Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Hi Ravi, Wish you a wonderful 2013! Appreciate in you taking time to deeply engage with the write-up and for sharing your thoughts and queries. Some further thoughts and responses below. 1. Wiki-Panchayat is unnecessary. // Rationale: Keep four crabs in a box and each one will ensure that no one will escape. Where there is a community there is bound to be a dispute. Objective: Instituting a community based conflict resolution body, especially to avoid edit wars. To be modelled on our good old Panchayt system. // First of all, I do not like the crab metaphor at all. The Wiki community is a lot more collaborative and productive one assuming good faith. Edit war is a minor problem which I hope every community is already addressing adequately. If not, there are successful models to emulate from English Wikipedia. Even I used to not like the metaphor. But after being part of and engaging with the various communities for about a decade I have slowly come to appreciate the learning the metaphor gives to understand. It is that a Community means vibrancy, diversity and plurality. At the same time these qualities border-line with chaos, conflict and insularity. This is a major challenge for any community. The best way to deal with it is from within the community, which is the intent of the proposed Wiki-Panchayat. And yes if there are successful models from the En-Wiki definitely they could be adopted. Would appreciate if you could point me to these models. Still if the metaphor troubles you we can strike it off. 2. QJS can be seen as micromanaging. Earlier this year, there was an attempt by some members of the Tamil Wikipedia to do strategic planning for Tamil Wikipedia. But, concerns about micromanaging were raised and the effort was dropped later. I am afraid that QJS may receive a similar response. Firstly, it is important to clearly convey to the Community the intent of the QJS. Its primary intent is to celebrate the collective spirit like the 'fan clubs' we see across India. Once they get this then the rest will automatically happen. Secondly, definitely before we begin the concerns of the community should be taken on board about QJS. And as I stated in the write-up the modalities of QJS should be finalized in consultation with the respective language communities. Thus it is possible that the QJS of Tamil Wiki could be different from the QJS of Hindi Wiki. Lastly, in spite of all this, if some members still express concern, then let us do a trial for at least a year and then see. I am sure member will agree that it is better to try and fail than not try at all. Haven't we all believed that Earth is flat and considered sea voyage profane until we set-out! If documented, do pass on the concerns raised about Tamil Wikipedia strategic planning. It will be a useful doc. to further refine the QJS idea. 3. Many of your plans assume presence of enough core contributors within the state being able to spend ample time on offline activities. This is a chicken and egg problem. How would you address that? Yes, you are right Ravi. This is a genuine concern and I do not have any ready-made answers. However, right now I am working with the tremendous good faith I have on the Core guys. There are also some ideas up my sleeve on how to enroll these members into spending time. But I would welcome suggestions and ideas on this. 4. Any word of technology partnerships / endeavours regarding Indic languages / Indic language Wikipedias? The more the merrier. All strength to the tech collabs and further bettering of Wiki UI and fixing bugs. One thing to focus on would be to build local capacities through an active interface with the core tech team. 5. //1) MOUs with Universities/Research Institutions; 2) Institute 5 Fellowships (quarterly) for Young Researcher in Residency Programme (YRRP) in each focussed language area with 15 new articles and 100 edits in respective language Wikipedia and 100 new key words as deliverables. 3) Faculty Engagement Programme (FEP), 2 in each language for six-month duration, whereby a faculty is provided support to mentor and manage at least 5 Young Researchers on an Indian topic; 4) Wiki-Young Researchers Workshop// How will it be different from the India education program and how would you avoid known pit falls? It is different from the IEP, but is based on some of the learnings of IEP. Firstly, it targets researchers and not students. There are many benefits of working with Young Researchers (YR) than students. 1) YRs will be aware of Copyvios and referencing; 2) Enthusiastic about doing research as it will anyhow contribute to their own individual projects; 3) YRs are relatively more open to criticism/feedback; 4) Because of the institutional structure YRs will have closer interaction and monitoring by Faculty, which will result in quality content; 5) The writing standards would be relatively better; 6) YRs will be knowledgeable (i.e.
