Zusatztext '... an excellent historical context for this huge knowledge production project! the Wikipedia.' Online Information Review! Vol 34! no 2! 2010 'I enjoyed this book immensely: it will sit on my shelf of frequently-consulted works.' CILIP Update! January 2011 Informationen zum Autor Dan O'Sullivan has spent most of his life working in education! teaching history in colleges. He has written several books including 'Youth Culture' (Methuen! 1974)! 'The Age of Discovery 1400-1550' (Longman! 1984)! 'Tudor Britain 1485-1603' (Longman! 1997) and 'In Search of Captain Cook' (I.B.Tauris! 2008). Klappentext This online encyclopedia can be seen as the 21st century s version of earlier historical attempts to gather the world s knowledge into one place - this unique book offers a description of some of these earlier attempts. O Sullivan follows with a thorough analysis of Wikipedia itself, suggesting on how to approach and contribute to the site and what can be gained by using it. Written in an accessible style, the author takes a socio-historical approach, arguing that by looking at communities of practice in the past we can come to understand the radical, even political, nature of Wikipedia. The book will have a broad appeal to anyone interested in the development of this unique project, including information management professionals, historians, sociologists, educators and students. Zusammenfassung Discusses five historical groups or communities of practice, all of which had similar ambitions to Wikipedia to make an impact on the society of their time through the dissemination of information. This book offers an analysis of Wikipedia itself, and contains suggestions about how to approach it, and how to contribute to it. Inhaltsverzeichnis Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part I Groups in History: Group theory; The Library of Alexandria; The Royal Society; The republic of letters; The making of the Oxford English Dictionary; The Left Book Club. Part II Wikipedia: Social sites; Wikipedia: aims; Wikipedia: the community; Wikipedia: structure; Wikipedia: transaction costs; Wikipedia and the public; Wikipedia and the nature of knowledge. Part III Using Wikipedia: Browsing Wikipedia; Assessing Wikipedia; Contributing to Wikipedia; Conclusion; Index....

'... an excellent historical context for this huge knowledge production project, the Wikipedia.' Online Information Review, Vol 34, no 2, 2010 'I enjoyed this book immensely: it will sit on my shelf of frequently-consulted works.' CILIP Update, January 2011

Autorentext

Dan O'Sullivan has spent most of his life working in education, teaching history in colleges. He has written several books including 'Youth Culture' (Methuen, 1974), 'The Age of Discovery 1400-1550' (Longman, 1984), 'Tudor Britain 1485-1603' (Longman, 1997) and 'In Search of Captain Cook' (I.B.Tauris, 2008).

Klappentext

This online encyclopedia can be seen as the 21st century s version of earlier historical attempts to gather the world s knowledge into one place - this unique book offers a description of some of these earlier attempts. O Sullivan follows with a thorough analysis of Wikipedia itself, suggesting on how to approach and contribute to the site and what can be gained by using it. Written in an accessible style, the author takes a socio-historical approach, arguing that by looking at communities of practice in the past we can come to understand the radical, even political, nature of Wikipedia. The book will have a broad appeal to anyone interested in the development of this unique project, including information management professionals, historians, sociologists, educators and students.

Zusammenfassung
Discusses five historical groups or communities of practice, all of which had similar ambitions to Wikipedia to make an impact on the society of their time through the dissemination of information. This book offers an analysis of Wikipedia itself, and contains suggestions about how to approach it, and how to contribute to it.

Inhalt

Contents: Preface; Introduction; Part I Groups in History: Group theory; The Library of Alexandria; The Royal Society; The republic of letters; The making of the Oxford English Dictionary; The Left Book Club. Part II Wikipedia: Social sites; Wikipedia: aims; Wikipedia: the community; Wikipedia: structure; Wikipedia: transaction costs; Wikipedia and the public; Wikipedia and the nature of knowledge. Part III Using Wikipedia: Browsing Wikipedia; Assessing Wikipedia; Contributing to Wikipedia; Conclusion; Index.