ASIST SIG Blogs, Wikis, Podcasting

Exactly why wikis will work

Another good use for wikis to promote pre-publication collaboration.  Seems like the folks that contribute to the google wiki "Fun with Google Maps" will add their hot tips, fun ways to use the product and appear as authors in this chapter of an upcoming book. http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2006-01-30-n59.html

How we toil to contribute and share ..... expecting little in return.   : )   At least in library school the oft spoken question was "But you didn't become a librarian to get rich, did you?"

So people don't want to share what they know?  Replace that rumor with a new alliteration ... Why Wikis Will Work!

Blogs as team work tool

Reporters aggregating bits of information, posting opinions and impressions in real time .... all a teamwork effort creating a blog ... so that a final story can be written from these initials flows and first drafts. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/30/technology/30riots.html

Very ingenious use of a team tool for the purposes of a shared notebook, shared workspace.

Institutionalize it, and they will come.

Sounds like Apple will have university provided IPods handed out to students at freshman orientation before too long.  http://www.apple.com/education/solutions/itunes_u/

And they will will want to purchase a MAC http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/30/BUG4FGUO0K1.DTL&feed=rss.business

Isn't this the same strategy they used by supplying MACs to K-12 classrooms 20 years ago?

Wikis to fight pandemics and panic

I've heard of the tsunami and hurricane wikis.  Seems as if they were meant to increase and facilitate communication POST event.

The Flu Wiki means to educate and mitigate damage and panic with a pre-emptive method.  collaboration before the big disaster.  What a concept!  FEMA, are  you listening?http://www.fluwikie.com/  And thousands of unpaid volunteers web content developers.... making the best use of that desire to help. 

Although evacuees in the tsunami or hurricane regions couldn't rely on internet access, perhaps the conditions in a pandemic might be different.  And do we believe the government will be totally forthcoming with all information as soon as they have it?  Or will the wiki give us more information faster?

The St. Petersburg Times recently highlighted the work of the Fluwikie. http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/27/Floridian/The_sky_is_falling___.shtml

Give 'em what they want

Know what I valued the most from Steve's posting?  It was easy to read ... a nice conversational tone ......which kept me reading.  <Makes perfect sense to me since I check out much more fiction than non-fiction from the public library.>

Logical that people will read or listen to what they enjoy, no?  On a blog or wiki or podcast or book.   http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/01/how-to-build-a-high-traffic-web-site-or-blog/

Wikis for interagency cooperation

You may have seen Vinton Cerf's comments regarding wikis.  Cerf's helped many institutions along the way (Stanford University, DARPA, NASA JPL, Google) with innovative applications of technology.

From a Government Computer News interview  "GCN: How could government agencies make better use of the Internet? Have you seen any Internet-based applications from a government agency that really impressed you?

Cerf: The Geological Survey has worked to index a great deal of its data, and that makes it quite useful for a variety of applications. ... I think information sharing might be facilitated among government agencies through the use of Internet technology. Whether this information is available to the public will depend on the data. Rapid deployment of Internet services can also be helpful in disaster recovery. Wiki techniques might be very useful for interagency cooperative work."

What I find fascinating about .....

There is a rhythm and worth to concentric conversations about a topic that aggregate tips, ideas, random thoughts to create a value.  The post on rating your songs on your iPod not only taught a few people a new lesson, it also gave chewybrain a chance to highlight how to manage all that content.  Easy way to "rate" content and delete in batches when you sync. 

http://www.lifehacker.com/software/ipod/how-to-rate-songs-on-your-ipod-149720.php

Loved their philosophy: "Computers make us more productive. Yeah, right.  Lifehacker recommends the downloads, web sites and shortcuts that actually save time.  Don't live to geek; geek to live."

So what is it about lifehacker that brings such energy to the table?  Did they show up to comment because it was useful information?  Felt like a conversation? 

PodProducer: download point and click software

Free, downloadable Podcast software to "help you produce and record your podcast".  http://www.podproducer.net/en/index.html

Washington Post turns off comments on their blogs --- unable to continue supporting hurtful dialogue

Washington Post turns off comment feature for their blogs seeking comments and thoughtful feedback on how they might continue supporting a healthy public dialogue <translate this as civil conversation that doesn't sink to name calling and shouted slurs> .    http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/washpostblog/2006/01/shutting_off_co.html

Podcast direct influence on bottom line stats

NBC boosting their bottom line figures by making podcasts available. http://www.tvweek.com/news.cms?newsId=9191