Wikipedia is the world's largest online encyclopaedia. It has 303 active language editions, which were accessed from 1.7bn unique devices during October 2020. Now over twenty years old, the encyclopaedia has been studied by academics working within a range of disciplines since the mid-2000s, although it is only relatively recently that it has started attracting the attention of translation scholars too. During a short space of time we have learnt a considerable amount about topics such as translation quality, translation and cultural remembrance, multilingual knowledge production and point of view, the prominent role played by narratives in articles reporting on news stories, and how translation is portrayed in multiple language versions of the Wikipedia article on the term itself. However, translation largely remains Wikipedia's "dark matter": not only is it difficult to locate, but researchers have so far struggled to map out the full extent of its contribution to this multilingual resource. Our aim in organising this international event is to allow the research community to take stock of the progress made so far and to identify new avenues for future work.

Platform

Online via Zoom

Dates

15-17 December 2021

Organizers

•   Centre for Translation (Hong Kong Baptist University)

•   Department of Translation, Interpreting and Intercultural Studies (Hong Kong Baptist University)

Topics

It is thus hoped that the conference will serve as a platform for interdisciplinary exchange on the latest developments in this area. Topics to be considered include but are not restricted to the following:

•   Research methodologies (e.g. identifying translated material; exploiting the Wikipedia "research ecosystem"; comparing content across multiple language editions; use of digital tools for data collection, analysis and visualisation; sentiment analysis);

•   Collaborativity vs. self-motivation among Wikipedia translator-editors, including the visibility of translator-editors on article Talk Pages;

•   Theoretical frameworks that have proven valuable for the study of Wikipedia translation (e.g. narrative theory, affect theory, critical discourse analysis);

•   The use of Wikipedia in the translation classroom;

•   The use of Wikipedia by translation professionals;

•   Research ethics and Wikipedia;

•   The nature of Wikipedia translation and how it differs not only from other more traditional types of translation but also from other newly emerging types;

•   Translation quality in Wikipedia;

•   How research into Wikipedia translation contributes to the digital turn in translation studies and/or to digital humanities;

•   Interdisciplinarity in research into Wikipedia translation, as well as research into the multilingual Wikipedia that makes no explicit reference to translation issues.

The conference will be one of the main research outputs from a research project (GRF12603619) funded by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (https://wikipediasdarkmatter.wordpress.com/). We believe it will be the first major academic event dedicated to Wikipedia translation and hope that it will provide a strong basis for future collaboration and discussion.

We welcome proposals for paper and poster presentations. Submissions should include the following information:

•   Title and abstract of no more than 300 words

•   Name

•   Affiliation

•   e-mail addresses

•   short biographies (around 100 words)

•   a maximum of six keywords

The language of the conference is English.

Length of presentations: 30 minutes (20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes for discussion).

All submission must be submitted via EasyChair by Wednesday 30 June 2021. Notification of acceptance/rejection will be sent by Friday 30 July 2021.

EasyChair submission link (submission closed)

Call for papers: 1 February 2021

Deadline for submission of proposals (extended): 30 June 2021

Notification of acceptance/rejection: 30 July 2021

Deadline for fee waiver application: 15 September 2021

Deadline for registration of presenters: 17 October 2021

Programme available on-line: 1 November 2021

Deadline for registration of participants (revised): 1 December 2021

This section provides up-to-date information and news on the conference. Please refresh the page to make sure that you are seeing the latest version of the page.

Zoom login for the 3-day conference:
Direct Link
Meeting ID: 981 6638 3237
Passcode: 165781
(Remarks: When entering a Zoom session, conference registrants should make sure their Zoom ID name matches with the record in the conference registration system.)

HKBU Moodle (for viewing conference recordings):
HKBU Moodle Login Page
(Remarks: Accessible only to conference registrants.)

E-Programme Handbook: Click the image below to view/download the e-Programme Handbook (updated 7 Dec 2021).

17 December 2021, pm: All recordings of individual papers sessions, keynotes and workshops have been uploaded to Moodle. HKBU Moodle will be open for access until 29 December 2021.

16 December 2021, pm: The recordings of Session 3, Workshop 1 and Workshop 2 (of Day 2) are now available on HKBU Moodle.

