User:John Carter/Wikisource column

This is possibly the first in what might be an irregular column regarding the activity over at the Wikisource sister site, probably one of a series of generally "alternating" columns covering many of the WMF entities other than the English wikipedia.

Some of you may already have edited to some degree over there. The purpose of the site is to provide full-text reproductions of works available in the public domain which can be downloaded or otherwise used by anyone so desiring.

Most of the readers of this page, however, will be primarily active in wikipedia, and might wonder about why what happens there should be of interest here, and, possibly, to what degree it might or might not be useful to them, and/or if there exists any reason to spend any of the time they might otherwise use at wikipedia or some other WMF entity there.

So, in an attempt to get some answers for those questions, I have contacted a few of the editors active over there to answer them.


 * 1) To what degree, if any, do you think that the material available at wikisource might be useful to either editors or readers of wikipedia?


 * A: Wikisource contains source materials, so useful for citations at WP. WS material can be analysed to improve existing WP articles or create new ones. WP articles on authors, books, researches can refer the reader to primary sources at WS. Hrishikes (talk) 15:00, 18 April 2015 (UTC)


 * B: Please try to ensure that there is a blank section for the next editor below.


 * 2) In what ways, if any, do you think that editing at wikisource might be useful or interesting for individuals who might otherwise edit wikipedia?


 * A: WP and WS editing have different perspectives. One involves creating original work based on sources; the other involves making those sources easily accessible to the readers. WP has the atmosphere of a busy market place, whereas WS has a library milieu. Hrishikes (talk) 15:00, 18 April 2015 (UTC)


 * B: Please try to ensure that there is a blank section for the next editor below.


 * 3) What in particular are your personal primary interests at wikisource?


 * A: My interest lies mainly with translated Bengali literature and English works by Bengalis. Without some sort of personal mission or commitment, it is difficult to keep up the momentum. I have worked mainly with the creations of Jagadish Chandra Bose and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Hrishikes (talk) 15:00, 18 April 2015 (UTC)


 * B: Please try to ensure that there is a blank section for the next editor below.


 * 4) Can you think of any specific ways editing at wikisource might be beneficial to editors or readers of wikipedia?


 * A: Please try to ensure that there is a blank section for the next editor below.


 * 5) Are there any areas of wikisource which you think are potentially of the greater interest or utility to editors or readers of wikipedia which might be at best underdeveloped?


 * A: Please try to ensure that there is a blank section for the next editor below.