[WikiEN-l] One article, 12 volumes, and a snapshot of how news becomes history

[geni]

On 11 September 2010 04:56, Risker <risker.wp at gmail.com> wrote:
> http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/09/07/wikipedia-entry-on-iraq-war-turned-into-actual-encyclopedia/
>
> Technology writer James Bridle (website: http://shorttermmemoryloss.com/)
> took the [[Iraq war]] entry....and turned it into a 12-volume
> historiography, publishing every edit over five years.  It's an interesting
> exercise that isn't just a snapshot of how our project works, but of how
> information becomes part of the cultural lexicon.  Which battles to include?
> How is that word spelled? How does one properly describe the impact of
> various religious sects on the outcome? And can the entire war really be
> reduced to "Saddam Hussein was a dickhead"?
>
>
> Bridle raises many good points in his discussion, differentiating history
> from historiography.  Our "History" button is not just a means of
> attributing contributions to meet license requirements: it is a window into
> the manner in which our society collates, discusses, and accretes
> information about historical events, shaping the way in which current and
> future generations will view the world in our time.
>
> This article is well worth the read.
>
> Risker/Anne


It's an impressive example of churnalism.

Original source is:

http://booktwo.org/notebook/wikipedia-historiography/

Talk can be found at:
http://huffduffer.com/dConstruct/25256
http://www.slideshare.net/stml/james-bridle-dconstruct-2010



-- 
geni