WikiConference India 2011/Submissions/imwotk
 | This is an open submission for WikiConference India 2011. |
- Title of the submission
- Integrating multilingual wikinfo organization with traditional knowledge.
- Type of submission (workshop, tutorial, presentation)
- Workshop
- Author of the submission
- Dr. HPS Kalra
- E-mail address or username (if username, please confirm email address in Special:Preferences)
- hpskalra@gmail.com
- Country of origin (State if India is the country of origin)
- Punjab
- Affiliation, if any (organization, company etc.)
- Punjabi University, Patiala
- Personal homepage or blog
- Abstract (in 500 words)
Abstract of the Presentation
In the age of information overload, one of the major challenges we face is organizing knowledge and information available embedded in diversity of formats, languages, mechanisms, practices and systems, established for their preservation and dissemination. Wiki systems, as powerful enablers for community-oriented systems have in-built capacity to bring together a variety of information and knowledge systems. Exceptions apart, development paths of wikis and other online systems has generally been similar to that of pre-wiki digital and online systems. Along this path, organization of online information and its integration with traditional systems of knowledge and information, particularly in Indian and other non-Roman script languages, has been lost sight of. Despite calls for and developments in semantic web, the fluid and unstable nature of web-based content would always be very difficult to organize, but attempts can and should be made and experiments conducted to find solutions to the challenge of organizing wiki-content and integrating that with other systems. We are in the process of a major transformation towards information society and might be towards a knowledge-based society. One of the most important challenge before us is: With tools like wikis and a very large number of volunteers in the country and elsewhere, how to integrate our multilingual traditional systems of knowledge and information with the modern systems and present these in an integrated manner to the communities.
Organizing Indian and other languages wiki-content seems to have begun with major subject areas and broad categories of portals (7-10 in number) listed on top/bottom of Wikipedia main pages, for example in Punjabi/Hindi/English languages. The history of modern librarianship and information work got a landmark achievement in 1876 when Melvil Dewey categorized the universe of knowledge into 10 broad subjects. He anonymously published what we today call as Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC). The subject categories on Wikipedia Hindi/Punjabi/English languages today clearly indicate a development similar to that in librarianship in 1876. DDC, inspite of its many flaws has been the most popular classification scheme worldwide that is used for organizing resources in libraries, and lately, for organizing Web-based content as well. There are many other schemes and systems, and a sound body of laws, and principles governing the systems of classification that have developed over the last 135 years. This paper presents a broad framework for organizing and integrating various systems of access to knowledge and information: the traditional systems (primarily in print and including non-wiki digitized content), non-wiki online content, and wiki-content, through the application of the principles and systems of classification.
With the emergence of wiki systems, where there is a pen (or a keyboard) mightier than the sword, in each one of millions of hands (billions in the near future), the paradigm of organizing such very vast quantities of information (not necessarily knowledge) changes from the one where the pen is in the hands of very few people generating information in large quantities that is much less than the information being generated in the changed paradigm. This presentation does not offer solutions to complex issues associated with organizing and integrating wikinfo with other systems, but a facet analysis of issues that should be discussed threadbare in WCI2011 and other fora.
- Track (Community/Knowledge/Outreach/Technology)
- Knowledge primarily, but overlaps with all other tracks.
- Will you attend Wikiconference if your submission is not accepted?
- Can't say for sure as of now.
- Slides or further information (optional)