User:Subodh (CIS-A2K)/Progress Report Jan 2020

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Progress Report for the Period - July 2019 to December 2019

Gender ratio - all programs[edit]

Total F M % F
Re-licensing sessions 14 9 5 64
Solapur University programmes 38 13 25 34
Jalbodh 20 16 4 80
Commons workshops 7 5 2 71
Archive project 5 1 4 20
Vigyan Ashram team 8 7 1 88

Content enrichment[edit]

Re-licensing sessions[edit]

What?
CIS-A2K is collaborating with various authors and organisations willing to re-license their content under CC-By-SA. A2K is facilitating the OTRS process in Wikimedia Commons for re-licensing as well as digitisation of the content. The team of trained Wikimedians at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal, District Pune has been digitising the books and doing uploads in Wikimedia projects.

Why?
The old reference books are not being re-printed now. There are few copies with some libraries. The organisations also have knowledge repositories in the form of training booklets, posters Therefore to make this hidden knowledge accessible to the society, this content needs to be published in free knowledge sources like Wikimedia Commons & Wikisource. For this, re-licensing sessions with organisations and copyright holders are conducted regularly.

When and where?
The sessions were conducted on 6, 12, & 31 July and 31 December 2019 in Pune.

How?

  • CIS-A2K facilitated the OTRS process of three organisations, Jnana Prabodhini, Saptahik Vivek Hindustan Prakashan Sanstha and Vrikshamitra. They have released their six books, eight volumes of encyclopedias and 12 books respectively. The authorised signatory of the organisation has completed the OTRS process. The simple 'How to do' manual was developed for this. The books are uploaded in respective categories here.
Re-licensing session with Ila Dalwai (on the left)
  • CIS-A2K conducted four sessions with copyright holders. In the field of rural development in Maharashtra, thoughts of Late S. G. Majgaonkar are highly regarded. His son Dhananjay Majgaonkar who holds the copyright for his books, completed the OTRS process and released three books in CC-By-SA. The books are now on Commons as well as Wikisource project.

OTRS session was conducted with Ila Dalwai, daughter of social reformer & writer Late Hamid Dalwai. She has re-licensed Meharunnisa Dalwai and Hamid Dalwai's four books. The content donation sessions with thinker & writer Hari Narake and son of Marathi thinker & writer Late Narahar Kurundkar were conducted. These persons handed over 15 books to CIS-A2K for further process.

Learning
The procedure of OTRS with the organisations need more attention and time as it involves trustee resolutions, declarations on official letterhead etc. The authors or copyright holders are not familiar with computer or internet. Therefore, it is preferable to conduct one to one personal sessions to complete the process.

Follow-up
Due to this re-licensing, the other organisations and authors/copyright holders have been approaching us for content donation. Therefore we are planning to develop one more set-up for scanning. The training of active Wikimedians to execute OTRS process is also planned.

Links

It would be great fun to read the old classic and out of print books, was my first thought when Mr Subodh Kulkarni introduced me to Wikisource. Being an avid book lover it was worth giving a try. It turned out to be true as some wikisource books which I read were almost 100 years old while some recent but all were interesting and informative. Then One day I accompanied with Mr Kulkarni to a workshop at Vidnyan Ashram, Pabal and learned about the process of scanning, indexing and making of PDF of books. The further process of proofreading, typography and validation required careful reading of the book word by word. So it was not just joy of reading but also enjoying the other aspect of the book like the use of different words, different style of writing suited to those times. The experience was becoming pleasurable so it was imperative that I attend an advanced workshop in Pune in Oct 2019. That was my first training workshop and It involved using advanced templates, library classification, use of wikidata and transclusion. At the end of the training, I could say that I have learned a lot. I am using the knowledge gained during the training now in editing more books and enjoying the work. - Username:Svnavare

GLAM activities[edit]

Digitisation project with Rajgurunagar Public Library[edit]

What
A meeting was conducted to start the digitisation project with Rajgurunagar Public Library at Rajgurunagar in Pune district. The detailed discussion on the different stages of the project was done before launching of the activities. The review meeting was held at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal.

