on 4/29/07 9:00 PM, K P at kpbotany(a)gmail.com wrote:
Set theory is deceptively simple and powerful, and the
type of organization
that people like librarians, and one would hope data base designers
(implementation, not coding), do is simply not something that lends itself
to inexperienced group think. Not everything Wikipedia is attempting to do,
be, and provide, can be had for the efforts of a bunch of volunteers.
Having seen it in action, I'm in awe of the type of insight into
organization and categorization done by people who organize data for a
living.
IMO, as long as we have the mentality that the problem with categories can
be solved just like everything else has been solved on Wikipedia
categorization will be a failure. This needs a dedicated professional for
something this huge, and probably more than one. I don't see anything but
wasting time in CfD, categories, and etc., all over Wiki space, until
something is put in order with categories.
KP,
I love where you seem to be going with this.
A thought, an idea, an hallucination ;-) - call it what you want, but listen
up, I am serious about this: What would you say to the possibility of
recruiting a number of professional librarians to volunteer to take an
objective look at the WP Category system, formulate some ideas and feed back
thoughts on how best to change and/or improve it?
I have no idea how many librarians are already presently editing the
encyclopedia as registered Users, but perhaps a notice could be placed at
the top of the Main Page (or wherever) asking for such volunteers.
Thoughts on this?
Marc