WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/Indian biodiversity

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Timestamp
06:55, 7 August 2011 (UTC)
Title of the submission
Wikipedia as a source of information on Indian biodiversity
Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, or presentation)
Presentation
Author of the submission
L. Shyamal - en:User:Shyamal
E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)
en:User:Shyamal
State of your origin (Country, if you are not based in India)
Karnataka, India
Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)
Independent
Personal homepage or blog
http://muscicapa.blogspot.com
Abstract (maximum 500 words)

India is a high biodiversity country and one will encounter interesting organisms even within urban environments. The average citizen has few sources of information and Wikipedia is often a first port of call. The few qualified individuals who can provide additional information struggle to advance their careers while tax-payer funded organizations such as the ZSI and BSI publicly refuse to provide information resorting instead to produce copyrighted inaccessible in-house publications, often of poor quality. A few enlightened citizens have found Wikipedia a valuable medium for providing information on the fascinating natural world around. Various WikiProjects for bird, butterflies, insects and reptiles allow editors across the world to produce articles of consistent structure and bring together photographers who provide their images, taxonomists who verify identifications, researchers and most importantly readers who can ask questions and identify gaps. A growing number of Indians have contributed to these projects and a summary of the little work done so far and the vast open gaps in this area will be highlighted

Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology)
Knowledge
Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?
Unlikely to attend unless travel and stay are taken care of apart from having competing and conflicting commitments during that period. Attending
Slides or further information (optional)

Draft version of presentation - final version can differ greatly -