Wikimedia Armenia/Western Armenian program/Reports 2017/January-June

Western Armenian Program Report
January-June

Article Overview

Western Armenian Wikipedia logo which is used in templates.

In the past months 354 articles were written in Western Armenian. Most of them were written by the students who participated in the Summer Wikicamp 2015 in Beirut and Armenia, small part of them were written by the students who participated in the Summer Wikicamp 2016 in Potugal, and the rest by other editors.

All these new articles were reviewed, edited and wikified by experienced editors, including the teachers of above mentioned students.

At this moment we have 5744 Western Armenian articles.

Wikipedia Education program stats

• In January we had 17 students who created 45 articles, made 229 edits and contributed 111858 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.
• In February we had 16 students who created 37 articles, made 256 edits and contributed 294293 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.
• In March we had 13 students who created 5 articles, made 10 edits and contributed 546319 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.
• In April we had 6 students who created 21 articles, made 164 edits and contributed 199063 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.
• In May we had 11 students who created 27 articles, made 116 edits and contributed 259256 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.
• In June we had 14 students who created 88 articles, made 458 edits and contributed 1328319 bytes to Western Armenian Wikipedia.

Western Armenian articles on the main page of Armenian Wikipedia

During the last 6 months, such as done before, featured article was chosen per week, which was previously reviewed and corrected by Wikipedia Education program member teachers, and we put them on the main page of Armenian Wikipedia. We share these articles on social networks in order to make them available for more people.

WikiClubs

The WikiClubs activities are going on well in schools in Beirut and Istanbul National Central College, where the students study and edit Western Armenian articles during their spare time with the help of experienced Wikipedians.

Wikisource

Wikisource is an online community, where Western Armenian books are scanned and digitized to provide online access to Armenians across the globe. Western Armenian books of various topics are uploaded and edited to ensure that the correct spelling and format is presented. Based on the Armenian law that protects literacy, the authors must be passed away for over 70 years to be eligible. The chosen Western Armenian books are presented to AGBU communities, where Armenian youth are able to practice their literacy by editing and formatting the presented scanned copies.

In February 2017, the Armenian community began their work with Wikisource with a group of selected members of WikiClub from Istanbul National Central College. The first book, containing 84 pages, is almost complete with 20 pages left to go. (The first book, containing 84 pages has been complete and ready to be accessed by Western Armenian readers.)

Moving forward, Western Armenian online literacy access will increase for Armenians around the world with Wikisource.

Transfer of the WikiCup to the new winner who helped increase the rank of Armenian Wikipedia

Armenian is 1 of 280 languages Wikipedia offers its readers. In March 2017, Western Armenian editor, Ani Chalian received the WikiCup for publishing the 217 322th article. This milestone, increased Armenian Wikipedia’s rank from 38 to 37, putting Armenian Wikipedia ahead of Slovakia based on most articles published. Ani Chalian’s accomplishment has also increased the rank of Western Armenian articles published. There are now over 6 000 articles written in Western Armenian, available for the Armenian Wikipedia community.

Visitors and the workshops

Toros Toranian at WMAM office

On March 31, 2017, Wikimedia Armenia had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Toros Toranian’s visit to the office in Yerevan. Dr. Toranian (M.D.) is an accomplished Armenian writer from Syria who now lives in Yerevan. His passion for writing lead him to write over 200 books about various topics ranging from writers that live around the world to Armenian-Syrians now living in Armenia. This meeting lead to the agreement of working together to obtain his rare books and digitize them in order to make them available in the Wikisource.

ISO Code

Currently, Wikimedia Armenia and the Gulbenkian Foundation are working on using ISO code to isolate and distinguish Western Armenian from Eastern Armenian. The process of communicating through email continues between the staff and the Principal Investigator. There are already numerous lists composed which present the differences between Western Armenian and Eastern Armenian. The work will continue to expand this content. By identifying the differences between Western and Eastern Armenian, we hope to minimize the confusion and further establish the languages.

