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On this week’s podcast I visit the The Berkshire Cultural Resource Center located at MCLA Gallery 51, 51 Main Street, North Adams, MA. If you don’t know about North Adams recent history, you might want to read some of the following sources.
I always like to start with Wikipedia. They give you the encyclopedia version of events and places and their coverage of North Adams is good. And we can’t talk about North Adams Art without MassMOCA, their website has a great history of the 13 acre mill complex they converted. You should also check out the Porches Inn’s website which tells an uplifting story about their own transformation from run down mill housing to one of the country’s hotest new hotels.
The Berkshire Cultural Resource Center–a collaborative project of the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and the City of North Adams–provides the regional arts community training, resources, access, and marketing support to artists, arts managers, arts scholars, and arts-related entrepreneurs. The center, formed in spring 2006, is hosting a series of instructional workshops in nonprofit management with an arts focus, delivered by leaders and working professionals from the arts-rich Berkshire region.
This weeks seminar featured:
- Rebecca Blunk, Executive Director- New England Foundation for the Arts
- Matchbook.org which “sparks a connection between artists, performers and the community”
- Jennifer Dowley, President - Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation
- Mary Kelley, Executive Director - Massachusetts Cultural Council
- Hireculture.org “where creative employers and jobseekers click in Massachusetts.”
- Samuel Miller, President - Leveraging Investments in Creativity (LINC)
Our next podcast will take its inspiration from Chris Anderson’s best selling book, The Long Tail. As always, if you have an idea for a blog post or a podcast, leave a comment and I’ll follow up.
5 responses so far ↓
1 Andy Etman // Oct 6, 2006 at 9:55 pm
You start with Wikipedia? Time and time again the information on that site has been proven to be false or just simply the figment of someone’s imagination. You need to go to a site with peer-reviewed sources and legitimate information.
2 Andy Etman // Oct 6, 2006 at 10:12 pm
To follow up my point about Wikipedia not being very good choice for research. Granted, it can be useful. It can be a “first stop” on any given subject. But at a factual level it is very unreliable, and the writing leaves a lot to be desired. I would not depend on it as a source, and I certainly would not recommend it to a student writing a research paper. Too many people regularly edit and add things to the subject matter, and none of it needs to be proven before it is posted as Gospel.
3 admin // Oct 7, 2006 at 9:21 am
Thanks for your comments, Andy. I will be doing a blog entry about wikipedia in the coming weeks, specifically how to read both the public and hidden (comments/history) sections, which I think are where the true power of wikipedia begins to shine through.
If you can find a few examples where you believe the information is wrong, and can provide me with corrections, can you please let me know? I can use them in the entry.
4 Andy Etman // Oct 12, 2006 at 5:21 pm
ORGINAL URL:
1. http://www.thetranscript.com/localnews/ci_4260986
Candidate eyes suit against Wikipedia
By Evan Lehmann
North Adams Transcript Washington Bureau
(part of MediaNews Group Inc.)
PUBLISHED:
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
WASHINGTON — A write-in candidate for Congress is considering suing Wikipedia after anonymous users branded his campaign “inept” and inserted slurs into his biography on the worldwide encyclopedia.Chuck Morse, a Republican who hopes to unseat U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Newton, in November, said he’ll meet with a lawyer to determine if the Wikipedia article “damaged my reputation” and if he can sue. “We’re exploring it,” said Morse, who failed to submit enough certifiable signatures to get on the primary ballot, but will run as a write-in candidate.
He has to receive 2,000 votes, via sticker, in the September primary to appear on the general election ballot in November.
Anyone on the Internet can add, delete or alter Wikipedia content. The encyclopedia entry on Morse claimed that Morse wrote in his book that the Oklahoma City bombing was a “federal plot.” It also said Morse switched political parties to raise money. Morse denies those assertions, and Wikipedia removed them from the entry. Morse stopped short of blaming Frank for altering the Wikipedia entry, but said, “perhaps his very zealous followers did.”
“It’s almost like the mob, when the Don wiggles his finger and a body comes floating down the East River,” Morse said, suggesting Frank may have been a silent participant.
Frank’s office dismissed Morse’s claims. “Certainly, Congressman Frank himself is not involved,” said Dorothy Reichard, Frank’s district director in Newton.
Brad Patrick, general counsel for Wikipedia, did not respond to a request for comment.
Others:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/10/18/wikipedia_quality_problem/
http://www.frozennorth.org/C2011481421/E652809545/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2005-11-29-wikipedia-edit_x.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5055388
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060323-6442.html
http://sourcefrog.net/weblog/software/wikipedia/accuracy.html
5 Andy Etman // Nov 4, 2006 at 8:43 pm
A recent article concerning Wikipedia…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061103/ap_on_hi_te/wikipedia_plagiarism
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