Curating an Offline Wikipedia for Schools in any Language: A Road Map

Abstract

Around the world, rural and remote communities face a myriad of challenges in providing quality education, especially in communities where internet and electricity access are unreliable or nonexistent. Many innovative projects and initiatives have attempted to provide technological solutions adapted to the infrastructural challenges in these unconnected areas. One such innovation, the offline digital library (ODL), has emerged as a promising and cost-effective solution for bringing information to offline locations without the need for massive infrastructure overhauls and costly ongoing maintenance. Despite the existence of numerous ODL initiatives and the critical importance of library content being relevant to its users, the process of curating collections for ODLs has not been sufficiently discussed in the scholarly literature. Using the SolarSPELL initiative as an ODL model, this article seeks to illuminate the process of curating an offline, customized encyclopedia. With the aim of enhancing the availability of digital content in offline environments, this article presents a roadmap detailing the practical insights gained from developing a tailored educational encyclopedia called Wikipedia for Schools, available in both English and Arabic. Finally, we offer best practices and lessons learned, including recommendations for future research in this field.