User:Subodh (CIS-A2K)/IR1819

Workshops of River activists for building Jal Bodh - Knowledge resource on Water

What?

In April 2018, CIS-A2K conducted a Wikimedia orientation session on River dialogue held at Pune. The concept of documenting river related issues on Wiki were well received by various organisations. The concept note on 'Project Jal bodh' was prepared. Then different organisations took initiative to organise series of workshops for activists, scholars and experts in the field. The objective is to create knowledge about water and rivers in India.

When? & Where?

The first workshop in the series was conducted by Jeevit Nadi at Pune on 25 July 2018. The second workshop was conducted in Dafalapur, District Sangli by Jal Biradari on 7 December 2018. Looking at the importance of the concept, Tarun Bharat Sangh - a national level organisation working on rivers - organised a National Workshop for participants from eight states of India. The workshop was conducted from 22–25 December 2018 at Tarun Bharat Sangh, Bhikampura, Alwar district, Rajasthan.

How?

All these workshops were focused on content generation around river issues. The participants worked on analysis of knowledge produced in the form of publications, training material, images and videos. The training sessions on Wikipedia editing and Commons upload were conducted. The reference material like books, maps, government reports, old gazetteers has been organised by these organisations. The discussion on category tree and structure of articles was held in the first iterations. The listing of articles was done. The structure of river article was finalised collaboratively. The participants worked in groups to present schematic diagrams of various river basins for in depth understanding. They worked in Wikipedia sandboxes before uploading the articles in main namespace. Total 49 activists and experts were trained in these workshops.

Impact made

Due to these workshops, awareness about Wikimedia projects was generated among 12 organisations working on river issues in Maharashtra & seven other states of India. The active members of these NGOs were convinced about the open knowledge creation on Wikimedia projects. The participants have started working on four rivers in Maharashtra and 15 rivers in India. They have also started working on related issues like pollution, tourism and projects. The broader plan of 'Project Jal bodh' is prepared with the consensus. Thus the foundation is built for concrete action through the network of like-minded organisations.

"Rivers are very basic essence of existence of life in land. Thus, keeping sanctity, health and preservation of rivers are utmost important. The Wikimedia workshop during December in TBS on inclusion of river science, it's genesis and awareness to protect it through Wikipedia was really worthwhile. It provided wing to individuals like me to pendown more on revival of rivers because of present river pollution issues. The Wikipedia as an open forum can put an intense and long standing impact by including river as portal because mainstream can easily get the zeitgeist of problems, ways to tackle and sometimes use society as a whole to respond for revival of rivers." - Username:Mrityunjay1010

Followup plan

The quarterly iterations are planned by each organisation in the next year. The first such workshop was organised by INTACH Pune Chapter in Pune in July 2019. The intensive personalised Wiki training sessions of most active editors are also planned.

Learning

The online reference material is not easily available on rivers. Hence, the parallel activity of content donation of books is proposed. The activists are busy in field work, so it is difficult to plan workshops for two to three days.

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  Participants preparing category tree and structure
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  Understanding the river basin to design the category tree of articles
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  River activists involved in documentation of rivers
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  Editors involved in collaborative content generation

Content donation sessions

What?

CIS-A2K has taken integrated approach towards Marathi language and open knowledge creation. With this approach, all the stakeholders in this area are being oriented in regular sessions. The re-licensing sessions for OTRS process and uploading of books are being conducted for authors.

When? & Where?

The first session for publishers in environmental field was organised by Parisar on 25 July 2018. Total 15 members participated. CIS-A2k facilitated in the second workshop organised by Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha on 7 September 2018. Total 80 members consisting of publishers, writers, designers participated actively in this workshop. The re-licensing and uploading sessions for content donation were conducted in December 2018, March & April 2019 at Kolhapur, Thane and Pune.

How?

The two workshops on Unicode, FOSS tools and Wikimedia projects were conducted. The participants were trained in hands-on skills regarding these aspects. The analysis of existing Unicode fonts in Marathi was also done. The list of major reference books & authors in various areas was prepared in these workshops. The sessions with authors were conducted in various places.

