CZ:Proposals/Internationalisation sandbox
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Complete explanation
We have already decided that having international CZs is long term goal. There have been many requests for CZ pilots to begin in other languages, but so far nothing has gotten off the ground. Inasmuch as 1) we are losing competent authors whose first language is not English but 2) we do not have the time, personnel or expertise to begin complete CZs in other languages, I propose a sandbox type setup in which those who will can go ahead and begin articles in other languages, but these will be hidden from public view until a bona fide project can be set up in that language. Note that unlike the "sandbox" we have now, these drafts would not be discarded when the user signs off.
Reasoning
There is a whole Forum board devoted to internationalisation http://forum.citizendium.org/index.php/board,21.0.html but nothing concrete has come of it, despite repeated requests and much discussion. We are losing the expertise of authors and editors whose first language is not English. We have a wiki page where people are listing the languages in which they are competent. CZ:International We have no one workspace for internationalisation, discussions are fragmented, newbies join and raise the same already-discussed issues again. If nothing else, this will help eliminated frustration and will be a positive, concrete and proactive step in the right direction. People can work in other languages without pressure and, because the drafts will be invisible, we will not risk ridicule if the standard of the foreign-language CZ is not up to that of the English-language CZ at the outset.
Implementation
We would need a technical person to tell us if this is feasible, can we section off a portion of the wiki for foreign-language articles and make it invisible to the public. Will there be one space for all, or a separate space for each.
We will need to decide what language(s), and the minumum numbers of authors at what expertise level will be required to open a wikispace in that language. Can people work without editors, or must there be at least one (or more) qualified editors fluent in the language?
Discussion
Thank you!
In my opinion not many people will be active on a private wiki (non public articles) and such an approach will not help bootstrap it by exposition to potential contributors.
The Citizendium project has a favor for English. This is quite understandable given its origins and not a problem for me. Moreover some prominent contributors seem to fear that editions in other languages may be of poor quality, probably due to some lack of peer-review. Therefore I suggest launching a French version, as French seems to be just behind English when it comes to languages among CZ contributors (I'm proposing because I can help), and only if at least a few (3?) respected CZ contributors accept to form an editing committee validating each new article or maybe (that's up to them) each revision (version of an article). To avoid reinventing anything this Fr edition will proceed under the rules of the English CZ. Contributors will be encouraged to create new articles as well as to translate and complete English articles.
Please note that P. Gross already asked a pertinent and concise question and, AFAIK, did not receive any answer. By trying to understand I came to the conclusion that a French edition may help Nat Makarevitch 03:48, 15 February 2008 (CST)
I would contribute to a German sandbox. As I am just writing up my Ph.D. thesis in computer science, I am planning to become a computer science editor in the near future. So there would be at least one Editor for the German sandbox. As I don't think that we should have only one such sandbox (French) and as there are some German natives on CZ:International, I propose a German one. Let's get started! -- Alexander Wiebel 05:46, 15 February 2008 (CST)
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