User:सुबोध कुलकर्णी/Impact report 17-18
Major Highlights edit
- Thematic workshops resulted into Communities of interest
- Frequent wiki meetups and capacity building sessions resulted into retention of active editors
- Partnerships resulted into content generation and long term collaborations
- Focus on gender issues and female editors groomed very active women editors for the first time on mr wiki
- Appeals by eminent people for re-licencing and content donation resulted into addition of 12 books to Wikisource
- Awareness among the writers and publishers resulted into Open source and Unicode adoption movement
- Campaigns like ‘Wiki Meets River’ are shaping up
- Maharashtra State Government language department has included Wikipedia workshops as the part of programs during language fortnight and language day in January & February respectively
Content Enrichment edit
Marathi language programs with State Government edit
CIS-A2K has collaborated with Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha of Govt.of Maharashtra for Wikipedia Workshops during Marathi Fortnight - 1st to 15th Jan 2018. The programs continued till Marathi Bhasha Day on 27th Feb. We have already built partnerships with all these educational institutions before. We have selected active institutions. CIS-A2K is acting as technical resource agency for the workshop.
Activity edit
Learning edit
The geographical expansion in primarily rural districts is necessary as they require knowledge in local language. With the support from State government, it is easier to connect with good university departments and active educational institutes. Taking advantage of atmosphere created during language day and month proved fruitful.
Impact edit
RMVS is CIS-A2K’s important institutional partner for the last two years. Many activities are being conducted collaboratively. These include Wikipedia edit-a-thons, Capacity building workshops for active editors, Unicode & Open source promotion workshops and Content donation drives. They have integrated all these activities into their annual program on ‘Language and Internet’.
Communities of interest edit
We have established rapport with different organizations working in various sectors. The vision is to build the quality content in specific areas in long term. The areas include water, rivers, science, mathematics, law, appropriate technology and rural development. The objective is to build communities of interest in these sectors.
Activities edit
Thematic workshops with Jalbiradari, Jeevit nadi, Bhaskaracharya Pratishthan, Sandarbh Society, Jnana Prabodhini, Vigyan Ashram, Jeevan Jyoti Women Empowerment centre were conducted. In these workshops extensive discussions on category tree, databases, similar like-minded groups, resource persons and reference literature available were conducted.
Learning edit
Pilot of one concept is to be developed with group of experts in specific areas. Networking with organisations at grass-root as well as policy level is crucial to create integrated structure on the theme.
Impact edit
The groups on science, mathematics, rural culture, appropriate technologies, water issues, biodiversity and women empowerment have been identified and trained in Wikimedia projects. Regular activities have been initiated by these groups and we are only facilitating.
Followup edit
Capacity building sessions for these groups are planned with more frequency. These are online as well as offline. We shall effectively use social media also for more networking.
Project Tiger edit
Comprehensive list of priority articles created by the community. These 350 articles were divided into 27 different categories. Total 8 users actively participated in the competition and created 30 articles. Fountain tool link is here.
Gender gap edit
CIS-A2K focused on bridging gender gap in Marathi Wikimedia projects. To achieve this, partnerships developed with two organisations working on Technology & Women Empowerment. These are Vigyan Ashram and Jeevan Jyoti Women Empowerment Centre run by Jnana Prabodhini. The projects on Wikipedia, Commons and Wikisource were implemented. Active editors on marathi wiki were provided with continuous inputs for quality improvement and policy making.
Activity edit
Impact edit
- Continuous content development and skill building programs are now conducted by Team of trainers at Vigyan Ashram
- During this activity 15 women editors actively worked to develop thematic content on birds, rural culture and villages
- Wikisource & Commons activity by Vigyan Ashram resulted into -- books on Commons and OCR of --- books on WS
- 6 Very active women editors on WP
- Active participation in TTT, Mini TTT and other programs
Followup edit
The involvement of larger community working in research and extension on gender issues is in progress. We have reached out to 5 such organisations through orientation sessions.
Wikisource Internship edit
With the initiative of community and institution, Wikisource Internship Program at Garware College of Commerce, Pune was completed. CIS-A2K is acting as facilitator. The students are actively involved in proof-reading of old marathi book written by famous economist G.C.Bhate in 1910.
Learning edit
The books related to academic course are preferred by the students for proof reading. They know the concepts well in their language while reading with concentration. The styles related edits are difficult in short period.
Impact edit
The faculty was convinced about the concept of combining the activity with course work. One book was completed by the students collectively. The program was conducted on language day around this concept.
