ACADEMY IN CITY - Info warriors on Wikipedia drive
With research fast becoming synonymous with G-search (Google Search), those seeking information are invariably led to Wikipedia. India, along with the rest of the world, is dipping into the free encyclopedia; however, Indians are behind the rest of the world in contributing to widening its base. A group of Chennaiites is set to change the lopsided equation. The tool a Wikipedia academy.
“It is no brick and mortar entity . Keeping with the spirit of a free knowledge society , it just means that there is one such place where you can approach in case you want to upload or edit information,” says Kiruba Shankar, a Wikipedia regular and owner of a small company in the city .
The idea of the academy was conceived when a group of 20 regular contributors to Wikipedia met in Chennai and explored ideas how best to motivate and train people to contribute to one of the most popular information websites today.
According to estimates available on the website, barely 0.01 per cent of people who visit the online encyclopedia contribute to it. But, according to claims, the number of hits on Wikipedia is nearly eight times higher than that on Yahoo.
Shankar says the idea behind the initiative is to train people as leaders who would go back to their homes or offices and conduct similar induction or training programmes. “ A ripple effect that will increase Indian contribution,” he adds.
There are instances of high school teachers and colleges in the US and UK setting students the task of getting their assignment papers published on Wikipedia. If their papers get published or included then they are given full points.
Suraja Srinivas, a teacher at SBOA School and Junior College, says, “It is a good system, as students are enthused to do real research on their subject and not just plagiarise information available on the Internet. We really do not have the opportunity to explore beyond the syllabus, and in colleges, such systems are yet to gain acceptance.” Prolific Wikipedian, Gangadhar Bhadani, community manager and digital architect, ESPN India, Avinash Subramaniam, and software engineer Tinu Cherian are scheduled to interact with potential Wikipedia contributors on November 22 at Shankar’s office. For more information on this workshop visit: http://www.kiruba.com/2008/10/announcin g-wikipedia-academy-in-chennai.html.