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Digitisation of O Bharat, a bilingual biweekly published in Goa from 1912 to 1949
https://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="https://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='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat</a>
</p>
No publishersubodhCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaA2K ResearchOpen ContentOpenness2022-10-11T13:11:15ZBlog EntryContent Creation on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/content-creation-on-eastern-punjabi-wikipedia
<b>This is a short study on the nature of content creation related to Punjab on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia, its challenges and opportunities, and observations and potential strategies to address the same. The report has been authored by Satpal Singh, with editorial oversight and support by Puthiya Purayil Sneha, and external review by Sumandro Chattapadhyay. This is part of a series of short-term studies undertaken by the CIS-A2K team in 2019–2020. </b>
<h3><strong><br /></strong></h3>
<h3><strong>Introduction </strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">The objective of this study is to understand the challenges for content creation related to Punjab that exists on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia. There are articles about Punjabi language and culture on Punjabi Wikipedia but there is a need for better understanding of the nature of this content from the perspective of the readers’ interests, coverage of topics, and quality. A large community of interested Punjabi Wikimedians have been actively working over several years to introduce Wikimedia and related projects to people across the world, including those from their own community. An important part of achieving this goal is to contribute to and build more diverse and bettergood quality content about Punjab on Wikipedia. This short study is therefore an attempt to analyse the nature of existing content, challenges in content creation/curation and outreach, and some observations and strategies to address the same.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3><strong>Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">Wikipedia is a multilingual online encyclopedia. It is available in around 290+ languages. There are two Punjabi Wikipedia editions, which are <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%81%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%96_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%AB%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%BE">Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia</a> and <a href="https://pnb.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%DB%81%D9%84%D8%A7_%D8%B5%D9%81%DB%81">Western Punjabi Wikipedia</a>. Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia is in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurmukhi">Gurmukhi script</a> and Western Punjabi Wikipedia is in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahmukhi_alphabet">Shahmukhi script</a>. This study focuses on the Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia. The Eastern edition domain came into existence on 3 June 2002, but the first three articles were only written in August 2004. There was not much contribution made during the next six years. In July 2012, it had reached 2,400 articles. Then a group of people, largely students from Punjabi University, Patiala started contributing actively on Punjabi Wikipedia, as a result of which it became an active Wikipedia in 2013, and has stayed so until date. There are currently <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%96%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B8:%E0%A8%85%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%95%E0%A9%9C%E0%A9%87">35, 351 articles</a> on the Gurmukhi Punjabi Wikipedia, with a number of registered users on Punjabi Wikipedia at <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%96%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B8:%E0%A8%85%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%95%E0%A9%9C%E0%A9%87">36,348.</a> [1]</p>
<p dir="ltr">One group of people has been proactively involved in Punjabi Wikipedia for a long time, which is the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Wikimedians">Punjabi Wikimedians User Group.</a> Apart from this, a number of people from different parts of the world also contribute to Wikipedia. Punjabi Wikimedians got affiliation as a User Group from Wikimedia Foundation in <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Affiliations_Committee/Resolutions/Recognition_Punjabi_Wikimedians">November 2015</a>. Punjabi Wikimedians was the first affiliated user group from India, and have been involved in several activities and initiatives undertaken towards content creation. They organized <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiConference_India_2016">WikiConference India in 2016</a> at Chandigarh and their members have participated in various events and conferences. They have also collaborated with other institutions in order to encourage content creation on Punjabi Wikipedia, one example is the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Punjabi_Wikimedians/GLAM/Punjabi_Sahit_Academy">collaboration with Punjabi Sahitya Academy</a>. Apart from Wikipedia, this user group is also active on <a href="http://pa.wikisource.org">Punjabi Wikisource</a>, <a href="https://pa.wiktionary.org">Punjabi Wiktionary</a>, <a href="http://wikidata.org">Wikidata</a> and <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org">Wikimedia Commons</a>. The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Patiala/1">first meeting</a> of the Punjabi Wiki community was organized in Patiala on 1 February 2015. After that the community conducted various monthly meetups in different parts of the Punjab. People from the community also joined various training programs and events in different parts of India and participated in various conferences in other countries. </p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3><strong>Research Objectives and Method</strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">This study analyses various aspects of how content related to Punjab is created on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia. This analysis would help in understanding the gap between what kind of content presently exists and what is needed, from the perspective of Punjabi language contributors and users. The objective of this study is to understand how much content related to Punjab exists on this Wikipedia at present; what is the nature of this content, what are challenges for content creation and possible strategies to address the same. There is a broader understanding that while content is being created proactively, there is still a need to analyse its quality and prevalent gaps if any, which would encourage more contributors and readers to actively engage with Punjabi Wikipedia. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The method for this study consisted of analysis of the existing content on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia, and conversations with selected Wikimedians on their assessment of content on topics related to Punjab. The main topics for this study were articles related to the Punjab region, including culture, literature, and politics. To understand if there are specific challenges to the creation of content on these topics, interviews with a few selected long-time contributors and administrators were conducted, with an emphasis on aspects such as sourcing Punjabi language material, finding references, digitization, tagging etc. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The objective of this study was also to understand where these conversations (undertaken as part of the study) may offer strategies to address knowledge gaps in specific areas of work. Questions were prepared and a total of five interviews of Punjabi Wiki community members were conducted. The people interviewed were chosen on the basis of their involvement and experience of working in the community.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<h3><strong>Observations and Analysis </strong></h3>
<p dir="ltr">There are an estimated 33 million Eastern Punjabi speakers in the world,[2] and it is a widely spoken language in India especially in Punjab state. Over 70% people have access to the internet in Punjab on the phone.[3] The main objective of this study was to understand the nature of existing content on Punjabi Wikipedia, and various challenges in content creation, coverage of topics and quality. The following were some of the main observations and learnings from the study.: </p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Challenges with Lack of Existing Content</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">The conversations with selected Wikimedia contributors and users offered an insight into what Punjabi readers and online contributors think about the content available on the internet in Punjabi language, and how Punjabi Wikipedia is impactful in this scenario, especially in addressing any gaps in this area. It was found during discussions with interviewees that there are less number of Punjabi language websites in the field of language, literature, politics, and general knowledge. Most of the websites are in English language. <a href="https://punjabipedia.org/">PunjabiPedia</a> and Punjabi Wikipedia are encyclopedic websites which are providing knowledge in Gurmukhi script. Apart from this, websites like <a href="https://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Main_Page">SikhiWiki</a> are providing knowledge in the Roman script and Punjabi newspaper websites are providing their news updates in Gurmukhi script. So, Punjabi Wikipedia is one of the few available sites that offers information on a variety of topics in the local language. As a result, it may have a good viewership, but at the same time, there is also the additional problem of not having good or reliable online sources or references.