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Hi Nee Davis, I would like to seek clarification for the following: 1. Wiki-Panchayat is unnecessary. // Rationale: Keep four crabs in a box and each one will ensure that no one will escape. Where there is a community there is bound to be a dispute. Objective: Instituting a community based conflict resolution body, especially to avoid edit wars. To be modelled on our good old Panchayt system. // First of all, I do not like the crab metaphor at all. The Wiki community is a lot more collaborative and productive one assuming good faith. Edit war is a minor problem which I hope every community is already addressing adequately. If not, there are successful models to emulate from English Wikipedia. 2. QJS can be seen as micromanaging. Earlier this year, there was an attempt by some members of the Tamil Wikipedia to do strategic planning for Tamil Wikipedia. But, concerns about micromanaging were raised and the effort was dropped later. I am afraid that QJS may receive a similar response. 3. Many of your plans assume presence of enough core contributors within the state being able to spend ample time on offline activities. This is a chicken and egg problem. How would you address that? 4. Any word of technology partnerships / endeavours regarding Indic languages / Indic language Wikipedias? 5. //1) MOUs with Universities/Research Institutions; 2) Institute 5 Fellowships (quarterly) for Young Researcher in Residency Programme (YRRP) in each focussed language area with 15 new articles and 100 edits in respective language Wikipedia and 100 new key words as deliverables. 3) Faculty Engagement Programme (FEP), 2 in each language for six-month duration, whereby a faculty is provided support to mentor and manage at least 5 Young Researchers on an Indian topic; 4) Wiki-Young Researchers Workshop// How will it be different from the India education program and how would you avoid known pit falls? 6. //5 WCL to mentor at least 5 GWLs = A base of 150 leaders (i.e. 150 potential editors); 2) Each WCL to organize 1 Perspective Building Programme (PBP) every week (avg 15 new members per event) = 750 PBPs; 3) Each WCL to organize 1 Wiki-Outreach and Orientation event every month (avg 10 new members per event) = 300 Wiki-Orientations to reach 3000 members (may result in 150 editors).// The numbers are both ambitious and scary at the same time. I understand that a role like yours would need to analyse progress based on numbers. But, I would like to see the progress described in a qualitative way. Thanks, Ravi ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Thank you for writing this up. I've two specific bits of discussion around your email and so have snipped it in a form that keeps it as relevant as possible. On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 9:50 PM, Nee Davis davis...@gmail.com wrote: So I felt it is more productive to not delve too much into the ‘what’ question, but focus more on how can we achieve this? Thus the below plan is more of an Operational Plan than a vision statement. Further, it is not a work-plan as it lacks micro details. What I set out to do below is to present an outline of the key tasks and strategies that we could adopt to achieve our collective vision in year 1. It should be noted that I have deliberately not touched upon some of the activities that are currenly being deployed. I would request a clarification and, extend a suggestion. The first is - how did the time-line of 60 days come about ? The rationale behind this question is - does 60 days provide adequate time to dial-back, correct and move forward ? The second is around the need to have some form of measurement of success. For each of the areas, it is probably useful to have transparent and public measure of success. A trivial question - would the ability to on-board 5x5 WCLs be a success or, the preparation of a sustainable training program material be a success and so forth. -- sankarshan mukhopadhyay https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
hi, So, the time line was These assignments should be posted no later than 22:00 IST on Thursday (the 20th) night. per an email by Jadine Lannon earlier.[1] It seems f-75 (Pen name) has not written in yet. What happens to that finalist? warm regards, Pradeep Mohandas How Pradeep uses email? - http://goo.gl/6v1I9 [1] - http://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2012-December/009023.html From: sankarshan foss.mailingli...@gmail.com To: Wikimedia India Community list wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Sent: Saturday, 22 December 2012 7:05 PM Subject: Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K Thank you for writing this up. I've two specific bits of discussion around your email and so have snipped it in a form that keeps it as relevant as possible. On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 9:50 PM, Nee Davis davis...@gmail.com wrote: So I felt it is more productive to not delve too much into the ‘what’ question, but focus more on how can we achieve this? Thus the below plan is more of an Operational Plan than a vision statement. Further, it is not a work-plan as it lacks micro details. What I set out to do below is to present an outline of the key tasks and strategies that we could adopt to achieve our collective vision in year 1. It should be noted that I have deliberately not touched upon some of the activities that are currenly being deployed. I would request a clarification and, extend a suggestion. The first is - how did the time-line of 60 days come about ? The rationale behind this question is - does 60 days provide adequate time to dial-back, correct and move forward ? The second is around the need to have some form of measurement of success. For each of the areas, it is probably useful to have transparent and public measure of success. A trivial question - would the ability to on-board 5x5 WCLs be a success or, the preparation of a sustainable training program material be a success and so forth. -- sankarshan mukhopadhyay https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Hi Sankarshan, Thanks for engaging and the revert. Re. 1: The assignment specifically required that I specify what I would achieve in the first two months. So tried to specify it where ever possible. But should you have any specific questions or suggestions on this, would be happy to listen. Re. 2: You are very right that there needs to be a measurement of success. And I think this has been clearly outlined in the A2K Programme Plan. What I have done was break it down to what ought to be achieved in Year 1 and based on that designed some key interventions. So the 5x5 WCLs and the Training programme (listed as Outputs) are more precisely tools to meet the outcomes of the A2K programme. Thus it is equally important to get the right bunch of WCL and also have the right Training imparted to them, which if implemented as planned should achieve the desired results. Anymore feedback is welcome. Look forward. On 22 December 2012 19:05, sankarshan foss.mailingli...