thanks so much elijah! i'll check out the links. and thanks for the terminology heads up...yeah, this is my first foray into this particular area of the internet, so i'm learning. we'll see if ms. boyd responds. ls On Sun, 12 Dec 2004 15:30:24 -0600 (CST) elijah wright <elw@stderr.org> wrote:

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2. Does anyone have any references (articles, chapters, etc.) about collaborative reference projects? More specifically about the possibilities they pose for "democratization" (buzzword) of knowledge/language?

you'll want to read Will Emigh's paper on wikipedia for this year's HICSS conference (with Susan Herring); available at

http://ella.slis.indiana.edu/~herring/wiki.pdf

there are some very interesting notations about democratization in the paper; I think you'll enjoy it.

there will eventually be a quicktime version of a related talk Susan gave this fall, to be made available here:

http://isdc.stderr.org/content/

just as soon as it gets ripped off of the tape... [There's an RSS feed available there; I encourage people to subscribe to it.]

...

ps - If there's something I'm missing here about the difference between "collaborative," "open content," and "wiki" (aside from the fact that the latter is branded), I'd also be grateful for terminological clarification!

my take is that those three terms all have different and varied implications.

but...

* you can have collaboration without "open content". * you can have open content without it being wiki-fied. * you can have collab. without it being a wiki. * you can have wiki without either collaboration or open content [there are plenty of closed wikis...]

or maybe you mean to say something i'm not getting? my brain is a little foggy today... maybe dot-danah will have something to say.

--elijah _______________________________________________ The Air-l-aoir.org@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org

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---- Lauren Squires Linguistics Program University of Virginia *** http://polyglotconspiracy.net

there are some very interesting notations about democratization in the paper; I think you'll enjoy it.

there will eventually be a quicktime version of a related talk Susan gave this fall, to be made available here:

http://isdc.stderr.org/content/

just as soon as it gets ripped off of the tape... [There's an RSS feed available there; I encourage people to subscribe to it.]

that video is now available. [o happy synchronicity!] here's a direct link: http://isdc.stderr.org/content/index.cgi/2004/12/13#dec13.herring --elijah

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2. Does anyone have any references (articles, chapters, etc.) about collaborative reference projects? More specifically about the possibilities they pose for "democratization" (buzzword) of knowledge/language?

I just came across this item...............Alex Kuskis http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,6109,1374741,00.html Collins launches online dictionary to debate new words tionary Stephen Moss Thursday December 16, 2004 The Guardian Collins online: "We are hoping that people will contribute words which they use in their daily lives." Ever since Dr Johnson compiled his highly opinionated dictionary in 1755 (excise: "a hateful tax levied upon commodities"; oat: "a grain which in England is generally given to horses but in Scotland supports the people"), language has been a battlefield. Collins Dictionaries today recognises that fact with the launch of an online Living Dictionary, in which netheads can suggest new words and argue over whether they should be added to the print version of the dictionary. In fact, "netheads" itself might be a useful starting point for discussion. "This is a completely new concept which will provide direct contact between the people who compile dictionaries and the end users," said Jeremy Butterfield, editor in chief of Collins Dictionaries. "It allows us to open up the process of suggesting and selecting words." It seems that Johnson's "harmless drudges" have discovered democracy. The concept is straightforward. You log on to www.collins.co.uk/wordexchange, suggest a word and then wait for other logophiles to commend or berate you. The site has been trialled for the past two weeks and there have already been squabbles. One user suggested "Henmania - the hype surrounding the English tennis player Tim Henman which escalates during Wimbledon each year". "I can't stand this word, not because of the person involved, but because it's a non-word," responded another. "If you add mania to Henman you get Henmanmania. Henmania is going crazy for hens." A second respondent wrote: "Until Henman actual wins something I don't think he should have any word associated with him, unless it is the rather derogatory 'soft cock' that the Australians use to describe him." There is also an illuminating discussion of "cheese-eating surrender monkeys - a term coined by the creators of The Simpsons to describe/insult the French; obviously xenophobic". "It will be interesting to monitor the progress of this phrase," says one editor. Mr Butterfield compared the Living Dictionary with the online Wikipedia encyclopedia. "We are hoping... that people will contribute words which they use in their daily lives, but which have not yet made it into the printed dictionary." Of the words submitted so far, he identified Arab street, contrasexual, cyberathletics, Ingerland, manny and podcasting as likely candidates for inclusion in print. "Things change very quickly now," he said. "Words can establish themselves within a month."