Community Resources and Partnerships/India Rapid Project/Digitizing Malayalam Books and Conducting Digitization Workshops in Schools
Applicant
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Tonynirappathu
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
N/A
Project
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Digitizing Malayalam Books and Conducting Digitization Workshops in Schools
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-07-01 - 2025-10-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
India
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Not applicable
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
Many old Malayalam books in the public domain remain undigitized, making them inaccessible to the public. By digitizing 100 such books (or 10,000 pages) and uploading them to Wikisource, we will:
- Preserve rare and culturally significant Malayalam texts.
- Enhance free knowledge access for students, researchers, and readers.
- Expand Malayalam content on Wikimedia projects.
Challenges:
- Limited Digitization Efforts – Many old Malayalam books are unavailable online, restricting access.
- Lack of Awareness – Schools and local communities may not know how to contribute to Wikisource.
- Technical Barriers – OCR (Optical Character Recognition) for Malayalam can be inconsistent, requiring manual corrections.
Approach:
- Digitization: Scan and proofread 100 public-domain Malayalam books, ensuring high-quality uploads to Wikisource.
- Workshops: Train students and teachers from 2 schools on digitization, Wikisource editing, and OCR correction.
- Community Engagement: Collaborate with local libraries, historians, and Wikimedians to identify important texts.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
Planned Activities
1. Book Digitization (100 Malayalam Public-Domain Books / 10,000 Pages)
Identification & Selection: Collaborate with libraries, historians, and Wikimedia contributors to curate a list of culturally significant Malayalam books in the public domain.
Scanning Digitize books using scanners
Uploading to Wikimedia Commons: Publish digitized texts on Malayalam Wikisource with proper metadata and categorization.
2. Digitization Workshops in 2 Schools Workshop
Introduction to Wikisource, digitization tools, and basic editing. Hands-on training on scanning and uploading books.
Student Engagement: Encourage students to contribute by proofreading and digitizing short texts.
3. Community & Partnership Development Collaboration with Libraries & Archives:
Partner with institutions holding old Malayalam books for scanning permissions.
Wikimedia Community Support: Engage Malayalam Wikimedians for mentorship and quality checks.
Awareness Campaign: Local outreach to promote Wikisource contributions.
Timeline
[edit]Month 1 - Book selection, partner confirmations, workshop planning Scanning & digitization (50 books) + First workshop
Month 2 - Remaining digitization (50 books) + Second workshop
Month 3 - Final uploads, project documentation, reporting
Partners (Potential/Planned)
[edit]Local Libraries/Archives (e.g., Kerala State Library, university collections) – For book access.
Malayalam Wikimedia Community – For Wikisource guidance.
Schools in Kerala – For workshops (names to be confirmed).
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc.
Project Lead (Primary Applicant)
Name: Tony Antony
Wikimedia Username: Tonynirappathu
Role: Overall project coordination, digitization oversight, workshop facilitation, and reporting.
Affiliation: Volunteer Wikimedian
Experience:
Wikimedia Contributions:
Active Wikimedia volunteer for 12+ years, with expertise in digitizing and uploading cultural and educational content.Digitization
7+ years of experience in conserving and digitizing rare books, with 200+ books already uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. [1]
Served as Principal of Govt. TTI Kottayam, bringing leadership in educational projects.IT Coordination:
Worked as IT Coordinator at a school district for 10+ years, providing technical expertise in digitization workflows.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
Target Participants
Malayalam Wikisource Contributors – Existing and new volunteers interested in digitizing Malayalam texts.Students & Teachers – From 2 selected schools in Kerala (e.g., higher secondary/Govt. schools with Malayalam-medium focus).Librarians & Archivists – From partner institutions (e.g., Kerala State Library, university collections).Local Historians & Writers – To help identify culturally significant public-domain books.
Awareness Campaigns:
Social Media & Mailing Lists: Announce the project via Malayalam Wikimedia groups, education networks, and library associations. School Outreach: Coordinate with school principals/teachers to select interested students (e.g., IT clubs, language societies).
