From printed to "wikified" encyclopedias: sociological aspects of an incipient cultural revolution

Open Access

Abstract

1. Introductory remarks;
2. The new "asymmetric competition" between open source networks and conventional
bureaucratic organizations;
3. The Wikipedia as an encyclopedic project;
4. "Wikis" as tools for focused and cumulative intellectual productions;
5. Six Dimensions of WP growth and evolution;
5.1 Worldwide multilingual diffusion;
5.2 Staff expansion;
5.3 Diversification;
5.4 Elaboration;
5.5. Increases in internal cohesion;
5.6. External Embedment;
6. On the potentials and limits of wiki-based open source encyclopedias: some preliminary
conclusions after six years of experience;
6.1 Free self-recruitment of collaborators;
6.2 Extensive and efficient exploitation of intrinsic motivations;
6.3 Low needs for capital and organization;
6.4 Multicultural segmentation;
6.5 Flexible polymorphic organization;
6.6 Community embedment;
6.7 Keeping pace with current events and discoveries;
6.8 Changing usage patterns and user roles;
6.9 Public visibility of production processes and resilient adaptation;
5.10 Unguided incrementalism and unplanned "memetic evolution";
6.11 "WP-Notability" as a new digital divide;
7. Conclusive remarks;
References