Shared resources have become vital to progression globally. The collaboration of projects and the collaboration of ideas, just continues to prove that two heads are always better than one. But collaborative resources are also crucial to gathering and documenting information. I think this is what sites like Wikipedia and Trove are important for. Once you’ve set up your account and had a flick through a how-to guide, they’re pretty user-friendly. This makes them invaluable resources. Those with the most knowledge have access to contribute, and those who need the information have access to retrieve it.
I set up my Wikipedia account about two years ago as part of a university assignment. I began writing a biography of my grandfather. Now I know that sounds a little dry and dreary. Most Grandchildren are enamored with their Grandparents heroic war efforts, or their adventurous tales of immigration. But my Grandfather was a librarian, and I couldn’t be prouder.
The first fact that drove me to take an interest in his life was his career as a librarian at the University of Queensland. This was at a radical and progressive time when technology and new ideas about customer-based focus were beginning to take leaps and bounds. He was the guy making a lot of those calls in Queensland libraries, and when you wander around the University of Queensland’s seven beautiful libraries you can see his work at play. He did a truly phenomenal job of predicting where the field was going.
The historian in me is the second reason I found him fascinating. He was the President of the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties during Joh Bjelke-Petersen time as Premiere. Now I’m sure, even if you’ve never lived in Queensland, you’ve heard of Joh. My Grandfather's perspective of events, at a time in history when civil liberties were most threatened, was something I felt needed to be documented and shared. I grew up listening to those stories, and it’s what inspired me to become a historian.
The one source that did his story the most justice was his half-written autobiography. I used it to create the article, hoping that I could find enough published information to substantiate it that I might be able to cite an unpublished work. Not the case. Even though the majority was taken from published works, the volunteers of Wikipedia shut it down immediately. And I commend Wikipedia for this. I’m impressed that even without the traditional, paid, gate-keepers of an institution an inaccuracy like that was picked up. Entries into such sites should be grueling; those articles that make it should be put through their paces.
But I do think there should be a place for people’s accounts of events. His account of the 1971 Springbok protests for example - have a place online in a sharing culture somewhere. They add something to history. I like the idea of a “Where were you when?” website. Properly tailored and organised you could create a giant image of the world using people's stories from all walks of life
- Where were you when Princess Diana died?
- Where were you when the twin towers were hit?
How do you keep out the trolls? Haven't got that far yet.
You raise a very interesting point that despite witnessing an event firsthand, that does not make you or your account of events enough of a basis for an authoritative Wikipedia post. Your account of events still needs to be verified against someone else's. How very interesting! This does, as you rightly point out, keep out the trolls, but what about the good guys trying to tell a clear version of events that they were part of? Food for thought.
ReplyDeleteAs for the big questions you ask: I was in my car driving to work when I heard Princess Diana died, and I was woken by my housemates very early in the morning to watch tv and see the second of the Twin Towers fall. I remember both of those moments vividly. -Natalie
First off: the questions! I was in a farm house in the Meander Valley in Tasmania when I found out Princess Diana had died. And I was awake watching late night/early morning cartoons when I heard about the Twin Towers. And the only way to keep the trolls out is to close down the bridges.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Wikipedia first started and it was treated with such suspicion, and now it's a first point of call for understanding something. What's that word mean? Wikipedia it, oh it makes sense now. I think that their dedication to fact-checking and collaborative knowledge gathering is really awesome and a massive task.