16 December 2021, am: Materials of the two workshops today have been uploaded to HKBU Moodle. The recordings of Session 2 and Keynote 2 are now viewable at HKBU Moodle.

15 December 2021: The recordings of Keynote 1 and Session 1 are available at HKBU Moodle.

2 December 2021: Click here to download the conference virtual background for Zoom. Virtual backgrounds work best when using against a bare wall and with no bright light in the background.

22 November 2021: Instructions for both the Presenters and the Attendees on the Zoom conference are available.

Instructions for Presenters:

To facilitate the smooth running of our online conference, here are the instructions:

Before the online conference:

•   In preparation for the meeting, please download and install Zoom and test your webcam and audio at the Zoom Test site.

•   Please use your full name as listed in your conference registration form when logging into Zoom so that we can identify you. Failing to do so may result in your being removed from the meeting by conference staff.

•   You can send us a copy of your slides before the conference, in case there is any technical problem with your connectivity or the sharing function of Zoom at your end during your presentation. We can then share your slides on your behalf while you are presenting.

•   Helpful Zoom Links and Tutorials are available at:
Creating a Zoom Account
Screen Sharing
Audio/Video Testing
Screen Sharing a PowerPoint Presentation

As a presenter before/during your presentation session:

•   The room you are using should be as quiet as possible.

•   Try to avoid having your back to a window or bright lighting behind you. A good light source in front of you (on your face) will produce a better image on Zoom. You may use the virtual background provided by the conference (please refer to the top of this section) but please test it to ensure there are no video irregularities. Virtual backgrounds work best when you present with a bare wall and no bright light behind you

•   Before your presentation, test your microphone and webcam to make sure they are turned on.

•   You will be admitted to the meeting before the start time of your session to enable you to get ready for your presentation. Please log into the Zoom meeting 10 minutes before the start time of your session (not at the exact time of your presentation) in case there are any issues that need to be worked out.

•   All presenting co-authors who have registered for the conference will be made co-hosts during the session so that they can share their screen during the presentation.

•   You will have 20 minutes for your presentation and 10 minutes for Q & A. You will be reminded by the session chair when there are 2 minutes remaining.

•   If at any time during your presentation or Q & A session you get logged out of Zoom due to an unstable internet connection, the session chair will wait for you to reconnect. If you are unable to reconnect, the session chair will proceed to the following presentation(s). If you manage to reconnect before the session period ends, you may be able to continue as long as another presentation has not yet started.

•   No make-up session will be arranged if you miss your presentation session.

•   You can alert the session chair or contact the conference staff via the Chat function if you have any questions.

Instructions for Attendees:

•   In preparation for the meeting, please download and install Zoom if you have not already done so.

•   Please use your full name as listed in your conference registration form when logging into Zoom so that we can identify you. Failing to do so may result in you being removed from the meeting by conference staff.

•   Please join the session at least 5 minutes before the start of the session.

•   (for conference) In cases where the presentation is withdrawn or the speaker does not show, the session will proceed with the presentation(s) that follow, and therefore, a presentation may start earlier than it is scheduled.

•   In Q & A sessions after presentations, questions are asked by pressing the “raise-hand” function of Zoom.

•   You can contact the conference staff via the Chat function during the Zoom sessions if you have any questions.

•   Presentations can be viewed live online and as a video recording. If you are in a different time zone the latter may be important if the scheduled time of the presentation is inconvenient for you, in particular. Only registered participants are admitted to the online meeting and to the platform with the recordings of the presentations. The recordings will remain available for two weeks beginning from the first day of the conference.

•   Helpful Zoom Links and Tutorials are available at:
Creating a Zoom Account
Audio/Video Testing

3 November 2021: The e-conference programme is now available at the "Conference Programme" section.

8 September 2021: Registration is now open. Here is the online registration form.

30 July 2021: The reviewing of abstracts is completed. Notifications of acceptance and rejection have been sent out.

15 June 2021: Participants with genuine financial difficulty can apply to have their conference fee waived. Please refer to "Registration and Fees" section. Deadline for application: 15 September 2021.

12 May 2021: 2nd CFP announced. Deadline for abstract submission extended to 30 June 2021.

1 Februrary 2021: 1st CFP announced.