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NEVER TOO LATE: TAKING MEASURES TO PROMOTE ARMENIAN WIKIPEDIA
by Lusine Grigoryan
Watching the Watchers.org
http://watchingthewatchers.org/indepth/1395528/never-too-late-taking-measures-promote
Sept 1 2011
(This is the eighth installment in a series of updates from the
WikiHistories summer research fellows, who will be studying the
virtual community history of different Wikipedia editing communities.)
Almost 15.000 articles since 2003 and just a few dozen active
contributors: how to change the situation?
Well, looks like 2011 can be a year of change for
Õ~NÕ"O~DÕ"O~CÕ¥Õ¤Õ"Õ¡- the Armenian Wikipedia, as the community,
supporting organizations and even the state have started taking
Wikipedia seriously.
Armenian Wikipedians and volunteers translating Wikipedia guidelines
at the hackathon, April 2011 For the first time on April 3 of this
year, a 1-day Wikipedia hackathon was organized for Wikipedians and
their friends to come together in one place and translate Wikipedia
policies and guidelines.
About 50 people gathered and 17 guidelines were translated during
the day. Even though many of those 50 people did not edit another
article afterwards, it was an important step for the development of
the Õ~NÕ"O~DÕ"O~CÕ¥Õ¤Õ"Õ¡: this in fact was the first event organized
by a few interested parties such as educational -- humanitarian
foundations, software developing firms, IT NGOs and of course, the
Wikimedia community.
It all started after Richard Stallman's visit to Armenia. The
Web2.0 activist shared his enthusiasm about open, interactive and
collaborative online platforms and suggested, "Why not have another
look at Wikipedia?".
Armine, who works for the educational NGO "Instigate" says that
Stallman's enthusiasm was contagious and, soon after his visit, she
and her colleagues registered on Wikipedia, tried and loved it. They
thought this was something particularly useful for kids and students
and they announced the start of the "Wikipedia: School and University-
Armenia" project that now unifies 6 organizations and groups, including
the Wikipedia community.
Apart from the hackathon, the initiators of the project visited
a few schools: not all of the school headmasters greeted them with
enthusiasm, but some were really open to innovations. However, it was
Spring, the end of the school year, and both teachers and pupils were
too busy to try something new.
15-year-old Mariam is the head of the student council at the Anania
Shirakatsi National Lycee. She is eager to take the first steps as
soon as the schools open in September. She has asked some of the
active Wikipedians to teach the students the basics of editing and
the main principles of the Armenian Wiki community. She says that
every student in the Lycee writes over 10 essays during the school
year that can be suitable for the online encyclopedia. Besides,
she thinks that Wiki platform can be a good place for developing and
editing the articles in collaboration with classmates and teachers.
"What can be more attractive for children than the feeling that their
work will be available and useful for millions of people. This will
also make them more responsible and motivated",- says Armine. She
believes that the sense of collaboration is ideal for classrooms and
hopes that more schools will adopt the tool.
The idea has been proposed to the Ministry of Education as well. The
reaction was positive, but so far it hasn't gone any further.
Separate from the School and University project, another Wikipedian -
SusikMkr (Susanna Lazarian), has started a process for establishing
a Wikimedia Chapter in Armenia. "The community will not grow without
a proper organization", she says.
Susanna works at the Science Management Department of the National
Science Academy Computing Institute of Armenia. Discovering Armenian
Wikipedia, she was astonished to find the right tool for promoting
science and knowledge but disappointed with the current situation. She
registered as a Wikipedia contributor last December. Since then she
has been reading the policies and studying the experience of other
countries trying to find ways for developing Wikipedia. In August
she took part in the WikiMania 2011 conference in Haifa and gave
a presentation about the situation in Armenia, with suggestions on
how to change it. Now she says she is in touch with the Wikimedia
Foundation and has their full support to realize her plan, i. e. to
increase the number of contributors and articles, and establish a
chapter for coordinating the job.
Armenian Wiki community discussing the measures of Wikipedia promotion
in Armenia This Saturday she invited the active Wikipedians for a talk
and discussion of her ideas. She says she already has the support of
the Science Academy: they will provide a room and most likely some
computers for the workshop and training. Also, the Academy is happy
to help with the content.
"We have lots of great minds, scientists who are retired and do
not know how to keep themselves busy. We also have high rates of
unemployment in the country, so there are a lot of people who have
the knowledge but don't know how to share it. They do not know about
Wikipedia. We need to inform and train people", Susanna insists.
She is also up for more practical approaches: schools should
incorporate Wikipedia in the curriculum, universities should
take responsibility for enriching the encyclopedia with X number
of articles per month, including policy translations. Also, there
might be competitions for Wikipedia articles to encourage children
to start contributing.
The veteran-Wikipedians, however, are a bit sceptical about these
plans. Being guards of Wikipedia traditions and rules, they strongly
believe in "good faith", "openness", voluntarism" of Wikipedia. If
there is any chance that anyone will be paid or forced to contribute
to Wikipedia, the community will resist.
