Community Resources and Partnerships/India Rapid Project/Digitizing and Disseminating Cultural Heritage - a Pilot
Applicant
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
Pavanaja
- 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 and Disseminating Cultural Heritage - a Pilot
- 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)
Cultural heritage is a priceless asset that connects us to our past, enriches our present, and shapes our future. Across generations, invaluable traditions, folklore, music, performances, literary contributions, and historical narratives have been preserved through audio, video, and visual media. However, a vast portion of this cultural wealth remains inaccessible to the global community due to copyright restrictions or limited digital availability.
This project aims to bridge this gap by systematically transforming a rich repository of audio, video, and images related to folk traditions, cultural heritage, and literary and historical figures into freely accessible content under Wikimedia Commons’ open licensing framework. By partnering with Prachya Sanchaya Samshodhan Kendra, Udupi, Karnataka, India, an organization that possesses an extensive collection of such media, we will curate, digitize (if necessary), and legally release this treasure trove for public use.
Through this initiative, we envision not only preserving these cultural artifacts but also making them universally accessible, ensuring that they can be utilized for research, education, and creative endeavors. Wikimedia Commons serves as an ideal platform for this endeavor, offering a globally recognized, open-access repository where this content can be freely shared, remixed, and repurposed by enthusiasts, scholars, and the general public.
This project will enable the meticulous conversion of these cultural materials into freely licensed formats, ensuring compliance with Wikimedia Commons' guidelines while upholding ethical and legal considerations. This initiative will empower communities by giving them access to their own heritage, fostering cultural appreciation, and facilitating knowledge sharing on a global scale.
This project also aims to get some articles written in Kannada and Tulu Wikipedias about the artifacts and other materials depicted in the digitized materials like images, audio and video files.
As the title indicates, this is a pilot project which may be iterated as a full fledged project, with enhanced list of activities and deliverables.
- 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.
Prachya Sanchaya Samshodhan Kendra, Udupi, Karnataka:
Founded in 2001 and registered in 2014 in Udupi, Karnataka, Prachya Sanchaya Samshodhana Kendra (National Trust for Computation & Archival of Oriental Media, NTC-AOM)) collaborates with Karnataka Folklore University to publish multimedia works. The initiative focuses on both preserving the past and securing the future. It plans to establish a Folkloristic Field Education department and the Tagore & Arnold Bake, Shivaram Karanth Archives Restudy Center, while also conducting archaeological studies of Tulu and Kannada inscriptions.In collaboration with ethnomusicology experts, NTC-AOM is researching Arnold Bake's 1938-1939 materials, including 768 audio recordings and photographs, to enhance the preservation of India's cultural heritage. They plan to establish the Bake 1938 Restudy School for further study. PSSK aims to create an inclusive platform for youth and cultural enthusiasts to contribute to preserving our heritage. They invite participation in developing educational packages focused on community development and cultural diversity, featuring archives of palm-leaf manuscripts, Tulu songs, 155 Kannada and Tulu inscriptions, and 15,000 pages of Dasa Literature (miscellaneous hand written).
Partial list of content available with PSSK and ready to be released under CC-BY-SA-
Ser No Details Category (Yakshagana/Folk/..) Filetype (MP3/MP4/..)
1 Freedom fighters interview clips Patriatic Rare video
2 Arnold Bake Restudied Clips Yakshagana/Kangilu Rare video
3 Tulu Epics related Ritual Bhuta related Rare video
4 Tulu Arts /dance , Including Kerala Sarpam Kali/Naagmandal Rare video and audio
5 Folk Instruments -Photos-writeup Ethnomusicology Video/MP4 and MP3
6 Puppetry South India Performance Rare documentaries
7 Murals Kaavi paintings photos Paintings/Drawings Intangible Documents
8 Agricultural Paddy Bundellings Mudi Kattuvudu General/Interview Rare video mpeg/mp4
9 Karanth and AK Ramanujam related General Rare video mpeg/mp4
10 Tulu Paaddana /Gender studies General narration/research Audio in Cassettes
11 Palm Leaf Manuscripts Tulu/Kannada Documentation Scanner required
12 Paper Manuscripts Dasa Sahitya related Cataloguing 15,000 pages Scanner required
The planned activities include editing, cleaning, converting these content into open format acceptable to Commons and then uploading them. In this pilot project, a small portion of the huge available content will be uploaded.
