Convincing Arabic Wikipedians to Write in Arabic
Written on July 22, 2008 – 11:30 am
Joop Dorresteijn, Contributing editor
It turns out that the Arabic language is not really represented Wikipedia, a problem in two ways. Here’s why: First, the people that can’t speak English have access to limited resources, and second: those who actually have Internet are usually the rich, well educated people that have no problem to talk English on the web, which creates a gap between the Arabic and Western countries.
Knowledge is power
The Herald Tribune reports about a group of Egyptians that are a little bit embarrassed about the size of their Arabic Wikipedia base. One of the organizers of an Egyptian Wikipedia conference explains: “The gap between the Arab world and the Western world is not about money or politics. It is about knowledge. There are many examples of Egyptians who travel to Europe or the U.S. and become successful. If people had access to the same knowledge …” As he underlines the importance of knowledge sharing. The Internet can play an important role in bridging this gap.
Not much Arabic content
The Arabic online Wiki content is little, in comparison: the English Wikipedia consists of over 2.5 million articles which is a fair number with over 400 million native speakers. However, the Arabic version consists of only 65.000 articles but counts a whopping 300 million native speakers. At a news conference last week, a reporter asked Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, if there was a sort of Bias against Arabic.
Wikipedia accessible for the poor
Wikipedia, with its open nature and lack of proper sources can be considered unreliable for many, but its often the only source available for the poor. For Egypt and other countries, there is little information available for some of the people. A possible reason for Egypt is that less then 10 percent of 80 million Egyptians are online, and those who have it are well educated and usually express themselves in English.
The Internet opens Egypt open to the world
The visa procedure is very difficult for Egyptians, no matter which country you want to go. Web applications such as Facebook and Wikipedia enables Egyptians to connect abroad. Nahla Ghoneim, a 23-year-old computer engineer at IT Works, said at the conference that young people in Egypt need to get involved in information technology “not just as consumers.”
English is the language on the web
The issue addressed by the Egyptians at the conference probably apply to more countries. In my opinion, the language of the web is English. The fact that everyone speaks the same language makes the Internet as powerful as it is today. However, one can’t expect the poor to talk English overnight.
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By Mohamed Marwen Meddah on Jul 22, 2008
I just wanted to comment on the last bit about English being the main language on the web; I don’t have much to add about the rest but agree and emphasize that there is a problem of lack of Arabic content online.
It is true that English is the main language online, just as it is the most used language in business and communications around the world, still that doesn’t make the other world languages any less important, and it continues to be very important to have books, encyclopedias, magazines, and websites generated in those languages.
Many people I know in the Arab world are very comfortable reading and writing in English, but prefer reading and writing in Arabic. And as for people who don’t know English, it shouldn’t really be an obligation to learn English to be able to use the internet and find content they need.
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By Standards on Jul 22, 2008
As late as the twelfth century, most European numerals (except for the 1, 8 and 9) were different from the form we use today. Standards
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By Dr. Shadi Murtada on Aug 7, 2008
Dear Sir,
I totaly agree that we have a gap with the western world due to lack of knowledge and knowledge access. I think that the Arab world is rich in educated people but they don not have the appropriate tools to display and share their knowledge. For this reason the Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization (TAGorg) recently announced the launch of the first Arabic electronic encyclopedia (TAGIPEDIA), the first initiative of its kind that targets Arab academics, scholars and readers, and provides them with general knowledge and sciences from an Arabic cultural, historical, and educational perspective.
TAGIPEDIA aims at founding a free-access database that delivers a broad variety of knowledge in all humanitarian sciences, with the highest standards of quality, integrity, and accuracy. It also gives the chance for readers/users to augment the content through contributing to the Encyclopedia without prejudicing the rights of its original author.
In order to preserve the authenticity and quality of all contributions, in addition to providing academic and scientific support to the Encyclopedia’s content, the Organization has drafted an agreement with the Association of Arab Universities.
The agreement aims at enhancing cooperation between the two parties in order to enrich the content, defining the references and sources of the incoming information whether they be institutions, universities, or research centers, and drawing up agreements with these parties in this regard.
You can check on the TAGIPEDIA registration website for further information: http://register.tagipedia.org/
Dr. Shadi Murtada
TAGIPEDIA Manager
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