Karen, thank you very much for putting this topic on your agenda. From my participation on different socio-technical projects, I have observed that there are some factors that definitely help to grow a healthy community. The main one is, in my opinion, to have clear paths of interaction at several levels (group level, user to user, policy-making, etc). At group level this mailing list is a good starting point, however it seems to be detached from the main site, which could be discouraging for newcomers. I don't know if there are already plans to implement user-to-user interaction or the possible effort that it would require.
Regarding policy/decisions I think it is possible to find the right mix between IA priorities and OL direction. As you said a committee could be a way of joining both worlds, with goodwill and common goals as the glue. I'll be looking forward to hearing the result of your efforts! Best wishes, David On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 10:32 AM, Karen Coyle <[email protected]> wrote: > David, I was just thinking that some kind of committee/group/community > could be formed to manage the OL decisions, so your WMF example here is > very opportune. A project like OL succeeds only inasmuch as it has an > active community, and that is what we are struggling with now. At a > recent conference I met with library techies who are interested in OL > and some of whom use its APIs rather heavily. They, too, have a strong > interest in the direction of OL. So there seems to be a potential > community (or a confluence of potential communities). > > Note that there are IA activities that are very intertwined with OL, in > particular the library lending program. However, I'm not sure what the > exact relationship will be after the transition is done, so that's a bit > of information that I'm missing. For me it brings up the question of the > degree to which OL can change independently of IA. > > I think we need a meeting with IA folk. I'm not sure I can make that > happen, but I'll make the first overture and report back. > > kc > > On 2/26/13 6:51 AM, David Cuenca wrote: > > Karen, > > Thank you very much for your insightful message. I was wondering who I > > should contact for a possible project to make Wikisource's public domain > > works available through OL. > > I know there is the option to create a bot to add materials, but it is > > hard to know if that would be acceptable if there is no one to ask or no > > decision-making procedures... > > > > Is OL going to be under IA administration or is it supposed to be > > managed together with the community? As an example of the second, he WMF > > has a model where the foundation sets the general vision and > > infrastructure and the community democratically elects representatives > > and seeks consensus on site policies. > > > > David > > > > On Tue, Feb 26, 2013 at 9:34 AM, Karen Coyle <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > > > Ben, > > > > At the moment there is no project lead on OL. So although Anand can > make > > the technical changes, I'm not sure that there is a way to make > > *decisions* about OL. > > > > I just wanted to make it clear that Anand is not shirking his duty > but > > is actually taking on extra duties at times because he's about the > only > > one working on OL right now. I think we need to find a way to have a > > discussion with Brewster about the future of OL and how it will be > able > > to respond to user needs. Brewster may be more interested in talking > > about that after the transition to the IA platform is completed -- > that > > seems to be foremost in his mind at the moment. > > > > kc > > > > On 2/26/13 5:36 AM, Anand Chitipothu wrote: > > > Hi Ben, > > > > > > Currently only admins can edit those pages. I'm thinking of ways > to > > > enable allowing editing to super users without making them > admins. > > > > > > Anand > > > > > > On 26-Feb-2013, at 2:53 PM, Ben Companjen wrote: > > > > > >> Anand, could you please also address the main question that I > > started > > >> this thread with? > > >> Thanks! > > >> > > >> Ben > > >> > > >> On Feb 26, 2013 9:18 AM, "Anand Chitipothu" <[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > >> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> wrote: > > >> > > >> Thanks for the pointing the issue John. I've fixed it now. > > >> > > >> Anand > > >> > > >> On 26-Feb-2013, at 7:14 AM, John Shutt wrote: > > >> > > >>> Hey all, > > >>> > > >>> I'm also curious about this. For my own part, I ran into > some > > >>> outdated info on the Bots > > <http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/bots> > > >>> page, which linked to the openlibrary/openlibrary Github > repo > > >>> > > < > https://github.com/openlibrary/openlibrary/blob/master/openlibrary/api.py > >, > > >>> where it should probably link to the > > internetarchive/openlibrary > > >>> Github repo > > >>> > > < > https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary/blob/master/openlibrary/api.py > >. > > >>> > > >>> John > > >>> > > >>> On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 10:42 AM, Ben Companjen > > >>> <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>>> > wrote: > > >>> > > >>> Hi Anand, other Internet Archivists, > > >>> > > >>> This has been asked before, I'm sure, but if there was > ever > > >>> an answer, > > >>> it probably wasn't satisfactory to some (including me). > > >>> > > >>> Why are so many pages with information about Open > Library > > >>> locked up > > >>> for normal users? > > >>> I see so many pages that start with "this page is > > really really > > >>> outdated", or the specification of the contents of dump > > files > > >>> (":TODO: > > >>> :TODO: :TODO:"), but clicking Edit always returns > > "Permission > > >>> denied". > > >>> That is not really user friendly, especially when > > >>> openlibrary.org/help <http://openlibrary.org/help> > > <http://openlibrary.org/help> > > >>> says: 'You are welcome to edit/correct any errors or > > >>> omissions you see > > >>> on openlibrary.org <http://openlibrary.org> > > <http://openlibrary.org/> - it's an open, > > >>> editable wiki. (Just look for the > > >>> "EDIT" button.)'. > > >>> > > >>> And speaking of /help: coincidentally I noticed that it > > was just > > >>> edited by Jessamyn West, who doesn't seem to have any > > >>> relationship > > >>> with the Internet Archive [1]. There must be a policy > for > > >>> selecting > > >>> people who are given the rights to edit. > > >>> I'd like that policy to be clear, preferably via /help. > > >>> May I suggest to add to the policy that people who > > would like > > >>> rights > > >>> to edit, introduce themselves on the ol-discussion list > > (this > > >>> list) > > >>> and are then given that permission when there is no > > suspicion of > > >>> planned vandalism? It could also have the effect of > > creation of a > > >>> community (and a way to address editors). Although > > there seem > > >>> to be > > >>> plenty of book editors and new members, I think it would > > >>> benefit Open > > >>> Library to have more than a couple of people who know > how > > >>> things work > > >>> around OL and who also interact via email. > > >>> > > >>> Thanks for your reply! > > >>> > > >>> Regards, > > >>> > > >>> Ben > > >>> > > >>> [1] Bios of (former) IA employees: > > >>> <http://archive.org/about/bios.php> > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > >>> Ol-tech mailing list > > >>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >>> http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > >>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > >>> [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > >>> <mailto:[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >>> > > >>> > > >>> _______________________________________________ > > >>> Ol-tech mailing list > > >>> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >>> http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > >>> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > >>> [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > >>> <mailto:[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >> > > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Ol-tech mailing list > > >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >> http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > >> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > >> [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > >> <mailto:[email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >> > > >> _______________________________________________ > > >> Ol-tech mailing list > > >> [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> > > >> http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > >> To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > >> [email protected] > > <mailto:[email protected]> > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Ol-tech mailing list > > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > [email protected] <mailto: > [email protected]> > > > > > > > -- > > Karen Coyle > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> http://kcoyle.net > > ph: 1-510-540-7596 <tel:1-510-540-7596> > > m: 1-510-435-8234 <tel:1-510-435-8234> > > skype: kcoylenet > > _______________________________________________ > > Ol-tech mailing list > > [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > > [email protected] <mailto: > [email protected]> > > > > > > > > > > -- > > Etiamsi omnes, ego non > > > > -- > Karen Coyle > [email protected] http://kcoyle.net > ph: 1-510-540-7596 > m: 1-510-435-8234 > skype: kcoylenet > _______________________________________________ > Ol-tech mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech > To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to > [email protected] > -- Etiamsi omnes, ego non
_______________________________________________ Ol-tech mailing list [email protected] http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send email to [email protected]