Followup edit
The internship pattern will be implemented for every batch. The concept is being shared with other institutions also.
Skill building edit
Mini Train the Trainer (Mini TTT 2018) Program at Pune edit
As a part of Work Plan, Mini Train the Trainer (Mini TTT 2018) Program at Pune was conducted on 24th & 25th February 2018. Total 19 active editors from Marathi community participated. The participants profiles and the expected outcomes were mapped. They were divided into following three categories and inputs were designed accordingly.
| Profile of the participants | Interest areas | Outcomes |
|---|---|---|
| TTT Alumni - 4 | History, Culture, Indology, Literature, Gender, Sociology,
Health, Arts & Culture, Rural development issues, Wikisource, Sports, People |
Equipped to work as mentors for new editors; Wikipedia pillars; Copyright issues; Should be able to do analysis and evolve improvement measures; Integration of Wikimedia Projects; Work for new developments in Wiki projects; Global engagement programs |
| Institutional Facilitators - 12 | Thematic content creation, Integrating academic tasks with Wiki projects | Equipped to learn advance skills, tools & gadgets for good editing; Wikipedia pillars; Copyright issues; To conduct workshops for student community; Design internships and academic assignments for WEP; To develop thematic groups; Quality improvement; Tracking process and progress using outreach dashboard |
| New active editors - 3 | Language, Biographies,Science, Technology,
Development issues, Drama, Films, Music, Finance, Commerce, Tourism |
Started working on category-wise content generation; Wikipedia pillars; Copyright issues; Building communities of interest; reference tools |
Impact edit
For the first time I got to meet many wikipedians who are contributing to mrwiki. Everyone works in different capacities to improve mrwiki. I was introduced to many technical and policy aspects of Wikipedia. Which would be really helpful in building policies and tools gadgets on mrwiki. Specially maintenance part of Wikipedia which is greatly needed for growing wiki like mrwiki. Where organization of the content becomes crucial. Obviously I got introduced to many js userscripts which make editing easy and that is helping me a lot. Now I can contribute more in less time and efficiently with rooted perspective of Wikipedia policies.
This Mini TTT resulted into building cohesive network of very active editors. The VP discussions on various policies were initiated by some participants. Comprehensive proposals for quality policy and Article gradation process were also put out. The editors took lead in cleanup process and categorisation after the workshop. They also worked well for Project Tiger competition. The impetus also resulted into enabling citoid tool and copyvio report generator to improve quality of marathi wikipedia.
Followup edit
The wiki meetups are being held every month to review the progress and cross-learning. The sharing of ideas is started on social media groups. The team has decided to conduct thematic edit-a-thons once in a quarter.
FOSS, Unicode & Open knowledge platforms edit
It is very important to create awareness about these concepts among the knowledge & information production agencies like research organizations, writers, newspaper houses, publishers. The next step is to connect them with the Wikimedia projects. In all 5 workshops were conducted on this theme. Partners include – State level Publishers’ Consortium, Marathi Literary Festival Body, Sakal & Lokmat Newspapers, 5 Writers & Photographers and 4 Research & documentation organizations.
Learning edit
Impact edit
- All India Marathi Publishers Organisation has made resolution to conduct monthly workshops for publishers across Maharashtra from August 2018
- State language dept has collaborated with us to hold this workshops
- Publishers have agreed to re-license their old reference books for Wikisource
Followup edit
Institutional Partnerships edit
Partnerships with Scientific organisations edit
Another initiative in content generation is taken by Mahrashtra Rajya Marathi Vishwakosh Nirmiti Mandal by coming up with 20 volumes and now it has pioneered a decentralized form of Knowledge generation by establishing 60 Dnyanamandals for different knowledge streams. As of now, this marathi encyclopedia contains 18,000+ articles on various subjects. Foundation of this Knowledge base can be achieved through structured as well as amorphous or non-structured way. Vishwakosh presents the earlier approach while Marathi Wikipedia presents the later. Both of these ways lead to the same goal of Knowledge creation in Marathi. Thus both Vishwakosh and Wikipedia are joining forces for conducting programs for authors.Taking into consideration this noble cause, Prof. Madhav Gadgil, Marathi Vishwakosh Nirmiti Mandal, IUCAA,CIS-A2K, Rawat’s Nature Academy and Saptahik Vivek Shilpakar Charitrakosh Prakalp took initiative to organize ‘Wikipedia-Vishwakosh Workshop for Science Writers’ in Pune. Major organizations working for scientific knowledge propagation and diffusion like, Marathi Vigyan Parishad, Vijnana Bharati, Srushti Dnyan and Sakal Trust are also coming forward for technical facilitation and coordination. The workshop participants included science writers, organisations working for science promotion and active citizen science community. Total 330 people across the state participated.
