As Wikipedia celebrates its tenth anniversary on January 15, it tells us something about the last decade that went by.
Making the most of the free and open source software system, the online encyclopaedia — that an estimated 400 million users browse through — is the world's fifth most popular Web site. It is funded, run, administered, created and edited by volunteers, and, despite the accuracy red flag raised by many, continues to grow in popularity.
A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable in a capitalist global economy that more than 91,000 active contributors could generate more than 17,000,000 articles in over 270 languages across the globe, free of cost.
So what keeps these volunteers writing, reading and keeping a tab on the pages they have created day-in and day-out?
The sheer motivation one gets out of creating content for an encyclopaedia and seeing your name up there, according to Mr Moksh Juneja, a Wikipedian from Mumbai.
“The community is so vibrant that it keeps us on our toes all the time,” says Mr Juneja, a self-confessed Internet geek.
For Mr Vivek Varghese Cherian, already involved with the ‘free culture movement,' the point came when he met Mr Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, in India four months ago.
“As Mr Jimmy outlined Wikipedia's goals and vision for India, it was very motivating and I wanted to participate,” he says, over telephone from Mumbai.
Since then, Mr Vivek has generated close to 200 edits for Wikipedia and focuses on articles from his native place, Thrippunithura in Kerala. “It was the capital of the erstwhile kingdom of Cochin. Many people do not know that the king's children used to play in the Kalikota Palace, so I put that in,” he says.
Regional languages
While English remains the language most used for Wikipedia entries in India, regional languages such as Malayalam and Kannada are big, he says.
Angika, an Indo-Iranian language spoken in parts of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal is the choice of several Wikipedia page entries and even has an administrator, Kundan Amitabh. “Not many people know this,” rues Mr Vivek.
While eight languages have active ‘communities' (volunteers in Wiki parlance), growth of Hindi pages has been stunted, he says.
Hence, January 15 celebrations will concentrate, among several things, on promoting and encouraging Indians to write more in the regional languages.
The celebrations that will take place in 18 cities through 95 events, will have Mr Barry Newstead, Chief Global Development Officer, talk to the community in Mumbai on his way to Pune.
A short two-minute video clip with a message from Mr Jimmy Wales will also be played.
As Wikipedia looks to set up an office in India soon, rumours are rife in the community whether the chosen city will be tech-savvy Bangalore, vibrant Mumbai or New Delhi.
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