IRC office hours/Office hours 2011-03-03

[2011-03-03 19:59:52] <GerardM-> I learned something from the Myanmar community that could help
[2011-03-03 20:00:15] <Theo10011> ya, I mentioned that earlier there was no support for Indic languages.
[2011-03-03 20:00:17] <GerardM-> what they do is give a cyber cafe a sticker when you can edit and read wikipedia there
[2011-03-03 20:00:19] <Theo10011> what did you learn?
[2011-03-03 20:00:35] <GerardM-> they help with the set up ..
[2011-03-03 20:00:44] <GerardM-> and it works for them
[2011-03-03 20:01:04] <Theo10011> something to aid in text entry, like a virtual keyboard?
[2011-03-03 20:02:43] <Beria> GerardM-: I have a request for you :D
[2011-03-03 20:02:51] <GerardM-> what they do is install the fonts, the keyboard
[2011-03-03 20:03:05] <Theo10011> ahh.
[2011-03-03 20:03:39] <Theo10011> welcome back Mr. Mundol?
[2011-03-03 20:03:50] <mundol> hi theo10011
[2011-03-03 20:03:51] <ravidreams> hi gerard
[2011-03-03 20:03:54] <GerardM-> With a "quality sticker" by the Wikipedia organisation, it is even coveted to have such a sticker
[2011-03-03 20:04:07] <ravidreams> the situation in cyber cafe is same almost for all indian languages
[2011-03-03 20:04:09] <Theo10011> alright, so Hisham is here.
[2011-03-03 20:04:27] <mundol> and fortified with not one but 2 internet connections.
[2011-03-03 20:04:29] <santhosh> santhosh: hi all :)
[2011-03-03 20:04:31] <Theo10011> I will be moderating the session, its supposed to be a casual community meeting.
[2011-03-03 20:04:35] <mundol> hi santosh
[2011-03-03 20:04:36] <mundol> hi ravi
[2011-03-03 20:04:39] <mundol> hi gerard
[2011-03-03 20:04:42] <GerardM-> ravidreams if it works in Birma why not in India ?
[2011-03-03 20:04:48] <GerardM-> :) hoi
[2011-03-03 20:04:49] <Theo10011> so welcome all and feel free to introduce yourselves and jump in.
[2011-03-03 20:05:08] <mundol> cool. if i can just say hello to everyone and thanks for joining in
[2011-03-03 20:05:28] <mundol> i'll wait for others to intro themselves if they want, and then i can share some context?
[2011-03-03 20:05:29] <ravidreams> we have had similar efforts in tamil to install fonts, give sticker (non wiki though).. but it was dropped after initial enthu
[2011-03-03 20:06:04] <ravidreams> ok, I am Ravi ( user name: ravidreams ) working in Tamil Wikimedia projects since 2005
[2011-03-03 20:06:12] <Theo10011> mundol: GerardM was talking about font support in Malayalam.
[2011-03-03 20:06:20] <GerardM-> <grin> what the Burmese did was they would only get together at a cafe if it had the sticker..
[2011-03-03 20:06:23] <mundol> ok. hi ravi
[2011-03-03 20:06:34] <GerardM-> so not having the sticker meant that they did not go there
[2011-03-03 20:06:48] <GerardM-> no business no profit
[2011-03-03 20:06:51] <Theo10011> interesting.
[2011-03-03 20:06:54] <mundol> the areas i broadly wanted to discuss and get your views on are centred around readership and editor base.
[2011-03-03 20:06:56] * santhosh Santhosh Thottingal, a new member of Lang Comm
[2011-03-03 20:07:07] <GerardM-> :)
[2011-03-03 20:07:13] <Theo10011> Hi Santhosh.
