On the occasion of 9th anniversary, Book Lovers Club in Belagavi organised a session on 'Contributing to Free knowledge & Wikimedia projects' at Lokmanya Society auditorium on 4 September 2024. Total 40 members of the club participated actively in this two hour program from 6-8pm.
Report
editThe demonstrations and discussions were held on the following topics -
Unicode and Status of Language in Digital Format on Internet
editThe session highlighted Unicode as a crucial standard for encoding characters from various languages, including Marathi. It emphasized how Unicode facilitates digital communication and representation of diverse scripts. Apart from these other points included ensuring proper font support across devices and using UTF-8 encoding in web development to maintain language integrity and accessibility.
Online Publishing in Marathi, Different Platforms
editThe discussion centered on the vibrant landscape of online publishing for Marathi content. Participants explored platforms such as personal blogs, e-magazines, and digital libraries. Best practices for online publishing included optimizing content for search engines (SEO) to increase visibility, utilizing social media for outreach, and encouraging community engagement through comments and discussions to build a loyal readership.
Open & Free Knowledge Platforms
editThis topic underscored the significance of open access initiatives in promoting equitable access to knowledge. It showcased platforms like Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons as examples of collaborative knowledge-sharing. Best practices included maintaining neutral point of view in editing, ensuring reliable sourcing, and actively promoting content contributions from underrepresented groups to enrich the knowledge base.
Copyrights, Creative Commons Licenses
editThe session explained the complexities of copyright laws and how Creative Commons (CC) licenses enable the sharing of creative works. Ethical issues included clearly labeling works with appropriate CC licenses, providing attributions to original creators, and educating content creators about their rights and options for sharing their work legally and ethically.
Wikimedia Projects - Wikipedia, Wikisource, Commons, Wikidata, Wikibooks etc.
editAn overview of Wikimedia projects was provided, highlighting their roles in promoting free knowledge. Participants discussed strategies for contributing to these projects, such as translating existing content into Marathi and creating new entries. The emphasis was given on ensuring neutrality in writing, regularly updating information, and participating in community events to foster collaboration.
Major Campaigns - Women’s History Month, Wiki Loves Monuments
editThe discussion on significant campaigns focused on efforts to increase representation of marginalized groups. Initiatives like Women’s History Month aimed to highlight contributions by women, while Wiki Loves Monuments encouraged the documentation of cultural heritage. Best practices involved forming local partnerships for outreach, conducting workshops to train new contributors, and utilizing social media to raise awareness about these campaigns.
Relicensing and Digitisation
editThe session emphasized the importance of relicensing content to make it freely available and the need for digitization of historical texts. The major points covered were - using standardized metadata to enhance discoverability, employing OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technologies for text conversion, and ensuring that digitized materials are preserved in multiple formats to guard against data loss.
e-books and Audiobooks on Wikisource
editThe discussion explored the availability of e-books and audiobooks on Wikisource, which enhance access to literature. Some experience sharing was done regarding creating high-quality audio recordings with clear narration, offering e-books in multiple formats (PDF, ePub, etc.) to cater to different devices, and promoting these resources through educational institutions and libraries to reach broader audiences.
Best Practices in Digital Archives
editIn addition to the topics above, best practices in digital archiving were emphasized throughout the session:
- Metadata Standards: Implementing consistent metadata standards (like Dublin Core) to enhance searchability and usability of archived materials.
- Regular Backups: Conducting regular backups of digital collections to prevent data loss.
- User Accessibility: Ensuring digital archives are user-friendly and accessible to people with disabilities, following WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
- Community Engagement: Involving local communities in the digitization process to ensure cultural relevance and to enrich collections with diverse perspectives.
- Sustainability: Planning for long-term sustainability of digital archives through funding strategies, partnerships, and ongoing training for staff and volunteers.
Follow-up
editOverall, the session aimed to enhance understanding and engagement with digital resources and platforms for the Marathi language, while promoting the ideals of open knowledge and cultural preservation. The online follow-up sessions are planned for the members interested in digitisation of books, the photo documentation of heritage and editing on Wikipedia & Wikisource. The Lokmanya library has taken initiative to develop database of Belagavi based Marathi authors and their works. The digitisation workshop for the old libraries is proposed in the month of November 2024.