While I was in Erie, Pennsylvania, I met briefly with a small group of environmentalists concerned about Lake Erie. I suggested that they contribute articles to Wikipedia and begin to collaborate with others with similar interests. I told them they could share information online for free that way. I went so far as to establish baseline articles for them, including the Lake Erie Watershed and Lake Erie Basin articles. But each of the articles has had less than a dozen edits by other contributors in more than a year. This approach towards collaboration might have a long horizon, but I doubt it. In the near term it has not prompted sharing. I was beginning to think some folks are just not meant for Wiki. Lo and behold a new wiki project -- The Great Lakes Wiki -- has emerged. Maybe it will be more successful? I hope so. There is much at stake. I wish them well with their Wiki project.
I'd love to see a similar project started here in New Jersey. In my Aberdeen NJ Life blog I just wrote about how my town council is voting on a contract regarding water diversion rights. The council considers the matter routine, probably because the region is fed by an overused aquifer that has been red-flagged by the state DEP for over 20 years.
2 comments:
As some one from the Great Lakes region, I've stumbled across that wiki a number of times. It never struck me as particularly active and it could go months with out an edit. That always struck me as a bit sad as it looks like a project that could serve as a great base for a wider wiki community. :/
Wikis would do a good job of collating institutional knowledge for environmental groups. Once they dig through their files and document what they know about the history of the battle against water runoff issues in a particular watershed, for example, everyone has access to that information and no one ever has to rummage through those files again. And since the information is logically ordered by topic, it is easier to find than in files that are often project based or chronological. Wiki is too easy to learn to let the technology be an impediment. I agree with you completely. I hadn't realized this other Wiki was dormant but I'm not surprised. Thanks for the note.
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