Ch-Ch-Changes ’06
by mcg
When writing a news article, journalists usually follow the inverted pyramid structure — the most important information (the what, when, where, who and sometimes the how) in the first paragraph called the lead. The rest of the information is placed in the subsequent paragraphs with the least important in the last paragraph. That way, people who read the news article get the gist of the story by just reading the first paragraph and the editors would know where to cut the story in case they ran out of space.
Barring the preceding paragraph, let me follow the inverted pyramid structure on this post:
The Wikis
I’d like to invite people who are fans and professionals alike to contribute to PinoyLitWiki.com and PinoyMusicWiki.com. It’s very much like Wikipedia where the sites would compile information about Filipino books, authors, music and musicians. If you visit those sites right now, it’s pretty raw. Remember though Wikipedia entries grew from single sentences. (Try this for kicks: to make your default homepage for your browser generate a random page for Wikipedia plug in the url http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Randompage I’ve had it on for over a month and I haven’t landed on a Pinoy-related article. I got tons of Pokemon and Transformer pages though.)
I thought it would be best to have a community effort to put these information online. Granted there are already efforts made by some people to put this information online, there is no central repository which points to these sites. I’ve decided to put up a wiki precisely because of its collaborative nature. Blogs have limited functionality and tend to become personality driven. Wikis tend to be neutral (at least the examples I’ve seen).
The purpose of the wikis is to have a place for people who are interested in Filipino culture to have a starting point in their search. I don’t see it replacing an afternoon at a good library for solid research. But let’s face it, how many good libraries are there in the Philippine countryside? Yeah I know what you’re thinking…”how will a wiki reach the countryside which may not even have computer or even electricity?” Different discussion but this at least is the first step. Read on.
Wikipedia, while offering a vast wealth of knowledge, is also too focused on Western culture. The goal for pinoylitwiki.com and pinoymusicwiki.com is to have a compendium of information on Filipino music and literature at one address. The goal is to be able to develop encyclopedic entries for Filipino writers, musicians, publishers, and their work. When these entries are mature enough, maybe we can then contribute these to Wikipedia for a wider reach.
Right now, I’m paying for domain and hosting registration of these sites out of my own pocket. In a year or two, I would like to be able to turn over the sites to a foundation or a non-government organization which would be dedicated to closing the digital divide in the country; providing access to digital information to those who need it. I do not have a web-hosting/publishing/recording business. I have no intention of generating profit from these sites. I feel it’s important to be transparent in my motives in order for this effort to work.
If you like to contribute into organizing and spreading the word about the project please do so. If you’re in the publishing business or handle PR for writer, musicians and publishers, please feel free to post your clients on the site. If you’re a PHP guru or website design-wonder, feel free to help in making the wikis usable. If you’re fan, make sure your favorite band/musician/writer/book is accurately represented on the wikis. If you would like to be an editor, please let me know.
Clickmomukhamo.com
This website just turned 6 years old. I’ve made a couple of changes to commemorate, some under the hood and others more overt. If you check out clickmomukhamo.com‘s frontpage, you’ll notice I’ve plugged in the recent entries from all of the sites being hosted under clickmomukhamo.com. You’ll notice too that I’ve spun off the movie & TV section as well as the links to their own sites. That way, I get to decompress the entries on this blog and get more…err…creative.
Future entries on this blog will employ a little help from friends. I’ve realized during the hiatus that more and more people wander into this site. That was never the intention but doesn’t mean it should not be addressed. Long time readers would know there have been less and less personal postings on this blog. I’ve decided keep this site as a public interface with all the wonderful, creative and funny people I’ve met via this blog. The personal stuff is somewhere else. This way I get to let my imagination run wild on future posts. hehe. It’ll be fun.
Last But Not The Least
Anyone want Vox invites? :)
Comments
Hi Mark,
I just started work at a – you’ll never guess – music website. As a – you’ll probably guess but will shake your head in bewilderment – music writer. It’s more relaxed this time around, though, may I say? (Then again, I just started today, hehe) I’ve been thinking about you ever since my friend Luis asked me to send him my resume, and then today, the guy who sits in front of my cube says he’s your sister’s boyfriend. The world is too small, haha. Hope you and Petite are living the happy life.
Love,
Joelle
Wonderful idea. I’ve been getting similar results in my blog. Users search my blog for similar content when i posted a poem about GMA’s SONA speech. The search results were amazing, there is a great need for Pilipino-related information online but very little sites or resources to get them from.
I’d like to support these projects but what about the guidelines and policies about the content to be added to the wikis? Copyright issues and such.
Hello Mark and Joelle! :) Wala lang. Hehehehehe!
Joelle – Hey Joelle! Great to know you’re back doing what you do best (one of them at least ;).
Jhay – Hey Jhay! Thank you. The wikis I set-up closely follows the rules of Wikipedia. That way content can go both ways. Also, Fair Use both in the Philippines and the US are very similar — that’s what we’re using. Feel free to just upload any info. I’m sure the very editors are very more than capabel to leave anything copyright infringing entries.
Jovan – Nice email address. ;)
Started contributing to PinoyLitWiki, Mark. I keep going to Wikipedia for info on how to edit and do the mark up though. Can you get someone to do the community and howto pages? How do you upload images? I wanted to upload a pic of Jose Garcia Villa.
I’ll promote this sa blog ko, hehe. :3
Hello Jovan! And happy birthday Mark!
BTW, I’m jumping into the Pinoy Wiki bandwagon… once I figure it out, haha. Thanks nga pala.
belated happy birthday mark! will email soon. did you get my text?
am a fan of Pinoy Music and I may be able to contribute my little knowledge of it…so i was able to browse around some time back in the wiki… i dropped by to say that this project is a worthy one and will surely fly – it will be a great Birthday gift for you if a handful of knowledgeable people start signing up…have a great week! am sure you had a grand birthday weekend!
@Mic- Doc! Yes thank you sa updates. I emailed you about the upload feature. I tested it out so it should work. I’ve also updated the help section.
@Gelay – Salamat!
@Joelle – Madali lang! Andun na yung help pages.
@Mirsbin – Thank you! No I didn’t get your text. Er tama ba number mo? Baka yung luma pa yun.
@Junnie – Thanks! Every bit helps. Still a long ways to go before it’s as big as Wikipedia but the important thing is to start, right?
hi mark!
gusto ko rin ‘atang makigulo sa pinoy wiki. meron na akong gustong i-add sa authors :-)
can i drag along a friend (who’s a pinoy lit junkie) as well?
Hey Julie! Yes of course! Everyone’s welcome. The help instructions are under the menus of the wikis.