Summary: What does it take for kloggers to collaborate on long term work? A suggestion.

Picture a map of a certain area of cognitive space. An area might be major category: universal knowledge making first sub: qualitative processes sub of first sub: quality controls sub of first sub: dissemination sub of first sub: collaboration and so on.

Now picture that, say, Wikipedia, took on not just knowledge recording (sorry if this seems an overgeneralization) but knowledge making. And had groups of people sign up for knowledge-making efforts in each area of their general knowledge map. Those groups research and argue and construct, online, naturally, until they produce a set of research questions. Which are publicly disseminated and , because its Wikipedia, commented on.

Add a self assessment process that has each research group giving ratings to each of their pursuits and subpursuits. Now make a visual map of the cognitive space and put colored lights based on the rating of progress. Allows participants and observers alike to browse the knowledge-making map and beam in on areas of interest and/or those with progress levels that particularly pique their interest. [I should draw this example map out]. Would you be a more avid and effective participant or observer if you could browse the map of knowledge making efforts over at Wikipedia's knowledge-making headquarters?

My thoughts on this started when liz lawley noted the short attention span and apparent lack of progress in blogspace. What would it take for us, the blogging collective, to work on big, long-term efforts? One thought, I thought, was to lay out the questions in cognitive space and allow deliberate developers to sign on as "makers" and to encourage drop-in developers to kibitz . The two groups and the occasional question askers might just move us into a realm of more and better knowing??!!