Purpose of Portland NETwiki: Difference between revisions
From Portland NET Wiki
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One of the entire points of convening NETwiki is to make knowledge and expertise in the NET community '''''participatory''''', and decoupling the authority of expertise in disaster response from PBEM - a small government bureau with limited staff time and knowledge - and handing it to neighborhoods. That notion is in line with the expectations of the online culture that built and builds wikis. Many community wikis also have low or no barriers to entry when it comes to authoritative control. Other wikis, such as internal corporate wikis, maintain strict content control. | One of the entire points of convening NETwiki is to make knowledge and expertise in the NET community '''''participatory''''', and decoupling the authority of expertise in disaster response from PBEM - a small government bureau with limited staff time and knowledge - and handing it to neighborhoods. That notion is in line with the expectations of the online culture that built and builds wikis. Many community wikis also have low or no barriers to entry when it comes to authoritative control. Other wikis, such as internal corporate wikis, maintain strict content control. | ||
NETwiki falls between those ends of the spectrum. PBEM respects the libertarian view of wikis that permits ''any''one to edit any''thing'' at any time. That is not what NETwiki is. PBEM does | NETwiki falls between those ends of the spectrum. PBEM respects the libertarian view of wikis that permits ''any''one to edit any''thing'' at any time. That is not what NETwiki is. PBEM does exercise some content control for the following reasons: | ||
# '''This is still a City of Portland government sponsored resource,''' and PBEM will not approve or allow any NETwiki content that does not conform with the City of Portland's [https://www.portland.gov/code/1/03 Code of Ethics]or [https://employees.portland.gov/human-resources/city-portland-core-values-0?_gl=1%2Al742pi%2A_ga%2AMTA4MDY3NTYwMi4xNjk0MTQ5ODY0%2A_ga_LH28Y7114F%2AczE3NTM3NDUwNzIkbzY3MyRnMSR0MTc1Mzc0NTIyNiRqMzYkbDAkaDA.&check_logged_in=1 City of Portland Core Values]. | |||
# '''PBEM will protect its credibility''' and that extends to the NETwiki since PBEM sponsors it. PBEM staff have heard often from community partners that they rely on us for credible information, and errant NETwiki content will not be permitted to interfere with that reputation. | |||
# '''The discipline of emergency management has become a strange place with contradictory information,''' as [https://www.wusf.org/weather/2024-10-20/why-femas-disaster-relief-gets-political political agendas] influence awareness and best practices and growing [https://www.vaemergency.gov/aem/blue-book/white-paper-4-mdm-information-101-for-emergency-managers.pdf conspiracy theories] burn up precious staff resources. PBEM will be associated only with information and data that respects the best tested science available. | |||
# '''Since NETwiki is a government resource, PBEM must protect taxpayer dollars by reducing legal risk.''' Therefore, PBEM staff must look out for information that could cause harm, like a misguided recommendation for personal protective equipment, for example. | |||
# '''We want to make sure NETwiki is accessible and well organized.''' It is not in the spirit of a wiki to allow an individual to make an incoherent decision using this tool; editors and content creators must be empowered to participate in the way the information system is organized. For that reason, PBEM will exercise some mild control on design and NETwiki's overall organization. PBEM will also set standards for who qualifies as a NETwiki contributor. | |||
