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.,

questions please?