Friday, September 24, 2010

#Wikimedia #India Community Newsletter

When the first issue of a newsletter starts with 36 pages, when the editor says that it could have been even bigger. When you read it and find it written in small letters, chock a block with statistics, DYK's and updates on the lively communities of many of the Indian Wiki communities you can only be amazed.


What makes this newsletter so interesting are the many facts and factoids. There is a foreword by Jimmy and Bishakha, there is information about the chapter .. They dotted the i and crossed the t. A lot of excitement came out early because of a happy Jimmy telling the world about it.


The map showing where the 20 languages that have a Wikipedia are spoken is wonderful; it was made for the newsletter and these are only the current Wikipedias. When you include the large number of languages preparing their way in the Incubator, you are talking about 40 languages in total..

Mother and child in Bundi, Rajastan
If there is one quibble I have, it is that there are no pictures that show how stunningly beautiful India can be. For instance this picture that attempts to become a featured picture at Commons. Then again, it is always great to have room for improvement :)

DYK
  • the newsletter is this big because of the many communities
  • 1300 articles about India featured as DYK on the English Wikipedia
  • on Twitter, @DKYIndia can provide you with a daily DYK
  • articles from the Malayalam Wikipedia are available on CD
  • 3000 institutions were involved in a Tamil writing competition
  • Bishnupriya Manipuri is spoken by "only" 4,50,000 people
  • that Sanskrit has mother tongue speakers
Thanks,
      GerardM

2 comments:

Sundar said...

Thanks for the excellent spotlight, Gerard. :-)

A minor typo: it's Bishakha.

GerardM said...

Thank you, I fixed it :)