The activities will be-
1. Signing a MoU between Karavali Wikimedians User Group and Prachya Sanchaya Samshodhana Kendra (PSSK) regarding releasing the content in CC-By-SA
2. Releasing the content in CC-By-SA
3. Collecting materials from PSSK
4. Editing/cleaning the content
5. Digitizing/converting the material into open format compatible with Wikimedia Commons
6. Uploading the content to Wikimedia Commons
Steps 1 and 2 will be one time activity. Steps 3 to 6 will be repeated over the duration of the project. There are micro-steps in these major steps, viz, travel of the program manager to Udupi, sitting of program manager with and vetting of the final content by Advisor for the project, transfer of the content to the program manager, bringing the content from Udupi to Bengaluru, and finally, uploading the content.
7. Editathons to add articles to Kannada and Tulu Wikipedias related to Cultural Heritage.
- 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.
Name: Dr. U.B. Pavanaja Role: Principal Program Manager (Paid staff) Username: Pavanaja. Responsibilities: Overall management and coordination of the project activities. Manage the budget, finance, spending, accounting and reporting. Design and roll out the program. Negotiate with PSSK. Draft the MoU and get it executed. Travel to Udupi every month to interact with the Advisor for vetting the converted content, bring the content to Bengaluru and upload the content using broadband Internet. Design, participate as resource person and role out the editathons for adding articles mentioned in the timeline.
Name: Prof.S.A. Krishnaiah. He is an international folk artiste, writer, scholar and resource person of Karnataka and South Indian folk arts, and tribal arts , He studied the folk life of minstrels and bards, and itinerants.He is notable figure in Karnataka Folk Theater and Indian Puppetry. He has documented over 5,000 hours of recordings over three decades. He has collaborated with various scholars and participated in international projects, including workshops and directing puppet shows at festivals in Zurich. Role: Advisor (Paid staff). Responsibilities: Overall advisor for the project. He will be overseeing and organizing the material available with PSSK. He will be vetting the converted final content before uploading them to Internet.
Role: Resource person-1 (Paid staff) Responsibilities: Has two responsibilities. 1) Coordinating with PSSK, with Resource person-2, Program Manager and Advisor. 2) Collecting material from PSSK. Dividing the content between Resource Persons. Editing and converting the content into the format acceptable by Wikimedia Commons. Collecting the converted content from resource Person-2. Handing over the content to Program Manager. Also will work as resource person during the editathons.
Role: Resource Person-2 (paid staff). Collecting material from Resource Person-1, editing, converting the material and handing over the converted content to Resource Person-1.
- 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 & Community: Artists, musicians, storytellers, craftspeople, religious leaders, elders, local historians, and cultural organization members primarily from coastal Karnataka (Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada) and others. Focus on those preserving diverse regional cultures and languages (Tulu, Kannada, Konkani).
Engagement:
- Before: Network with organizations, hold informational meetings (online/offline), issue public announcements in local media, and send targeted invitations. Emphasize benefits like preservation, global reach, and attribution. Address IP concerns through workshops and individual consultations.
- During: Organize collaborative digitization sessions with technical support, conduct metadata training in local languages, build community through online forums, and offer recognition for contributions. Actively seek feedback.
Follow-up:
Share project outcomes and usage statistics, invite further contributions, inform about related initiatives, showcase the impact of their contributions, and encourage ongoing Wikimedia community involvement. Gather feedback for future projects.
- 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.
The project idea was discussed during the monthly meeting of Karavali Wikimedians User Group. The event page is here.
- 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)
Cultural background, ethnicity, religion, racial
- 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)
Ethnic/racial/religious or cultural background
- 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)
From this pilot project, we primarily hope to learn:
Community Engagement Effectiveness: What are the most effective outreach and engagement strategies for diverse cultural stakeholders in coastal Karnataka to contribute digital heritage to Wikimedia Commons
Content Suitability & Impact: What types of audio and video content from this region are most readily contributed and have the highest potential for reuse and impact on Wikimedia projects (e.g., Wikipedia articles, educational resources)?
Technical Workflow Efficiency: What are the most efficient and user-friendly workflows for digitizing, licensing, and uploading audio and video content from this community to Wikimedia Commons, considering varying technical skills?
Metadata Quality & Discoverability: What methods best encourage participants to provide rich and accurate metadata in local languages, and how does this impact the discoverability and usability of the content on Wikimedia Commons?
Sustainability & Scalability: What are the key factors and community relationships that indicate the potential for long-term engagement and scaling this model for other cultural heritage digitization efforts in the region?
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 30 | |
| Number of editors | 25 | |
| Number of organizers | 2 |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 20 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 1000 |
| Wikidata | 20 |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
N/A
- 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)
For articles added during editathon - Outreachdashboard
For Commons - count using category
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)
426250 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)
4997 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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