Difference between revisions of "Michael's Projects"

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I'm [[User:Michael|Michael Slattery]]. Below is a brief description of some of the projects I've been working on - or would like to work on.
 
I'm [[User:Michael|Michael Slattery]]. Below is a brief description of some of the projects I've been working on - or would like to work on.
  
For more information on each project, click on the title of the corresponding section to go to a longer article. If the title is a [[red link]] this means that a separate individual article remains to be written. This collection of pages is a work in progress. Some of the separate articles contain little more than what is indicated below, and will be expanded later when I find time. In other cases I should instead shorten the summary given below.
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For more information on each project, click on the title of the corresponding section to go to a longer article. If the title is a [[red link]] this means that a separate individual article remains to be written. Some of the linked-to articles contain little more than what is indicated below, and will be expanded later when I find time. In other cases I should instead shorten the summary given below.
  
 
==[[Convivial Tools]]==
 
==[[Convivial Tools]]==
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==[[Convivial Help Sites]]==
 
==[[Convivial Help Sites]]==
The word "tool" in its broadest sense includes objects designed to help us learn, such as books or websites designed to help the user. There exist a great many sites that provide all sorts of help in virtually any field of activity. The main types of help websites include the following:
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The word "tool" in its broadest sense includes objects designed to help us learn, such as books or websites designed to help the user. There exist a great many sites that provide all sorts of help in virtually any field of activity, such [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help online help], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review_site review sites] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_sites rating sites], question-and-answer sites, [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forum online forums] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wikis]. However, many help websites are far from being "convivial tools" since their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability usability] is generally low. Anyone who has searched for answers in online [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forum forum]s knows that this experience can resemble searching for a needle in a haystack. Another problem with most help websites is that the information presented often untrustworthy, because of the bias or ignorance of the contributors (on a forum one will often find ten wrong anwsers for each right one).
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Online help] generally refers to guided assistance to a user of a software product
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*A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Review_site review site] prevents reviews about products or services, posted either by professional writers or by site users (see also [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rating_sites rating sites])
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*A question-and-answer site (Q&A site) is a collaborative website which allows any user to post a question or to answer a question posted by another user
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*An online [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forum forum] (also called message board) is a discussion website - forums are frequently used as question-and-answer sites
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*A [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki wiki] is a collaborative website which allows any user to create or to edit the web pages making up the site
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The "convivial tool" is one which increases the user's autonomy, augmenting their ability to solve their own problems. While providing help is thus a convivial activity in itself, most help websites are far from being "convivial" since their [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability usability] is generally low. Anyone who has searched for answers in online [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_forum forum]s knows that this experience can resemble searching for a needle in a haystack. Another problem with most help websites is that the information presented is too often untrustworthy, because of the bias or ignorance of the contributors (on a forum one will often find ten wrong anwsers for each right one).
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A Convivial Help Site thus needs strong [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing editing], in order to limit the bias and to provide the users with answers that are verified to be correct. The current fashion for content that is collaborative and crowd-sourced makes us forget the added value that editorial control brings to content. Such editorial control would enhance both the help website's contents and its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability usability], thereby making it more of a convivial tool.
 
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A Convivial Help Site thus needs strong [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editing editing], in order to limit the bias and to provide the users with answers that are verified to be correct. The current fashion for content that is collaborative and crowd-sourced makes us forget the added value that editorial control brings to content. Such editorial control could enhance both the help website's contents and its [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability usability], thereby getting closer to the ideal of a Convivial Help Site.
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==[[Total Customer Service]]==
 
==[[Total Customer Service]]==

Revision as of 20:01, 17 January 2010