When & where
A visit to Public Library at Rajgurunagar was made with Secretary of library, Vigyan Ashram team and A2K Programme Officer on 29 November 2019.

Why
Rajgurunagar Public Library was established in 1862. It houses very rare old books. We facilitated the digitisation project proposal sanction process to be completed by State Language Department. This is the first such initiative in Maharashtra. This will give impetus to other libraries across the state. Three other 100+ year old libraries have already contacted us to help in such project.

How
Initial meeting with key persons of library was conducted at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal in August 2019. They were introduced to the whole process from creation of metadata, scanning, uploading, OCR etc. at Vigyan Ashram. After the approval from the management the proposal for digitisation of rare books published in 19th century and uploading the content on Wikimedia was developed. The proposal was submitted to Maharashtra State Language Department. The scanning of 25 rare books is completed. The review of progress was taken by library representatives and A2K on 29 November at Vigyan Ashram.

Learning
The rare old books are in bad condition. There is a need to take up appropriate preservation activities before scanning. The catalogs of the libraries are not available in Unicode. The training on Metadata and KOHA is required.

Follow-up
The uploading on Commons and OCR on Wikisource will be done in next two months. The next project of digitising copyright free reference books was discussed with key persons in library at Rajgurunagar.

This year, I participated in Project Tiger 2.0 and created 16 articles in the three months period. Collecting information from online and off-line sources and researching for the articles was enriching experience. Such competitions motivate the editors to dedicate time for Wikipedia, which otherwise is difficult considering our busy schedules and professional work commitments.

I made two visits under GLAM project. Visit to Joshi railway museum, Pune made me understand the challenges and problems faced by the privately run museums. During another GLAM visit to Apte Vachan Mandir, 150 year old public library in my home town of Ichalkaranji, I understood the need of digitization of books and resolved basic queries of the board of directors about this process. If we can digitize rare books from this treasure trove in this year, it will really give me satisfaction as a Wikipedian. - Username:ज्ञानदा गद्रे-फडके

Shetkari Sanghatana & Sharad Joshi Archive Project[edit]

What
Sharad Joshi was farmers' leader, thinker, politician, writer and founder of Shetkari Sanghatana (Farmers' Organisation) in India. Shetkari Sanghatana & Sharad Joshi Wikimedia archive project launching event was conducted with Secretary of the Trust and three other members.

Why
Sharad Joshi has transferred all rights of his literature & archive of Shetkari Sangatana to Secretary of Shetkari Trust. It contains 25+ books in Marathi, English & Hindi, monthly magazines of 20 years, photographs and video films. To document all this as archive on Wikimedia, the proper digitisation, re-licensing and uploading process was developed.

When & where
The meeting was held at Village Ambethan in Pune district on 11-12 December 2019. Total five members participated in the meeting.

How
The initial meeting regarding procedure of re-licensing was held at Pabal with the trustees on 28 November. Then the trust has agreed to re-license all these contents. This occasion was selected to launch the project because 12 December is death anniversary of Sharad Joshi. The participants were introduced to Wikimedia projects initially. The copyright issues and different licenses were discussed. The content was studied and then sorted into different categories. The category trees for both archives were created. The listing of books, manuscripts, reports, audios and videos has been started. The initial draft of the proposed MoU between Shetkari Trust & CIS-A2K has been prepared in Marathi.

Learning
In the case of trusts, proper administrative procedures are to be followed before re-licensing process in Wikimedia Commons. This task takes more time and coordination.

Follow-up
The MoU will be finalised in January. The digitisation of the content and the training of some volunteers is planned from February onwards.