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Another important point mentioned by people interviewed was that while there are 30,000+ articles on Punjabi Wikipedia and they are categorised across different topics, there is a lack of content about Punjab itself. It was suggested that, therefore, this should be an area of priority for the community to work on. Even the most viewed articles of Punjabi Wikipedia do not meet the <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%95%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%AA%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%A1%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%86:%E0%A8%9A%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%97%E0%A9%87_%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%96%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%82_%E0%A8%A6%E0%A9%87_%E0%A8%AA%E0%A9%88%E0%A8%AE%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%A8%E0%A9%87">good article criteria</a> of Wikipedia. For example, the article of <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%A6%E0%A8%B0_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%AC">Harmandir Sahib</a> on Punjabi Wikipedia has not been written according to good article criteria, as it too has no category and it is without proper sections.[4] There are not many references in most of the important articles. Another example is the article of the tenth Sikh Guru, <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%97%E0%A9%81%E0%A8%B0%E0%A9%82_%E0%A8%97%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%AC%E0%A8%BF%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%A6_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BF%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%98#%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B2%E0%A9%87">Guru Gobind Singh</a>, which has only 2 references.[5] Apart from this, articles about cities and villages of Punjab are mostly stub articles. The total number of villages in Punjab is about twelve thousand and a good number of the <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BC%E0%A9%8D%E0%A8%B0%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%A3%E0%A9%80:%E0%A8%AA%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%9C%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%AC_(%E0%A8%AD%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4)_%E0%A8%A6%E0%A9%87_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BC%E0%A8%B9%E0%A8%BF%E0%A8%B0_%E0%A8%85%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%87_%E0%A8%AA%E0%A8%BF%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%A1">articles about these villages</a> are available on Punjabi Wikipedia. They are too small and the need is to expand those articles. There are about 7,000+ articles in the <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BC%E0%A9%8D%E0%A8%B0%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%A3%E0%A9%80:%E0%A8%AE%E0%A9%81%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%A2">stub category</a>. So, such articles therefore need more work and improvement in terms of quality.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Methods of Creating New Content</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of the content on Punjabi Wikipedia is about other countries or regions apart from Punjab or India. One of the reasons for this is that most of the editors are doing content translation, from existing content on English or other regional language Wikipedias into Punjabi Wikipedia. In order to fill the content gap about Punjab there should be content creation specifically on topics related to the state. <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Content_translation">Content translation tools</a>, while helpful, have also contributed to the fact that people prefer translation and they use <a href="https://translate.google.co.in/">Google Translate</a> in the content tool. The tool itself is accurate and works fine with Punjabi, but the issue is that most of the people are doing only translation, as it is the easiest way to contribute. Apart from the above, it was also noted by the interviewees that editathons about other countries or cultures, while useful, are not beneficial in the immediate context. Nitesh Gill [6] observes that there should be more discussion among the community members about upcoming events or editathons. She says: “Sometimes two or more events are going on in the same time period and the same contributors take part in those activities. It should be better that with cooperation we can have one event at one time. We will grow in a better way if we do something about this.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">There is less viewership of those articles which are related to other countries or cultures apart from India, for example the article of <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%9F%E0%A9%88%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%9F%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%A8_%E0%A8%AA%E0%A9%80%E0%A8%9F%E0%A8%B0_%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B5%E0%A9%87%E0%A8%AB%E0%A9%80">Constantine Peter Cavafy</a>. But articles of importance from the perspective of region and culture are not edited for a long time, such as the article about Punjabi storywriter <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AE%E0%A8%A8%E0%A8%BF%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%A6%E0%A8%B0_%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%97">Maninder Kang</a>, which is smaller than the article of Constantine Peter Cavafy. For example, Stalinjeet Brar [7] notes that: “The article of former chief minister of Punjab, <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%AA%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BC_%E0%A8%B8%E0%A8%BF%E0%A9%B0%E0%A8%98_%E0%A8%AC%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%A6%E0%A8%B2">Prakash Singh Badal</a> on Punjabi Wikipedia is a relevant article. He is a remarkable personality of Punjab in the history of politics. He left his position in 2017 but the article still shows that he is chief minister of Punjab. This is our major mistake. We have to work on this aspect.” [8] He also added that the statistics of cricketers like Virat Kohli, are not updated. In this regard, we can integrate Wikidata with Wikipedia articles so one change on Wikidata can provide automatically updated data on Punjabi articles. </p>
<p dir="ltr">He also added that an assessment of existing events and initiatives, such as <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Growing_Local_Language_Content_on_Wikipedia_(Project_Tiger_2.0)">Project Tiger</a> would be useful to understand the challenges and opportunities for content creation on Indian language Wikipedias The <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Project_Tiger_Editathon_2018">first Project Tiger editathon</a> happened from 1 March to 31 May 2018 and the second Project Tiger event was organised from 10 October 2019 to 11 January 2020, which was named “<a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Growing_Local_Language_Content_on_Wikipedia_(Project_Tiger_2.0)">Project Tiger 2.0</a>”. Project Tiger coordinators can assess the number of views of those articles which were created during the event and therefore arrive at a potential strategy for our target audience. It is therefore useful to undertake such an analysis and evaluation at the end of big events.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong><br /></strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"><strong>Strategies for New Content Creation</strong></p>
<p dir="ltr"> It was observed that to fill this content gap about Punjab and its culture on Punjabi Wikipedia, the community needs to approach this topic accordingly. It was suggested by every interviewee that we have to organise an editathon to edit top viewed articles. To maintain continuity in this approach, community members should cooperate with each other. Charan Gill [9] noted that we should engage students and professors in different subjects to collaborate and work on these areas with editors. This will be helpful in producing good quality articles. The community needs to engage experts from different areas or fields. Manavpreet Kaur [10] suggests that we should focus on good article criteria when we go to a college or institution to teach students how to edit Wikipedia. For example, she notes that there were very few articles about forensic science when she joined Punjabi Wikipedia and existing content was two or three line articles. She tried to fill this gap and as a professor of forensic science, she engaged her students to edit Wikipedia content related to forensic science. So, we can have this kind of approach to fill the content gap on Punjabi Wikipedia. We should encourage colleges in Punjab and teachers to participate in this free knowledge movement. Wikimedia projects are platforms for Punjabi language community to provide knowledge in their own language. Manavpreet and Nitesh also note that there are less number of women participants in this movement. To fill the gender gap we should also focus on engaging women contributors. According to Manav, the <a href="https://wikidata-game.toolforge.org/distributed/#">Wikidata Game</a> was interesting for her, and noted that especially for new editors these types of games and editing techniques are so valuable in order to engage the younger generations of editors with this movement.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hardarshan [11] shared his view that to engage the new generation with Punjabi Wikipedia or the broader free knowledge movement we should also work on basic articles related to the technological world. For example, articles on computers and other devices , mobile games etc. He also notes that while Punjabi Wikipedia has articles on advanced topics, most of them are translated, and not new content. But it does not have basic articles of good quality to offer an appropriate understanding of the topic. There is also a problem of translating technical vocabulary into the Punjabi language, which can be addressed by engaging experts and scholars as part of editathons and other initiatives for content creation . This way, the energy and interests of volunteers may also be harnessed with the right methods. Key members from the community can assign articles to newcomers, so that will help in further content creation. Nitesh shared her observation that “I was a beginner type volunteer at one time and later on with experience I have organised various events within my community. So, we should encourage our team members or volunteers. They can be good organisers or leaders of this movement.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">To engage students, there should be more syllabus oriented content on Punjabi Wikipedia. To bring a change in the structure, Stalinjeet suggested that we should not blindly follow policies of other languages like English and French or policies of the Wikimedia Foundation in India. We need to rethink these policies in the context of the needs of the local languages. Prioritization of editathons is also necessary, including coordination and working collaboratively on when to participate in which event. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition to the above, it has been noticed that it is difficult for communities with a small number of members to contribute collaboratively, so it is imperative to slowly increase the number of contributors as well. There are various Wikimedia projects that volunteers can join or they can contribute to any project according to their interest. They are not limited only to Punjabi Wikipedia. A good number of people are also active on Punjabi Wikisource as well. The need of the hour therefore, is to engage new people with Wikipedia or with this movement to make good changes to the modes of access to knowledge in Indian languages. Experienced Wikimedians should share their learnings, apart from training that is required for advanced editing.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<h3><strong>Conclusion</strong></h3>
