ୍ରେରୀ ଯାଇ ବହି ଖୋଜିବା ଅବସ୍ଥାରେ ସବୁବେଳେ ନଥାନ୍ତି । ଲୋକେ ବହି ପଢ଼ିବାର ସଳଖ ସୁବିଧାଟିଏ ନପାଇଲେ ଧୀରେ ପଠନ ଅଭ୍ୟାସ କମିଯାଏ । ଆଜି ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଅଗଣିତ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଠକୀୟ ରୁଚି କେବଳ ଖବରକାଗଜ, ସାପ୍ତାହିକୀ ଆଦି ପଢ଼ାକୁ ଖସି ଆସିଲାଣି । ଏ ବେଳା ଏକ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଶୁଭ ନୁହେଁ । ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆର ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ପାଇବା ପାଠକପଣ ବଢ଼ାଇବାରେ ମୁଖ୍ୟ ଭୂମିକାଟିଏ ନିଭାଇପାରିନାହିଁ । ତେବେ କେଉଁଥିରେ କିଛି ଊଣା ରହିଯାଇଛି କି? କାହିଁକି ଆଜି ଭାଷା-ସାହିତ୍ୟର ଶ୍ରୋତା-ବକତା ଉଭୟ ସମାନ? ବହି ଉନ୍ମୋଚନ ହୋଇ କେବଳ ଲେଖକ ମହଲରେ ବଣ୍ଟାହୋଇ ସମୀକ୍ଷା ହୋଇଯାଉଛି, ସଭା କିବା ବହିମେଳା ହତା ଡେଉଁନାହିଁ?

ଆଧୁନିକ କାରିଗରି ବଳରେ ବହିକୁ ଅଧିକ ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଖକୁ ନେବାରେ ଏଯାବତ ଅଳ୍ପ କିଛି ଉଦ୍ୟମ କରାଯାଇଛି । ରାଜ୍ୟ ସରକାରଙ୍କ ସଂସ୍କୃତି ବିଭାଗ ପକ୍ଷରୁ ସାରଳା ମହାଭାରତ ଓ ଭାଗବତ ଆଦି କେତୋଟି ପୁରୁଣା ପୋଥିକୁ ଟାଇପ କରି ଡିଜିଟାଲ ସଂସ୍କରଣ ତିଆରି କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । (ଓଡ଼ିଆ.ଓଆରଜି) ୱେବସାଇଟ ଜରିଆରେ ବିଦେଶରେ ଥିବା କେତେଜଣ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅନେକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହିକୁ ଟାଇପ କରି ଏବଂ ସ୍କାନ କରି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇଥିଲେ । ପୁରୁଣା ବହିର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ଅଭିଲେଖ କରିବା କାମ ବିଧିବଦ୍ଧ ଭାବେ କିଛିବର୍ଷ ତଳେ ଭୁବନେଶ୍ୱରର ସୃଜନିକା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ ତରଫରୁ ଏନଆଇଟି ରାଉରକେଲା ଓ ପ୍ରଗତି ଉକ୍ରଳ ସଂଘ ସହଯୋଗରେ ଏକ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ "ଓପନ ଆକସେସ ଟୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବୁକ୍ସ' ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ଏଥିରେ ସ୍କାନ ହୋଇଥିବା ମୋଟ ୭୪୦ଖଣ୍ଡ ବହି ଓ ପତ୍ରପତ୍ରିକା ଭିତରୁ ୨୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ବହି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଡାଉନଲୋଡ଼ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଯାଇଛି । ଏସବୁ ପ୍ରମୁଖ କାମକୁ ବାଦ ଦେଇ ଆଉ କେତେକ ଉଦ୍ୟମ ମଧ୍ୟ ହୋଇଛି । ତେବେ ଏଯାବତ ହୋଇଥିବା ଏସବୁ କାମରେ ଲେଖାଖୋଜା ବା ଟେକ୍ସଟ ସର୍ଚ ସୁବିଧା ନାହିଁ । ଅର୍ଥାତ, ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରି କିଛି ଭାଗବତର ପଦଟିଏ ଖୋଜିଲେ ସେ ପଦ ଥିବା ସ୍କନ୍ଧଟି ମିଳିବ ନାହିଁ । ପାଠକୁ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖରେ ପହଞ୍ଚାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଏ ଏକ ବିରାଟ ସମସ୍ୟା । ତେଣୁ ଆହୁରି ଲକ୍ଷେ ବହି ସ୍କାନ କରି ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ରଖିଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ ତାହାକୁ ପାଠକେ ଖୋଜି ପାଇବେ ନାହିଁ ।

