Tajik Wikimedians User Group/Tajik Wikimedians: Exploring New Horizons
In Dushanbe, Tajikistan, something special happened on December 20, 2023. It was the first Wikimedia event in Tajikistan, organized by the Tajik Wikimedians group at Tajik National University.
At the conference, the Tajik Wikimedian UG members and Wikimedians from different communities talked about Wikimedia projects and what might happen with Wikimedia-related topics in Tajikistan in the future.
Background
editTajik Wikipedia has been around since 2004, and it's grown a lot, with over 111,000 articles. That's a huge amount of information! But even though a group of people are working on it, the Wikimedia Foundation didn't pay much attention to Tajik Wikipedia. Our user group saw this gap and thought it was really important to bring everyone together. We wanted to unite all the different members of our community to make it stronger. Our goal was to build a better and stronger Tajik Wikipedia community where everyone's voice could be heard.
Event Highlights
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The event was held at Tajik National University on December 20, 2023. It aimed to promote Wikimedia projects and free content sharing in Tajikistan. We wanted to blend Tajikistan's values into Wikipedia, highlighting its culture and progress online.
The event encouraged the use of Wikimedia resources in education, cultural centres, and universities. We discussed how these resources could change education by offering lots of free information.
This event highlighted how Wikimedia can help Tajikistan grow educationally and culturally. It's a big step for Tajikistan's involvement with Wikimedia.
Speakers and Participants
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- Mohammad Heidarzadeh
Chairman of Tajik Wikimedians UG
Mohammad Heidarzadeh talked about Tajik Wikipedia's current situation. He suggested ways to teach young Tajik Wikipedia editors how to make changes and working with the website and follow Wikipedia rules. He suggested that they could gain knowledge by participating in online meetings held through Zoom or Google Meet by Tajiks Wikimedians UG.
He also mentioned chances for Tajik editors to work together with other Central Asian groups and the CEE hub, plus the Persian Wikipedia. He believed that by working together, they could share knowledge and make Tajikistan's culture and history shine on these platforms.
- Mohsen Salek
Administrator of Persian Wikipedia
Mohsen Salek, who's really experienced with Persian Wikipedia, had a big say in talking about what to put on Tajik Wikipedia. He stressed how it's important to show Tajikistan's stuff better in different languages and how we need a plan to do that. He also talked about how universities can help out by getting more involved in sharing Tajikistan's story on Wikipedia.
- Anastasia Lvova
User of Russian Wikipedia
Anastasia Lvova shared her unique thoughts from being part of Russian Wikipedia, mainly about how there are fewer women compared to men. She probably talked about ways to change this and get more women involved. She also talked to students a lot, answering their questions and talking about the challenges for women in Wikimedia.
- Dustmurod Said
Administrator of Tajik Wikipedia
Dustmurod Said talked a lot about the problems Tajik Wikipedia has and how they're holding it back. He had some good ideas to fix these problems and got everyone talking about making Tajik Wikipedia better.
He shared how we could use other sources, like the Tajik National Encyclopedia, to edit Wikipedia. This encyclopedia is trusted and easy for Tajiks to access. He's keen on making sure Tajik Wikipedia is reliable and helpful for everyon
Future Prospects
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In the future, there are exciting plans for Tajik Wikimedians:
- Monthly Online Workshops
These meetings will take place every month, aiming to create a progressive atmosphere for Tajik Wikimedians. These sessions cover information about the Wikimedia Movement overall and are designed to assist Tajik Wikimedians in improving their use of Wikipedia tools and understanding how things work within Wikipedia.
- Event for Newbies
An event is being planned to help new people understand how Wikipedia works. It's for beginners and wants to make things easy to understand. The hope is to encourage new folks to join in and help out.
- Trainer Training Workshop
There's a workshop coming up in Dushanbe to teach people how to be good Wikipedia teachers. These trained individuals can then teach others about Wikimedia in their community.
- International Conference for Wikimedians
The idea is to organize a conference for Wikimedians from Central Asia. The plan involves collaborating with other regional groups to share knowledge and utilize each other's resources. This collaboration aims to enhance our capacity to spread free knowledge.
These plans show how Tajik Wikimedians are working together to share what they know and make the Wikimedia community in Tajikistan stronger. They're not just trying to make Wikipedia better; they want to make friends and have a bigger impact in Central Asia.