[2011-03-03 20:07:33] <GerardM-> the Language committee is here in strenght
[2011-03-03 20:07:35] <santhosh> Hi Theo10011 :)
[2011-03-03 20:07:38] <ravidreams> Hi gerard, as far as Tamil, majority who go to cyber cafes do work in english
[2011-03-03 20:07:42] <ravidreams> there is no user demand for Tamil
[2011-03-03 20:07:53] <ravidreams> orkut, facebook are all done in english
[2011-03-03 20:08:06] <ravidreams> or they type roman text in tamil
[2011-03-03 20:08:21] <ravidreams> and those who need Tamil figure out how to type Tamil
[2011-03-03 20:08:26] <ravidreams> say through Firefox extensions
[2011-03-03 20:08:44] <ravidreams> and we can't expect serious editors to pay money and work from cyber cafes
[2011-03-03 20:09:04] <ravidreams> where we need to enable Tamil is in University computer centers
[2011-03-03 20:09:18] <ravidreams> and also need some advocacy with local computer dealers
[2011-03-03 20:09:22] <santhosh> ravidreams: we need not restrict the discussion to Tamil, school libraries, even people from their own computers without enough skill on computer usage, users who does not have enough permissions to install/configure fonts.....
[2011-03-03 20:09:26] <ravidreams> to pre-install Tamil support before sale
[2011-03-03 20:09:44] <GerardM-> so have a sticker for computer salesmen
[2011-03-03 20:09:57] <santhosh> cyber cafe is just one example.
[2011-03-03 20:10:01] <ravidreams> :)
[2011-03-03 20:10:02] <GerardM-> they get it when they show competency with Indic languages
[2011-03-03 20:10:15] <GerardM-> or a certificate
[2011-03-03 20:10:23] <GerardM-> with a number and a photo
[2011-03-03 20:10:53] <GerardM-> and there is a public website where you can find these people
[2011-03-03 20:11:07] <GerardM-> with their number and photo
[2011-03-03 20:11:52] <mundol> the big problem is that unless internet penetration increases manifold, it will still be the largely urban, english-proficient user base. this will make it commercially unattractive for hardware and software companies to provide indic language options.
[2011-03-03 20:12:00] <ravidreams> hmm..makes sense. but we need to go the basic level of the network
[2011-03-03 20:12:24] <mundol> having said that, internet penetration in india is expanding fairly rapidly so this might happen much faster than in the past.
[2011-03-03 20:12:44] <GerardM-> When wikipedians are starting to make such a list, it will get publicity... that is a start
[2011-03-03 20:12:49] <mundol> ravi, are there any examples you know where college computer centres have been enabled?
[2011-03-03 20:13:16] <ravidreams> indic language display is ok everywhere now with modern browsers
[2011-03-03 20:13:30] <ravidreams> I don't know any college which has typing tools installed for local language
[2011-03-03 20:13:49] <mundol> hmmm. ok.
[2011-03-03 20:14:01] <santhosh> All kerala schools has Malayalam enabled computers
[2011-03-03 20:14:15] <ravidreams> as a policy and advocacy level, i think if we could get the state governments to teach language typing in computer as part of curriculum
[2011-03-03 20:14:19] <ravidreams> only then it will work
[2011-03-03 20:14:38] <santhosh> It is part of the syllabus to learn typing in Malayalam
[2011-03-03 20:14:39] <mundol> that's a fair point, ravi.
[2011-03-03 20:14:54] <mundol> santosh: is it part of the curriculum in kerala?
[2011-03-03 20:14:59] <mundol> ...and i got my answer. thanks.
[2011-03-03 20:15:02] <santhosh> yes, at 7th standard
[2011-03-03 20:15:12] <Theo10011> this also brings in the cultural divide between the North and south, support for Hindi at universities is very rare in North India.
[2011-03-03 20:15:26] <mundol> interesting.
[2011-03-03 20:16:17] <mundol> hey, all, the reason i requested this irc was to bounce off some ideas off you. you guys ok if i move onto that? (they are also relevant in the broader indic context)
[2011-03-03 20:16:21] <ravidreams> i am not sure if tamil typing is part of curriculum in Tamilnadu. But the govt is keen on improving computer, internet access at school level.