Susanna promises not to break the rules and to discuss every step with
the community and the Foundation, but one thing is clear for her:
she needs to do something about the situation. For her Wikipedia is
not just a tool but a philosophy that can be used in all spheres of
cultural, social and academic life. 10 years after the creation of
Wikipedia, Armenians want to give it another try and really make use
of it.
by Lusine Grigoryan
Watching the Watchers.org
http://watchingthewatchers.org/indepth/1395528/never-too-late-taking-measures-promote
Sept 1 2011
(This is the eighth installment in a series of updates from the
WikiHistories summer research fellows, who will be studying the
virtual community history of different Wikipedia editing communities.)
Almost 15.000 articles since 2003 and just a few dozen active
contributors: how to change the situation?
Well, looks like 2011 can be a year of change for
Õ~NÕ"O~DÕ"O~CÕ¥Õ¤Õ"Õ¡- the Armenian Wikipedia, as the community,
supporting organizations and even the state have started taking
Wikipedia seriously.
Armenian Wikipedians and volunteers translating Wikipedia guidelines
at the hackathon, April 2011 For the first time on April 3 of this
year, a 1-day Wikipedia hackathon was organized for Wikipedians and
their friends to come together in one place and translate Wikipedia
policies and guidelines.
About 50 people gathered and 17 guidelines were translated during
the day. Even though many of those 50 people did not edit another
article afterwards, it was an important step for the development of
the Õ~NÕ"O~DÕ"O~CÕ¥Õ¤Õ"Õ¡: this in fact was the first event organized
by a few interested parties such as educational -- humanitarian
foundations, software developing firms, IT NGOs and of course, the
Wikimedia community.
It all started after Richard Stallman's visit to Armenia. The
Web2.0 activist shared his enthusiasm about open, interactive and
collaborative online platforms and suggested, "Why not have another
look at Wikipedia?".
Armine, who works for the educational NGO "Instigate" says that
Stallman's enthusiasm was contagious and, soon after his visit, she
and her colleagues registered on Wikipedia, tried and loved it. They
thought this was something particularly useful for kids and students
and they announced the start of the "Wikipedia: School and University-
Armenia" project that now unifies 6 organizations and groups, including
the Wikipedia community.
Apart from the hackathon, the initiators of the project visited
a few schools: not all of the school headmasters greeted them with
enthusiasm, but some were really open to innovations. However, it was
Spring, the end of the school year, and both teachers and pupils were
too busy to try something new.
15-year-old Mariam is the head of the student council at the Anania
Shirakatsi National Lycee. She is eager to take the first steps as
soon as the schools open in September. She has asked some of the
active Wikipedians to teach the students the basics of editing and
the main principles of the Armenian Wiki community. She says that
every student in the Lycee writes over 10 essays during the school
year that can be suitable for the online encyclopedia. Besides,
she thinks that Wiki platform can be a good place for developing and
editing the articles in collaboration with classmates and teachers.
"What can be more attractive for children than the feeling that their
work will be available and useful for millions of people. This will
also make them more responsible and motivated",- says Armine. She
believes that the sense of collaboration is ideal for classrooms and
hopes that more schools will adopt the tool.
The idea has been proposed to the Ministry of Education as well. The
reaction was positive, but so far it hasn't gone any further.
Separate from the School and University project, another Wikipedian -
SusikMkr (Susanna Lazarian), has started a process for establishing
a Wikimedia Chapter in Armenia. "The community will not grow without
a proper organization", she says.
Susanna works at the Science Management Department of the National
Science Academy Computing Institute of Armenia. Discovering Armenian
Wikipedia, she was astonished to find the right tool for promoting
science and knowledge but disappointed with the current situation. She
registered as a Wikipedia contributor last December. Since then she
has been reading the policies and studying the experience of other
countries trying to find ways for developing Wikipedia. In August
she took part in the WikiMania 2011 conference in Haifa and gave
a presentation about the situation in Armenia, with suggestions on
how to change it. Now she says she is in touch with the Wikimedia
Foundation and has their full support to realize her plan, i. e. to
increase the number of contributors and articles, and establish a
chapter for coordinating the job.
Armenian Wiki community discussing the measures of Wikipedia promotion
in Armenia This Saturday she invited the active Wikipedians for a talk
and discussion of her ideas. She says she already has the support of
the Science Academy: they will provide a room and most likely some
computers for the workshop and training. Also, the Academy is happy
to help with the content.
"We have lots of great minds, scientists who are retired and do
not know how to keep themselves busy. We also have high rates of
unemployment in the country, so there are a lot of people who have
the knowledge but don't know how to share it. They do not know about
Wikipedia. We need to inform and train people", Susanna insists.
She is also up for more practical approaches: schools should
incorporate Wikipedia in the curriculum, universities should
take responsibility for enriching the encyclopedia with X number
of articles per month, including policy translations. Also, there
might be competitions for Wikipedia articles to encourage children
to start contributing.
The veteran-Wikipedians, however, are a bit sceptical about these
plans. Being guards of Wikipedia traditions and rules, they strongly
believe in "good faith", "openness", voluntarism" of Wikipedia. If
there is any chance that anyone will be paid or forced to contribute
to Wikipedia, the community will resist.
Susanna promises not to break the rules and to discuss every step with
the community and the Foundation, but one thing is clear for her:
she needs to do something about the situation. For her Wikipedia is
not just a tool but a philosophy that can be used in all spheres of
cultural, social and academic life. 10 years after the creation of
Wikipedia, Armenians want to give it another try and really make use
of it.