Tamil Wikipedia:
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Transcript of Tamil Wikipedia:
Tamil Wikipedia: a case study
L.BalaSundaraRaman
(User:Sundar)
With generous inputs from Dr.C.R.SelvaKumar, Natkeeran, Ravishankar, Karthick and other Tamil Wikipedians
historical context…
First decade of 1900s – Abidhaanakosam, Abidhaana Chindhaamani
1950s – Humanities Encyclopaedia and Encyclopaedia of Science from Tamil University
September 30, 2003 – birth of Tamil Wikipedia with an anonymous post
November 4, 2003 to November 22, 2003 – real action begins due to Mayooranathan
growth phases
Linear increment in users would cause super-linear growth in articles
Very active contributors matter a lot in phase 2, active users beyond that
editors
Diverse backgrounds.. Areas of expertise: Architecture, Biotechnology,
Economics, Electronics, Information Technology, Mathematics, Music, Social Welfare etc.
Professions: engineers, scientists, academics, students, administrators, self-employed people, etc.
Age: 15 to 85 years!
characteristics of the wiki
Cordiality and good faith Quality focus Citing sources Single major contributor for many articles
But, great inputs from fellow Wikipedians in every aspect
Specialist roles Articles on emerging science, technology,
society
challenges Low internet penetration
among the majority of the population
Low awareness about Tamil typing tools
Low awareness about Tamil Wikipedia
Less than 2% editors female
Disconnect between skilled writers and internet access
Still not reached critical mass of tech-savvy editors who can fix interface issues
outreach Chennai academy
Host: Kiruba Speakers: Ravishankar
Bangalore academy - 1 Host: Mugiltech Speakers: Mugunth,
Sundar, Santhosh, and Sathya
Bangalore academy – 2 Host: IISc Speakers: Sundar,
Karthick, and Mugunth Many other talks by
Natkeeran and Ravishankar
tutorial agenda
Introductions by the host and the Tamil Wikipedia member who acted as an interface with the host
A short presentation on what Wikipedia is, its history, philosophies, software, etc.,
A tutorial on Tamil typing tools Tea break Tutorial on editing through someone from the
audience. The newbie picks the topic and content. Q & A session
tutorial best practices Tutor-learner ratio: around 1:5 Multiple tutors handling different aspects of editing A classroom is good, a computer science lab is better. Asking some uninitiated person from the audience to come
forward and edit convinces others about ease of use gives feedback to the tutors about difficulties faced by new
editors. An immediate message at the user’s talkpage helps Examples relevant to the audience Follow-up First session should be about the native language typing
other projects
Wiktionary more than 1,00,000 entries
Wikisource Numerous PD works
Wikinews neutrality
Wikibooks Wikiquotes …
future firming up policies and guidelines media outreach bringing out an offline collection of wiki
articles The 28,000 articles in the Tamil edition of
the concise Britannica, currently being sold in the market, are of stub-quality.
A collection of 5,000 selected articles from Tamil Wikipedia, published after manual perusal, will definitely have a number of takers.
A collection of wildlife articles for school children
An assorted collection of good articles given to scientific research students
liaising with the Indian Wikimedia Chapter being formed and other bodies
conducting article-writing contests, local conferences, etc.,