<p>As illustrated by observations above, content creation on (Eastern) Punjabi Wikipedia faces a specific set of challenges. The people interviewed as part of this study have offered various suggestions on what can be done to address these limitations, and improve the quality of content. . Punjabi Wikipedia is an important source of information and knowledge for Punjabi internet readers due to the lack of websites providing content in the language. So, the responsibility of its reliability to provide such content in a sustainable manner is even greater. Work on creating more content on these platforms needs to be undertaken after understanding the response and ways of engagement of the readers. People today want to read less and learn more. Punjabi Wikipedia articles therefore need to be informative and include as many references as possible. A crucial gap here is also the lack of information on how to contribute to Punjabi Wikipedia in a productive and easy way. Good documentation of help pages and more frequent training would help in addressing this shortcoming as well. </p>
<p>In conclusion, the main strategy to address these knowledge gaps, as illustrated by the learnings from this study, is that we should update existing articles on Punjabi Wikipedia at priority, with a focus on expanding top viewed stub articles. A focus on quality of content is therefore more important than quantity. In addition to this, knowledge-sharing by experienced Wikipedians, diverse modes of training and engaging new contributors, and working on strategies for sustainable content creation would go a long way in addressing the content gaps on Punjabi Wikipedia. </p>
<p>Read this report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Content_Creation_on_Eastern_Punjabi_Wikipedia">here.</a></p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3><strong>References:</strong></h3>
<p>[1] Statistics as of 09 February 2020, 05:32 PM</p>
<p>[2] “Punjabi, Eastern,” Ethnologue, accessed February 9, 2021, https://www.ethnologue.com/language/pan.</p>
<p>[3] Roy, C. Vijay. “In Punjab, over 70% people access the internet on the phone” The Tribune India, May 2, 2019. <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/business/in-punjab-over-70-people-access-internet-on-phone-766809">https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/business/in-punjab-over-70-people-access-internet-on-phone-766809</a>. Accessed February 9, 2021. </p>
<p>[4] As of 04 March 2021 09:59 AM</p>
<p>[5] As of 04 March 2021 09:59 AM</p>
<p>[6] She is a research scholar from Moga, Punjab and pursuing her Ph.D from University of Delhi in Punjabi literature. She has been contributing on Punjabi Wikipedia from 2015. Her remarkable contribution on Punjabi Wikipedia is that she has completed 1000WikiDays challenge, which means one article every day. See: <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0:Nitesh_Gill">https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/ਵਰਤੋਂਕਾਰ:Nitesh_Gill</a></p>
<div>[7] Stalinjeet Brar is from Faridkot and has been contributing on Wikimedia projects since August 2014. He is doing his Ph.D in Punjabi language and his research topic is also a comparative study of Punjabi Wikipedia and PunjabiPedia. See: <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0:Stalinjeet_Brar">https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/ਵਰਤੋਂਕਾਰ:Stalinjeet_Brar</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>[8] As of 04 March 2021, 09:59 AM</div>
<div> </div>
<div>[9] Charan Gill is an experienced volunteer, aged 76 years old. He has been contributing on Wikimedia projects since 2008 He is the top contributor from Punjabi Wiki Community with more than 59,000 edits on Eastern Punjabi Wikipedia.. See: <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0:Charan_Gill">https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/ਵਰਤੋਂਕਾਰ:Charan_Gill</a></div>
<div> </div>
<div>[10] Manavpreet Kaur is from Forensic science field and completed her Phd in the same subject also. She engaged with Punjabi Wikipedia in 2014 and also as a volunteer she has completed 100WikiDays challenge and has done various forms of outreach for the community. See: <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0:Manavpreet_Kaur">https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/ਵਰਤੋਂਕਾਰ:Manavpreet_Kaur</a></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-2df5cc03-7fff-1042-a230-869aa88a5aed">
<div> </div>
[11] </span><span id="docs-internal-guid-7a568b89-7fff-2cd8-bd10-780511dc45f6">As a student of secondary school, Benipal hardarshan is one of the youngest Wikimedians from Punjabi Wiki community. He made his first edit in 2014 but is actively contributing from 2016. He is an active administrator on Punjabi WIkisource.. See: <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0:Benipal_hardarshan">https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/ਵਰਤੋਂਕਾਰ:Benipal_hardarshan</a></span>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/content-creation-on-eastern-punjabi-wikipedia'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/content-creation-on-eastern-punjabi-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publisherSatpal SinghA2K ResearchAccess to Knowledge2021-05-15T12:24:21ZBlog EntryCommemorating Ulo Senthamizh Kodai (1945 - 2024): A Luminary of Tamil Open Knowledge Movement
https://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='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/commemorating-ulo-senthamizh-kodai-1945-2024-a-luminary-of-tamil-open-knowledge-movement'>https://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 EntryBridging the Gender Gap: A Report on Indian Language Wikimedia Communities
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/bridging-the-gender-gap-in-indian-language-wikimedia-communities
<b>This research study documents the gender gap and bias in Indian language Wikimedia projects and communities, with a focus on participation by and content related to women contributors across diverse Wikimedia platforms. The research was undertaken by Bhuvana Meenakshi Koteeswaran, with editorial oversight and support by Puthiya Purayil Sneha, and additional inputs from Ambika Tandon and Sumandro Chattapadhyay.</b>
<p> </p>
<h4>The full report can be read <a href="https://cis-india.org/A2K_BGG_Report_2021" class="external-link">here.</a></h4>
<h4>Also read this report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Bridging_the_Gender_gap:_A_report_on_Indian_Language_Wikimedia_Communities">here</a>.</h4>
<hr />
<p>This research project is a study of how various language communities in India perceive the gender gap in their own contexts, and how the understanding of this subject has varied over time. Wikimedia characterises ‘gender bias’ on its platforms as the fact “that Wikipedia contributors are mostly male, the fact that relatively few biographies on Wikipedia are about women, and the concept that topics of interest to women are less well-covered.”[1] Studies done over the last several years have shown that ‘this gender gap’ results in not only a lesser number of women participants in Wikimedia events or number of edits by women, but also a range of such disparities in the active participation of men and women on various aspects of Wikimedia projects.These gaps vary depending on socio-cultural factors within diverse language communities, such as access to internet and digital technologies and public spaces by women, skill-building and training, labour and time available for voluntary work and development of friendly and accessible working environments.</p>
<h3>Context and Methods</h3>
<p>Previous research by Ting-Yi Chang (2018) and Eva Jadine Lannon (2013) undertaken with CIS-A2K indicate the existence of these disparities and knowledge gaps in Indian language Wikimedia communities, and emphasise that it is imperative to focus on not only representation but also quality of contributions on Wikimedia by individuals across the spectrum of gender and sexual identities. The research also offers incentives, possible outcomes and sustainable strategies needed to address this issue. In the last few years a lot more work has emerged on this issue in various language communities globally, and in India. Several Indian language communities have started to explore the need for focusing on gender gap and community health initiatives in their own contexts. Observations from these initiatives further reiterate that this gap continues to exist and there is a need to study and better understand the reasons for its prevalence.</p>
<p>As part of this study, we interviewed 15 women respondents across 13 different Indian language Wikimedia communities (including English) who contribute to several Wikimedia projects, and conducted 2 Focus Group Discussions(FGDs). The FGDs were conducted with women students from two different arts and science colleges in Tamil Nadu. The interviews and FGDs primarily helped us understand their perceptions about gender gap, the challenges that they and/or their communities experience in terms of gender bias and also the interesting initiatives set up to address these problems, both in terms of content and participation.</p>
<h3>Key Research Areas</h3>
<p>The research focussed on three main thematic areas, namely:</p>
<p><strong>Developing a better understanding of online participation - in terms of content created by women, content about women, and online engagement with communities.</strong></p>
