Google has created something  which seems to be a WikiPedia-like thing, they call Knol. Knol.Google.com was opened in beta to the public on July 23, 2008 with a few hundred articles mostly in the health and medical field. Knol pages are “meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read”, according to Manber.
An enormous amount of information resides in people’s heads: millions of people know useful things and billions more could benefit from that knowledge. Knol will encourage these people to contribute their knowledge online and make it accessible to everyone. Knols include strong community tools which allow for many modes of interaction between readers and authors. People can submit comments, rate, or write a review of a knol. However, Knol focuses on individual authors or groups of authors in contrast to Wikipedia’s subject entries, which are updated by users and edited behind the scenes. Knol does not edit or endorse the information and visitors will not be able to edit or contribute to a knol unless they have the author’s permission. Readers will be able to notify Google if they find any content objectionable.
Google signed a deal with Conde Nast’s New Yorker, giving Knol authors the rights to use one of the magazine’s famous cartoons in each Knol posting. Google will allow Knol writers to run ads on their entries and will share income with them. Knol has got a very friendly interface and it would be easier for those who are use Blogger.com. So go ahead and share your knowledge now.

Sunday, July 27th, 2008 at 2:42 am | by Kur-nia-one |