February 03, 2006

The Digital Universe : 協同創作的科學知識平台


在 [格志] 讀到 [The Digital Universe]，摘錄文章介紹：
    《自然》雜誌介紹了這個網站：The Digital Universe，要做網絡上可信賴的科學信息源。

    它也包括一個百科全書，使用類似 WikiPedia 的技術，而且 WikiPedia 的創始人之一 Larry Sanger 正在幫助創建。但是，和 WikiPedia 完全不同的是，所有的內容都將來自專家，而且上線前都需經過編輯評審。
Wikipedia 的共同創辦人 [Larry Sanger] 於 2002 年二月離開 Wikipedia 後，雖然仍繼續從事類似 Wikipedia 性質的計畫，不過他隨後對 Wikipedia 運作的模式做了批評，可參考：[Why Wikipedia Must Jettison Its Anti-Elitism ]。Jonathan G. Cohen 的短文 [Wikipedia Co-Founder Launches Rival Online Encyclopedia] 對於 [The Digital Universe] 做了簡要的介紹，節錄如下：
    The site will feature articles distinctly categorized in two tiers, ones that are publicly contributed by selected individuals and others that have been sealed and certified by designated experts in a field the entry concerns.

    Those who are employed by the project will be paid part-time to write articles by Digital Universe; initial funding coming from US $10 million that has been raised from investors and donations. The Digial Universe business model does not rely upon advertising or subscriber fees, but rather from providing internet services such as premium e-mail and broadband access. Fees charged from these services will fund the project. A web browser, ManyOne, which has been reportedly designed to display rich and interactive 3-D material used in Digital Universe, is being developed by a technology partner of the same name.

    Similar to Wikipedia's inchoate period when it debuted with only 20 articles (As of 12/19/05, 872,567 articles exist on the English host - approximately five years later), the encyclopedia will launch with a dozen subject-area portals and add new ones every few weeks. The Earth Portal is one example, and according to DigitalUniverse's FAQ, it will identify "the state of the environment, trends, predictions, and ways that everyone can be involved to help create a sustainable plan for our planet."
同時也可以參考新聞稿 [Wikipedia alternative aims to be 'PBS of the Web']，Jonathan G. Cohen 表示：
    The Philoneist Says: Hopefully Digital Universe will live up to its promise and be able to accumulate a broad array of well constructed and thorough content from sources of authority. The strength of Wikipedia's open contributor system will remain extant in this scenario due to its flexibility; articles on Wikipedia can be updated immediately following related developments, are subject to scrutiny, and as they are written by anyone on the internet can comprise a broader perspective. Read my brief editorial below for a partial solution to Wikipedia's accuracy problems.
在概念上雖然相近於 Wikipedia，但是實施的細節以及基金會運作的模式則大異其趣，[The Digital Universe] 已經上線，希望能一如承諾，帶來協同創作的科學知識平台。
由 jserv 發表於 February 3, 2006 11:36 PM
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