WikiAfrica
Encyclopedia
WikiAfrica focuses on getting external Africa-based, cultural organisations, museums and archives, as well as bloggers and journalists, to contribute their knowledge to Wikipedia. The project is an international collaboration that intends to Africanise Wikipedia
by creating and expanding 30.000 articles on Wikipedia
over two years. The principal reason for this focus is for people with the greatest knowledge of the African continent to participate in the online representation of Africa. This project will contribute to building a free and open encyclopedia
that provides greater access and visibility to current information and historic archives about Africa.
Non-profit foundation Lettera27 and contemporary art
platform Africa Centre
joined together in order to obtain more information from Africans about Africa
.In terms of marking events, people and places of global historic importance, literature
, science
, art
or any other information Africa
has been the least visible continent on the internet. It was decided to not merely translate the English Wikipedia, but to expand the coverage of Africa and its culture.
.
Pan-African based organisations and WikiAfrica users are asked to create new articles, expand the African content and improve the information that has already been given. This can be done by sharing knowledge and translating articles
.
, with aid from Wikimedia Italia.
Lettera 27 and Wikimedia Italia promote WikiAfrica through networks, research, publications and events.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
by creating and expanding 30.000 articles on Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
over two years. The principal reason for this focus is for people with the greatest knowledge of the African continent to participate in the online representation of Africa. This project will contribute to building a free and open encyclopedia
Encyclopedia
An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
that provides greater access and visibility to current information and historic archives about Africa.
History
WikiAfrica began in 2007, its leadership focusing on producing content, ensuring the involvement of experts and institutions, assessing and utilizing other assets and dealing with other critical aspects of the project.Non-profit foundation Lettera27 and contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
platform Africa Centre
Africa Centre
The Africa Centre is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it conducts, facilitates or supports have some social intention...
joined together in order to obtain more information from Africans about Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.In terms of marking events, people and places of global historic importance, literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
, science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
, art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
or any other information Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
has been the least visible continent on the internet. It was decided to not merely translate the English Wikipedia, but to expand the coverage of Africa and its culture.
Content
WikiAfrica operates with free sharing of materials produced by the project, having adopted of Open Access and Creative Commons licenses CC-BY-SA and the GNU Free Documentation LicenseGNU Free Documentation License
The GNU Free Documentation License is a copyleft license for free documentation, designed by the Free Software Foundation for the GNU Project. It is similar to the GNU General Public License, giving readers the rights to copy, redistribute, and modify a work and requires all copies and...
.
Pan-African based organisations and WikiAfrica users are asked to create new articles, expand the African content and improve the information that has already been given. This can be done by sharing knowledge and translating articles
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
.
Network and Participants
WikiAfrica is principally a collaboration between the lettera27 Foundation and the Africa CentreAfrica Centre
The Africa Centre is structured as a not-for-profit organisation whose purpose is to provide a platform for Pan-African arts and cultural practice to function as a catalyst for social change. All the projects it conducts, facilitates or supports have some social intention...
, with aid from Wikimedia Italia.
Lettera 27 and Wikimedia Italia promote WikiAfrica through networks, research, publications and events.