User:Hindustanilanguage/Babandeep Singh
Dear friend,
Here are the answers! Hoping to read about your blog entry :)
Answers:
1. How did you reach Punjabi Wikipedia?
Reading an article on English wiki; got to see the link to Punjabi version of the article and voila! introduced to Punjabi wikipedia.
2. Why did you decide you must contribute to Punjabi wikipedia?
Seeing how the wiki was lagging with respect to the quantity and quality of articles, I decided to contribute as much as I can.
3. What is the primary difference you find in the editing cultures on Punjabi and any other Wikipedia that you are aware of?
The number of users on Punjabi wiki is much less compared to the Punjabophone population and sometimes, personal preferences tend to compromise with the authenticity of the data/material/language used in articles.
4. How do you find fellow editors? Are there conflicts?
Where there's a community, conflicts are a given. Barring a few, most of the fellow editors are amiable and understanding and are dedicated to the success of this project.
5. Indian Wikipedians joined hands for various editathons such as http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/ Lilavati's_Daughters_Edit-a-thon. Has there been such other special editathons on Punjabi Wikipedia?
Not that I am aware of in my past 2 years' work on this wiki.
6. Where are most of the Punjabi Wikipedians located (geographically, if you’ve done some analysis)?
As far as I know, most of them are based in the Eastern Punjab and a few (1-2) are from amongst the Punjabi diaspora.
7. Have you attended or organized Punjabi Wikipedia community meet-ups?
Unfortunately no, because of time or other constraints.
8. Are there any institutions that are either promoting or likely to promote Punjabi Wikipedia? Is there possibility of exchanges or collaboration with Punjabipedia?
I think right now Punjabi University, Patiala has the potential to have a symbiotic relationship with the Punjabi wiki though the efforts seem to be unsatisfactory. There can be direct collaboration between Punjabipedia and Punjabi version of Wikidictionary.
9. What has been your experience in adding content or encouraging content on specific topics with fellow editors?
Mostly good; there are conflicts but there's nothing the good old voting system can't solve ;)
10. How are the technical challenges/issues been for your language? Now, is it easy for a new user to start contributing in the wiki easily?
I believe there are still some technical obstacles in the way of the success of Punjabi wiki mainly on the script/keyboard front which requires heavy customization as per the needs of Gurmukhi script; most typing tools are heavily influenced by Devanagari, the Hindi script which adds to ambiguity and superfluous symbols.
11. How about interface translation and other things?
Answered above.
12. Are there any Pakistani Contributors on pa.wikipedia.org?
No, perhaps too busy working on the Shahmukhi version of Punjabi wiki.
13. In addition to Punjabi Wikipedia, do you plan to contribute to any other language Wikipedia?
I do contribute to English wiki and some other wikis on topics I'm passionate about.
14. Are you aware of any software/ online website to convert Gurmukhi to Shahmukhi and vice-versa?
Yes, there are a few initiatives by Punjabi University.
15. What are the prevalence/ knowledge levels of Shahmukhi script in India?
Mostly confined to academic circles and literati.
16. Do you foresee or would like to be part of any collaboration / friendly association with Shahmukhi (pnb.wikipedia.org) Wikipedians?
I'd be more than happy to. In fact, I'd like to see both the versions on the same platform in future. There have been some attempts in this direction but communal propaganda has too strong an influence yet.
17. What is your view about the stub class articles on Punjabi Wikipedia/? Also, does Punjabi Wikipedia in general adhere to the Neutral Point of View (NPOV) rule?
They are definitely a good building block to start the articles upon. Generally, the NPOV rule is adhered to since the sources are taken mostly from English wikipedia.
18. Some of the other Wikipedia projects such as Punjabi Wiktionary and Wikibooks do not have enough contributors. Is there any effort to rejuvenate these projects? Also, what is your view about starting Punjabi Wikiquote and Punjabi Wikisource?
Due to the dearth of regular contributors, these projects are in a state of abeyance but as more and more people come to know about the project, there is every possibility of these projects getting a push start and new projects coming to being.
19. Could you share any and all ideas - small or big, successful & not-so-successful - that you think can help drive Punjabi and other language projects?
Persuading the Punjab government to introduce in its schools to incorporate such syllabus in their curriculum which increases the scope of usage of Punjabi Wikipedia and thus help widen its user base especially at higher levels of studies. Also, a number of seminars, dissemination events should be held at proper venues for the same.
20. Could you give us a personal introduction of yourself (including username and place)?
Username: Babanwalia
Place: Ludhiana