<p>As most of the engagement with Wikimedia projects is an online activity so an analysis of the accessibility of internet and other digital infrastructures, platforms and participation guidelines were discussed. Improvements on providing support and training to access platforms would help in furthering participation to contribute to Wikimedia projects and initiatives. Restrictions on offline meetings due to the COVID 19 pandemic has further spurred a lot of online meetings and engagement. Awareness and training on the use of virtual platforms along with friendly space policies could help in creating a structured online experience on Wikimedia for the women in the community.</p>
<p><strong>Developing a better understanding of women’s offline community participation.</strong></p>
<p>Offline participation by women contributors in Indian language Wikimedia communities is an ideal space for learning new skills, working on collaborative events like edit-a-thons or a general discussion among the members of the community. Preference for independent events, discussions such as women-only forums led by women leaders/mentors were suggested by the interviewees. The difficulty of managing voluntary work with professional and domestic responsibilities, and need for support with travel and participation in offline events are some of the challenges highlighted from the interviews.</p>
<p><strong>Enhancing sustained participation of women contributors - identifying challenges with retention, infrastructural issues etc, and possibilities and strategies to address the same, and creating awareness on how women can be involved with all Wikimedia projects.</strong></p>
<p>We tried to understand what are impediments to sustaining Wikimedia contributions by and about women, and possible strategies to address the same. These include the need to encourage more efforts in areas such as detailed documentation of metrics on gender and diversity, building more awareness within communities about gender gap/bias and building relevant technological and communication skills, and addressing community health and conflict management as an important area of work and engagement.</p>
<h3>Learnings</h3>
<p>The learnings from the study offered insights into several key aspects of the problem of gender gap on Wikimedia, such as the need to encourage sustainable contributions through multiple strategies addressing challenges faced by women and other marginalised groups engaging with Wikimedia projects. This includes efforts to build awareness about gender gap and bias in Indian language communities, undertaking training to address technological and communication gaps and skills, understanding and accommodating the different demands that women editors have on their time and labour with respect to professional, domestic and care work, and according more visibility and recognition towards their efforts on Wikimedia. In addition to this, recognising and actively working towards addressing systemic power asymmetries in online platforms, by creating friendly working environments and encouraging women participants to take ownership and lead initiatives would be imperative to foster long-term and productive engagement with Wikimedia. Based on these observations, the report also offers a set of recommendations, which may also inform existing and emerging efforts to address the problem of gender bias and gender gap on Wikimedia platforms.</p>
<h3>References</h3>
<p>[1] “Gender Bias on Wikipedia”, Wikipedia, accessed November 29, 2020. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gender_bias_on_Wikipedia&oldid=991093125">https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gender_bias_on_Wikipedia&oldid=991093125</a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/bridging-the-gender-gap-in-indian-language-wikimedia-communities'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/bridging-the-gender-gap-in-indian-language-wikimedia-communities</a>
</p>
No publisherbhuvanaA2K ResearchAccess to Knowledge2021-05-15T12:26:52ZBlog EntryA Comparative Study of Article Creation Campaigns on Wikipedia - Part I
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india
<b>This is a short report on a comparative analysis of two prominent Wikimedia initiatives, Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger, to understand prevailing challenges and opportunities, and strategies to address the same. The report has been authored by Nitesh Gill with inputs from Suswetha Kolluru, and editorial oversight and support by Puthiya Purayil Sneha. This is part of a series of short-term studies undertaken by the CIS-A2K team in 2019–2020.
</b>
<h3><span id="docs-internal-guid-69ace56f-7fff-2f69-bdd5-6fd28bf1e69c"></span></h3>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Introduction </h3>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">The motive of the Wikimedia movement is to aid growth and access to free knowledge across the world. Over the last several years, apart from the online encyclopedia, Wikimedia has also developed and supported many projects, campaigns, events or edit-a-thons simultaneously on its <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Complete_list_of_Wikimedia_projects">various sister projects</a> such as Wikimedia Commons, Wikidata, Wikisource and others. Campaigns and contests such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Art%2BFeminism">Art & Feminism</a> (2014), <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red">Women in Red</a> (2015), <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments">Wiki Loves Monuments</a>, <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Loves_Butterfly">Wiki loves Butterfly</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Asian_Month">Wikipedia Asian Month</a> (2015), <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/The_Wikipedia_Library/1Lib1Ref">#1Lib1Ref</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Project_Tiger_Writing_Contest">Project Tiger</a> (2018) etc. play a crucial role in motivating communities to create new content while working together in an organized manner. </p>
</div>
<p> The objective of this study is to undertake a comparative analysis of two projects/article creation campaigns on Wikipedia, which are <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Asian_Month">Wikipedia Asian Month</a> (WAM) and Project Tiger. They are both primarily online writing contests. WAM has been organised every year in November since 2015. It is an international edit-a-thon. Project Tiger is a contest which is organised in India. Several Indian language communities take part in this actively. The first iteration of Project Tiger was organized in 2018 and two iterations have taken place till date. While different in terms of the region or area of focus, both campaigns have a common goal of content creation in regional languages. The Indian Wikipedia communities’ contributions are extensive in both projects. It would be interesting to learn from both of them and also understand what works and what needs to be improved in the future.</p>
<div>
<br />
<h3>Research Questions</h3>
<p dir="ltr">As suggested by the title, the aim of this study is primarily to better understand the motivation behind long-term edit-a-thons with the help of WAM and PT. Through a comparative analysis, it will attempt to understand the participants' perspective on contributing to these types of projects, prevailing challenges and opportunities, and the knowledge gaps in content creation as well as in participation.</p>
<br />
<p dir="ltr">The objectives of this study are to :</p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Understand the key motivations for volunteers to contribute to article creation campaigns/contests. </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Outline the unique aspects of Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger for content creation on Wikipedia, challenges and opportunities and ways to build on the same. </p>
</li></ul>
<h2 dir="ltr"><br /></h2>
<h3>Background </h3>
<p dir="ltr">The objective of the Wikimedia movement is to facilitate the growth of free knowledge, through its various projects and platforms. Before starting Wikipedia, in 2000 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#Nupedia">Nupedia</a> was launched and on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia#:~:text=Wikipedia%20was%20launched%20on%20January,other%20languages%20were%20quickly%20developed.">15 January 2001</a> Wikipedia was set up as a free encyclopedia. All the Wikimedia projects such as <a>Wikidata</a>, <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a href="https://www.wikipedia.org/">Wikipedia</a>, <a href="https://wikisource.org/wiki/Main_Page">Wikisource</a>, <a href="https://www.wiktionary.org/">Wiktionary</a>, etc. are central knowledge hubs. These are the platforms where knowledge from around the world can be found but this means it also requires participation from an active volunteer community across numerous languages. There are many ways to contribute to these platforms as a volunteer. One way is participating in an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:How_to_run_an_edit-a-thon">edit-a-thon</a>, where several volunteers can actively work together on the same platform. Edit-a-thons started just after a few years of Wikipedia’s existence. In the beginning, the main objective of the edit-a-thons was content creation; this remains the primary objective, although now they also focus on expanding/adding to existing content, thus contributing towards increasing the number of articles on Wikipedia. A prominent feature of these types of events is the interaction among experienced and new editors. The edit-a-thons can happen online as well as at physical, offline locations. In September 2004, Jimmy Wales proposed the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Editing_Weekend">Editing weekends</a>’ concept which was a starting point of edit-a-thons. He started a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Editing_Weekend">discussion</a> about spending the holidays in a common space where editors could edit or learn about Wikipedia. The event itself was not very prominent but managed to start discussions about similar events among volunteers. A few years later, in March 2009 in Sydney, the first GLAM edit-a-thon was organised at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Sydney/Powerhouse_Museum_2009-03-13">Powerhouse Museum</a>. According to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page">English Wikipedia</a>, in 2011, an edit-a-thon was organized on cultural partnerships, mainly with the <a href="https://wikimedia.org.uk/wiki/Editathon,_British_Library/January_2011">British Library</a>, with a second series taking place later that same year. After that, it became a popular event among volunteers and every community started to organize these types of events. Gradually, Wikimedians also thought about more such campaigns in the form of edit-a-thons; these events were successful and helped achieve the stated agenda of content creation on Wikipedia. In 2013, a research study was conducted about the edit-a-thon as part of the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Learning_and_Evaluation/Evaluation_reports/2013/Edit-a-thons#Program_basics_and_history">Wikimedia Programme Evaluation</a> report, which noted its history, statistics, budget, inputs, resources and outputs etc. But so far little research has been done on particular edit-a-thons such as Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger and their impact on the growth of content on Wikipedia. </p>