ହେଲେ ସ୍କାନ କଲାପରେ ପୁରୁଣା ବହିର ଲେଖାକୁ ଟେକ୍ସଟରେ ରୂପାନ୍ତର କରିବା ଏତେ ସହଜ ନୁହେଁ । କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଟେକନୋଲୋଜିରେ ନାନାଦି ସାଧନ ନିର୍ମାଣ କରାଯାଇଥିବା ଜଗତର ବହୁବିଧ ଭାଷାରେ ଏ ସ୍କାନ ଛବିରୁ ଟେକ୍ସଟ ରୂାନ୍ତର ଲାଗି ଅପ୍ଟିକାଲ କ୍ୟାରେକ୍ଟର ରେକଗନିସନ (ଓସିଆର) ନାମକ କାରିଗରୀ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରାଯାଏ । ତେବେ ଛବିକୁ ଚିହ୍ନି ତାକୁ ଅକ୍ଷରରେ ରୂାନ୍ତର କରିବା ଦୁରୂହ ଓ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ତାଲିମ ଦେବା ସମୟସାପେକ୍ଷ । କାମଟି କିନ୍ତୁ ଏ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ବିଶାଳ ବରଦାନ । ତେବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସମେତ ଭାରତର ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଭାଷାରେ ଏଯାଏ ଓସିଆର ସେତେ ବେଶି ନିର୍ଭୁଲ ଭାବେ କାମ କରିନାହିଁ । କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଜ୍ଞାନ ଥିବା କିଛି ଲୋକ ୬-୭ ମାସ ଲାଗିଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଏ ଉପକରଣର ବିକାଶ କରାଯାଇପାରନ୍ତା । ବିକଳ୍ପ ସମାଧାନ ହେଲା ବହି ପାଠକୁ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ନାମକ ମାନକରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲିିରେ ଟାଇପ କରି ଟେକ୍ସଟ ରୂପେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇବା । ଏ କାମ କିନ୍ତୁ କେବଳ ମୂଲ୍ୟବାନ ବହିମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ କରାଯିବା ଉଚିତ । ଧରାଯାଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆଈମା କାହାଣୀ କି ଅବଲୋକରା କାହାଣୀ କିମ୍ବା ବାକି ଲୋକକାହାଣୀ ସବୁ ଏତେ ଉପାଦେୟ ଓ ଯୁଗୋପଯୋଗୀ ସେ ସବୁକୁ ଥରେ ଟାଇପ କଲେ ଅନେକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ କାମରେ ଲାଗିବ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଇ-ବହି ବା ବହିର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ସଂସ୍କରଣ କରାଯିବାର ନୂଆ ରାହାଟିଏ ନିକଟରେ ଖୋଲିଛି । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିିପିଡ଼ିଆର ସହଯୋଗୀ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପଭାବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ନାମକ ଏକ ନୂଆ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ଏଥିରେ ଥିବା ବହିସବୁ or.wikisource.org ରେ ପଢ଼ିହେବ । ଭାରତରେ ପ୍ରକାଶକ କିମ୍ବା ସ୍ୱତ୍ୱାଧିକାରୀଙ୍କ ଦେହାନ୍ତର ୬୦ବର୍ଷ ପରେ ବହିର କପିରାଇଟ ଲୀନହୋଇ ବହିଟି ପବ୍ଲିକ ଡୋମେନରେ ଗଣାଯାଏ । ଏହି ଶ୍ରେଣୀର ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବହିସବୁକୁ ଓସିଆର କିମ୍ବା ଟାଇପ କରି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିାଠାଗାରରେ ରଖାଯାଇପାରିବ । କିନ୍ତୁ ଏ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପର ଏକ ବିଶେଷ ସୁବିଧା ଲେଖକ ଓ ପ୍ରକାଶକଙ୍କ ମଙ୍ଗଳ ଲାଗି ମଧ୍ୟ ରହିଛି । ନିଜ ବହିକୁ ଅନଲାଇନ ବିତରଣ କରିବାକୁ ଚାହୁଁଥିବା ପ୍ରକାଶକ କିମ୍ବା ଲେଖକ ନିଜର କପିରାଇଟର ସର୍ତ୍ତାବଳୀକୁ
ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ କପିରାଇଟରୁ ଆଂଶିକ କପିରାଇଟକୁ ମଧ୍ୟ ବଦଳାଇ ପାରିବେ । ଏହି ଆଂଶିକ କପିରାଇଟର ନାଁ ହେଲା କ୍ରିଏଟିଭ କମନ୍ସ ସେଆର-ଏଲାଇକ (ସିସି-ବାଇ-ଏସଏ) । ଏଥିରେ ଅନ୍ୟ ଜଣେ ଏକା ସର୍ତ୍ତରେ ପୂର୍ବ-ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ଲେଖାର ପୁନଃପ୍ରକାଶନ କରିାରିବ । ଏହା ବଳରେ ବହିଟିକୁ ଅନ୍ୟମାନେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବା ସହ ବିତରଣ ମଧ୍ୟ କରିାରିବେ । ଏ ବିଶେଷ କପିରାଇଟ ଆଜିକାଲି ଏତେ ଜଣାଶୁଣା ହେଲାଣି ଯେ ଜଗତର ଅନେକ ଜଣାଶୁଣା ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନ ଓ ପ୍ରକାଶକ ନିଜର କିଛି ବହିକୁ ଏହି କପିରାଇଟରେ ବିତରଣ କରୁଛନ୍ତି । ଆହେ ଦୟାମୟ ବିଶ୍ୱବିହାରୀ ଓ ଅଗଣିତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଶିଶୁକବିତା-ଗପର ରଚୟିତା ରାମକୃଷ୍ଣ ନନ୍ଦ, ସୁଶିକ୍ଷକ- ଭ୍ରାମଣିକ-ଦାର୍ଶନିକ ଡ.ଜଗନ୍ନାଥ ମହାନ୍ତି, ଭାଷା-ଗବେଷକ ଡ. ସୁବ୍ରତ ପୃଷ୍ଟି ଓ କବି ଭାରତ ମାଝୀଙ୍କ ବହିମାନ ସ୍ୱତ୍ୱାଧିକାରୀଙ୍କ ଅନୁମତି କ୍ରମେ ପୁନଃଲାଇସେନ୍ସ କରାଇ ଉଇକିାଠାଗାର ପରିସରକୁ ଅଣାଗଲାଣି ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଠକେ ଏହି ଉଇକିାଠାଗାର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପରୁ ଆଉ ଏକ ସୁବିଧା ମଧ୍ୟ ପାଇପାରିବେ । ଏଥିରେ ଟାଇପ ହୋଇ ବହିସବୁ ସିନା ଗଚ୍ଛିତ ହେବ । ହେଲେ ସେସବୁକୁ ଟାଇପ କରିବ କିଏ? ଅନେକ ସମୟରେ ଯାହା ସରକାର କିମ୍ବା ଏକ ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ କରିନପାରେ ସେତେବେଳେ ଜନସାଧାରଣଙ୍କ ବଳର ଉପଯୋଗିତା ବୁଝାପଡ଼େ । ଆଉ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଭାବେ ଏହି ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କ ବଳରେ ବଳୀୟାନ । ଜଣେ ଚାହିଁଲେ ଲେଖାର ଭୁଲଟିଏ ସୁଧାରିପାରିବ, ବାକିଥିବା ପୃଷ୍ଠା ଟାଇପ କରିାରିବ ଆଉ ଅସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ବହିଟିଏକୁ ସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ କରି କୋଟିକୋଟି ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ପଠନର ଏକ ନୂଆ ଝରକା ଖୋଲିଦେଇ ପାରିବ ।