[2011-03-03 20:16:30] <ravidreams> another problem we face is having multiple keyboards
[2011-03-03 20:16:37] <Theo10011> go ahead Hisham.
[2011-03-03 20:16:46] <mundol> thanks, theo.
[2011-03-03 20:16:50] <ravidreams> we have a standard for typing in computer but it is not popular older generation of teachers
[2011-03-03 20:17:03] <ravidreams> ok hisham
[2011-03-03 20:17:18] <mundol> i've been speaking to just about everyone i know (and sometimes only vaguely know) to understand the current context of wikipedia in india.
[2011-03-03 20:18:03] <mundol> awareness and readership of en-wk is (reasonably) high. however, it is much less so in indic languages
[2011-03-03 20:18:22] <GerardM-> <grin> for the record, he has not spoken with me yet ... so he does not know me even vaguely
[2011-03-03 20:18:35] <Theo10011> lol
[2011-03-03 20:18:46] <Theo10011> GerardM, you'll get your chance in Berlin.
[2011-03-03 20:18:49] <mundol> ...and it is a bit of chicken and egg; article count / quality drives readership which drives article count / quality
[2011-03-03 20:19:09] <mundol> hahaha, true, gerard! ..and i shall make up for it even before berlin!
[2011-03-03 20:19:41] <mundol> ...now, one way of doing is it to let a natural course of events take place and see these growing.
[2011-03-03 20:20:09] <mundol> my hypothesis is that many readers of en-wk in india / from the indian diaspora are proficient in 1 more indic languages
[2011-03-03 20:20:20] <mundol> ...but may not be aware of indic versions.
[2011-03-03 20:20:38] <mundol> now, if they are already coming to en-wk, can we use that to share with them that indic languages exist?
[2011-03-03 20:20:45] <ravidreams> yes
[2011-03-03 20:21:09] <mundol> ...is it possible, for example, to use geo targetted banners on en-wk to tell them about indic languages?
[2011-03-03 20:21:12] <ravidreams> increasing editor count has lot of factors. but readership can be easily increased
[2011-03-03 20:21:15] <mundol> has this been done before? did it work?
[2011-03-03 20:21:26] <ravidreams> yes we had geo targetted banners for ten wiki celebration
[2011-03-03 20:21:37] <mundol> ravi: completely agree. and i do want to discuss editor count as well.
[2011-03-03 20:21:51] <ravidreams> just use that for ever and say to people: hey, do you know wiki is also in these languages? and give links
[2011-03-03 20:22:19] <mundol> i remember seeing them. if i recall correctly, they also pointed to a page where there was going to be a basic tutorial of some kind on how to edit.
[2011-03-03 20:22:23] <GerardM-> I know several strategies for growing article relevance for reader growht
[2011-03-03 20:22:55] <GerardM-> the bottom line is write what people are looking for
[2011-03-03 20:22:58] <Theo10011> Hisham we did try those exact things during the fundraiser.
[2011-03-03 20:22:58] <mundol> can we geo target by state, or does it have to be at a country level?
[2011-03-03 20:23:04] <Theo10011> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2010/IN/Welcome
[2011-03-03 20:23:11] <Theo10011> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Indian_language_projects
[2011-03-03 20:23:29] <Theo10011> we can't target to a state-level with geo targeting yet.
[2011-03-03 20:23:31] <Theo10011> only country.
[2011-03-03 20:23:40] <mundol> theo: do we know how many people clicked through those?
[2011-03-03 20:23:57] <mundol> would be interesting to see that as a ratio of unique visitors during the same period.
[2011-03-03 20:23:59] <Theo10011> not the exact but it was a negligible amount.
