President of Wikimedia Armenia talks new initiatives

Wikimedia Armenia President Susanna Mkrtchyan carries on her consistent efforts in developing existing Wikimedia programs in Armenia and realizing new initiatives.

She’s convinced that constant complaints and inaction about the situation in the country won’t lead to positive changes. Susanna believes that introduction of the culture of volunteering is key in bringing the mentioned changes to life.

The head of Wikimedia Armenia told Mediamax about their upcoming initiatives, getting more editors for Wikipedia and enriching the Armenian content of the free encyclopedia.

Wikipedia for kids

We have a plan to create an online encyclopedia for children, Wikipedia for kids. We want to make knowledge more accessible to children and provide it in a comprehensible way. Some topics are written in a difficult language and children don’t understand it.

There’s a good example, the French Wikipedia for kids. We’ll try to create something similar for Armenian children.

Kids will only work with their section of Wikipedia during the next Wikicamp. They’ll edit the “What” and “Who” in the children’s encyclopedia, and then we’ll try to create a more modern, rich content.

A Wiki project for teachers

It would be great if the best teachers added articles to Wikipedia. That program works in Holland.

We’ll apply with that initiative to the Armenian Ministry of Education and Science soon. I believe it can result in more specialized, in-depth, reliable knowledge.

Wikipedia and architecture

I’d love to see architects, especially young specialists, to contribute to the architecture-related articles in Wikipedia.

This initiative is aimed at suggesting simple and affordable architectural solutions for rural communities in Armenia, to make the houses more attractive from the outside. I believe some solutions will make the settlements more beautiful.

Mariam Manoyan