ଅନେକେ ବିରସି ଉଠନ୍ତି ଗୁଗୁଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ନାହିଁ ବୋଲି; ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‍ରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଲେଖାର ଅଭାବ ତା'ର ଏକ ବଡ଼ କାରଣ । ଯେଉଁ ଭାଷାରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ କାରବାର ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ ସେ ଭାଷା ନୂଆ ପିଢ଼ିର ସେତେ ନିଜର । ଆଉ ଯେଉଁ ଭାଷା ଏବେର ପିଢ଼ି ତୁଣ୍ଡରେ ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ କଥିତ, କାମରେ ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ ବ୍ୟବହୃତ, ସେ ଭାଷା ଭବିଷ୍ୟତରେ ସେତେ ଛାମୁଆ ହେବ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର ଭଳି ଏକ ବିଶ୍ୱମାନର ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଅଧିକ ଲେଖକଙ୍କ ସମାଗମରେ ଭରି ଆମ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ବିଶାଳ ପାଠାଗାରରେ ପରିଣତ ହୋଇପାରିବ ।

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/the-samaja-november-17-2014-subhashish-panigrahi-odia-wikisource-its-potential

Odia author Nirmala Kumari Mohapatra's 21 books relicensed under CC-by-SA 4.0

subha — 2014-12-06T02:49:12Z

Twenty one books of renowned Odia author Nirmala Kumari Mohapatra will now be available under the Creative Commons License.

