Workshops to teach Wikipedia editing

50 to 60 students are expected to participate in editing in Kannada and Konkani

Two introductory sessions on how to edit entries on Wikipedia (“edit-a-thons”) will be held at two separate venues in the city in the coming days.

While one edit-a-thon will be held in Roshni Nilaya School of Social Work on Wednesday, another will be held at the office of Jagotik Konknni Songhotton (JKS) on April 6.

Women’s issue

The workshop in Roshni Nilaya is being held to familiarise people with editing the Wikipedia entries so that they would be able to contribute effectively in March for a month-long programme (to mark International Women’s Day on March 8) that aims to increase content on women-related issues in Wikipedia.

Sophie Fernandes, Principal, Roshni Nilaya, said some students had organised a workshop last month without staff supervision. The staff took up the editing workshop in order to know more about a knowledge resource that is used widely, and is taken as being correct.

Shobhana N., Lecturer, Department of English, Roshni Nilaya, who is the event coordinator for the edit-a-thon, said students often take information from Wikipedia but such an effort will make them read deeper. Participating in the workshop could also help them see the lacunae in Wikipedia and how they could be resolved. She said she wanted the workshop to “open doors” rather than only be a window to information.

She said 50 to 60 students are expected to participate in editing in Kannada and Konkani, which may be a small, initial step. “When we go on doing it, it might open some floodgates,” she said.

Focus on Konkani

Eric Ozario, General Secretary, Jagotik Konknni Songhotton (JKS) said 20 to 25 people have expressed their interest to participate in the Wikipedia editing session to be held in Shantinagar on April 6. He said, “We are focusing on Konkani but what they learn can help them edit Wikipedia in any language.”

The free-of-cost workshops are open to public.