<br />
<h3>Wikipedia Asian Month</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Wikipedia Asian Month is a long-duration edit-a-thon structured around specific topics. The discussion about this edit-a-thon started in 2015 during <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania_project_domain">Wikimania</a>. A separate meeting was held for all the Asian language communities where the WAM proposal was presented by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:AddisWang">User:Addis Wang</a>, and endorsed by all members present. Before WAM, similar events were already being conducted but this was the first attempt to establish collaboration on a broader level with the Asian language communities. Also before this project, local Wikipedias had only a little content regarding Asia.</p>
<br />
<p dir="ltr">The aim of this project was to create more content related to Asia on the regional Wikipedias, with a focus only on new content. Diversification of content, collaboration and cultural exchange are the main objectives of the project. Small incentives like receiving <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Postcards_in_Wikipedia_Asian_Month#/media/File:Wikipedia_Asian_Month_-_Written_Postcards_at_Wikimedia_Taiwan_-_1.jpg">postcards</a> from countries that participants added content about were introduced to encourage more participation. Postcards and the badge of ‘Wikipedia Brand Ambassador’ were added to motivate the contributors. The Wikipedia Asian Month took initiative to encourage and expand participants and communities. As a member from the Punjabi community, Gaurav, notes, “Wikipedia Asian Month was a boost for the communities or Wikipedians. The prize was just a postcard, although this prize gave positive energy to participants and they created articles just for getting appreciation.” In the <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Asian_Month_2015">first iteration</a>, there were around 42 participating communities out of which 11 were Indian language communities. After the first iteration of WAM, when asked about Indian language communities' participation in 2015, <a href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/wikipedia-asian-month-2014-2016-iteration-starts-on-1-november">Addis Wang replied</a>, “Yes! As one of the largest Wikimedia communities in Asia, and maybe the most diverse community in the world, the Indic community is highly involved in the Wikipedia Asian Month since the idea was proposed during Wikimania 2015. In last year’s edition, India is the country that received the most postcards sent by Wikipedia Asian Month. Also, Wikipedian Asian Ambassadors of English Wikipedia, who created most articles during the Asian Month, are from India.” As noted in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Asian_Month/2019#:~:text=Wikipedia%20Asian%20Month%20is%20an,on%20various%20language%2Dspecific%20Wikipedias.&text=The%20first%20iteration%20of%20this,participants%20have%20diversified%20and%20expanded.">2019 by the campaign coordinators</a> , “In the past three years, over 20,500 high-quality articles have been added in more than 50 language-specific Wikipedias by more than 2,000 Wikipedia editors”, (excluding 2019). In 2020, WAM also happened in the same month, November, just like every year. </p>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Project Tiger </h3>
<p>Some years ago Google initiated efforts to<a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_Reach/Announcements/Project_Glow_FAQ"> bridge a gap in Indian language content online</a> . They partnered with the Wikimedia Foundation who in turn collaborated with CIS-A2K and started a pilot project named Project Tiger, in 2018. Also called <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Supporting_Indian_Language_Wikipedias_Program">Supporting Indian language Wikipedias </a>in 2018, Project Tiger did well and received good participation from all the communities, which led to its second iteration in 2019. Project Tiger is a unique and recent initiative that is aimed at creating locally relevant content on Indic Wikipedias that is most searched for by users online. It is distinct from other contests because it is one of the longest running Wiki edit-a-thons, considering it runs for over 3 months with several Indic communities competing with each other. It is an online writing contest which is organised in India. Several Indian language communities take part in this actively. The project is conducted in two phases i.e, the contest includes hardware support distribution to promising volunteers and a 3-month online writing contest on Indian language Wikipedias.The first phase of the contest is the distribution of hardware support, through which 50 Laptops by Google and internet stipends are offered to 100 experienced and promising Wikimedians, who need infrastructure support to increase contributions on Wikipedia. Once the distribution is done, communities start creating articles from the list of topics provided by Google. Other than the list, the community is encouraged to come up with their own set of articles that is relevant to Wikipedia in their own language. Project Tiger, as the name suggests, is inspired by, and named after, an environmental project in India to <a class="external-link" href="https://ecolawgy.net/project-tiger-in-india-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-project-tiger/">save tigers.</a> Similarly, Wikipedia’s Project Tiger aims at nurturing locally relevant content on Indic language Wikipedias.</p>
<div> </div>
</div>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Methods</h3>
<div>
<p dir="ltr">The primary method for this study consisted of interviews with community members who participated in either of the projects or who knew about both. These interviews were conducted via phone calls as well as in written form via a questionnaire/survey. The observations from the study are descriptive and include direct quotations (with the permission) of the participant. Due to a shortage of time and availability of community members, only a limited number of interviews have been conducted for the study. These interviewees were selected primarily based on their active participation or their contributions in their regional language Wikipedia. The interviews were conducted with participants from Assamese, Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia, Punjabi, Santali, Tamil language communities from India. These interviewees also include the main organizers of WAM. The <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fountain_tool">fountain tool</a> developer was also interviewed as part of the study because the tool is a common factor in both the projects. Questionnaires varied depending on the category of respondents, such as participants, contributors, local and international organisers, developer etc. A total of 17 interviews were conducted for both projects. 9 interviews were conducted with the WAM international team, local organisers and participants and 7 interviews with PT organisers and contributors, and one with the fountain tool developer. The interviews were conducted in English, Hindi, Punjabi and Telugu. A consent form was shared with all the interviewees, including permission for recording the interviews. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The data collection was followed by a comparative analysis of Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger. These both are pilot contests which have some similarities, but also some unique aspects. We compared the objectives, scope, process, communication, communities, languages, content, and achievements of these two projects. Data for this was primarily collected through the interviews mentioned above, but also a review of the event pages, and a random sampling of <a href="https://pa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A8%B5%E0%A8%B0%E0%A8%A4%E0%A9%8B%E0%A8%82%E0%A8%95%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%B0_%E0%A8%97%E0%A9%B1%E0%A8%B2-%E0%A8%AC%E0%A8%BE%E0%A8%A4:Nitesh_Gill#Invitation_from_Wikipedia_Asian_Month">talk pages</a>, <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Asian_Month">reports and statistics</a> on these projects available on Wikipedia. These two projects have similarities, differences as well as some limitations. This comparison would help in understanding the importance and need for these types of contests. The motive for the comparison is to better understand the strategies of both projects which focus on increasing the content in local languages. These learnings may inform the process of working on the next iteration of these projects. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr"><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india-part-ii">Part II</a> of this post will look at some of the observations and learnings from this report. </p>
</div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india</a>
</p>
No publisherNitesh Gill and Suswetha KolluruA2K ResearchAccess to Knowledge2021-06-11T10:56:40ZBlog EntryA Comparative Study of Article Creation Campaigns on Wikipedia - Part II
https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india-part-ii
<b>This is a short report on a comparative analysis of two prominent Wikimedia initiatives, Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger, to understand prevailing challenges and opportunities, and strategies to address the same. The report has been authored by Nitesh Gill with inputs from Suswetha Kolluru, and editorial oversight and support by Puthiya Purayil Sneha. This is part of a series of short-term studies undertaken by the CIS-A2K team in 2019–2020. </b>