  • Archive project planning meeting
    Archive project planning meeting
  • Notes during Sharad Joshi Archive project planning
    Notes during Sharad Joshi Archive project planning
  • Notes during Sharad Joshi Archive project planning
    Notes during Sharad Joshi Archive project planning

Commons workshops[edit]

Floods on Wiki[edit]

What
Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal is an active organisation working on Women's issues in Maharashtra. The organisation is working in flood affected areas from August 2019. It was active in flood relief works also. During the work, the activists have documented the flood in Sangli, Satara & Kolhapur districts. The Commons workshop was organised to upload this media in Wikimedia projects.

Why
The media about the natural calamities is captured during the incidence. It is used in press reporting and on social media for few days. It is not archived afterwards. Hence there is a need to document these events systematically in Wikimedia projects.

When & where
The Commons workshop was conducted on 23 November 2019 at Dalit Mahila Vikas Mandal, Satara in which five activists participated.

How
The participants were introduced to Wikimedia Commons project initially. The copyright issues and different licenses were discussed. The category tree for floods in the three districts were created. Then the images of flood were sorted into different categories. One of the participants has started uploading the images into these categories.

Learnings
The category trees for the local issues and localities are not created in Commons. The pre-work on this is required before uploading.

Follow-up
The follow-up sessions will be conducted to upload more media. The concept will be expanded to other organisations working on flood relief, photographers and journalists.

Photo-walk[edit]

What
The photo-walk was organised in Pune to capture the images of historic monument - Shaniwar Wada and copper-craft community in Tambat Aali.

Why
The images add value to the articles. The details of the monuments are necessary for reading between the lines of history. Many hidden facts could be explored through capturing the minute parts of any structure. It is very urgent to preserve and document the traditional craft communities across India. The copper-craft is such unique tradition in Pune.

When & where
A photo-walk to document the historic monument - Shaniwar Wada and copper-craft community in Tambat Aali was organised on 19 December 2020 in Pune with two Marathi Wikimedians.

How
The categories related to the two places were studied in the beginning. The historic monument, Shaniwar Wada has many images on the Commons. Therefore some missing details of the images and parts of the monument were identified. Then the pictures were taken in the next one hour. The next place was "Tambat Aali", means lane of traditional families involved in copper-craft. In this one hour photo-walk we interacted with the persons working on the job as well as senior craftsmen to understand the process. The skills and techniques involved in the process were documented in this photo-walk. After this photo-walk, the images were sorted and renamed. This session on categorisation and uploading continued for next two hours.

Learnings
The map of monument area depicting the image capturing places needs to be prepared before photo-walk. The work is to be properly divided between the participants. The survey of community should be done to identify the special features of process.

Follow-up
Two more photo-walks with pottery community and one monument are planned in next two quarters.

  • House flooded in village Herwad
    House flooded in village Herwad
  • Village person in his destroyed house
    Village person in his destroyed house
  • Copper craftsman at work
    Copper craftsman at work
  • Statue of Bajirao Peshawa in Shaniwar Wada
    Statue of Bajirao Peshawa in Shaniwar Wada

Research project[edit]

GLAM mapping[edit]

What
The research project on - Mapping of GLAM institutions in Pune district of Maharashtra - aims to document their offline and digitised collections, technical infrastructure and human capacities. Case study of one institution is proposed to understand in detail the nature of collections, digitisation efforts and limitations with public access as well as potential for long term collaboration. This will also produce a set of recommendations towards such collaborations. The details of methodology can be seen in the concept note.

Work done so far
The literature survey was carried out to identify the status of GLAM related documentation on web. The selection and orientation of Wikimedia volunteers was done before the visits to GLAM institutions. The survey questionnaire was finalised with the volunteers' participation. Three Wikimedians - Username:ज्ञानदा गद्रे-फडके, Username:आर्या जोशी & Username:कल्याणी कोतकर completed 6 visits till December. The volunteers have uploaded the images on Commons. The related 5 articles on Wikipedia were expanded or added - राजा दिनकर केळकर संग्रहालय, पुणे नगर वाचन मंदिर, सार्वजनिक वाचनालय, राजगुरुनगर, आपटे वाचन मंदिर. The detailed case study of Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum is in progress.

