Friday, December 22, 2006

open source webpage

In case anyone wanders back here and has some burning questions about open source software, come to group 5's website!
https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/avee/opensource/OpenSource.swf

Wikipedia phenomenon - group 6 webpage

"The Wikipedia phenomenon" - the webpage of group 6.

http://capcold.net/wiki/wiki.php/WikipediaStudy

Entirely in wiki format - constantly "in progress" and open to valdalism. Entries on false number of elephants are welcome.

Friday, December 15, 2006

Thanks for a great semester

Folks, I've now posted some questions for each group (under the "comments" to each group's readings) and I'm struck by the range of material you were able to cover in the class. Combining history, social theory, and the current flashy-technology-of-the-month all in one seminar ain't easy, and I think you did a great job wrestling with it. One caution I would give to all the groups in finalizing your web-based projects: make sure to show me where your topics, and the way you are analyzing them, connect to the many readings and concepts we've considered in class. Beyond that, I look forward to exploring each site in depth after next Friday, and to showcasing for the rest of our faculty what a good job you did with this material. Do let me know if you're interested in taking my Tuesday afternoon "information labor" seminar in the Spring; otherwise, keep in touch and I'll see you around campus. Cheers,

GREG

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Group 6 "Wikipedia" readings...

Let's make it easy and nice for the last class of the semester. These are the fun readings for Group 6's presentation on the theme "Wikipedia - the future of knowledge?".

1. Read this one first:Internet Encyclopaedias Go Head to Head: Jimmy Wales' Wikipedia comes close to Britannica in terms of the accuracy of its science entries, a Nature investigation finds., by Jim Giles, Nature, December 14, 2005
http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/pf/438900a_pf.html

2. Then, the response: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., Fatally Flawed: Refuting the recent study on encyclopedic accuracy by the journal Nature, March 2006
http://corporate.britannica.com/britannica_nature_response.pdf

3. If you find yourself interested after having read those, indulge yourself with some background information... in Wikipedia itself:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Now you're ready to go.