Knowledge as Technology Dependent: A Comparison of the Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia

Who Am I? Mark Bell BSU Alumni MA in Digital Storytelling PhD Student at Indiana SWI

Thesis

Jenkins

Rheingold

What is an encyclopedia ?

The unbridgeable chasm between the knowledge contained in individual memory and the collective body of knowledge stored in an encyclopedia (Yeo, 2001)

The unbridgeable chasm between the knowledge contained in individual memory and the collective body of knowledge stored in an encyclopedia

(Yeo, 2001)

What is knowledge ?

How is knowledge produced ?

Teacher

Paper

Digital

People

How Much does knowledge Cost ?

Technology of calculation

Technology of communication

Technology of socialization

"Communications tools don't get socially interesting until they get technologically boring." - Clay Shirky on The Cobert Report

History of Encyclopedia Britannica Colin Macfarquhar & Andrew Bell 1771

Colin Macfarquhar & Andrew Bell

1771

How is EB produced?

What is a Wiki http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

http://www.commoncraft.com/video-wikis-plain-english

History of Wikipedia 2001

How is Wikipedia produced?

Nature 2005

“ The average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three .”

“ The average science entry in Wikipedia contained around four inaccuracies; Britannica, about three .”

=

The day knowledge changed forever

Commercials

Current Web Sites

Media effects changing to media affects . No longer “what media does to you” but “what you do to the media.” - Jenkins

Participation gap

Participation gap

How many people actually do the editing?

How do you process information?

Old way

New Way

Stop Trying to Fool Us

Angela Beesley Vice President Community Relations & Co-Founder, Wikia / Chair of Wikimedia Foundation Advisory Board

What happens if EB becomes open sourced?

“ If Britannica became open sourced that would mean Wikipedia could take their content.”

Encyclopedia of Life http://www.eol.org/

What are you going to do?

Mark Bell [email_address] Facebook Twiter Linked in

Mark Bell

[email_address]

Facebook

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