Learnings
The awareness about the Wikimedia projects among the GLAM institution is lacking. More than five visits are required to document the minimum features.

Follow-up
The detailed case study is to be completed in January. Visits to some major institutions are planned till February 2020.


  • View of Pune Nagar Wachan Mandir
    View of Pune Nagar Wachan Mandir
  • Apte Vachan Mandir, Ichalkaranji
    Apte Vachan Mandir, Ichalkaranji
  • Music instruments section in Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum
    Music instruments section in Raja Dinkar Kelkar Museum

Partnerships[edit]

Collaboration with PAH Solapur University[edit]

What
The meeting with PAH Solapur University, Solapur (PAHSUS) Vice Chancellor, Registrar, Head of the departments, faculty and administrative staff was held to finalise the terms of collaboration in MoU, operational framework and action plan for the next two academic years. After the meeting, orientation programme and Wikipedia workshop for the selected students and faculty was organised.

Why
The knowledge creation process in Wikimedia projects enhance the digital skills and research attitude of the students. It also introduces them to wider free knowledge repositories on internet. The projects are also enriched by locally relevant knowledge.

When & where
The events were conducted in PAH Solapur University, Solapur (PAHSUS) on 18 & 19 July 2019.

How
The various aspects of collaboration were finalised by the core team and A2K team. The action plan according to the needs-assessment of the students, and the core team’s analysis was developed. Some highlights of the proposed action plan are -

  • Each department will facilitate creation of Wikipedia articles related to their course by the students. The articles will be created on user sandbox or on Google Docs before moving to Wikipedia mainspace.
  • The projects on museum, library and archives will be planned for enriching content on Wikimedia Commons and other sister projects after analysing encyclopedic value of the content.
  • PAHSUS will involve other affiliated colleges in free knowledge creation and the Wikimedia movement.
  • The digitisation of copyright free books in the library will be taken up for increasing Wikisource content.

Learning
The students are interested in creating online content and get enriched by exploring the web knowledge repositories like Internet Archive, Google books etc. There is difficulty in planning the regular events due to academic time-table constraints.

Follow-up
The articles were reviewed in December session. The uploading of articles in main namespace and GLAM activities are planned from January-April.

Collaboration with Vigyan Ashram[edit]

What
The two day meeting of A2K representatives and Vigyan Ashram Wiki team was conducted to review the work done in the last two years and design action plan for the next year. This collaboration culminated into signing of official MoU between both the parties.

Why
Vigyan Ashram aims to achieve ‘Development through the education system’. It aims to integrate development activities with life skills training. VA is engaged in training rural youth in rural technologies. VA is generating content on rural technologies and promoting it through its website. VA thinks that Wikimedia platforms will be appropriate for dissemination of the content generated through their work. Therefore they have been training students on creating content in Wikimedia projects with the support of CIS-A2K since 2017.

When & where
The review meeting and MoU signing was done with key persons of Vigyan Ashram at Pune on 26 & 27 December 2019.

How
The meeting started with review of the work done at Vigyan Ashram in the last two years. The Wiki co-ordinator Username:Pooja Jadhav and Username:कोमल संभुदास presented the statistics of Wikipedia articles, Commons uploads and Wikisource work. The scanning details were also discussed. Then Director, Yogesh Kulkarni explained the plan of Vigyan Ashram regarding free knowledge creation and how Wiki projects can be integrated with the training methodology in practice. The working on MoU draft followed after this. Both the institutions worked on the roles & responsibilities to finalise the terms of Mou.

Learning
The partnerships with the organisations working for empowerment of local communities is helpful as the objectives are similar.

Follow-up
Both the institutions will work together to execute the action plan chalked out in the MoU. These include scanning of books, thematic workshops and OER development.

