Encyclopedia Brittanica Leans “Web 2.0”

Two hundred forty year old Encyclopedia Brittanica is taking a big step by dipping their toe in the participative Web, otherwise known as “Web 2.0.”  Starting this month they are inviting us to join in on a “collaboration” initiative among EB experts.

Now, before you go to thinking they have gone all wild and “Wikipedia” on us, not quite so.  But it is a big step toward transparency about just who is behind the Britannica.   EB is inviting their existing scholars and experts to participate in a new “community of scholars,” who will each have a profile where they can showcase all their work, including work outside of the Brittanica.  EB will allow us regular folks to suggest changes to the experts’ work.

As a tip of the hat to readers (and a grand experiment in our eyes) they will allow readers to publish work in the commoners area, including articles, essays and multimedia presentations. 

EB believes expert information is “collaborative, but not democratic” and that this approach will give everyone the best of both worlds: a more inclusive process while maintaining scholarly appeal.   

Considering their age, we think the initiative is brilliant enough to award them a resoundingly modern rank of  M+!

Reader Content Updates This Old House

June is "Readers Going Mainstream" month over at This Old House.  The name may indicate a bygone era comfort space, but the mag is going thoroughly modern and outside the comfort zone by temporarily renaming its June edition to "This Your House" signaling an issue entirely of content from its readers. 

From One Room Wonders to Salvage, the issue is 100% about, by and from readers - they even voted on the magazine cover image.

Now, reader content in print magazines isn't 100% new - 8020 Publishing has brought us "you" magazines JPG and Everwhere on photography and travel, respectively, for a couple of years.  8020 believes magazines are great inspiration and the web has great content. A hybrid to warm our modern media hearts.

This Your House may be an experiment, but we suspect that for a TV-show-gone-print, reader content is will prove to be a high-value modern remodel.

The Swiss Post's Citizen Stamps

SwissCom Mobile, the Swiss Post, and the Swiss Communication Museum have launched the “Swiss Mobile – A Country on the Go” (Swiss mobil -Ein Land unterwegs) initiative. Swiss postal stamps will be produced featuring photos captured  by camera phones. Swiss citizens submit their photographs and they are displayed on the Swiss Post site. Site visitors vote via SMS on their favorite photos and the top four will be made into stamps. And, they get the chance to win two nights at a five-star hotel - wellness package included.

OhmyNews: Citizen Journalism

"Citizen Journalism," where average people report the news, is the future of the free press. Publications like OhmyNews in South Korea are changing the definition of what a journalist is, and changing the industry as whole. Look for "citizen media" to explode in 2005, with more big newspaper blogs, as well as aggregated local blogs reporting on news closer to local communities.

Encyclopedia Brittanica Leans “Web 2.0”

Two hundred forty year old Encyclopedia Brittanica is taking a big step by dipping their toe in the participative Web, otherwise known as “Web 2.0.”  Starting this month they are inviting us to join in on a “collaboration” initiative among EB experts.

Now, before you go to thinking they have gone all wild and “Wikipedia” on us, not quite so.  But it is a big step toward transparency about just who is behind the Britannica.   EB is inviting their existing scholars and experts to participate in a new “community of scholars,” who will each have a profile where they can showcase all their work, including work outside of the Brittanica.  EB will allow us regular folks to suggest changes to the experts’ work.

As a tip of the hat to readers (and a grand experiment in our eyes) they will allow readers to publish work in the commoners area, including articles, essays and multimedia presentations. 

EB believes expert information is “collaborative, but not democratic” and that this approach will give everyone the best of both worlds: a more inclusive process while maintaining scholarly appeal.   

Considering their age, we think the initiative is brilliant enough to award them a resoundingly modern rank of  M+!

Reader Content Updates This Old House

June is "Readers Going Mainstream" month over at This Old House.  The name may indicate a bygone era comfort space, but the mag is going thoroughly modern and outside the comfort zone by temporarily renaming its June edition to "This Your House" signaling an issue entirely of content from its readers. 

From One Room Wonders to Salvage, the issue is 100% about, by and from readers - they even voted on the magazine cover image.

Now, reader content in print magazines isn't 100% new - 8020 Publishing has brought us "you" magazines JPG and Everwhere on photography and travel, respectively, for a couple of years.  8020 believes magazines are great inspiration and the web has great content. A hybrid to warm our modern media hearts.

This Your House may be an experiment, but we suspect that for a TV-show-gone-print, reader content is will prove to be a high-value modern remodel.

The Swiss Post's Citizen Stamps

SwissCom Mobile, the Swiss Post, and the Swiss Communication Museum have launched the “Swiss Mobile – A Country on the Go” (Swiss mobil -Ein Land unterwegs) initiative. Swiss postal stamps will be produced featuring photos captured  by camera phones. Swiss citizens submit their photographs and they are displayed on the Swiss Post site. Site visitors vote via SMS on their favorite photos and the top four will be made into stamps. And, they get the chance to win two nights at a five-star hotel - wellness package included.

OhmyNews: Citizen Journalism

"Citizen Journalism," where average people report the news, is the future of the free press. Publications like OhmyNews in South Korea are changing the definition of what a journalist is, and changing the industry as whole. Look for "citizen media" to explode in 2005, with more big newspaper blogs, as well as aggregated local blogs reporting on news closer to local communities.