<p class="discreet"><a class="external-link" href="https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india">Part </a>I of this report outlined the research questions and methods of this study. Part II presents some of the observations and learnings. </p>
<h3>Observations and Analysis</h3>
<p>Wikipedia Asian Month and Project Tiger are pilot projects and both are equally popular among Indian communities. They are similar projects but also have some unique aspects. Communities connect with each-other but in different ways. For example, as noted by an organiser, Sailesh Patnaik, WAM has the following objectives: “ a) Supporting Small Wikipedia communities around the world (majorly Asian Language Wikipedias) b) Providing support to small local communities, to encourage growth and development c)Increase the cooperation among the Wikimedia communities and affiliates in Asia, d)Enriching Asian related culture, content, and enjoyment on Wikimedia projects.”</p>
<p>Meenakshi Nandini, a Malaylam Wikimedian notes, “The Project Tiger contest gave me some best experiences. Through this project, I got support in the form of laptop and Internet access. That is very useful for me. In my view, it is a competition between the communities rather than individuals. I saw that participants wrote more articles in the Project tiger contest than in any other events.But, WAM helped to create more relevant and high-quality content than Project tiger.”</p>
<p>Some common aspects for the both projects are below:</p>
<h3>Motivation</h3>
<p dir="ltr">WAM is one of the initial projects to give a boost to volunteers across the world. Most of the editors are focussed on initiatives in their own languages, and WAM offered a common platform for Asian communities to work together on a project. According to the interviews of community members, the love for their languages inspired them to participate as well as create content in regional languages, communicate to other community members etc. </p>
<p dir="ltr">As community member SangappaDyamani notes , “To enrich Kannada wiki articles, [I’m] happy to represent kn wiki in such an event, we can meet new editors, learn new tech used in other wiki etc.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">Communities or community members began to take part in WAM when they had less opportunities or less ideas to grow their local Wikipedias. After this project began, communities or individuals have been motivated for their Wikipedia’s growth, and engaging more with regional languages and knowing about Asia or Asian culture. Many Indic languages were searching for a platform and WAM gave them a common platform to engage and create content in their regional languages. All interviews indicated the same point that it was a new idea and as every Indic language was developing at the time, this idea influenced most of the languages.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As community member, Ramajit Tudu observes, “As our Santali Wikipedia [went live], we all had lots of excitement to cover all types of the article[s] but prior to that we had articles on the regional topic only. At that time some of the other community members suggested we should take part in this editathon (WAM) and we felt It was a very nice campaign, it is an exchange and sharing of information among the Wikipedians of Asia. Knowing about the person, place and subject about your own continent other than your own country and putting them in your own language is always an interesting job. In the year 2018, I was one of the coordinators and Jury for WAM - Santali language. As our community was growing in the year 2019 others were the co-ordinator and jury but still, I had contributed by participating in the editathon. Besides these, I support the editathon by creating the project page in Santali language.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"> Similarly,there are quite a number of motivational factors for volunteers who have been actively participating in Project Tiger. Firstly, it gives an opportunity to create several important and relevant articles that relate to their language Wikipedia that are presently missing. Secondly, in order to keep up the momentum among participants throughout the competition, it is designed in two phases and there is friendly competition between all the Indic communities that participated to secure the top position. The third and final motivational factor is cash prizes, in the form of Amazon vouchers, for top 3 individual contributors from each community and a three day <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Project_Tiger_Training_2018">offline Wiki workshop</a> for all the active and major contributors from top performing communities.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“When it comes to a competition (between communities), there is a different kind of zeal and there are cash prizes too for extra motivation” says User:Jagmit Brar from the Punjabi community who created more than 1000 articles under Project Tiger in both the iterations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">These motivation factors have definitely been a major reason why the contest witnessed immense engagement and reach among the Indian communities. </p>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Communication and Collaboration</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Communication is an important aspect of running these long duration editathons. So, the model is to engage local organizers and participants with early invitations. The team started contacting Asian communities a month before the start of the campaign. </p>
<p dir="ltr">According to Rupika, the Communication and Media officer of WAM “One of the most difficult things about any project is when it is a new project and they are just trying to [let the] community know about the project. But for projects that are popular and well-established like Wikipedia Asian Month and Wiki Loves Monuments, they don’t have to work that much hard. But we do make sure that our efforts with local organisers are complete. So, we ask them to create a page a month or two before that project starts.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">The discussion started from the mailing lists. Thereafter, mass messages were dropped on all the village pumps and local organisers started discussion with their community members. A new meta page was designed for every iteration. After the notifying and instructions, interested communities add their names and make sure to participate in this project. The model of engaging the communities is through social media channels, emails or on-wiki. The central-notice is a more beneficial method for informing Wikimedia about WAM and also writing blogs for the updates on progress of the project. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Also Wikipedia Asian Month’s primary objective was to collaborate with all the Asian countries as well as others to increase content related to Asia on Wikipedia. It started after a proper discussion and this collaboration was a huge experiment for organisers as well editors. The volunteers interviewed in the course of this study expressed that they are glad with the collaboration of different communities across the world on this campaign.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Collaboration is one of the main features which defines the objective of WAM. It helps the small communities to grow systematically and do something for their regional Wikipedias and learn from other international and national communities.WAM started with 40 plus communities and at present, the number of participating communities is over 70 due to its collaborative nature. Through its five iterations, many Wikipedia communities have been linked to each other and know about each other’s histories and culture etc. ‘Mourya Biswas, a Bengali wikimedian notes’, “Personally, organising WAM was a great deal of a learning experience as well with regard to how to go about organising an editathon with so many people contributing from across different parts of the world. I had hitherto very little experience on organising online editathons. A few tools were absolutely new to me. In the subsequent editathons that I have organised since then, I've learnt to use a few tools to coordinate, support and manage the editathon even more efficiently.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Similarly communication engagement is an effective step of Project Tiger as well. Organisers announce the project on India mailing list then approach communities via village pumps so that they are aware of when the project will commence. Communities remain engaged with the project till three months. The communication channels include social media, emails and phone-calls. Jury members regularly remain in touch with organisers. Editors also communicate regularly with recipients of hardware support. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Project Tiger, as a contest, needs collaborative efforts in order to be a successful engagement with the communities, and the emphasis was on regular communication and discussions that resulted in strengthening the community further.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We had Whatsapp groups with all the volunteers participating in the contest to strategise, resolve doubts, share ideas in order to create as many good quality articles as possible”, observes User:Parvathi Sridharan from Tamil Wiki community.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This contest/project not only saw engaging participation from existing and experienced volunteers, but also from many new ones. This contest has paved a way for new and enthusiastic people who were interested in contributing to Wikipedia. One way this happened is also through offline Wiki workshops conducted as part of outreach.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">“This contest was a good chance to show how people in India are improving the access to knowledge across India and to the world. Many communities which were unnoticed came out during this PT writing contest and showed their community strength.” notes User:Gnoeee, from the Malayalam community who had contributed to English and Malayalam Wikipedia during Project Tiger 1.0</p>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Culture</h3>
<p>WAM encourages cultural exchange by mediating online connections between communities and helping them learn about unique aspects of their respective countries and languages. During this project, Asian communities generate articles/content on their local Wikipedias, and also have an opportunity to find their cultural interests and ways to understand other cultures.</p>
