Saturday, May 19, 2012

Welcome to #Monmouthpedia

Monmouth bridge & gatehouse
Wikipedia, on its blog, has unveiled the first Wikipedia town - the historic town of Monmouth. Over 1,000 QR codes have been placed on every landmark, building, and business, enabling residents or visitors with a smartphone to call up information about that location in 25 languages. Wikipedia reports that, "Because of Monmouth’s efforts to provide free wi-fi ... the town is likely the only place where a visitor can tour in Hungarian, Hindi, Indonesian, Welsh, or numerous other Wikipedia languages using QR codes."
   Why was Monmouth chosen for this project? Perhaps because it has a lot of history: King Henry V was born there, there's a Norman castle built in 1067 and a rare 13th Century bridge and gatehouse.  Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales said, in a report in the Independent, that "he was excited about the project. Bringing a whole town to life on Wikipedia is something new and is a testament to the forward-thinking people of Monmouth ... I'm looking forward to seeing other towns and cities doing the same thing."  Is it a coincidence that Monmouth is in Wales?

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