Vote to Wiki or Not to Wiki

[LINGUIST Network]

LINGUIST List Special Issue: Vote to Wiki or Not to Wiki

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Eastern Michigan U <aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Aristar-Dry, Eastern Michigan U <hdry at linguistlist.org>
 
Reviews: Laura Welcher, Rosetta Project  
       <reviews at linguistlist.org> 

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-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:58:39
From:  linguist <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Subject: Vote with Your Donations 


Dear Subscribers, 

Would you like LINGUIST List to organize an update of the linguistics
sections of the English Wikipedia?

We recently received the letter below from Barbara Partee reporting
that there is an organized effort in Russia to update the linguistics
sections of the Russian Wikipedia and suggesting that LINGUIST do the
same: identify gaps and pages that need updates, call for volunteers,
keep track of and upload revisions.  (We would not, ourselves, write
the pages; rather we'd call on the experts.)  Nevertheless, such an
effort would involve quite a lot of work.

Soooooo...we decided to give you a chance to vote with your donations.
$2000 would pay for one GA to work half time on this for one semester.
If we collect $6000 in the next 48 hours (the $2000 we usually collect
each day in Fund Drive, plus $2000 more earmarked for the Wikipedia
update), we'll do it.  Otherwise, we'll assume it's not a high
priority for the discipline or that you've found a better way to go
about it.

http://linguistlist.org/donation/fund-drive2007/wikipedia/

To vote that LINGUIST organize the Wikipedia update, just click on the
donations page: http://www.linguistlist.org/donation/.  Your donation
will count toward the $2000 we need to do the work.

Thanks for your input. 
-Helen 
	
-------------------------Message 2 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:58:42
From:  linguist <linguist at linguistlist.org>
Subject: A Proposal from Dr. Barbara Partee in Moscow

Moscow, March 9, 2007 
Subject: Getting linguists organized to improve Wikipedia linguistics
coverage

Dear Helen, 

Linguists in Moscow are getting organized about filling in gaps in
linguistics coverage in the Russian-language Wikipedia, and working
together to standardize entries on languages and language families. It
seems to me that the English-language Wikipedia also needs some effort
to improve linguistics coverage. It's currently somewhat spotty, with
a lot of gaps in content and in biographies. Having fuller linguistic
coverage would be one good way to reach out to prospective students
and to help educate the broader public, as well as providing resources
and links for all of us. Is there a chance that LINGUIST List could
help coordinate such an effort? You have the optimal channels and the
breadth to reach everyone, if you could possibly take it on -- to get
the word out and ask people to suggest what new entries are needed,
and then to call for volunteers to write new entries and improve
existing ones. Not that you guys should try to write or edit or screen
articles, but to be a hub and a prod and a facilitator. The
"community" should do the editing.

Yuri Koryakov, who is coordinating the Russian linguistic wiki work,
noticed that there does exist such a project in principle, but it
seems to be quite dormant and not really organized:
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Linguistics. 

I think it needs more coordination and communication - and LINGUIST
List would be ideal if you could do it! Could one of your young people
collect suggestions, solicit contributions, keep track of who is doing
what, send out tips and reminders, and offer to help with uploading?
Faculty might even be encouraged to give wiki-writing assignments to
their students - I know that happens in some fields.  If I understand
how wikipedia editing works, the nice thing is that the first efforts
don't have to be perfect, because it can always be further edited. You
could broadcast periodic calls asking people to look at articles in
their fields and help edit them and add links to open source material.

I know your team has a huge amount of work already - we all appreciate
it!  But I'd like to think that in this case a modest additional
effort could have really great value both for linguists and for our
efforts to educate young people and the public.
 
By the way, my Russian colleagues and students really value LINGUIST
List!  It really connects the world!

Very best wishes,
Barbara 

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