History can get erased, especially in the fast-paced world we live in today, the past can easily slip through the cracks. But, what has often helped generations to get a feel of the bygone times is documentation.
Back in the day, the past was inked on the pages of books, but with the modern convenience of the digital space, documenting online has become instrumental in keeping information from fading away.
“I’m a software engineer by profession, with a passion for community building,” says Tanmay Pereira Naik, who has taken on the task of contributing Goa content on Wikipedia.
Part of multiple tech and non-tech communities in Goa, Tanmay documents anything and everything Goa related, right from villages, freedom fighters, history and more.
“I was motivated by Frederick Noronha, who has been running this group for close to 15 years now. He requested me to help because of my ‘technical’ background, but I ended up falling in love with the content creation part, too,” shares Tanmay, adding that it’s been close to eight years since he has been doing this.
Goa’s current space on Wikipedia is limited, falling short on almost every topic.
And now, quite an expert at what he does, Tanmay shares the nitty-gritty of documenting, informing on Wikipedia’s tools, including the user-friendly ‘visual editor’ and a technical version for HTML professionals.
The first step, he says is searching ‘reliable’ sources, especially while dealing with conflicting or controversial information.
“Wikipedia is very particular about using only reputed sources, such as books and newspapers. This is challenging for Goa since most knowledge we have isn’t online,” he points out.
Goa’s current space on Wikipedia is limited, falling short on almost every topic.
“Food, festivals, villages, culture, biographies (tiatrists, writers, journalists, scientists, musicians etc), Goa's liberation movement; Goa has a vast amount of knowledge that has very limited coverage on Wikipedia," opines Tanmay.
The biggest challenge is that there isn’t enough detailed coverage about Goa and Goans over the internet. “We have struggled to keep articles of some prominent Goans, all because there just isn't enough written about them. Goans don't get enough news coverage in national newspapers either,” he further informs.
Asked whether he updates the content regularly, Tanmay says, “Wikipedia usually suggests to keep the information encyclopaedic and stick to content that would be relevant even in, say, 10 years. That being said, it’s a volunteer effort, and updating is totally dependent on them.” He personally loves to watch out for topics he has already worked on before.
Like Tanmay, there are many others out there contributing to Goa’s digital presence.
The Konkani Wikipedia and Wiktionary were a labour of love undertaken by others such as Frederick Noronha and Denzil Simoes.
“The Konkani Wikipedia and Wiktionary were a labour of love undertaken by others such as Frederick Noronha and Denzil Simoes long before I joined the volunteer group,” informs Tanmay.
Advising new Wikipedia contributors, Tanmay suggests, “English Wikipedia is a daunting place with many rules. Just get started about a topic you love, and join our Wikipedians of Goa WhatsApp group for help.”
Wikipedia plays an integral part of knowledge sharing, especially in areas where access to books and libraries are scarce. And, highlighting the same, Tanmay mentions how Google suggests Wikipedia as the first link to open. “All AI applications (like ChatGPT) are trained on Wikipedia articles, making them all the more important for today and tomorrow,” he adds.
Just like sowing seeds, fruits of which you may not get to enjoy, documentation is something for the years ahead and Tanmay, along with others, is making that investment today.