Impact made

The awareness about the FOSS tools, Unicode and Wikimedia platform was generated among major publishers and writers in Maharashtra. The publishing community is adopting Unicode fonts, Open source tools like GIMP and Inkscape. The National level Consortium of Marathi Publishers has taken initiative to organise the workshops to promote these concepts. Due to this awareness five authors have re-licensed and uploaded total 32 books on Commons. The links of the books are given below -

• Book by Kaustubh Tamhankar
• Books by Sunilkumar Lawate
• Books published by Lek Ladaki Abhiyan, India
• Books by Laxmikant Deshmukh

Followup plan

Bi-monthly regional workshops for content donation are planned in 2019-20. The monthly re-license sessions of publishers and authors are in progress.

Learning

The commercial interests in fonts and softwares oppose the open source and knowledge movement. The old authors are not conversant with internet, so it is difficult to process the OTRS and uploading on Commons.

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  Workshop on FOSS, Unicode & Wikimedia Projects for Publishers, Printers, designers & writers
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  Marathi writer Sunilkumar Lawate with re-licensed books

Institutional partnership with PAH Solapur University

What?

The collaborated efforts for open knowledge creation in Wikimedia projects have led to signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between CIS-A2K and Punyashlok Ahilyabai Holkar Solapur University (PAHSUS) at Solapur in Maharashtra. The action plan with University has been developed to generate content along with digital skill building programs. The activities are being conducted in University departments as well as affiliated colleges.

When? & Where?

CIS-A2K is consistently conducting content generation workshops for the last two years in PAHSUS and its affiliated institution Dayanand College. The first workshop in PAH Solapur University was conducted in January 2018 while the second workshop in January 2019. In Dayanand College, the first workshop was conducted in January 2018 and second workshop in January 2019. The Wikipedia assignments workshop was conducted for Post Graduate students as part of their academic submission in PAH Solapur University on 3 May 2019.

How?

Due to consistent collaborative activities with the institutions at Solapur, the PAHSUS has come forward with long term plans of open knowledge creation in Wikimedia projects. In the initial workshops, the students were trained in Wikipedia editing and Commons uploading. The students were then given assignments to publish articles on the reputed editors and newspapers during Independence struggle. This activity was well received by other departments and affiliated colleges. The decision by Vice Chancellor Dr. Mrunalini Fadnavis to integrate this knowledge creation with academic courses initiated further process of detailed discussions with heads of the four departments. The registrar and other administrative heads also actively participated in the process. The archaeology and history departments have come up with documentation of museums and historical sites under the GLAM projects. The news of this event was published by major media houses like Lokmat (22 May 2019), Pudhari (22 May 2019), Sakal (22 May 2019) and Surajya (22 May 2019).

Impact made

The PAHSUS has set an example for other universities by taking this initiative. The integration of content generation activity with academic assignments is resulting into archival of valuable knowledge in different sectors. The students are acquiring skills on advance search options, FOSS platforms, exploring open knowledge repositories like Jstor, Google scholars etc. Better utilisation of libraries was also experienced during these sessions for giving proper references.

Followup plan

The process of developing yearly action plan for the academic year staring from August 2019 has been started with the authorities. The selection of affiliated colleges in the programme will be finalised before August 2019.

Learning

The ground level consistent activities with direct beneficiaries create positive approach towards innovative programmes such as Wikimedia projects. This strategy helps in convincing the higher authorities in the institution for integrating with the academic system.

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  PAH University VC, Registrar, department heads with CIS representatives
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  University & CIS-A2K offcials during the meeting

Partnership with Maharashtra State Government language department

What?

CIS-A2K successfully conducted workshops at various universities and organisations for the last two years i.e. 2017 & 2018, during period - language fortnight (1–15 January) upto language day (27 February). This year Maharashtra State government has issued notification which officially recognises CIS-A2K as a resource agency for Wikipedia related activities across the state. CIS-A2K is collaborating with State Language department - Rajya Marathi Vikas Sanstha also in this process. It is a good opportunity for active editors to act as trainers during these events. CIS-A2K also involved community members in these workshops as part of leadership building.

