Tell us about Swahili Wikipedia

This page belongs to the project Tell us about your Wikipedia.

Questionaire

Contributors

• Wikimedia Statistics can be difficult to interprete. What is your impression, how many steady contributors do you have?

Only a handful steady ones - maybe five who contribute on a weekly basis. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• Are your contributors mostly native speakers?

No, we have German, English and Italian mother tongue speakers although the number of East Africans seems to be rising (whether their mother tongue is Swahili or one of the local vernaculars is not known). Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• Where do your contributors live (regions/country)?

Dar, Nairobi, Germany, US - Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• How common is it that your contributors meet in real life?

To my knowledge, it hasn't happened yet. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, it happened in 2015 and was a great experience, combined with a workshop at a Morogoro school. Was a bit tough work to get the funding from the Foundation, but finally it worked out.Kipala (talk) 23:30, 17 October 2016 (UTC)

Other Wikipedias

• Do you have special contacts with another Wikipedias (maybe in related languages)?

No to my knowledge. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• Do you translate a lot from other Wikipedias? Which ones?

Mainly working from self-styled templates; if translating, then from en:wp Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Organization and support

• Is there a Wikimedia chapter in your country? How does your language relate to it?

Neither in Tanzania nor in Kenya. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• Are there work groups in other organizations about Wikipedia?

Not to my knowledge. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

You are forgetful - we two met, and I am going to see Muddy hopefully! Kipala

Your Wikipedia and the linguistic community

• Is there a language institution for your language, like an Academy, or a club of people interested in your language? Do you have contact with them?

There is quite a lot of such institutions but so far nobody seems to have shown interest. I tried contact once with Dar Institute of Swahili Research - no reply. Kipala

• Who (else) supports you?
• How looks your public outreach for your edition? Do you have flyers, give lectures, trainings etc.?
• Do you get feedback from readers?
• What other encyclopedias exist in your language?

Content

• Does your edition concentrates on certain topics, like your region and language, or Latin Wikipedia on Roman history and Christianity?

Individuals concentrate on local topics (e.g. African birds, or Tanzanian languages) but in general, there is no such focus. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

well, we tried to work along the list of 1000 articles each wikipedia should have, also dabbling a boit with the "10.000 articles". That helps qualitywise.

• Did your edition enjoy text donations, for example from older encyclopedias?

No. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Language

• Is there a generally accepted norm about your language (spelling, dictionary, pronunciation)?

Yes, there is. We try to adhere to the standards set by IKR (Institute of Kiswahili Research) at Dar es Salaam University. They are charged by the government to uphold Swahili standards. Baba Tabita aka --Oliver Stegen 08:17, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

• How do you deal with different spellings, dialects etc. (like B.E. lift and A.E. elevator)?

Using the REDIRECT-feature; Practically variation of spelling is quite large so it helps. Kipala

Presentation about sw-wikipedia

This presentation introduced wikipedia ya Kiswahili to participants of the Wiki Indaba in Joburg 2014:

Challenges and successes building an African language wikipedia - Swahili