Comments on: New Deal To Launch Free Arabic Encyclopedia Online

By: Arno

Arno — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:00:20 +0000

I just saw a new infrastructure on the web, it can interest universities...
https://www.arabgridforlearning.com/p/welcome

Looks really well made...!

By: Arno

Arno — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:00:20 +0000

I just saw a new infrastructure on the web, it can interest universities...
https://www.arabgridforlearning.com/p/welcome

Looks really well made...!

By: Amad

Amad — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:55:31 +0000

Interesting discussion…

I kind of agree with both sides.. I don’t like re-inventing the wheel, but I also want us to own our own platforms.

Honestly, we should use a case by case approach.. there are times where we can reuse things and there are times when we have to start from scratch.

Lets not get politics into the game.. why do you think that the Anglo-Saxons used the Arabic Numerics and the endless discovers of Arabic scholars.. they didn’t want to re-invent something that has been done. We can always use what is available, improve it, or come up with something that is better.

As I write this comment, I find myself leaning towards reusing .. i.e. use wikipedia or come up with something better.

By: Ramez Quneibi

Ramez Quneibi — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 07:38:25 +0000

I completely agree with you Victor. That’s why we decided to create a new encyclopedia. It will be customized for Arabs and it will fit their needs.

By: Victor Alison

Victor Alison — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:24:56 +0000

Clearly your views reflect the typical western mind, which is “we create and develop the tools, while you Arabs just use them”. The whole point of starting the project from scratch is to structure it for the Arabic user instead of fitting him into a latin-based suit. It is important for Arabs to develop their own tools, whether search engines,browsers, wikis, DNS resolvers etc and enrich the internet with their own creativity, design and heritage. One of the main reasons why Arabic internet users do not use the internet to the same extent as western users, is not because they lack resources or are less tech savvy, but rather that the tools of the internet are designed for Anglo-Saxons and not Arabs. Only when Arab organizations fund original research will we begin to see the creativity of the Arabic mind, a mind that for centuries led innovation and productivity in all academic fields.

By: Ammar Ibrahim

Ammar Ibrahim — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 21:13:50 +0000

Exactly, why do we always have the mentality of starting from scratch. The first source that most people I know check is Wikipedia. Why can’t they support small groups as you said, or even better fund specialists in academic institutions to hire employees to contribute to Wikipedia.

I think this project will never get the right exposure, if it’s not started on wikipedia.

By: za3tar

za3tar — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:51:38 +0000

I agree with you. I like this initiative because we really need to enrich the Arabic scientific content on the web. However yes, maybe adding it to a project like Wikipedia would give it more momentum. Instead of spending time and money on building the platform, they should adopt an existing technology/site. I guess they can use the Wikimedia wiki engine .. but then again why not just use Wikipedia.

I also think that using wikipedia has an added advantage in that it may encourage more people to participate in it if they see richer articles in it.

By: w43l

w43l — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 08:31:14 +0000

i totally agree with you, why start something new when you have something already exist , and there is something else im afraid of , having a company to control an encyclopedia means that even if it is free it is not gonna be open , which (in my opinion) could lead to some problems especially in some political & historical subjects, anyway we have to wait and see