WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/Wikipedia as a Knowledge Highway: Transforming Research Methodology in India
 | This is an open submission for WikiConference India 2011. |
Timestamp: 12:07, 20 August 2011 (UTC)
Title of the submission: Wikipedia as a Knowledge Highway: Transforming Research Methodology in India
Type of submission: presentation
Author of the submission: Shubhro Datta
E-mail address: shubhro1983@google.com
State of your origin: West Bengal
Affiliation: Sterling Publishers, Delhi
Abstract: Wikipedia as a Knowledge Highway: Transforming Research Methodology in India
Wikipedia, with its depth and reach of information, has the potential to transform itself into a powerful research aid. Here I focus on some related aspects that would allow scholars and general users alike to refer to Wikipedia as a reliable and authoritative guide to further enquiry into a subject.
India has a burgeoning print culture, but an absence of integration in the publishing industry prevents scholars from making optimal use of much valuable literature that is produced in the country. This is especially true in the case of humanities disciplines, where traditional research methods are still being followed. Many important monographs in regional languages never achieve a wide circulation and readership because of weak distribution networks and other structural constraints arising from the rather disjointed nature of the Indian publishing landscape. Researchers are therefore heavily dependent on the existing (often outdated) bibliographies and publisher’s catalogues.
In this scenario Wikipedia can play a crucial role in setting up an interactive platform for collaborative research. A portal dedicated to current developments in various disciplines, covering all the major scholarly interventions and breakthroughs, will make available to scholars much hitherto inaccessible literature. This would allow for great flexibility as readers across the country can list titles (in different languages) under separate categories, along with reviews and publication details. The portal, if properly created and maintained, may also be the precursor to various academic forums. Most importantly, it would stimulate an interlingual interaction almost absent in India so far. This project can be successful only through the interaction between the different Indian versions of Wikipedia that may be facilitated by a translation bureau. And although initially it may be possible to set up the bibliographic portal only in English, efforts should be made to develop parallel ones in the Indian languages. After all, effective communication can take place only in an enabling public sphere.
It would be appropriate at this point to cite an illustrative example. The partition of the subcontinent has been artistically depicted in several languages including Bengali, Hindi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Sindhi and Urdu as well as English. But a comparative study of ‘partition’ literature remains a nonstarter unless one is acquainted with the relevant works. The Wikipedia portal would be capable of listing not only the major works and translations in each language, but also a good deal of the secondary literature on the partition and its aftermath. And I also feel that significant Wikipedia entries should have bibliographic essays rather than just ‘further reading’ lists, because that would allow for a judicious assortment of texts for additional reading.
The challenge before Wikipedia is, therefore, to create a knowledge highway that would set free Indian scholarship from its methodological straitjacket.
Track: Knowledge
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