A WOMAN who learned Gaelic as a teenager has become the world’s first Scots Gaelic Wikipedian.

Calls to fill the £30,000-a-year post went out last October as the free encyclopaedia site looked for an expert to develop its Gaelic medium version, Uicipeid.

The National:

Created in 2004, it offers more than 14,000 pages of information in the language on saidheansan, poileataigs and cultar (science, politics and culture) but the online hub, which allows users to shape its content, wants to improve and develop this resource.

Yesterday Dr Susan Ross, who learned the language as a teenager, was named the successful candidate. She will now work part-time on building the site and training others to write, edit and translate articles.

Ross, who has a doctorate in Gaelic studies, will be based at the National Library of Scotland (NLS) and will promote the library’s Gaelic collections as part of her role.

NLS says it holds “some of the best collections of Gaelic material anywhere in the world”, with much of this now available online.

Ross said: “It is a great opportunity for Gaelic speakers to exercise reading and writing skills in a creative, informal, collaborative environment and I’m excited about the possibilities to get more people involved.”