Engagement During Activities For Digitizers:
Training Sessions: Live demonstrations on scanning, OCR correction, and Wikisource formatting. Collaborative Platforms: Use WhatsApp/Telegram groups for real-time troubleshooting and progress tracking. For Students (Workshops): Hands-on Activities: Let students digitize short texts (e.g., old magazines, folktales) to build confidence.
Follow-Up After Activities Participant Retention:
Post-Workshop Support: Provide a 1-month mentorship window for questions via email/chat groups. Micro-Tasks: Share lists of easy-to-digitize books for continued involvement. Recognition & Reporting: Public Acknowledgments: Feature participants’ work on Malayalam Wikisource/Wikimedia Commons social media.
- 9.1. If your project includes in-person activities, are there any international participants travelling to India for them? (required)
- No
- 9.1.1. List all countries of participation. (required)
- 9.2. Will the project be transferring funds to any international participants? (required)
- No
- 9.2.1. List all international participants receiving funding and their countries. (required)
N/A
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
- No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
Posted on Wikimedians of Kerala User Group Talk Page
Shared the project outline (digitizing 100 Malayalam books + school workshops) and requested feedback.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Language
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Geographic
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
Innovate in Free Knowledge
Metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
This project aims to explore effective strategies for digitizing and preserving Malayalam public-domain texts while fostering community participation. Below are the key learning questions we seek to answer:
1. Digitization & Content Contribution
How efficient is the workflow for digitizing 100+ Malayalam books (10,000 pages) with volunteer efforts? (Quality of scan, Rareness of book)
2. Community Engagement & Capacity Building
What motivates students/teachers to participate in Wikisource digitization, and how can retention be improved? (Feedback: Pre- and post-workshop surveys, follow-up contributions.)
Does hands-on training in schools lead to sustained participation in Wikimedia projects? (Tracking: Number of new accounts created, post-workshop uploads.)
3. Partnerships & Scalability Which collaboration models (libraries, schools, Wikimedia affiliates) are most effective for sourcing and digitizing public-domain books? (Outcomes: Books sourced per partner, replication potential.)
Can a small-scale digitization project (100 books) inspire larger institutional efforts in Kerala? (Evidence: Partner commitments post-project, media coverage.)
4. Open Knowledge Impact How does increasing Malayalam Wikisource content affect readership and reuse (e.g., citations, translations)? (Analytics: Pageviews, downstream use in Wikipedia articles.)
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 10 | 1. Digitization Team & Wikisource Contributors
New Participants: ~15–20 (volunteers new to Wikisource/Wikimedia). Returning Participants: ~10–15 (experienced Malayalam Wikimedians assisting with quality checks). 2. School Workshops (2 Schools) Students: ~40–50 (new participants; first-time exposure to Wikisource). Teachers/Librarians: ~10–15 (mix of new and returning; some may have prior Wikimedia experience). 3. Partner Institutions (Libraries/Archives) Staff/Historians: ~5–10 (new participants; introduced to Wikisource collaboration). |
| Number of editors | 15 | 1Newly Registered Editors (First-Time Wikisource Contributors)
Target: 30–40 new editors Primary sources: Students from workshops (~20–25 new accounts). Teachers/Librarians (~5–10 new accounts). Local Volunteers (~5–10 new accounts through outreach). Tracking: Event Metrics Dashboard to log account creations during workshops. Post-workshop follow-ups to confirm sustained editing. |
| Number of organizers | 3 | Project Lead (1) – Overall coordination, reporting, and stakeholder management.
Workshop Facilitators (2) – Conduct training sessions in schools (may include teachers/Wikimedians). |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | 100 |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
Wikimedia Commons
Target: 200+ scanned book covers or illustrations (where applicable). High-quality scans of book covers, illustrations, or historical pages. Metadata: Proper licensing (Public Domain/CC0) and descriptions in Malayalam/English.
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
Wikimedia Commons Uploads (100+ files) Commons Upload Stats + GLAMorous
Monitor file uploads, usage, and metadata completeness.
Budget
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in Indian Rupees. (required)
189000 INR
- 22.1. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD. (required)
2213.06 USD
- By submitting this proposal request you agree with the Institutional Partner Privacy Policy, Application Privacy Statements, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
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