Monday 21 May 2012

Monmouth in Wales launched as world’s first Wikipedia town

 
   

Wikipedia launched on Saturday, May 19, 2012 its so-called Monmouthpedia, Wikipedia‘s first project that covers a specific town, and eventually declared Monmouth in Wales as the world’s first Wikipedia town.

Ceramic plaque with Wikipedia QR code, located
at the side of Shire Hall in Monmouth, Wales

As announced, the idea of Monmouthpedia project was first suggested by Wikipedia editor John Cummings, and took six months of preparation, and uses special barcodes called QR codes, or QRpedia that notably last for decades. These QR codes allow visitors with smartphones to scan QR codes that link directly to the Wikipedia article in 26 different languages, with the project aiming to cover every single notable place, person, artefact, plant, animal and other things in Monmouth.


Wikipedia noted that they are aiming to mount 1,000 ceramic plaques with QR codes at the sides of schools, pubs, museums and various historical sites at Monmouth until this Saturday, including Monmouth Shire Hall, The Rolls Hall, Monmouth Museum, among others.


This Monmouthpedia project is being jointly funded by Monmouthshire County Council and Wikimedia UK. Monmouth County Council said they intend to install free town wide Wi-Fi for the project, with Monmouth being aimed to be the first place in the world to offer its tourist information in over 250 languages.


Information at Monmouthpedia is being backed by the Wikipedia community and will be continually improved and expanded but physical guides and maps will become outdated, with Wikipedia inviting everyone to participate, such as writing contents, posting photos and many more.









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