[2011-03-03 20:24:01] <ravidreams> targetting by state is better ( but can backfire for metropolis like bangalore which have many language groups).. so national targettings is good with links to ten random indian wikis at a time
[2011-03-03 20:24:47] <Theo10011> We might be able to look up exact figure from stats.wiki
[2011-03-03 20:24:58] <mundol> ravi: true. that's a good point. and given that penetration is relatively higher in the more urban areas, and the more urban areas are relatively more cosmoplitan, that's valid. though this might change going forward as internet acess increases
[2011-03-03 20:25:11] <Theo10011> but from what I recall, I created that campaign and we didn't get any vocal response.
[2011-03-03 20:25:12] <mundol> cool. i'll try and dig it up, theo10011
[2011-03-03 20:25:47] <ravidreams> thoe, do u think a long time camoaign may help?
[2011-03-03 20:25:47] <Theo10011> have you considered any offline ideas?
[2011-03-03 20:26:08] <mundol> sure. i suppose one of the things i want to do is to look at past endeavours that were sucessful and others that might not have been as much and see if there are pointers to what we could do in future.
[2011-03-03 20:26:19] <Theo10011> ravi, it would be hard to gauge, it might get annoying if a notice was there permanently.
[2011-03-03 20:26:57] <Theo10011> we haven't really taken any offline approach for remote villages and school.
[2011-03-03 20:27:26] <Theo10011> some volunteers did try a CD with wikipedia articles, there is also the school effort that you are aware of.
[2011-03-03 20:27:27] <mundol> theo, my personal view is that as long as we don't start trying to sell them a product, it might not be as annoying as otherwise. ...but that's my personal view.
[2011-03-03 20:27:40] <GerardM-> Off line is problematic; the WMF supports the openZIM data format and there is no software that can be localised atm
[2011-03-03 20:28:05] <GerardM-> Okawix can be used is open source and supports localisation
[2011-03-03 20:28:12] <GerardM-> it will move to openZIM
[2011-03-03 20:28:13] <Theo10011> ya, I was only referring to the banner that geo-targeting puts up, after a while it feels like just another ad banner.
[2011-03-03 20:28:18] <mundol> also, do we have resources that explain basic editing that readers can be pointed to?
[2011-03-03 20:28:26] <mundol> sure, theo.
[2011-03-03 20:28:55] <Theo10011> we linked to the english wikipedia on tutorial on how to edit.
[2011-03-03 20:28:58] <Theo10011> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial
[2011-03-03 20:29:14] <Theo10011> mostly because the tutorials on Indic language wikis were incomplete and broken.
[2011-03-03 20:29:15] <mundol> ah, ok.
[2011-03-03 20:29:26] <mundol> understood, theo.
[2011-03-03 20:31:00] <mundol> so, would it be useful to consider an initiative where we fix the indic language tutorials, and then support them with geo-targetted banners, for a limited period? ...of course, it would be perfect if there is additional media coverage of indic languages.
[2011-03-03 20:31:25] <santhosh> mundol: there is a handbook prepared by Malayalam community, distrubuted in all wiki meetups
[2011-03-03 20:31:40] <Theo10011> I think that would be an ideal first step mundol.
[2011-03-03 20:31:48] <mundol> santosh: thanks. is there a softcopy of this that i can ask someone for?
[2011-03-03 20:31:54] <santhosh> mundol: yes
[2011-03-03 20:31:59] <GerardM-> it makes sense to promote a language when we have some substantial support
[2011-03-03 20:32:03] <mundol> great. shall reach out and ask you.
[2011-03-03 20:32:11] <mundol> gerard: what did you have in mind?
[2011-03-03 20:32:12] <GerardM-> eg Narayam for Sinhala once it is ready
[2011-03-03 20:32:32] <mundol> gerard: lost you there...
[2011-03-03 20:32:45] <GerardM-> Narayam provides an input method
[2011-03-03 20:32:54] <mundol> ah,ok.
[2011-03-03 20:32:58] <GerardM-> we have it ready for use in WMF projects
[2011-03-03 20:33:05] <GerardM-> they have to accept it
[2011-03-03 20:33:15] <mundol> thanks. will learn more about it.