Presentation at Holy Cross Harboyan High School

On March 31, 2017, Assadour Basmajian introduced WikiCamps to Armenian Catholic Patriarchate’s Holy Cross Harboyan High School in Lebanon. Basmajian is a senior high school student and Armenian Wikipedia editor who has participated in 4 WikiCamps within the past 2 years. Topics discussed during the presentation included Armenian Wikipedia and its’ WikiCamps that were held in Beirut (2015) and Portugal (2016). Basmajian remembers the fond memories and close friendships he made by participating with WikiCamp. He assured the attending teachers that Wiktionary editing would be introduced to the Armenian language elementary curriculum by providing workshops to develop the Wikipedia editing skills. WikiCamps has provided Assadour Basmajian with the power and confidence to continue his contributions for Wikipedia and motivate other students at his high school’s WikiClub. He aspires to become a doctor and continue to edit and create new medical articles in the Western Armenian Wikipedia. WikiCamps is an important program that increases the number of articles in a short period of time. The number of Western Armenian content has now reached over 5 600 articles, and will continue to grow during the WikiCamp in Lyon this year.

Summer WikiCamp 2017 France

Before the Camp

This August 12th - 20th, WikiCamp Summer 2017 will be held in La Bourboule, at François et Suzon, France․ La Bourboule is a village just outside the city of Lyon. There will be a total of 44 participants from 6 different countries, including USA, Lebanon, Turkey, Greece, Armenia, and France. There are a total of 44 student participants between the ages 16 - 25 years old. There will be 22 students coming from Turkey, 3 from France, 7 from Armenia, 9 from Lebanon, 2 from Greece, and 1 from America. In addition, there has been 11 staff members chosen to help organize the camp. Like every year, the goal is to train Western Armenian speakers to edit Wikipedia, Wikisource, and encourage them to join the global Wikipedia movement.

WikiCamp Preparations

In anticipation for WikiCamp Summer 2017, the staff members at WikiMedia Armenia and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation have been assigned groups to complete their assignments. They include:

• Wiki Team - Susanna Mkrtchyan, Azniv Stepanian, David Saroyan and Shogher Margossian. This team is responsible for finding sources, creating lists, and establishing themes based on which article will be created in the Western Armenian Wikipedia, workshops during the camp, summarizing daily results, etc. Shogher made contact with the participants for help them to prepare editing works.

• Technical Team - Ani Garmirian, Vera Cunha, Mher Bekaryan, Meline Ghazarian. Ani and Meline are responsible for the arrival and departure schedules of the camp (buses, tours) to avoid any delays. Mher is responsible for WikiCamp polo shirts, badges, certificates, banner design, and print in Armenia.
• Visa Invitation Confirmation - Vera Cunha, Azniv Stepanian, Meline Ghazarian.
• WikiCamp La Bourboule Leader - Meline Ghazarian...

Sources for Articles

Digitization

Western Armenian resources for WikiCamp France will be provided by ___ Western Armenian books that are digitized and have OCR copies available. Based on these books, camp day themes and a list of proposed articles were created, which would become article topics for the campers. The books contain biographies of famous Armenians including authors, politicians, poets, priests, etc.

Translation Lists

Aside from creating articles using Western Armenian sources, participants will also be translating articles from English, French, Turkish, and Arabic into Western Armenian.

Printing Materials

By the end of WikiCamp France 2017, all participants will receive a certificate. The design and printing of the certificates and banners will be made in Armenia.

Wiki Training in Armenia

This year, WikiWeek will be held from July 10 - 17 in Aghveran, Armenia. Training will be provided to 10 participants from different countries and backgrounds including teachers, journalists, skilled professionals, and others interested in the field of Wikipedia. The purpose of WikiWeek is to provide the participants with the knowledge of wikiediting tools, and how to create their own articles in Western Armenian, in order to get more people involved in the world of Wikipedia.