Library Journal - Taiga Forum Holds Inaugural Meeting in Chicago

Library Journal - Taiga Forum Holds Inaugural Meeting in Chicago: "Paul Duguid, coauthor of The Social Life of Information, discussed the trade-off between openness of information (�la Wikipedia) and quality of information. Using three examples from the open source world, he demonstrated how variations in user-contributed data affect accuracy and accessibility. For instance, in the music database Gracenote, multiple user entries for composer (e.g., Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) force users to make their own authority control decisions. In digitizing the novel Tristram Shandy, Project Gutenberg contributors deferred making choices about how to show intentional blank and black pages and footnotes. And, finally, in an entertaining look at Wikipedia, Duguid revealed the edit wars over the biographical entry on Daniel Defoe, with writers adding and deleting his role as a spy. These examples highlighted how the library's traditional role as an arbiter of quality is being challenged by Google and open source content projects."