[2011-03-03 20:34:21] <mundol> we're midway into the irc and i also wanted to get your views on editor count. one thing that i am particularly intrigued about is how do we support outreach efforts.
[2011-03-03 20:35:05] <mundol> by this, i mean, would it be useful to create something like a "toolkit" and i use the words gingerly - to support any volunteer who's conducting outreach.
[2011-03-03 20:35:33] <mundol> ...and the genesis of this is to try and make available as much stuff as possible so there is no duplication of effort.
[2011-03-03 20:36:24] <mundol> for example, a standard presentation deck and video. ...best practices on how to conduct an outreach session? ...of course, they don't have to use it - but it will be available if they do.
[2011-03-03 20:36:25] <ravidreams> tool kit will help. videos, screencasts with localizable subtitles, standardized hand outs
[2011-03-03 20:36:42] <mundol> ravi: for sure on the localizable stuff.
[2011-03-03 20:37:41] <Theo10011> people have asked for editing workshops in Delhi in the past.
[2011-03-03 20:37:55] <Theo10011> It's a viable option to consider for the metros.
[2011-03-03 20:38:01] <mundol> i have to confess that i think the outreach task of convincing someone to voluntarily edit wikipedia is enormous. ...and therefore, things that support the effort might be very useful.
[2011-03-03 20:38:15] <ravidreams> we had a wiki workshop in a college in trichy recently. students paid a entry fee around 100 rupees to participate
[2011-03-03 20:38:25] <ravidreams> and got 85 attendants
[2011-03-03 20:38:43] <mundol> ravi: really? out of curiosity, why did we charge?
[2011-03-03 20:38:53] <Theo10011> that's great, sounds really enthusiastic.
[2011-03-03 20:38:56] <Theo10011> Hey tinu
[2011-03-03 20:38:56] <ravidreams> (entry fee was imposed by the college . we were part of a event )
[2011-03-03 20:39:14] <ravidreams> but the students get motivated because of some "certificate"
[2011-03-03 20:39:15] <ravidreams> :)
[2011-03-03 20:39:17] <mundol> ah, ok. but still, 85 attendees is pretty impressive.
[2011-03-03 20:39:20] <mundol> hi tinu
[2011-03-03 20:39:45] <mundol> ...and do we know how many of these 85 edited their first articles after that?
[2011-03-03 20:40:20] <ravidreams> couldn't identify. but no one i guess after the workshop was over. :)
[2011-03-03 20:40:38] <ravidreams> i have done many workshops and seen people all sorts of qns
[2011-03-03 20:40:43] <ravidreams> but the conversion rate is very low
[2011-03-03 20:40:56] <tinucherian> hi Theo10011
[2011-03-03 20:41:15] <tinucherian> ravidreams, are u talking about trichy one ?
[2011-03-03 20:41:19] <mundol> hmmm. ok. my initial view is that conversion is likely to be low in any case - given the task.
[2011-03-03 20:41:22] <ravidreams> the conversion happens slowly and gradually
[2011-03-03 20:41:34] <mundol> ...and that was exactly what i was going to add, ravi!
[2011-03-03 20:42:01] <ravidreams> oops sorry it was in coimbatore not in trichy
[2011-03-03 20:42:10] <mundol> i suppose one question i would ask everyone is do you have a hypothesis of why it might be so low and what could be done differently to improve it? ...even if it is a marginal improvement?
[2011-03-03 20:43:11] <tinucherian> one of the reasons, we hardly do followups
[2011-03-03 20:43:27] <tinucherian> in Bangalore, we collect the mail-ids
[2011-03-03 20:43:49] <tinucherian> may be we should start sending ONE introductory mail to get started
[2011-03-03 20:44:11] <tinucherian> and maintain a common mail id to answer queries.
[2011-03-03 20:44:35] <mundol> tinu, that's a very good idea. ...are you suggesting something like, "thank you for attending...why don't you do your first edit...if you have queries, you can go here to get answer"?
