http://blog.citizendium.org Weblog about the Citizendium project and its Citizens. Wed, 14 May 2008 13:21:41 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en What do the following pieces of jargon have in common? free software open source software (OSS, FOSS) open content  Internet communities Web 2.0 strong collaboration mass collaboration collaborative revolution crowdsourcing (Can you add to this list?) Answer: they are all used to describe the phenomenon of a bunch of people working together online, in open communities, to create specific bodies of free ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/05/14/the-revolution-name-it-and-own-it/ The Citizendium is different. Well, you already knew that. It's not quite like anything out there. But what you might not realize is how it is different. You might have thought that it is different mainly because it makes a special role for experts, or because we require real names ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/05/01/citizendium-is-different/ There's a rather positive description of the Citizendium, and especially Eduzendium, in an April 28 article in Inside Higher Ed.  Eduzendium co-ordinator Sorin Matei is quoted.  The project is compared to Wikipedia, Scholarpedia, and Knol.  The question is: which system is best for scholars?  Well -- let a thousand flowers bloom ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/05/01/a-passel-of-recent-mentions/ One thing Andrew Keen said near the end of that video gave me pause.  He said something similar in his book, and it is something I have been thinking about, idly, for years.  It is that the Internet is making us more selfish, or more self-centered.  I have thought for a ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/04/08/friendship-and-self-centeredness-in-the-age-of-the-participatory-internet/ Some Dutch filmmakers made a documentary (48 minutes), in English, titled "The Truth according to Wikipedia."  It's pretty good, but I'm too close to the story to be able to offer anything like an objective opinion.  It's pretty heavy on Andrew Keen and his over-the-top yet strangely entertaining criticism of the Internet.  I'm ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/04/08/new-video-about-wikipedia-web-20/ In an Inside Higher Ed column, "Professors Should Embrace Wikipedia," Mark A. Wilson claims of Wikipedia, "The vision of its founders, Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger, has become reality..."  Wilson calls on college professors to get involved in Wikipedia, using their own real names.  One has to wonder if this is an ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/04/01/this-founders-vision-has-not-yet-become-reality/ In a few weeks, a small group and I will be announcing a major new educational project, free and non-profit, with very significant funding from a retired businessman.  We will be meeting in New York City early next month, talking to some potential advisers and funders.  I am sorry to have to be so vague.  ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/03/25/major-announcement-about-free-education-project-forthcoming/ If you agree with this appeal, please sign this petition of support! This is a public appeal to philanthropists who are supporting the education of children.  The author (Dr. Larry Sanger) is co-founder of Wikipedia and editor-in-chief of the new Citizendium.  Originally posted March 22, rewritten March 24.  This petition was featured in the Chronicle ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/03/24/a-plea-to-liberate-educational-content/ Lunchtime speech at the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology 13th Annual Symposium: Altered Identities, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 13, 2008. I. Introduction Let me say up front, for the benefit of privacy advocates, that I agree entirely that it is possible to have an interesting discussion and productive collaborative effort ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/03/22/a-defense-of-modest-real-name-requirements/ From our new "Quick Start" page Just arrived? Want to get started, but don't know how? Well, don't panic![1] If you're new to Citizendium, we'd love you to dive "write" in, whether you're an author or an editor. We don't want you to be discouraged, but you may imagine we have extremely high standards. ... http://blog.citizendium.org/2008/03/21/how-to-get-a-quick-start-on-cz/