@gmail.com wrote: Thank you for writing this up. I've two specific bits of discussion around your email and so have snipped it in a form that keeps it as relevant as possible. On Thu, Dec 20, 2012 at 9:50 PM, Nee Davis davis...@gmail.com wrote: So I felt it is more productive to not delve too much into the ‘what’ question, but focus more on how can we achieve this? Thus the below plan is more of an Operational Plan than a vision statement. Further, it is not a work-plan as it lacks micro details. What I set out to do below is to present an outline of the key tasks and strategies that we could adopt to achieve our collective vision in year 1. It should be noted that I have deliberately not touched upon some of the activities that are currenly being deployed. I would request a clarification and, extend a suggestion. The first is - how did the time-line of 60 days come about ? The rationale behind this question is - does 60 days provide adequate time to dial-back, correct and move forward ? The second is around the need to have some form of measurement of success. For each of the areas, it is probably useful to have transparent and public measure of success. A trivial question - would the ability to on-board 5x5 WCLs be a success or, the preparation of a sustainable training program material be a success and so forth. -- sankarshan mukhopadhyay https://twitter.com/#!/sankarshan ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Hi Nee Davis, Thanks for letting us know about your plans. I will post my questions once the second candidate also posts her plans. Ravi ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Hi Ravi, Look forward to your feedback. On 21 December 2012 23:12, Ravishankar ravidre...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Nee Davis, Thanks for letting us know about your plans. I will post my questions once the second candidate also posts her plans. Ravi ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l ___ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l@lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
[Wikimediaindia-l] What will I achieve as Programme Director A2K
Let me begin with, what I consider to be, one of the most powerful statements of the Digital Era and the 21st century. * * *Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge – Jimmy Wales 2004* Every time I read this statement, it stirs up all the excitement and enthusiasm I have for Wikipedia. It not just presents a potential vision but also a) opens up un-ending possibilities across multiple realms; b) enunciates the largest ever human collaboration across all kinds of boundaries; c) presents an opportunity that was never possible in the human history; and d) shows the conception of one of the best democratic platforms of collective-knowledge-building and free-knowledge-sharing. More importantly Jimmy Wales’ statement succinctly instructs what needs to be done as PDA2K. Further, the A2K programme work-plan ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge/Programme_Plan) has clearly quantified this into measurable milestones. So I felt it is more productive to not delve too much into the ‘what’ question, but focus more on *how can we achieve this*? Thus the below plan is more of an *Operational Plan* than a vision statement. Further, it is not a work-plan as it lacks micro details. What I set out to do below is to present an outline of the key tasks and strategies that we could adopt to achieve our collective vision in year 1. It should be noted that I have deliberately not touched upon some of the activities that are currenly being deployed. *Focus Areas:** *There are a number of Wikimedia projects in Indian languages and about 20 Indian language wikipedias. Given the current size of the A2K team and the support available it is prudent to identify focus areas/projects where deeper impact can be achieved. After a careful examination of the various Indian languages wikipedias it will be useful to have the following as the primary focus languages. These would be 1) Hindi; 2) Malayalam; 3) Tamil; 4) Kannada 5) Telugu. Have worked with few parameters (like current activity, operational convenience, infrastructure, etc) in making this suggestion and community members are welcome to question this or offer suggestions. Further, as a secondary focus, 5 more languages could be identified in consultation with the Wikimedia India Chapter (WIC) and other community members. Basically the A2K team will have to focus 70% of its energies on these 5 languages in order to achieve long-term tangible impact of creating large user and editor base. This will allow for speedier implementation of pilots/strategies, provide quick learning and enable cross-pollination of the success strategies in the secondary focus areas. In the first two months a game plan will be drawn up for each of the 5 primary languages in consultation with the WIC and the community. *Three Nodes:* I perceive three important nodes for the growth of Indian Wikimedias and Wikimedia in India. First, the one which we all know is the Community. The second is what I call Knowledge Collaborators (more about it below) and the third is the A2K team itself. These should not be seen as watertight divisions as they often complement each other and work in collaborative manner *Node 1 – Community: *Community is our greatest strength. It is important to start with the learnings and challenges the Wikimedia communities have faced in each of the 5 primary language areas. Initially a framework will be developed to capture the community experience of growing their respective language Wikimedia projects. Following this A2K team will collate the collective knowledge of the community members and come up with a SWOT (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWOT_analysis) analysis, which will be shared with community. Based on this SWOT analysis the A2K team will work with the respective community to set Goals (focussing on community expansion and retention) for the next one year. Following this a detailed work planning exercise will be undertaken. This work-plan will be reviewed and reworked on a quarterly basis by the community. *Deliverable in the first 60 days:* 1) Framework/Process for each of the 5 language communities; 2) Collation of collective learning and challenges; 3) SWOT analysis; 4) Goal setting; 5) Commence work-planning exercise In addition to the regular activities of the Community the following catalytic community building tools will also be developed and deployed through the Community in order to amplify the reach and growth of that respective language Wikimedia project. *i) Wiki-Community Leadership Programme* Rationale: Outreach to communities in small cities and towns need a continuous and consistence engagement. Objective: Primary role will be community sensitization, mobilization and expansion and mentoring Grass-root wiki leaders (GWL). Each of the language community will either nominate or recruit at least 5 Wiki-Community Leaders (WCL), who will be able to
