Egalitarianism vs Elitism
January 30th, 2009Encyclopedia Britannica has announced an initiative which will permit readers to be involved in updating its content. Jorge Cauz president of Encyclopedia Britannica stated that
“we believe that the creation and documentation of knowledge is a collaborative process but not a democratic one” [1]
The content, added by regular users, to the site will not feature the ‘Britannica checked’ stamp.
Coincidentally Wikipedia has proposed to implement a ‘Flagged Revision’ system on their website which would mean that any changes or updates made by its readers would need the approval of editors before inclusion on the site. This system has already been put in place on the German version of the site.
Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia have functioned at opposite ends of the scale since Wikipedia was launched in 2001. It would appear that both Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia now recognize the importance of controlled collaboration.
[1] CAUZ, JORGE. ‘Collaboration and the voices of experts‘, June 3rd 2008.
PrettyLoaded
January 19th, 2009Pretty Loaded is an initiative undertaken by Big Spaceship to archive preloaders on the rapidly evolving web. In this world of here today gone tomorrow web design, this is a very commendable attempt to record a wealth of digital information that would otherwise be lost.
I would also recommend a visit to Big Spaceship’s website and blogs for a feast of visual stimuli. Their strategy blog think.bigspaceship.com is my particular favourite.
PICOL Blog
January 9th, 2009My tutor Chris pointed me in the direction of PICOL the Pictorial Communication Language blog of Melih Bilgil. As part of his diploma Melih has been doing some fascinating work on creating new icons to provide a universal pictorial language for electronic communication.
This work has culminated in a documentary depicting the history of the Internet and succeeds in delivering a communication of supreme clarity. It’s deceptively simple visuals and voice-over combine to create an eloquent design solution.
For more information visit the PICOL Blog
I hope you all enjoy this as much as I have.
Happy New Year!
January 7th, 2009Happy New Year everyone, apologies for not writing in such a long time. I managed to get the flu for Christmas but I am back on my feet now determined to make good progress and be very positive in 09.
At present I am focusing on my comparative study as well as further refining of my questionnaires and trying to make contact with various academics who may be suitable candidates for semi structured interviews. I will keep you all posted as I progress!