When? & Where?

The Marathi Language Fortnight event is a series of five workshops hosted at different districts in Maharashtra. CIS-A2K started collaborating with State language dept. from year 2017. In the first series of workshops, we conducted three workshops. In the second series in 2018, we conducted six workshops out of total 17 workshops conducted across the state. In the year 2019, the awareness spread to more educational institutions located in different regions of the state. In this third series, CIS-A2K conducted five workshops out of total 21 workshops conducted. We facilitated the process and supported some workshops remotely.

Date	Place	Venue	Participants	Event page link on Marathi Wikipedia
3 Jan	Sangli	Chintamanrao College of Commerce	40	Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Sangli
8 Jan	Kolhapur	Marathi Department, Shivaji University	50	Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Kolhapur
10 Jan	Solapur	Dayanand College	25	Marathi Workshop at Dayanand College, Solapur
11 Jan	Solapur	Mass Communication & Journalism dept.,Solapur University	50	Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Solapur University, Solapur
15 & 16 Jan	Karanja Lad	SSSKR Innani College	100	Marathi Wikipedia Workshop at Innani College, Karanja Lad

How?

The users created the account and learnt the editing and image upload on Commons. The editors practiced manual of style, providing links & references etc., on their sandboxes before working on main namespace articles. The editors mostly worked on locally relevant topics. In one of the workshops, references and images were added to existing articles about local heritage, tourist places and personalities. The images were uploaded to newly created categories - Karanja Lad and SSSKR Innani College on Commons.

Impact made

In these workshops, 125 active editors improved 310 articles and created new 27 new articles. They also uploaded 72 images on Commons. The awareness about Wikimedia projects was spread across Maharashtra state due to this expansion. The Government notification was instrumental in increased involvement of institutions across the state. The notification also ensured that the Wikipedia workshops will be the feature of Government language day programmes.

Followup plan

The refresher sessions are planned on a quarterly basis. WhatsApp groups were created to share the resources and further discussions. This cadre of Wiki Guides would facilitate the programs for other students.

Learning

The expansion of the programme created leadership opportunities for the community members. The government intervention has opened up new sectors for knowledge creation. The educational institutes face difficulties for the follow up activities due to tight academic schedules. Therefore some slots in the vacations need to be planned.

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  Demonstration session in Shivaji University, Kolhapur
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  Participants working in workshop at Karanja (Lad)
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  Editing in progress at Sangli workshop

Thematic partnership for bridging gender gap

What?

To address the gender gap on Marathi Wikipedia, the organisations working on women's issues were approached for content generation. The positive response from 'Lek Ladaki Abhiyan' and regular workshops on the occasion of World Women's Day resulted into partnership for bridging gender gap.

When? & Where?

The women's organisation Lek Ladaki Abhiyan took initiative to organise First Women's Day workshop in March 2018 with collaboration of KBP Engineering College, Satara in Maharashtra. It was planned only for women participants. The activity of creating knowledge about women's issues was continued through Second Women's Day workshop in March 2019. This workshop was followed by Content donation session in March 2019 for releasing reference books in free license by the organisation.

How?

Lek Ladaki Abhiyan is an organisation based in Satara, working on women's issues like child marriage, female foeticides, domestic violence, livelihoods, dowry and sexual assaults. The organisation has developed training resources like legal aid manuals, case studies, videos, photo exhibitions etc. The youth from different institutions get involved in the activities. The organisers selected 20 active women from four colleges for this workshop. After the training in basic editing skills, giving inter-wiki links & references, categorisation etc., the gap finding exercise was carried out in regard issues like Laws for Women, Notable women, major events etc. The resource developed by organisation was utilised as references to create or improve 20 articles.

Impact made

Due to consistent activity and follow-up by the organisation, the activists on women's issues have come together to create the open knowledge. The gaps in gender related articles were identified and listed. The group is working on important 20 articles on women's legal aid. The organisation has further gone ahead to re-license eight valuable reference books on these issues. Separate category of the books published by Lek Ladaki Abhiyan is created on Commons.