[2011-03-03 20:44:36] <GerardM-> if you want to assimilate people have multiple meetings ... that works best in education and in marketing
[2011-03-03 20:44:37] <tinucherian> not many will come to wiki to ask queries
[2011-03-03 20:44:48] <tinucherian> you are right mundol
[2011-03-03 20:45:05] <tinucherian> planning to do the same for trichy participants
[2011-03-03 20:45:11] <mundol> tinu: is there a way we can pilot this?
[2011-03-03 20:45:19] <mundol> oops, that my question.
[2011-03-03 20:45:27] <tinucherian> :)
[2011-03-03 20:45:35] <mundol> you had mentioned that 65~ had attended?
[2011-03-03 20:45:40] <Theo10011> well we collect email addresses and assign them to the mailing list for the first 2 delhi/mumbai meets.
[2011-03-03 20:45:56] <tinucherian> inblore, i send invite to the bangalore mailing list
[2011-03-03 20:46:17] <Theo10011> a notification and referral to editing tutorial might be a good idea to do for new sign-ups on the mailing list.
[2011-03-03 20:46:20] <ravidreams> hmm.. i personally don't have much hope for follow ups :)
[2011-03-03 20:46:26] <mundol> theo: did we reach out to them in mumbai/delhi after that?
[2011-03-03 20:46:31] <tinucherian> in trichy ~100 attended the meetup/workshop , not to mention 100s we talked to in 2 days
[2011-03-03 20:46:32] <mundol> ravi: why's that?
[2011-03-03 20:46:47] <Theo10011> mundol: they are still on the mailing list, and get regular updates.
[2011-03-03 20:46:49] <ravidreams> if one wiki meetup can't motivate them, they can be hardly motivated there after
[2011-03-03 20:46:53] <ravidreams> thats my experience
[2011-03-03 20:46:56] <Theo10011> not all of them show up but they are in the loop.
[2011-03-03 20:47:30] <mundol> understood. another aspect i wanted to ask you all about is have we ever reached out to senior citizens?
[2011-03-03 20:47:39] <tinucherian> IMHO, one meet up is hardly sufficient to instill interests
[2011-03-03 20:47:41] <ravidreams> almost all active tamil wikipedians jumped at it once they knew such a project existed
[2011-03-03 20:47:56] <ravidreams> and those who came late had personal reasons
[2011-03-03 20:48:12] <anirudh> hoi
[2011-03-03 20:48:23] <ravidreams> may be we can learn from linux user groups
[2011-03-03 20:48:28] <mundol> reason i ask is that, and it's relevant for indic languages particularly, is that there might be a lot of undocumented areas of interest that currently resides in individula minds.
[2011-03-03 20:48:32] <mundol> hi anirudh
[2011-03-03 20:48:35] <ravidreams> the ways they adopt to get new active users and hackers
[2011-03-03 20:49:35] <mundol> ravi: can you tell me a little more about this?
[2011-03-03 20:49:46] <ravidreams> about?
[2011-03-03 20:50:09] <anirudh> linux user groups and how they get new users
[2011-03-03 20:50:12] <mundol> about getting new active users / hackers. ...and how this might be applicable to wikipedia?
[2011-03-03 20:50:24] <ravidreams> oh that i don't know. but we need to network and study from them
[2011-03-03 20:50:36] <ravidreams> we have more active linux user groups in remote cities in TN
[2011-03-03 20:50:42] <mundol> sure, will put that on my to-do list and try and understand it better.
[2011-03-03 20:51:01] <ravidreams> the point is: learn it from other free knowledge groups
[2011-03-03 20:51:05] <ravidreams> their ways
[2011-03-03 20:51:07] <mundol> fair point.
[2011-03-03 20:51:19] <ravidreams> ok i need to move home hope i can put forward few points:
[2011-03-03 20:51:35] <ravidreams> shall i :
[2011-03-03 20:51:36] <mundol> sure, ravi.
