Knol Journals

Professional and other serious authors may wish to write for the Open Encyclopedia in various ways.

One way may be within the frame-work of Knol Journals (a name coined here), in which alphabetically-listed encyclopedia entries are collated into broad themes that can then be viewed as a coherent bodies of information within the overall encyclopedia.

Technically, a model for this idea is provided by virtual photo albums, in which photos related to a particular theme are collated under one title, from a much larger collection of photos. We do not know, but Google might already have recognised this possibility (an obvious use of existing technology?) in its design work for the Open Encyclopedia.

This idea reverse the conventional manner in which journals come into existence, as anyone who wishes to become a journal editor or contributor can suggest or lead the creation of new journal based on existing content, rather than depending on the soliciting of new content from potential authors.

Once the idea for a Knol Journal is established, then new writers may be more keen to write for an identifiable community of writers and readers, with all the help that good editors can offer (ideally) to encourage and support writing projects.

Meanwhile, writers hoping to contribute to the planned Open Encyclopedia (and other publishers) can seek volunteer, experienced or professional editors and translators at The Research Cooperative (www.researchco-op.co.nz), a not-for-profit collection of forums designed to facilitate communication between research writers and the people who can provide language services.

Authors and editors who would like to contribute to the Open Encyclopedia can use the forum here for an open discussion of the Google platform, the possible creation of Knol Journals, and the general utility of the Knol platform for writers.