Wikipedia and Self-Promotion One of the trends I've noted and thought I'd suggest to anyone who reads this blog is that more and more artists are putting their information up on Wikipedia. I recently was told a faculty memember from the Music School was going to use the theater that I am the Technical Director of and I decided to do a quick Google of her name to learn more about her. Her name is Anne LeBaron and her Wikipedia entry is here. Wikipedia is a Web 2.0-style site that allows user particiaption in generating entries. The idea that "one hundred eyes can find a bug better than one set of eyes" is the concept this type of participation relies upon. I've read recently that there are now classified sites created by the FBI and CIA that are of the wiki ilk where field officers are updating these sites with information about the bad guys they are trying to hunt down. Way back in the mid-90's I created three simple pages on Choreographers -- Ballet, Modern and Post-Modern that I created from using my notes from Dance History class, simply because at the time there was nothing online. I was surprised how quickly my pages became links all over the internet and embedded into classroom sites. People began to send more information to me to update my pages and ...how shall I say .... "new choreographers" demanded I post their information by way of self-promotion. The pages lasted about three years before it got way way way too big for me to handle and double-check the information -- I dropped the pages. Actually I was kinda sad I had to do that. Today wikipedia is filling that void with user updates AND people are using it for self-promotion. I can imagine wiki's beyond wikipedia to serve more specific areas and genres of information and assume this will be available very soon. Until then, go to wikipedia, add your name and profile, and do some reasonable self-promotion. Follow Up Links CIA - Wiki Article Unofficial Intellipedia Blog Web 2.0 Defined What is Wiki Wikipedia's Main Page