[2011-03-03 20:52:00] <ravidreams> 1. Before we go for mass outreach programs, we need to strengthen a core working group for each language
[2011-03-03 20:52:15] <ravidreams> do something and get at least 3, 4 people in each language wiki working with some sync
[2011-03-03 20:52:30] <tinucherian> Point 1 + agree 200 %
[2011-03-03 20:52:34] <ravidreams> i am in hyderabad for last 3 months but still couldnt do a meetup here
[2011-03-03 20:52:39] <ravidreams> telugu wiki has so many articles
[2011-03-03 20:52:43] <ravidreams> but no coherent community
[2011-03-03 20:52:55] <ravidreams> without this even if u bring readers / editors
[2011-03-03 20:52:58] <ravidreams> the project will be a mess
[2011-03-03 20:53:12] <ravidreams> so try to network with few people in each wiki
[2011-03-03 20:53:18] <ravidreams> and then devise strategies
[2011-03-03 20:53:33] <ravidreams> u can find these core guys from their contribution profiles
[2011-03-03 20:53:36] <ravidreams> 2.
[2011-03-03 20:53:39] <Theo10011> that's a smart idea.
[2011-03-03 20:53:49] <mundol> agree.
[2011-03-03 20:53:51] <ravidreams> community efforst will be one side but chapter and wikimedia can do other things
[2011-03-03 20:53:58] <ravidreams> which community may not have time
[2011-03-03 20:54:01] <anirudh> ravidreams, do you have any suggestions on how to strenghthen these core working groups? how does an organization support and facilitate volunteer activities?
[2011-03-03 20:54:02] <ravidreams> authority
[2011-03-03 20:54:08] <ravidreams> it is hard to grow wikipedia
[2011-03-03 20:54:15] <ravidreams> but easy to grow wiki source and wiktionary
[2011-03-03 20:54:16] * santhosh afk
[2011-03-03 20:54:22] <ravidreams> network with govts, universities
[2011-03-03 20:54:34] <ravidreams> and ask them to donate content according to our license
[2011-03-03 20:54:44] <ravidreams> for uploading this we can have a small working group
[2011-03-03 20:54:55] <ravidreams> this way wiki content in each language can be increased
[2011-03-03 20:55:02] <ravidreams> irrespective ofvolunteer base
[2011-03-03 20:55:03] <mundol> you are referring to something like the kerala govt sharing the kerala encyclopedia?
[2011-03-03 20:55:08] <ravidreams> and we do have lot of such resource
[2011-03-03 20:55:22] <anirudh> mundol, I think you will find creating networks with Universities relatively easier than working with governments... and I think the dividends from building such relationships will reap more benefits.
[2011-03-03 20:55:37] <ravidreams> why i am saying this it is easy for wikimedia foundation with its reputation to do its lobby
[2011-03-03 20:55:48] <ravidreams> we have many wikipedians coming through wiktionary
[2011-03-03 20:55:54] <ravidreams> people search for dictionary more
[2011-03-03 20:55:54] <mundol> fair point, anirudh.
[2011-03-03 20:56:01] <ravidreams> so growing other projects is one way
[2011-03-03 20:56:07] <ravidreams> to get more wikipeidnas
[2011-03-03 20:56:27] <ravidreams> mundol:
[2011-03-03 20:56:34] <ravidreams> yes like kerala govt donation
[2011-03-03 20:56:37] <mundol> i'd also say that commons might also be a similar way of getting more into wikimedia projects
[2011-03-03 20:56:43] <ravidreams> and Tamilnadu government donated
[2011-03-03 20:56:53] <ravidreams> 1 lakh plus words last year for tamil wiktionary
[2011-03-03 20:57:54] <mundol> these have been accomplished through the respective govts or through academia?