| Institution | Present activity | Potential area of collaborative work |
|---|---|---|
| Marathi Vishwakosh | Offline & Online encyclopedia in marathi | Integrating content in Wikimedia projects, workshops of Dnyanmandals |
| Shilpakar Charitrakosh | Offline encyclopedias on people, history | Integrating content in Wikimedia projects, workshops of writers |
| Marathi Vigyan Parishad | Offline & online content generation on science | Integrating content in Wikimedia projects, workshops of Citizen science groups |
Learning edit
The vast categories in science sector need separate group coordinators for planning of content generation. It is very important to build the human resource network before and after the event. The positive outlook towards building the language content and open knowledge resources was developed due to collaborative efforts of various organisations in the sector. Such big gathering of diverse groups generate enthusiasm towards achieving common goals.
Impact edit
- The workshop inspired science related institutions to take initiative for content generation. Series of workshops of science writers, maths writers, astronomy enthusiasts were conducted.
- Also content donation to Wikisource and Commons has started. Science magazines have also announced to re-licence their previous issues. Noted scientists Jayant & Mangala Narlikar, Madhav Gadgil have donated their books for Wikisource. Management Guru M.G. Ranganekar also donated his 2 popular books. Jai Nimbkar, daughter of noted anthropologist Prof. Irawati Karve also donated Irawati Karve’s 6 books to Commons & Wikisource.
- In the workshop, many librarians also shown interest in taking free knowledge movement forward by taking up Wikipedia Library project. Two sessions were conducted in collaboration with Librarian’s Association. The plan to implement Wikipedia Library Project has been evolved.
- Mass awareness was generated through the press and electronic media. All the leading newspapers covered the event extensively. Two editors wrote special features in Sunday issues.
- Student community expressed interest in working for technical issues by taking up internship projects. One workshop was conducted in Pune University for M Tech students.
I realised the need for creating science content in marathi language. Our team of scientific writers connected with Sandarbh magazine is ready to take initiative regarding this. We are also interested in creating media related content for students.
Follow-up events conducted after the workshop edit
| Date | Event details |
|---|---|
| 18 Nov | Marathi Wikipedia Workshop for writers of Sandarbh Science magazine |
| 27 & 28 Nov | Wikimedia Technical Workshop:Stage (I) at Dept. of Mathematics, Savitribai Phule Pune University |
| 2 Dec | Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Bhaskaracharya Pratishthan, Pune |
| 17 Dec | Meeting with Librarians' Association on WIkipedia Library Project |
| January 18 | Two books re-licensed by Narlikar uploaded on Commons |
| April 18 | Six books re-licensed by Nimbkar uploaded on Commons |
Partnership for building resources on Tribal culture, Forests & Livelihoods edit
CIS-A2K has been building partnerships with major state government departments in Maharashtra to promote free & open knowledge resources. One such effort resulted into official Govt.Resolution of Tribal Research & Training Institute under State Tribal Development department on Expert's Study Group Formation for developing Open Knowledge Platforms. Eminent scientist Prof. Madhav Gadgil is leading the group. Community Advocate for Marathi Language is representing CIS-A2K in this group. The mandate of the group is given in GR. We will be facilitating primarily No.1 & 2, which says - Developing new and utilising existing Open & free platforms like Wikimedia Projects to build knowledge resources on Community Forest Management, Development of training modules in Unicode & make it accessible by common man, Digitisation of reference books, training booklets, govt docs, archives, images etc and making it accessible.
Activity edit
Learning edit
Potential in working with Government departments was realised. Long term partnerships with such research organisations is mutually beneficial.
Impact edit
As the part of the mandate for expert group, we have started long term project on building repository on forest and biodiversity called ‘Van Bodh’ with these partners.
Followup edit
It is proposed to evolve Wikimedian in residence scheme to document tribal culture, vital statistics, success stories and research outcomes from all the tribal museums in the state. The tribal cluster in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra will be taken as pilot project to develop content on villages, biodiversity and cultural aspects.
