07.24.08
A moment of clarity
The problem of credibility and finding trusted sources for information online has plagued the WWW since forever. In recent years, it’s become easier and easier for anyone to publish anything.
Of course, in many community-driven websites such as Wikis – users provide the checks and balances by modifying and weeding out any inconsistencies or blatant fabrications by editing and contributing to articles. Although great in principle, this has been open to abuse too as we’ve seen in the past. (There’s a reason GWB’s Wikipedia entry is not available to edit) 
Now, in the interests of providing a source for sound information from those in the know, Google has introduced the Knol . The Google blog reported yesterday that the Knol is now open to everyone.
So what is a Knol? Simply, a unit of knowledge.
They are authoritative articles about a specific topic. The key principle behind these Knols is authorship. Each Knol will have its own author,voice and opinions, and according to the Google Blog, they expect to have multiple Knols on the same topic.
In some ways, a Knol retains some elements of a Wiki - in that authors can collaborate – and readers too can make suggested modifications. However, authors can then moderate these changes before they are made public.
The major distinction is that a Knol will have an author(s) name associated with it – and it will remain their decision as to what is published on their Knol. So, Knols will not necessarily be community driven.
The Knols are published under Creative Commons Licences, users can write reviews, post comments and rate articles too – so there’s still that element of commentary.
Will these become the go-to information resources online? Time will tell, but I certainly think this is a good step forward in separating the fact from the fiction online.