Brūcend:Uurad/Tell us about Anglo Saxon Wikipedia

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Anglo-Saxon (Old English)

Questionnaire

Contributors

Wikimedia Statistics can be difficult to interpret. What is your impression, how many steady contributors do you have?

An entire 3. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

A few? Sometimes I have difficulty determining who's written any given segment of an article. As for "steady," I don't think I'd number myself amongst them. I enjoy the wiki immensely, but I still find it daunting to actually write in Englisc ... or at least to write in Englisc, to ensure the material is factual, and to have the whole thing put out there for the world to scrutinize (both content and use of language!). — Scíráþ 23:43, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Are your contributors mostly native speakers?
- Since Anglo-Saxon is a dead language, no. Most editors are native English speakers. Uurad 05:02, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)
Where do your contributors live (regions/country)?

Virginia, Florida, UK —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Minnesota — Scíráþ 23:29, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

How common is it that your contributors meet in real life?

Sadly, never :D —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Or should that be "fortunately"? *Grin.* — Scíráþ 23:31, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Other Wikipedias

Do you have special contacts with other Wikipedias (maybe in related languages)?

Not other Wikipedias, but I do have contact with another wiki, also in Englisc, that has some encyclopedic content in addition to other material. — Scíráþ 23:36, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Do you translate a lot from other Wikipedias? Which ones?

Just English. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Organization and support

Is there a Wikimedia chapter in your country? How does your language relate to it?
Are there work groups in other organizations about Wikipedia?

Your Wikipedia and the linguistic community

Is there a language institution for your language, like an Academy, or a club of people interested in your language? Do you have contact with them?

Just email lists really. But I've already started my own wiki, which includes things in addition to encyclopedic content. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Who (else) supports you?

The Heathen community. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

"I'd like to thank all the little people whose heads I've pummeled and stepped upon to be here tonight." — anonymous random dictator

What does the public outreach for your edition look like? Do you have flyers, give lectures, training etc.?
Do you get feedback from readers?

Just a SWAG (scientific wild-ass guess), but I hazard that except for a handful of lurkers, most of the readers are also contributing editors ... so, yes. — Scíráþ 23:25, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

What other encyclopedias exist in your language?

Just this'n. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Content

Does your edition concentrate on certain topics, like your region and language, or Latin Wikipedia on Roman history and Christianity?

Anglo-Saxon history primarily. I'm pulling in modern topics like manga, metal, foods, asf. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Did your edition enjoy text donations, for example from older encyclopedias?

Language

Is there a generally accepted norm about your language (spelling, dictionary, pronunciation)?

No, and there never must be either. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Yes - Early West Saxon; Clark Hall dictionary. Clark hall dictionary? What are you, a LIBERAL?

- The issue is complex. I'll let more knowledgeable folks elaborate. Uurad 05:04, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Yes and no both. Even academicians still form their own preference areas, though they work toward a standardization to communicate amongst themselves. Yet they still haven't reached a complete consensus, as a trip through several university archives will reveal after a quick perusal. Looking at historical source material makes the no-norm "rule" even more apparent, except where they've been edited to cohere with the transcriber's school of thought on how to render a uniform textual corpora. The actual documents themselves reveal a vast diversity in how they were written, both between individual scribes and in the scribe's own documents themselves. Sometimes, even the same document will show several different means of spelling and utilizing the language, all written by the same person, and sometimes even in the same sentence. — Scíráþ 23:17, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

How do you deal with different spellings, dialects etc. (like B.E. lift and A.E. elevator)?

Ya do just that: deal with it. —Ƿōdenhelm 05:27, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

- We are still working on this. Uurad 05:04, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

I'm fairly new here, so still learning the norms and extremes of the behavior of this wiki's subculture. From what I've seen thus far, it seems we handle it much as our ancestors did (seems there's a part of Germanic/English heritage that just can't be extinguished, no matter where and when you are born LOL). Namely, we tend to establish and join small communities that have their own ways of doing things; these become the "right" way to do it in that community. When said communities (niche groups, academic and otherwise) meet, the differences in how things are done may clash and conflict arise, and thus they fight and argue. Hopefully after a few punches are thrown, no one's drawn a battle axe, and the biggest casualties are a few black eyes to rib each other about at the meadhall. Yes, folks, it's a metaphor. Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets it. — Scíráþ 23:02, 30 Gēolmōnaþ 2008 (UTC)

Links

Main/Front page of your Wikipedia: http://ISOCODE.wikipedia.org