Re: The Web as a Source and Repository of Information?

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Salon ] [ FAQ ]

Posted by R. John Howe on March 02, 1999 at 18:02:36:

In Reply to: The Web as a Source and Repository of Information? posted by Steve Price on March 02, 1999 at 09:34:09:

Dear Steve et al -

You wrote in part:

"Discussion board postings are virtually ignored once they are a few weeks old, so a lot of their content gets repeated at fairly frequent intervals. This, too is not rug-specific, but a general characteristic of rug discussion boards (the Merrie Bande at TurkoTek hopes that archiving our Salons and, ultimately, adding a search engine to the archives, will make our discussions of more lasting significance. We'll see.).
: 3. Somehow, browsing in a personal library turns out to be more productive in many ways than browsing on the web. My suspicion is that this will change in the future."

A couple of thoughts of my own:

First, I've been thinking about this problem. Although people (even those constructing the salons) are not usually striving for publishable quality but there may eventually be buried in what we produce in our conversations here some things that would be worth identifying, editing and perhaps presenting in some form.

There is a field allied to the one in which I work professionally called "knowledge management." It has to do with a recognition that a great deal of very real and valuable knowledge is produced in the everyday life of an organization (together, of course, with a great deal of chaff). People are now working professionally building structures to capture such information, to determine its value and quality, to distribute it, to enhance information flow, to increase easy of access to resource materials, etc.

It strikes me that at some point it might be useful to back off from Turkotek and look back at our archives to see whether some of it might not be worth editing so as to made more accessible. Perhaps, someday, it might be worth a book that even those who don't yet have a computer could afford.

By the way, we might consider setting up a counter to determine how frequently our archives are visited.

Regards,

John Howe

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup

Name:
E-Mail:

Subject:

Comments:
: Dear Steve et al - : You wrote in part: : "Discussion board postings are virtually ignored once they are a few weeks old, so a lot of their content gets repeated at fairly frequent intervals. This, too is not rug-specific, but a general characteristic of rug discussion boards (the Merrie Bande at TurkoTek hopes that archiving our Salons and, ultimately, adding a search engine to the archives, will make our discussions of more lasting significance. We'll see.). : : 3. Somehow, browsing in a personal library turns out to be more productive in many ways than browsing on the web. My suspicion is that this will change in the future." : A couple of thoughts of my own: : First, I've been thinking about this problem. Although people (even those constructing the salons) are not usually striving for publishable quality but there may eventually be buried in what we produce in our conversations here some things that would be worth identifying, editing and perhaps presenting in some form. : There is a field allied to the one in which I work professionally called "knowledge management." It has to do with a recognition that a great deal of very real and valuable knowledge is produced in the everyday life of an organization (together, of course, with a great deal of chaff). People are now working professionally building structures to capture such information, to determine its value and quality, to distribute it, to enhance information flow, to increase easy of access to resource materials, etc. : It strikes me that at some point it might be useful to back off from Turkotek and look back at our archives to see whether some of it might not be worth editing so as to made more accessible. Perhaps, someday, it might be worth a book that even those who don't yet have a computer could afford. : By the way, we might consider setting up a counter to determine how frequently our archives are visited. : Regards, : John Howe

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ Salon ] [ FAQ ]