Critical Point of View: Second international conference of the CPOV Wikipedia Research Initiative

Date: 26–27 March 2010

Location: OBA (Public Library Amsterdam, next to Amsterdam central station), Oosterdokskade 143, Amsterdam

“Wikipedia is at the brink of becoming the de facto global reference of dynamic knowledge. The heated debates over its accuracy, anonymity, trust, vandalism, and expertise only seem to fuel further growth of Wikipedia and its user base. Apart from leaving its modern counterparts Britannica and Encarta in the dust, such scale and breadth places Wikipedia on par with such historical milestones as Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia, the Ming Dynasty’s Wen-hsien ta-ch’eng, and the key work of French Enlightenment, the Encyclopédie.”

Breathless e-thusiasm like that does not bode well for the “C” in “CPOV” — but I guess we’ll C …

— Jon Awbrey | 01 Feb 2010 | 11:05 am

By the look of it, they've got some fairly interesting people coming. They don't have some of the "big" names from Wikipedia research (Lih, Huberman, Chi) but they have some interesting people including a number I hadn't heard of, including Dan O'Sullivan, author of Wikipedia: A New Community of Practice, with which I am utterly unfamiliar. Anyone read it?

@Nihiltres — Indeed, nor does it imply a flight from reality. Feel free to join any of our long-running discussions on the purpose of criticism at The Wikipedia Review, where we’re not afraid to face the realities of Wikipedian practices. Cf. http://wikipediareview.com/index.php?showtopic=5915

— Jon Awbrey | 02 Feb 2010 | 12:32 am

Geert & All,

Being still hopeful that there will arise places where critical reflective thinking about the impact of distributive information technology on society can take place, I welcome the appearance of this list. I hope it will be a place where broader perspectives on social-technical architectures can be maintained, points of view from which we can see a way through the mists of mystification to all that we hoped for in the future of communication, education, and inquiry.

Jon Awbrey

Hey, Greg, in case you’re wondering why your ears are buzzing — the subject of you and yours, I mean Wikipedia Review, came up already on the CPOV List.

Jon

Yeah, that was kind of weird how Geert felt the urge to so thoroughly regurgitate what Wikipedia Review was. Was he acting in service of the mailing list (for the uninformed), or was he pinning you with it like some kind of scarlet letter?

Anyway, I just signed up for the list, too.