This took a long time coming...but as promised here is Part 2 of my entry about two of the hottest new Pinoy websites - Filipiniana.net and WikiPilipinas.org.
I've had more time to check out both sites since I discovered them at the Manila International Book Fair where they were formally launched to the public, and I must say, that the more I looked, the more impressed I became.
As I said in my previous entry, I am particularly impressed not only by the range of books and materials offered by Filipiniana.net, but even more so by the researcher-friendly features of the site. I already mentioned about SKOOL TOOLS, which is the only one of its kind I've seen in a local digital library.
If you are a historian, researcher, or a student searching for rare Filipiniana materials, then you will most definitely find Filipiniana.net a treasure trove of hard-to-find books and documents. But more than that, you'll appreciate the fact that the website has all these features that make both researching and writing a paper so hassle-free. Aside from Skool Tools, Filipiniana.net also offers fully-indexed books and documents so if you know what you are looking for, all you have to do is type in the keyword and the pages in which the word appears are displayed right on your screen. Now, if that's not researcher-friendly, I don't know what is.
Now, about WikiPilipinas...
Unlike Filipiniana.net, its sister site, WikiPilipinas.org, looks like it is still a work in progress. But it holds so much promise, that it's got the 'elitist' /'purist' local chapter of global giant wikipedia.org, virtually up in arms over what they perceive is a duplication of efforts. In my search for more information about WikiPilipinas, I stumbled upon the so-called "turf war" that began just after the launching of the website. It seems that some Pinoy wikipedians (Seav and Shrumster are among those whose negative comments I've read) are playing Goliath and are out to trample upon the Davids of this startup website. Well, we all know how that Biblical tale ended and by the looks of it, the wikipinoys are not about to let the big bullies stop them from attaining their goal of hitting 100,000 entries to catapult the site to the top ten wiki sites of the world. As of last count, it has breached the 40,000 mark in just a couple of months.
I will admit to having a thing for underdogs and big dreamers, which is why I fully support WikiPilipinas. Its tagline reads: Wikipilipinas.org, the Free and Hip Philippine Encyclopedia, yet it is also working towards becoming an almanac, a Philippine directory, and a communities portal all rolled into one. It's ultimate goal is to become the world's largest Philippine knowledge database. Like I said...big dreams and I love it!
I truly hope that it gets all the support it badly needs particularly in building up its encyclopedic content if only to gain more credibility. It looks like its successful launching at the MIBF has upped its popularity as evidenced by the soaring number of registered users. Well, I hope this translates to more entries for them. I look forward to the time it can truly claim, "There is something for every Pinoy in WikiPilipinas.org."
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3 comments:
It's funny that you brand Wikipedia and its contributors as elitist when Wikipedia itself is often branded as anti-elitist (see this page).
Also, the while Wikipedia itself is a giant website, the Pinoy Wikipedian community is actually a "David" in this scenario. We're just a bunch of volunteers. We have no legal or financial backing from the Wikimedia Foundation. We have day jobs/school work. We contribute our time freely and try to improve the coverage of Philippine topics in Wikipedia.
This is quite unlike WikiPilipinas. They are backed by the Vibal Publishing House, Inc. and they hire editors to manage the content among their 12 knowledge portals. Heck, they manage to put up a prominent booth at the MIBF while Wikipedia just spreads among online Pinoy communities through word of mouth. Did you also know that they even hire call center agents to write short articles for them?
You might be interested to know that several Pinoy Wikipedians have met up with Gus Vibal and his WikiPilipinas staff to have a dialogue. You can read some of what happened in my blog post.
--Eugene aka seav
Hello Eugene/Seav...I appreciate your comments. However -
1. Notice that the word elitist appears in single quotation marks...well, that's because although, as you claim, Wikipedia, in general, may have an anti-elitist rep, some of the local Wikipedians have made comments (in Tambayan no less...for all to see, although I noticed it's been cleaned up of earlier comments) that are elitist in nature. But that's just my opinion.
2. The analogy with David and Goliath was based on the fact that here is a start-up website being built on what seems to me as noble intentions being attacked left and right by a group associated with a firmly-established global giant. There were even suggestions that WikiPilipinas be made the 'trash bin' of unwanted articles in Wikipedia. I don't know...but that reeks of "good" ol' Pinoy crab mentality. Then again, that's just my opinion.
Hi, thanks for the clarification. I cannot speak for the other Pinoy Wikipedians since, after all, we're just volunteers, but I (and some others I think) certainly do not agree with the negative opinion of others regarding WikiPilipinas, like making WikiPilipinas a "trash bin." (By the way, we irregularly archive old discussions so that the talk page does not become too long. The "trash talk" discussion can still be found here.)
It's your opinion that we seem to be acting like Goliath but I assure you that we're not. (I know it's not personal, but I strongly disagree with you calling us "bullies".) Just because a project has noble intentions doesn't give it immunity from criticism. I am very vocal about my criticisms but I do not attack indiscriminately; I have even given constructive criticism that the people from WikiPilipinas have considered.
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