[2011-03-03 20:57:59] <ravidreams> ok that's the 2 points i wanted to share :)
[2011-03-03 20:58:04] <tinucherian> and made tamil wiktionary in top 10 ( top 10 gets featured on the main page of the project) , just FYI
[2011-03-03 20:58:16] <mundol> cool. ravi. many thanks for these. they're extremely insightful.
[2011-03-03 20:58:52] <mundol> that's impressive
[2011-03-03 20:59:05] <tinucherian> Meetups and workshops are the easiest way to bring together interested people
[2011-03-03 20:59:14] <ravidreams> as far as Tamil, the govt ordered the concerning university to donate its contents
[2011-03-03 20:59:18] <ravidreams> and they obliged
[2011-03-03 20:59:25] <tinucherian> even if it is 2 people, it is still ok.. but getting started is important
[2011-03-03 20:59:30] <ravidreams> yes
[2011-03-03 20:59:38] <mundol> ravi: and do you know how/why the govt asked the univ to do this?
[2011-03-03 20:59:49] <mundol> in the sense, who approached the govt and what did they ask them?
[2011-03-03 21:00:16] <ravidreams> because we had some luck and the state information department secretary admired wiki
[2011-03-03 21:00:18] <ravidreams> :)
[2011-03-03 21:00:41] <mundol> hahaha. ...now if only we had a couple of dozen more such secret admirers in high places!!!  :-)
[2011-03-03 21:00:56] <ravidreams> the govt also ran a state wide wiki essay contest for college students last year
[2011-03-03 21:00:57] <tinucherian> :)
[2011-03-03 21:01:01] <Theo10011> we might already.
[2011-03-03 21:01:08] <ravidreams> which gave us lot of publicity
[2011-03-03 21:01:58] <mundol> interesting.
[2011-03-03 21:03:07] <mundol> have similar state contests been done? santosh: do you know if something similar has been done / might be done in kerala? not necessarily with the govt but maybe a newspaper group?
[2011-03-03 21:03:14] <ravidreams> btw, this govt interaction story and lessons we learnt is long story. i will mail later to the list to save time
[2011-03-03 21:03:22] <mundol> saying newspaper only as an example.
[2011-03-03 21:03:31] <mundol> thanks, ravi. appreciate this.
[2011-03-03 21:04:01] <mundol> hey, guys, realise we are out of time. just wanted to say thank you before guys start logging off!
[2011-03-03 21:04:33] <ravidreams> ok mundol, hope we can continue in the list. if you put your qns in a wikimedia.in page or meta page
[2011-03-03 21:04:36] <ravidreams> we can asnwer there
[2011-03-03 21:04:41] <ravidreams> bye for now
[2011-03-03 21:04:51] <anirudh> thank you hisham. how often can we have office-hours with you?
[2011-03-03 21:04:53] <mundol> can i request one favour. ravi/theo/tinu/santosh: will reach out to all of you.
[2011-03-03 21:05:13] <mundol> to get some more details on the various things that are being done.
[2011-03-03 21:05:16] <ravidreams> ya sure
[2011-03-03 21:05:24] <mundol> ...anirudh: was thinking of a monthly?
[2011-03-03 21:05:30] <anirudh> that's cool.
[2011-03-03 21:05:43] <mundol> ...but available otherise, all the time:-)
[2011-03-03 21:06:06] <mundol> thanks, ravi. goodnight.
[2011-03-03 21:06:16] <ravidreams> gn
[2011-03-03 21:06:18] <tinucherian> GN all
[2011-03-03 21:06:26] <Theo10011> Thanks everyone for attending.
[2011-03-03 21:06:28] <mundol> goodnight, tinu.
[2011-03-03 21:06:38] <mundol> thanks, theo for hosting!
[2011-03-03 21:06:39] <Theo10011> I'll put the log up on Meta soon.
[2011-03-03 21:06:44] <Theo10011> np :)
[2011-03-03 21:07:30] <Theo10011> Thanks Hisham.
[2011-03-03 21:07:34] <mundol> thanks, everyone. gn, theo / anirudh.