On short notice, for this weekend I announce operation "Expand the Mises Wiki". The Mises Wiki should be a reference for libertarian thought but is still young and small. Time to expand!
The most important thing on a journey and for any big project is the first step. As of writing the Mises Wiki consists of 620 articles, short or long. Lets raise that number. The target of this operation is to create as many short articles, or stubs, as they are called in a wiki, as possible in order to create seeds from which greater works can grow.
Right now, there is a number of articles needed to be written. Think you can write even one sentence? Do it and thank you for your contribution!
Of course, anybody is invited to edit and expand the wiki in any manner they see fit. Know some libertarian website? Add them and thank you for your contribution! Can expand on some of these articles? Do it and thank you for your contribution! See a spelling mistake? Correct it and thank you for your contribution! Can help wiki newbies? Teach them and thank you for your contribution! Can organize a few articles or spice up a portal? Do it and thank you for your contribution!
Nervetheless, the main goal is to increase the number of articles in the wiki. To spice things up, there shall be a small competition. The users that post in this thread the number of articles they created from saturday 2010-04-02 0:00 a.m. until sunday 2010-04-03 12:00 p.m. will be listed in a ranking in this thread. No special prizes are offered.
The idea for this operation is based on a thread by Peter Sidor.
A hearty BUMP to this initiative! More articles for everyone! :)
Mises Wiki | Economic Resources and Books (search engine)
Is really no one interested?
Nah, they are just being shy. People have this strange fear of posting on a wiki. (Actually, somebody anonymous started yesterday a page on 'Pent up demand', so it seems to have started already.)
The silence is terrifying.
I would participate but I have no free time beyond what time I find to post here. I wish you guys great luck, it is a fantastic project.
I'm still confused as to what belongs on the Wiki. Things related to Austrian Economics, obviously. Libertarianism? What else?
"I'm still confused as to what belongs on the Wiki. Things related to Austrian Economics, obviously. Libertarianism? What else?"
You can stick to those two topics and there's still a huge amount of topics to address. Beyond that, I heard somebody saying that 'austrolibertarianism' is a philosophical outlook on all aspects of life - and whatever is relevant to it can find its place in the wiki. That would be my take as well, although one has to be a bit careful as as to what gets in. :)
Anyhow, the question of the ultimate scope will be resolved with time - for now, there's plenty to do about Austrian Economics, and Libertarianism, too!
As Peter Sidor already said, stick to those topics. But I think you can cover other topics too and present common libertarian views. For example you could write a page about how certain services could be provided in a non-coercive way.
It has begun!
And just to say it out loud - if you worry about things like proper formatting, don't worry, we'll help out. :)
So, what do you think, how many stubs can we create? ;)
And if anybody worries about anything concerning the wiki, just ask and we will help. We are friendly. :)
Got five new pages so far, it would be great to have at least ten!
Looking at the "recent changes" page my initial assumption is confirmed: Starting a stub has a similar effect as a seed crystal. Even something as trivial as a mere definition is useful.
Do you want to do the final counting or should I?
You guys need better salesmanship. List some topics that need articles that people here would be inclined to work on. Part of being an organizer is supplying motivation AND direction.
I am still learning.
Looking at the forum and the most vivid discussions, topics like "Common objections to libertarianism" or "Public services in a libertarian society" or "Comparison of Anarchy and Minarchy" would be viable. Do you agree?
I've been thinking of doing a weekly thread called "Mises Wiki of the Week" or something like that, where I select a topic of economics and people can provide insight, sources/citations, recommendations for points to cover in the article, links to Mises forum threads/daily articles, formatting suggestions, etc. This way, individuals like Liberty Student can contribute knowledge in a format that fits their schedule while others can eventually transfer that knowledge to the Wiki. Also, the contributions to knowledge and the actual addition to the Wiki wouldn't have to be immediate.
I've never contributed to the Wiki myself and don't have a lot of time to do so, so this endeavor would require the efforts of both forum users and Wiki contributors, but perhaps, armed with the data from the forum thread, more people will be willing to transcribe information to the Wiki.
I don't know if there would be any interest, but I'll try it out once or twice ans see where it goes.
liberty student has a point, it's probably better to point in a specific direction than just say 'post anything'.
The "Most Wanted" page lists a few highly desired pages to make and update. We have finally a page on the Free market, but it could really use more content. Same for Secession. There's still no separate page for the New Deal (although the content is mostly already elsewhere, so copy&paste with a little writing should suffice). There's of course more, but here they are - a few very specific targets to aim for!
I have a 'focus' for new pages prepared for next week, let's see if it has more success with the audience. :)
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@Metus: let's leave the final count for tomorrow.
The topics are certainly acceptable.
@cporter: why, of course! Great idea!
Well, it's up: http://mises.org/Community/forums/t/23827.aspx
If there's interest I'll continue, if not I won't.
Now that is a good idea, I am going to look for some sources.
Including one late Friday's page apparently inspired by the operation, we've got eleven new pages! Not bad at all for a first try!
So it is brainstorming time again? ;)
I have already an idea for the next weekend, I'll create a new thread in a few days. (More ideas are always welcome though!)
And it is done! Comments welcome.
On this page there is a template that can be used when text from Wikipedia is used. It says that:
"We encourage users to make original contributions, since Wikipedia's text requires that all uses of their text carry a license more restrictive than the license Mises Wiki uses."
I started a section on the discussion page there asking what license does the Mises Wiki use? What are the differences between them? Anyone want to go there and respond? I'd like to know the differences and see what the communtiy feeling is on using wikipedia content as a foundation for articles.
Answered; in short, see this page.
As for the feeling, check the discussions on Commons or this note. My personal approach is to not base anything on a Wikipedia page, if at all possible; but link freely to it when it is useful.
Thanks for the links. Can you explain what difference the "sharealike" provision makes in this context? If Mises Wiki is released under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license, how exactly are we limiting an article by using content from Wikipedia?
Content unter Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) requires you to put derivative material under a similar licence as the original work. Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) merely requires you to name the creator(s) of the original work. That is, material under CC-BY can be used in proprietary works, material under CC-BY-SA remains at least freely distributional.
So basically we want to allow Mises Wiki content to be sold.
I didn't know what all that licensing was for, but gotta say, that possibility makes the content more attractive in the long term!