"Lek Ladaki Abhiyan is involved in content generation in Wikimedia projects for the last two years. The gender gap in Wikimedia projects is of great concern for us because, we are working with women at the grassroots. The Wiki platform is excellent for documentation of legal aid information, accessibility of training resources and further research. The process of knowledge creation also aids the personality development of activists. Therefore we want to make this program as integral feature of our work. The uploading of our publications under free-license is benefiting the society. We shall try to convince other like-minded organisations to donate their content. Next year, we are proposing to start digitisation activity with the girls with your support."- Username:Varsha Deshpande (Adv. Varsha Deshpande, Convenor - Lek Ladaki Abhiyan)

Followup plan

The organisation is running one residential training centre for women. One separate Wiki cell will be developed in this centre on the lines of Vigyan Ashram, Pabal in Maharashtra. The thematic GLAM on women's issues is also proposed.

Learning

As the activists know the knowledge needs of women at the grassroots, relevant content with appropriate references is generated. The young girls are very sensitive and committed to their issues, therefore work sincerely.

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  Participants understanding Wikimedia projects in introductory session
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  Team expressing their commitment to open knowledge creation

Digitisation and Wikisource work at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal

What?

CIS-A2K is developing partnership with Vigyan Ashram, Pabal in Maharashtra. It is the organisation working on 'Learning while Doing' methodology for skill building. The Wikimedia team trained at Vigyan Ashram organised two day Wikisource Workshop for the Marathi Community. Along with digitisation and Wikipedia editing, the trainees started working in Wikisource project.

When? & Where?

The Wikisource Workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal was organised on 25 & 26 May 2019. Total seven Wikimedians from Vigyan Ashram and five Marathi community members attended the workshop. The number of female participants was seven.

How?

The basic skills of scanning and post processing were imparted on the first day. The basics of Commons and Wikisource project were explained. The uploading of big size books with chunk upload was demonstrated. The analysis of gadgets and scripts on Marathi Wikisource was done. The second day started with practise session for proof-reading & layout of pages. The process of transclusion was explained in detail. The various final layouts for reading the books on Wikisource and formats for downloading the books were also discussed.

Impact made

The team of skilled Wikimedians is developed at Vigyan Ashram which is training the new batches continuously. The institution has created separate Wiki cell to conduct regular activities. In this programme year, total 10,400 are scanned and 6,000 pages have been OCR'd on Wikisource by Vigyan Ashram team.

"Vigyan Ashram is involved in collaborated efforts with CIS-A2K for content enrichment in Wikimedia projects for the last two years. We have conducted Marathi Wikipedia Edit-a-thons, Digitisation training sessions, Commons upload sessions and Wikisource Workshops for the trainees in our institute. We are thankful for your support in this innovative open knowledge creation activity with our rural students. Through this programmes they are exposed to diverse areas and digital skills. While contributing to Wikisource projects, they are reading valuable books also. This process is mutually beneficial for the society and the individuals. Looking at the increased confidence and enthusiasm among the girls, we have created a separate Wiki cell in our institute. We are looking forward to create comprehensive action plan for building this partnership on long-term basis. We hope to get your continuous support in future as well."- Username:योगेश कुलकर्णी (Dr. Yogesh Kulkarni, Director - Vigyan Ashram)

Followup plan

The action plan of proof reading activity for trainees will be developed. The scanning of rare books from 100 plus year old libraries is planned at Vigyan Ashram.

Learning

Due to weak internet infrastructure in the rural area where the institution is situated, there are difficulties in uploading of images and books. The need of detailed training material in Marathi language is identified.

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  Participants learning in Wikisource workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal
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  Book scanning and post processing demonstration by User:Jayantanth
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  Demonstration of Wikisource work flow at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal

Wikisource internship project at Garware College of Commerce

What?

The Wikisource proof reading workshop was organised by Garware College of Commerce, Pune on 13 February 2019. The workshop was facilitated by CIS-A2K and community members to support the proofreading project taken up by the institution for the second consecutive year. Total 20 students worked for one month under this project. In this event, 10 members participated.