Partnerships regarding Rural Culture & Women's issues edit
Activity edit
Sterlite Tech Foundation and Jnana Prabodhini are the organisations working for Women's Empowerment in Velhe Block of Pune District Maharashtra. Jeewan Jyoti - Sterlite’s flagship initiative aims to address these issues by empowering the under privileged sections of society, especially rural women with equal learning opportunities and with professional training courses in their formative years; thereby providing them with sustainable income opportunities. On 10th March 2017, the organisers collaborated with The Centre for Internet & Society-Access to Knowledge Program to conduct first workshop for rural women. The women worked on village articles and development issues. For the year 2018, the thematic approach is taken to enrich content on Rural Culture on Wikimedia projects. Two iterations of content development sessions conducted in December and March 2018.
Learning edit
Lack of transportation facilities and other social restrictions prevent girls from continuous activity. Also they do not have personal computers, therefore they have to come to institute for editing. This problem could be solved by providing some small gadgets like tabs for consistency in work.
Impact edit
- Master trainers cum active editors are developed in this rural centre, which in turn developing new female youths in the area consistently
- The documentation project on ‘Gunjawani River valley’ has been started. In this project, about 120 village articles and 50 culture related articles have been newly created.
- The awareness about the Wikipedia platform for knowledge is being spread among the communities of 150 villages in contact with this center. Exposure to smartphone based searching in Marathi and reading Wikipedia is also now a regular feature here.
Followup edit
It is proposed to consolidate the process and replicate at some rural training centers. The trainers from these organisations will exchange their learning and provide training to others.
GLAM edit
Activity edit
Technical Training of volunteers from Vigyan Ashram for Commons upload & OCR was conducted. After this process has started to bring Copyright free books on Commons under Category:Books in Marathi. Books under MGS project were uploaded on Commons. Content donation started after IUCAA workshop. Books released under CC BY 4.0 by Jayant Narlikar, Mangala Narlikar, Sharu Ranganekar, Madhav Gadgil and Iravati Karve's daughter Jai Nimbkar. The process has been started with Manoos Pratishthan, Sandarbh science magazine. OCR of 15 books on Wikisource was completed using OCR4Wikisource code in Python.
CIS-A2K is consistently Supporting Vigyan Ashram in Knowledge Creation Projects.We are base in Rural area and working on development through education theme.Therefore we know the importance of free knowledge.due to integration of Wikimedia projects with training program,student are using online resources effectively.at the same time they are contributing to Wikimedia project also.we want to develop our center as community knowledge creation hub in future.
Learning edit
Integrating scanning, cropping & cleaning, compiling and OCR techniques into training of rural students is mutually beneficial. The trained human resource can be utilised in various projects.
Impact edit
In this project year, around 20 wikimedians were trained. They scanned 5500 pages, uploaded 50 books on Commons and brought 15 books after OCR on Wikisource.
Followup edit
The content donation drive among the publishers and authors being taken up. The visits of the representatives to Vigyan Ashram are planned. The proof reading sprints are planned with the trainees here.
Media Coverage edit
- News in Lokmat Samachar
- News in Maharashtra Times
- Times of India
- Sakal Times
- Sakal Sunday Special edition
- Maharashtra Times
- Pune Mirror
- News in Tarun Bharat
- News in Sakal
- News in Lokmat
- News in Punynagari
- News in Divya Marathi
- News in Maharashtra Times
- News in Pudhari
- FB Post
- News in Lokmat
- News in Samana
- FB post by Tomato FM
In-kind Support edit
Please use the exchange rate in your APG proposal. Table 2 Please report all spending in the currency of your grant unless US$ is requested.
- Please also include any in-kind contributions or resources that you have received in this revenues table. This might include donated office space, services, prizes, food, etc. If you are to provide a monetary equivalent (e.g. $500 for food from Organization X for service Y), please include it in this table. Otherwise, please highlight the contribution, as well as the name of the partner, in the notes section.
- Table 2Please report all spending in the currency of your grant unless US$ is requested.
- Please also include any in-kind contributions or resources that you have received in this revenues table. This might include donated office space, services, prizes, food, etc. If you are to provide a monetary equivalent (e.g. $500 for food from Organization X for service Y), please include it in this table. Otherwise, please highlight the contribution, as well as the name of the partner, in the notes section.
Revenue source Currency Anticipated Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Cumulative Anticipated ($US)* Cumulative ($US)* Explanation of variances from plan Volunteer support INR 11000 21000 21000 14000 67000 Travel & Stay INR 3000 6000 10000 10000 29000 Event organization and logistics INR 18000 30000 31500 21000 100500 Revenue source Currency Anticipated Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Cumulative Anticipated ($US)* Cumulative ($US)* Explanation of variances from plan A B C D E F G H I J K
* Provide estimates in US Dollars