[WikiEN-l] Just to throw this out there...

[cprompt]

Daniel Ehrenberg wrote:

>But we don't want a fork. In a  firk, we'd have to
>rewrite (or copy) the whole encyclopedia. We don't
>want to do that. We want to stay here. We just want to
>make it *optional* to filter out objectionable
>content.
>-LittleDan
>
The problem you are mentioning is that school administrators will want 
to ban Wikipedia on the grounds that students may look up material they 
find objectionable. The problem is, the responsibility still lies on the 
user to refrain from viewing it! As an optional system, users could 
easily opt out of filtering, making this is a very ineffective solution. 
Whereas, a fork would be very useful. Since we are working with open 
content, anything on the Wikipedia can be used on the Edupedia. The 
Edupedia could also have a different way of handling user submissions 
(perhaps requiring a peer to OK an edit). Administrators can ban the 
Wikipedia.org site knowing that Edupedia tries their hardest to remain 
appropriate for educational institutions. And article forks can happen 
and will be useful. (You had mentioned you felt a fork of 
[[homosexuality]] would be more appropriate for school.)

A fork will make a site that is "appropriate" for schools. A filtering 
system will introduce several problems. Someone posted that Jimbo would 
support a project like this.

The high school I attended would probably have blocked Wikipedia on the 
grounds that it was a "Chat/Message Board" site. Whether or not a logged 
in user can see a photo of a clitoris would not help.


-- 

--cprompt