When? & Where?

The Wikisource event was conducted in Garware College of Commerce, Pune on 13 February 2019.

How?

Garware College of Commerce in Pune has initiated Marathi Wikisource proof reading activity as internship for the students. The first project was completed in 2018 for the book - 'Arthasahastrachi multatwe'. The books related to commerce field are selected. The students also get benefited by going through valuable reference material in their language. The concept was well adopted by the students as well as faculty. The second project was taken up in 2019 for the book - Adbhut Duniya Vyavasthapanachi - a book on fundamentals of management. Wikimedians from Pune - User:AshLin, mr:User:Komal Sambhudas and User:कल्याणी कोतकर also facilitated the process. The introduction to basics of Commons and Wikisource projects was given in the first session. The details of index page and metadata were discussed. Then the proofreading activity started. The chapters were distributed between the editors. Some of the templates not available readily in the toolbar of Marathi Wikisource, were copied in individual sandboxes and applied. Tito Dutta explained the best practices and completed books in Bengali & English Wikisource projects.

Impact made

In the post event meeting with the authorities, they expressed their readiness to make this internship activity integral to the academic course. Due to this event, around 300 pages were proof read and validated.

Followup plan

The Wikisource activity will be supported by Wikipedia and Commons projects in the next academic year.

Learning

The consistency in the activity develops enthusiasm among the students and raises the confidence of authorities to adopt the same.

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  Introductory session in Wikisource workshop
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  Participants taking the review of the work done in the workshop

SVG Translation Workshop at KBC North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon

What?

CIS-A2K organised the SVG translation workshop in collaboration with Kavayitri Bahinabai Chaudhari North Maharashtra University (KBCNMU), Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India. This event was part of India level SVG Translation Campaign.

When? & Where?

The workshop was hosted by Computer Science department of KBPNM University at Jalgaon in Maharashtra state. The workshop was conducted on 14 & 15 March 2019.

How?

In India level SVG translation campaign held during 21 February to 31 March 2019, 19 language communities across India participated. In Maharashtra, KBCNMU's Computer Science department took initiative to organise this Wikimedia project activity for the first time in the city. Prof. Manish Joshi and resource person Krishna Chaitanya Velaga facilitated the process.
As this was the first activity about Wikimedia projects, the first two sessions were introduction to various projects. Then the participants were introduced to basic skills in Wikipedia editing and uploading images to Commons. The Commons platform was explained in detail. The gap finding exercise was done to identify missing images in Marathi articles and Commons as well. The discussion on these topics brought clarity about the objectives behind the SVG translation campaign. Later, the installation of required software like Google Input Tools for Marathi typing and Inkscape was done. After this, the main graphics sessions were conducted by Krishna. He explained various formats, the importance of SVGs and actual translation process. They were introduced to resources available for translation of terms. Then the faculty facilitated the process of work distribution among the students. The participants uploaded 100+ translated images on the first day.
On second day, twenty participants comprised of teachers, journalists, doctors, and other enthusiastic citizens joined the workshop. The experienced teachers and citizens helped students to find appropriate translations of the terms. Due to active collaborative work on the second day, the total images crossed 200 mark. The students continued to contribute till last day of campaign i.e 31 March 2019. At the end, due to consistent work of 56 students, Marathi images category reached the second highest number with a total of 311 among other 19 languages.

Impact made

The technical activity combined with science orientation motivated the students to learn new technique and take up the challenge in the campaign. The rigorous work lead them to achieve the second position in India, while two students got second & third position in Marathi community. The University officials have developed interest in Wikimedia projects.

Followup plan

The meeting with Vice Chancellor was fruitful. He has expressed will to conduct more activities with other departments in next academic year. CIS-A2K has planned activities in the year 2019-20.

Learning

The Commons project can be a good entry point activity for the new institution. The students are more inclined towards the challenges in the campaigns. We can utilise this to launch programme for the first time in the educational institutes.

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  Introductory session in SVG translation workshop
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  Students from Day one helping others on Day two
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  Participants involved in editing