Taking into consideration the request from the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K), Odia researcher, teacher and author Nirmala Kumari Mohapatra has signed a note to release 21 of her books under CC-by-SA 4.0 license. She came and attended the "Odisha Dibasa 2014" organized by Odia Wikimedia Community and CIS-A2K on March 29 in Bhubaneswar where we got 11 books of Dr. Jagannath Mohanty. Expressing her motivation for kindheartedly donating 21 out of her 35 books she tells us, "If Jagannath Mohanty's writings could go to millions of readers online why not I also open up my work. My life as a teacher has spent on researching on simplifying education. One of the 21 books she donated "Chandaka-Damapada Hasti Abhayaranya", is one of the rarest books that has ever been written on wildlife sanctuary. It is full of many observations about the elephants that reside in the Chandaka-Damapada wildlife sanctuary. Many interesting incidents from Odisha's history like a female barber shaving Gandhi during his Padayatra that are captured in her books would add to the richness of Odia Wikipedia. These books will soon be available on Odia Wikisource for digitization.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-author-nirmala-kumari-mohapatra-21-books-under-cc

An Article on Kannada Wikipedia

pavanaja — 2014-12-05T01:22:53Z

I wrote an article on Kannada Wikipedia which was published in the Yojana magazine on November 2014 issue.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/yojana-november-2014-pavanaja-article-on-kannada-wikipedia

55 Works of Iconic Indian writer released under Free Licence to benefit Wikisource

vishnu — 2014-11-14T13:29:48Z

Kannada is a language spoken by 40 million people in Karnataka – one of the four southern states of India.The Kannada Wikimedia community, in collaboration with CIS-A2K, are enthusiastic about having almost all of the works of Niranjana re-licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0 on the occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava.

The original post was published on Wikimedia Blog.

Niranjana was a prolific Indian author and activist, and wrote more than 60 books over the course of his career. These works will be digitized and made available on Kannada Wikisource, allowing Kannada speakers to freely access the diverse set of works. Niranjana’s works give a rich glimpse into social, political, and cultural history of Karnataka from the 1940s to 1990s; they can be used as a potential resource for creating and improving articles on Kannada Wikipedia.

Niranjana (1924-1992) was the pseudonym of Kulkund Shivarao, a prominent Kannada writer of the 20th century and a leading figure in the Progressive Writers’ Movement in Kannada. His prolific output, across nearly five decades, included novels, short stories, plays, biographies, political commentary, and translations. He was a regular columnist in the Kannada newspapers and magazines. Among his achievements as an editor are Jnana Gangotri, a 7-volume encyclopedia for young people, and a 25-volume compilation of the world’s greatest short stories.

A total of 55 Kannada books by Niranjana are re-licensed. “This is the single largest and most comprehensive individual collection of a writer to be released under CC-BY-SA 4.0 in any of the Indian languages so far,” says Kannada Wikimedian Omshivaprakash. Kannada Wikimedians and CIS-A2K have organized a formal event to celebrate Creative Commons efforts to cultivate free and open knowledge online in Kannada; specifically, Kannada Wikisource. It is important to also acknowledge the great initiative shown by Niranjana’s daughter, Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana (also CIS-A2K Advisor), in getting these works released under CC-BY-SA 4.0 licensing.

Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana says, “[Kannada] Wikisource is an excellent free and open knowledge platform for books in Indian languages and I am happy that my father’s works can now be accessed by [all] Kannadigas across the world. Let these writings have innumerable readers. What more could any author want?”

She is determined to release more work under CC licensing, and says, “[I] will be more than glad to get as many Indian works as possible under a free license as this will ensure that a lot of knowledge produced over the past many decades in India can easily be made accessible to the next generation of seekers of knowledge, who are digital natives.”

“This is the the single largest and most comprehensive individual collection of a writer to be released under CC-BY-SA 4.0 in any of the Indian languages so far,” says Omshivaprakash.

“KannadaWikipediaWorkshop 010″ by Pavanaja, under CC-BY-SA-3.0

Tejas Jain, another Kannada Wikimedian, was quick to co-write a blog in Kannada about this content donation. Jain says, “this is a bold step…and will act as motivation for other Kannada writers to release more content under CC-BY-SA 4.0.” He hopes to see “Kannda Wikisource grow as the comprehensive single digital resource for free Kannada books” and address “the fear of loosing the rich print heritage of Kannada to time.”

Omshivaprakash was surprised to realize that there is no article on such a prominent Kannada writer like Niranjana on English Wikipedia.This led to a Facebook discussion, and User Tito Dutta responded swiftly, but needed help with verifiable resources. Omshivaprakash chipped in with resources and a page on Niranjana (needs your Wiki Love) has now been started on English Wikipedia. While this is not a big achievement, it is a simple example of how the (Indian) English Wikipedians could collaborate with Indic Wikimedians in creating India focused content on English Wikipeida and how social media could be used for off-wiki collaboration by Wikimedians. Incidentally Tito and Omshivaprakash became friends on FB during the WMF’s India Community Consultation 2014 which was held recently in Bangalore.

Tejas Jain “This is a bold step[...]and will act as motivation for other Kannada writers to release more content under CC-BY-SA 4.0″

“Tejas Jain” by Visdaviva , under CC-BY-SA-4.0

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/55-works-of-iconic-indian-writer-released-under-free-licence-to-benefit-wikisource