<p>As noted by Saliesh Patnaik, an Odia Wikipedian who is also the social media head for WAM, “This project also encourages cultural exchange within the community with the help of a month-long edit-a-thon which promotes the creation or improvement of the Wikipedia content about Asia except for their (the participant’s) own country.” </p>
<p dir="ltr">“Wikipedia Asian Month is the one of the first kinds of campaigns not just in Asia but in the entire movement to involve so many small communities in this wide level. That individually has allowed so many different communities to grow and help them to learn how to systematically and structurally work together. Project Tiger and other contests came [in the later stages] which really got communities involved. But when WAM started in 2015 it was the first contest where people participated internationally.” The editors’ enthusiasm towards WAM proves that they are interested in creating content across cultures and establishing their links with other non-Indian communities. </p>
<p>Just like WAM, Project Tiger also encourages cultural exchange and bridging cultural gaps. Through this project, Indic communities got a platform to connect with each other. During this contest, communities generate their own regional list regarding important articles for their local Wikipedias. Communities have the opportunity to contact other fellow Wikimedians from Indic languages. They talked to each other through existing groups to solve their issues which they faced during the contest. </p>
<p>During the training period for the winner and runner up community, there was a possibility to exchange their thoughts and ideas. Due to that on-ground activity, Wikimedians played their roles enthusiastically and got more motivated with other stories, experiences and cultural aspects like cuisine. This is the way cultural exchange happened via Project Tiger.</p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3>Grant Process</h3>
<p>While projects under the Wikimedia movement are primarily run on the strength and interests of its volunteer community, there are specific aspects which require funding and support from collaborators such as the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF). For major events, the Wikimedia project needs a grant, depending on time duration and objectives. Similarly, WAM, while not being a very high budget event, is supported by a <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid">rapid grant</a> from the foundation. This rapid grant supports the work on purchasing and sending postcards, certificates, T-shirts, stickers & pins, advertisements on social media (Facebook, Twitter), infrastructure (AirTable membership, G-Suite subscription, etc.), <a href="https://asianmonth.wiki/">domain</a>, and the time of volunteers who are engaged in this work. </p>
<p>For Project Tiger, CIS-A2K gets a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. Selected applicants from any Indic language get hardware support which covers chromebooks/laptops and internet connectivity. Apart from it, during the contest Amazon vouchers were also given to the participants from each community who got the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rank for all the three months. These prizes are fixed for every month. There are also prizes for an overall winner community, and a runner up, which is in the form of a training session after the writing contest. </p>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Appreciation</h3>
<p dir="ltr">A token of appreciation is provided to participants, which is important to aid efforts. Under WAM, this appreciation is divided into two parts : Postcards & Certificates and Brand Ambassador. Postcards are given to those participants who created at least five articles about an Asian country. The postcards are sent by the same countries in appreciation of the contributors’ participation. This is a way to encourage new leadership and new editors. Certificates are also part of this appreciation, as a recognition of active participation and the importance of their work. As Aliva Sahoo, Odia Wikimedia, notes “When I wrote articles in 2016 I created a good number of articles. And that time I was happier because I got 4 or 5 postcards from different countries. My other community members also received postcards. That time I felt motivated to get postcards and I decided to create more articles next time and will collect more postcards. I think this kind of appreciation encourages volunteers and makes them happy.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span style="text-align: center;">The second form of appreciation is the Wikipedia Asian Month Ambassador. This is an honour from WAM to a Wikipedian who creates the most number of articles on their respective Wikipedia. In every iteration of WAM, ambassadors are chosen depending on the number and quality of contributions. By adding an element of competition, and using a title that does not suggest the same, the ambassador initiative plays a very important role in the event to enable more contributions. In the end, we have Wikipedians who are willing to receive other postcards by contributing 30-50 articles (relatively high quality according to our rules), which makes this event very successful and effective” Rupika Sharma, notes.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">In Project Tiger as well, as a token of appreciation to all the top performing participants, prizes were given to the top 3 editors who created the most number of articles from each community, every month in the 3 month contest. Appreciation was given in the form of a cash prize during the first iteration of the Project. After receiving a lot of feedback about this, gift vouchers are given in the second iteration instead of cash prizes.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Apart from this, merchandise such as stickers and t-shirts to other top contributors is also a practice that’s followed. The overall winner, runner up communities and few other top contributors and juries from remaining communities later attend a three day workshop as part of the Project Tiger community prize, on the topics of their preference. </p>
<h3><br /></h3>
<h3>Fountain tool</h3>
<p dir="ltr">The Fountain tool was developed for reviewing the articles of Wikipedia Asian Month, and is used only when the contests are running. “I made the first prototype during the first Wikipedia Asian Month in 2015. We, the jury members, were flooded with articles that needed to be evaluated fairly quickly and so I thought that I can automate 90% of the jury workflow” notes fountain tool developer Le Loy. In this tool, bytes and words are fixed according to the project. For example, in the Wikipedia Asia Month a minimum of 3000 bytes are fixed as per the criteria of evaluation for WAM. This is therefore a useful tool for the contests. It is a tool which helps a lot to collect statistics of specific projects on Wikipedia. After talking to Le Loy, we can reach the conclusion that the tool is not limited to a particular language, and it can be used for any kind of event on Wikipedia. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Project Tiger also uses the Fountain tool to review articles submitted in this contest. It was easy for the participants to submit the articles and also for the jury to pick up an unreviewed article and review it based on the number of bytes, or if the article was actually submitted in the time period mentioned in the contest rules and so on. This tool has definitely made the jury process more efficient and smooth.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<h3>Diversity and Bridging gaps</h3>
<p dir="ltr">Cultural diversity is an important aspect of the sustenance of the Wikimedia movement itself, and bridging different cultural gaps is an important aspect of this effort. </p>
<p dir="ltr">After checking all past statistics of WAM, we found that WAM focused on content related to Asia only but it didn't pay much attention to content by and about persons across diverse gender and sexual identities, including marginalised groups. Sailesh Patnaik & Rupika Shrama, WAM organiser notes that there have been some efforts in this area, saying “We work with more than 50 different language communities on Wikipedia, and have also collaborated with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Women_in_Red">Women in Red</a> to bridge the gender gap in our projects.” There is however a need for ongoing work in this space. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Project Tiger has its own strategy behind diversity and bridging gaps. Both events maintain their diversity as per required rules and areas. One of the major reasons why volunteers find a hindrance in dedicating time for Wikimedia and its projects is the lack of facilities like a laptop or even a proper internet connection. This is why laptops and internet stipends provided during the first phase of the contest have a monumental effect on the contest and also in contributions to not just Project Tiger, but also many other Wiki projects in general. Several volunteers contribute articles via mobile phones in spite of the difficult/complex editing environment. Without this support, there is a chance that Wikipedia can lose some of its most promising volunteers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Project Tiger also tries to bridge a gender gap. For example, the criteria for hardware support also includes ensuring a certain percentage of women applicants are selected. The coordinators have also tried to specifically engage women participants during the contest. Before opening the applications for hardware support, PT core team set criteria for eligibility. On the other hand, one rule always highlighted that 33% women can get laptop or internet connectivity due to their past contribution. This is an effort to engage women in the Wikimedia movement. </p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3><span style="text-align: justify;">Limitations and Barriers </span></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Despite the success of these long running programmes, its true that there still remain some barriers and limitations, as illustrated below: </p>
