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Submissions/WikiAfrica: Call for last mile operators

From Wikimania 2011 • Haifa, Israel

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Review no.

81

Title of the submission

WikiAfrica: Call for last mile operators.

Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, panel, presentation)

Presentation

Author of the submission

Isla Haddow, Iolanda Pensa

E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)

Isla Haddow iopensa

Country of origin

South Africa, Italy

Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)

Africa Centre, lettera27 Foundation, Wikimedia Italia

Personal homepage or blog

http://www.wikiafrica.org

Abstract (please use no less than 300 words to describe your proposal)

In the global village not all rooms have electricity. WikiAfrica aims at producing 30.000 contributions to Wikipedia by 2012. This milestone requires a collaborative effort to be reached and at the same time it reinforces the critical mass of African contents on Wikipedia. Connecting Wikipedia and Africa[1] presents some challenges: cultural, infrastructural[2], linguistic, skill challenges. WikiAfrica specifically addresses cultural institutions[3] which are invited to make their documentation available with a license compatible with Wikipedia; the adoption of a compatible license[4] allows institutions to indirectly contribute to Wikipedia (even with an unstable internet connection)[5] and to start to better understand how they can contribute[6]. During Wikimania we would like to present the institutions we are involving and we would like to make a call for last mile operators: wikipedians who can contribute to link African contents with Wikipedia. WikiAfrica contributions are new articles, enrichment of existing articles, images. The contributions are not "signed" or counted; institutions and individuals directly define their participation and their contribution. WikiAfrica was launched in 2006 by lettera27 foundation in collaboration with Wikimedia Italia; between 2006 and 2009 WikiAfrica supported research projects, events, trainings and workshops. In 2010 WikiAfrica focussed on 30.000 African articles on Wikipedia by 2012 and it started establishing links with cultural institutions. In 2011 the Africa Centre based in South Africa became main partner of WikiAfrica.

Track (People and Community/Knowledge and Collaboration/Infrastructure)

People and Community (Wiki Culture and the Community/Wiki Outreach)

Will you attend Wikimania if your submission is not accepted?

Yes.

Slides or further information (optional)

Short presentation of WikiAfrica, its current strategy and the institutions involved. Slideshare.

References

  1. ↑ The term Africa refers to the homonyms wide continent, to its diaspora and to all topics related to Africa.
  2. ↑ To get an idea you can for example have a look to the visual representations of Afrographique.
  3. ↑ The work WikiAfrica is implementing is strongly related to the existing project GLAM; WikiAfrica has a specific focus on non profit private medium and small institutions based in Africa or related to Africa.
  4. ↑ The issue of licences in Africa is particularly challenging; please refer to the recent research The African Copyright & Access to Knowledge Project (ACA2K)
  5. ↑ WikiAfrica differs from the WikiProject Africa because it is not specifically design to facilitate and coordinate contributions on Wikipedia about Africa; WikiAfrica works both online and offline and it aims at involving institutions and individuals to contribute directly and indirectly to Wikipedia.
  6. ↑ Very significant from this point of view the already existing advises presented for the cultural sector on Wikipedia developed in the frame of GLAM.


Interested attendees

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  1. Jaqen 09:07, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  2. Trizek 11:23, 30 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  3. Vibhijain 12:04, 4 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  4. DarTar 20:51, 5 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  5. Nick1915 10:27, 25 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  6. Nemo 20:35, 12 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  7. Amir E. Aharoni
  8. Jon Harald Søby 14:06, 13 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  9. Xelawafs 19:44, 30 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  10. Dalaz777 14:12, 1 August 2011 (UTC)[reply]
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