  • Review and action plan making
    Review and action plan making
  • MoU copy
    MoU copy
  • MoU signed for collaboration
    MoU signed for collaboration

Leadership development[edit]

Jal Bodh[edit]

What
The Indian National Trust for Art & Heritage Pune Chapter is working with various organisations to preserve the natural heritage places like rivers in Pune district of Maharashtra, India. To sustain the efforts to build knowledge on rivers, INTACH has decided to collaborate with CIS-A2K to develop long-term plan. This was the first workshop to develop structure of the project, decide the stakeholders and follow-up action plan for the future.

Why
As the state of rivers is worsening day by day, the active citizens and organisations have realised the urgent need to document the rivers in details. This also generates the awareness among the readers.

When & where
The two day workshop was conducted on 29 & 30 July at INTACH office in Pune. Total 20 participants from seven organisations actively contributed to Wikimedia projects.

How
Day one started with introductions by members of organisations - Jeevitnadi (Living River Foundation), Sajag Nagrik Manch, Parisar, Centre for Environment & Education, Jnana Prabodhini, Ecological Society and INTACH. The concept of 'Project Jalbodh' was elaborated. The keynote address by Prof. Madhav Gadgil focused on the integration of citizen science and Wikimedia projects. Introduction to major Wikimedia projects was given in next session. The examples of river and water related content were taken for understanding the context. Then various members with their vast experience collaboratively evolved the structure of article on river in Marathi Wikipedia. According to local context, relevant sections and sub-sections were designed. Separate project page defining this structure was created on Marathi Wikipedia under the Wiki Project Jalbodh. This was the crucial activity for the project. After this session, the organisations conducted the analysis of the content developed by them which is to be contributed in Wikimedia projects.

On the second day, the activity started with uploading images on Commons. Along with this, the encyclopedic content available with the organisations was discussed for giving references. The articles were created in the sandboxes by groups on similar themes. Various skills like advanced search options for finding online references, archiving of url's on Wayback machine of Internet Archive were also acquired by the participants. The category tree for the rivers was also designed. The detailed discussions on building databases, maps and media with community involvement was conducted.

The Wikimedia workshop was appreciated by all participants. We found it useful for our ongoing work regarding saving our Pune rivers. It gave us hands on experience of how we can develop Wikimedia platform for the cause of documenting and spreading awareness about our rivers. The facilitation by CIS-A2K representative and Marathi Wiki community members was very helpful. The talk by Prof Madhav Gadgil was inspiring and gave us insights on how important this tool can be in empowering citizens who want to understand their environment. Guidance on designing and implementing the Jalbodh project was of immense value and many NGOs who were part of this workshop have decided to continue developing this, which was a great long term outcome.- Supriya Goturkar-Mahabaleshwarkar (Co-convenor, INTACH PUNE CHAPTER)

Learnings
Like minded experienced organisations working on one theme have high-level enthusiasm towards free knowledge creation. It is difficult to organise the content prepared by activists previously for awareness generation or reporting purpose. Multiple sessions are required to train them for encyclopedic writing.

Follow-up
Two follow-up workshops are planned till June 2020. These will be hosted by different organisations.

Upcoming events[edit]

In-kind support[edit]

Table 2 Please report all spending in the currency of your grant unless US$ is requested.

  • Please also include any in-kind contributions or resources that you have received in this revenues table. This might include donated office space, services, prizes, food, etc. If you are to provide a monetary equivalent (e.g. $500 for food from Organization X for service Y), please include it in this table. Otherwise, please highlight the contribution, as well as the name of the partner, in the notes section.
Revenue source Currency Anticipated Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Cumulative Anticipated ($US)* Cumulative ($US)* Explanation of variances from plan
Volunteer support INR - - -
Travel & Stay INR - - -
Event organization and logistics INR - - -

* Provide estimates in US Dollars


Resources for storytelling[edit]


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