<p><span style="text-align: justify;">Wikipedia Asian Month</span></p>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">WAM has largely remained a stable programme, but it would be a good thing to see how new aspects could be introduced in the programme. The process is the same every year because after finishing the first iteration the core team didn’t take any feedback, suggestions or concerns from the individuals for the next step, which is a major barrier to growing and planning something new for the next level. As Odia Wikimedian Aliva Sahoo notes, “From 2016 to 2019, WAM was the same and there was nothing new, but I am not sure if during 2020, they changed something because I didn’t participate this year.” According to participant’s comments or WAM rules & guidelines changes in the structure could be introduced. “When the same project is happening again and again then the novelty will reduce. We should make some changes from time to time to engage the people” notes Punjabi Wikimedian, Satdeep Gill.</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The project actively makes an effort in trying to work with more communities every year but also collaborate with other projects such as Women in Red, which is aimed at creating more content by and about women. WAM itself has not been able to promote women leaders and women content as well due to its design which focuses on promoting content. </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Follow-up on receipt of appreciation postcards etc. should be done diligently.There have also been instances where appreciation postcards have been delayed or not sent which affects the motivations of contributors in engaging with the project further. A few contributors did not receive their appreciation from senders, which has led to some negativity. At least after two iterations of any project, contributors or Wiki projects demand for something new. For example, during the beginning of the project, participants got the Wikipedia Asian Month ambassador tags and that was an honour for them. But volunteers seem to be looking for a change and they want to look forward to the project. A Malayalm Wikimedian, Meenakshi Nandini, noted, “However the prizes are not getting to most of the participants, especially the WAM prizes. Even me also didn’t receive most of the event prizes. So we couldn’t tell the participants that you will definitely get these prizes. I won two times as a "Wikipedia Asian Ambassador". But is there any importance or benefit for that honor?”</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">During the WAM, the focus was only on article creation but not on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Content_assessment">quality of articles</a>. It is important therefore to accord more attention to the quality of the content being created, which would help in the long-term sustenance of the project and is better aligned with the larger objectives of the movement. </p>
</li></ul>
<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></p>
<h3><span style="text-align: justify;">Project Tiger</span></h3>
<ul><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Project Tiger happened only in two iterations, but has its limitations and challenges as well. The participants or volunteers who participated in Project Tiger had some concerns on the Google article lists. Contributors felt Google should suggest only those articles which are important for their Wikipedias as priority. The PT core team was not properly able to convince participants as to why the Google list is important and editors were also not fully aware of the same, which led to some mismatch in expectations from the project.</p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Due to hardware support and gift vouchers, most participants are motivated to contribute more, But on the other hand, it changes the whole process of contribution in the Wikimedia movement. Cash prizes or gift vouchers showed a less than satisfactory result, thereby leading to a rethinking of how best to motivate contributors.. But for a few editors hardware support and prizes are a lot. A few users who were editing from phones got laptops just because of the project which has helped their contributions. </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">The manner of addressing the gender gap in the project has also been a point of contention. The possibility is, some participants feel that women only get laptops or internet support due to their gender identity. The process of such quotas may be debatable going forward, and so a clear rationale and process may be developed to encourage participation by women and individuals across the spectrum of gender and sexual identities. </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">One major concern from jury members was that participants did not work on quality but quantity. Reviewers and readers are facing problems with machine translated articles submitted during Project Tiger. The PT team tried to solve the issue of quality during the second iteration, but did not work well, and jury members faced the same difficulty this time as well. </p>
</li><li style="list-style-type: disc;" dir="ltr">
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">A common challenge noted by Satdeep Gill (for both projects) is that “Contributors focus mainly on increasing the article count and the maintenance work lags behind. We need to focus on this as well.”</p>
</li></ul>
<h3><strong><br /></strong>Learnings</h3>
<p>Both projects have had more than one iteration so far, and have managed to create interest and engagement within Indian language communities in working collaboratively and building content. They have also had a fair number of challenges and limitations as well, as illustrated by the interviews. For instance, there has been a difficulty in measuring the quality of articles, the way that quantity is tracked. So there is a need to develop metrics to capture and work on quality of content. A related point is with reference to a lack of capacity building within communities, which would enable them to collaborate and contribute better. There have also been some challenges with logistics, and ensuring that participants receive their prizes during Wikipedia Asian Month. This would need more communication and careful coordination of efforts. There is also a need to keep participants engaged over a long time, and repeating the same structure of the project every year may also lead to a lack of interest or innovation. The project actively makes an effort in trying to work with more communities every year but also collaborate with other projects such as Women in Red, which is aimed at creating more content by and about women. WAM itself has not been able to promote women leaders and women content as well due to its design which focuses on promoting content. The projects therefore need to work in a progressive manner, building on feedback from participants and adapting to the evolving needs and interests of the communities. </p>
<p>These difficulties are also faced by Project Tiger. Google should focus on lists according to the needs of communities, in discussion with the PT team.For example, the core team should track volunteers' contributions after getting the support because anyone can make 500 or 1000 edits for getting a laptop. The core team should find people from the communities who need this support and will contribute proactively. Project Tiger’s process transparency is appreciated, but with the same transparency the infrastructure distribution process should be different from now. Also it should encourage or discuss with communities about proactive women’s participation during the project. PT should run a Bridging Gender Gap campaign, where communities should play a role to engage women as organisers from each community and should make a strategy for the same. This project needs to work on a strategy for building and sustaining quality as well which is important for growth of Indic Wikipedias.</p>
<p><span style="text-align: justify;">So, not every project is perfect, every project has some achievements and some limitations. Therefore, WAM and Project Tiger are also the same, it achieves its goals but also carries some failures. But there is a possibility to make changes to both projects.</span></p>
<p><strong><br /></strong></p>
<h3 style="text-align: justify;">Conclusion </h3>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">Wikipedia Asian Month is an International project which started in 2015. It is a low budget project, and gives a common platform to Asian as well as Non-Asian communities to participate over the course of a month. When WAM started most of the communities were excited to do something for their languages, and this was a big initial motivation for the project. The communities want to continue with WAM because they feel like this is one of the projects which started at that time when communities wanted something to engage themselves with Wikipedias. Every year most of the communities participate in it for sure, although the people who work on the projects may differ. Project Tiger is a pilot project which is a three-month-long contest. This project provides an opportunity to communities to work together. After the success of the Indic languages contest [Project Tiger] in 2018, two more countries, (<a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Proyek_Saraswati/Kompetisi">Project Saraswati</a> and <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Project_GLOW/Project_Al-Ma%27refa">Project Al-Ma'refa</a>), also organised a similar project under different names. Due to Project Tiger, thousands of articles were created or developed by volunteers about important, most searched for topics suggested by Google, as well as those important to respective Indic language Wikipedias. Infra-structure support pays attention to volunteers' hard work and encourages them to work to share free knowledge. These projects therefore go a long way in enriching local language content, and keeping volunteer communities interested and engaged with their respective Wikipedias. </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;" dir="ltr">You may also read the full report on Wikimedia Meta-Wiki<a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:A_Comparative_Analysis_of_Article_Creation_Campaigns_on_Wikipedia"> here. </a></p>
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For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india-part-ii'>https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/a-comparative-study-of-wikimedia-article-creation-campaigns-in-india-part-ii</a>
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No publishersneha-ppA2K ResearchAccess to Knowledge2021-06-11T10:54:37ZBlog Entry