2021:Submissions/Arabic Wikimedians User Group: Connecting Past, Present, and Future

Arabic Wikimedians User Group: Connecting Past, Present, and Future

Building 2 · Monday, August 16, 10:15 UTC

Session Notes (etherpad)

Speakers

• Sarmad Said Yaseen
• Anass Sedrati
• Ravan J. Al-Taie
• Nanour Garabedian

Abstract

Wikipedia and its sister projects are a melting pot of the World’s cultures, languages, customs, and beliefs. Never since the start of humanity has such an effort to gather and centralize knowledge on this scale been undertaken. This region is the birthplace of writing, of the sciences and of documenting knowledge, be it on clay, on walls, on animal hides, or on papyrus, and is the location of some of the World’s first libraries in Alexandria and Baghdad.

Today, in the age of the third and fourth industrial revolutions, the traditional forms of documentation are being replaced by digital alternatives all around the World.

Volunteers and affiliates from West Asia and North Africa have been working tirelessly at availing knowledge in Arabic. In an effort to add to this knowledge, and in keeping with the movement strategy, a group of volunteers, mainly active members of other local affiliates, have come together and established a new user group to support the existing efforts. Arabic Wikimedians User Group (AWUG) or (Arabic WUG) is a Wikimedia user group initiated by wikimedians interested in coordinating efforts between the different Arabic speaking wikimedians, both online and offline. It was officially recognized by the Affcom on April 2021.

The group members bring their diverse experiences and their passion for the dissemination of knowledge in order to do justice to the vast heritage of this region by providing free, open, and impartial knowledge to Arabic speakers.

The purpose of this session is to present the group, its background, aims, projects and partnerships. In fact, in light of the Wikimedia 2030 strategy encouraging regional and linguistic gatherings, the AWUG was initiated collaboratively by a number of Arabic-speaking contributors and affiliates of the Wikimedia movement. Members of the group will explain together the importance of having a coordinating Arabic User Group, and their intended approach to coordinate internationally between the different groups and contributors, across the Arabic-speaking region, taking into consideration potential challenges to overcome.

I'm planning to attend this session live!

1. Bachounda (talk) 00:03, 10 August 2021 (UTC)
2. -- Abdeaitali (talk) 07:38, 12 August 2021 (UTC)
3. NatasaNedanoska (talk) 11:44, 14 August 2021 (UTC)