[Blindmath] Wiki

Sat Apr 11 16:54:42 UTC 2009

I agree that this proposed wiki should complement any other efforts.  Mostly
I favor NFB ownership because that will improve the probability that the
wiki will be around for a long time.  Anything set up privately could die if
he owner dies or loses interest.  So I am in favor of any procedure leading
up to a NFB-owned wiki.  Dave Andrews seems willing to b owner if we can
share the editing responsibilities without dumping lots more work on him.
Let's do it!

My suggested arrangement would be similar to a journal.  The owner is
editor-in-chief and would resolve any disputes between an editor and a
contributor.  And possibly chastise or fire an editor if she gets out of
bounds.  Hopefully there will not be any such problems.  Shouldn't be if we
all concentrate on information and not personalities.  

John

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 5:29 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Wiki

Hello John and listers,

    The ideas you outlined below could work. Perhaps someone could serve as
administrator and each person handle posts related to a particular math
subject as you described. If Dave feels he could serve as wiki administrator
great. Otherwise we'll need to find someone else willing to do this. Each
subject moderator would need to review content before it's posted to the
wiki to prevent unwanted content from being displayed there.

 Another idea would be to create a Web site devoted to mathematics and the 
blind, http://www.blind-math.org for example.     A number of the NFB 
Webmasters are working with Drupal and could assist with site setup. Drupal
has features that allow site administrators and moderators to control how
content is posted to the site. The main concern with this idea is that we
don't want to diminish or undermine the efforts being made by the Jernigan
Institute to include this information on the NCBYS Web site. Anything that
would be done along these lines should be to complement the information
posted to the NCBYS Web Site and to avoid duplication of effort.

    Approval for the creation of this wiki or Web site will also need to be
granted. Perhaps one of our divisions could make this one of their projects.

Otherwise the approval will need to come from the national office namely the
NFBJI or from Dr. Maurer. The National Association of Blind Students will be
holding a telephone conference next Sunday. Perhaps we can discuss it with
them as a possible project to undertake. JMO.

Peter Donahue
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Gardner" <john.gardner at orst.edu>
To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'" 
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 5:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Wiki

Peter this is always the problem with a wiki.   Keeping things under control
requires work, particularly by the owner.  Would David Andrews be willing to
be the owner?  If not, could he persuade some other NFB person to do that
job?  To reduce the work on an owner and to keep things organized the wiki
owner could appoint several "editors" on various topics.
Latex: Jason White?
MathML: Neil Soiffer?
Math: Nelson Blachman?
Nemeth Braille - Susan Jolly?
UK maths braille: Michael Whapples?
Statistics: ?
I'd be happy to be the editor for graphics if you'd like.

These editors would then be permitted to post, and as long as they are
willing and are responsible, could continue.  Anybody wanting to post a note
would then submit a doc file to the appropriate editor.  Normally that
editor would then just paste it in.  Note that MediaWiki does a beautiful
job of pasting in doc files.  The wiki owner would then only need to resolve
any disputes.

John

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Peter Donahue
Sent: Friday, April 10, 2009 10:44 AM
To: gpatterson002 at mchsi.com; Blind Math list for those interested in
mathematics
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Wiki

Hello Gary and listers,

    Several days ago I was informed that t
he wiki on the National Association of Blind Students Web Site was disabled
due to inappropriate use by site visitors. I by no means consider the idea
of a Math Wiki dead. When the Wiki is set up checks will need to be put in
place to insure that the wiki isn't used for purposes other than the
dissemination of math-related information. There are two ways this could be
done:

1. Contributors would need to be approved by the wiki's administrator before
they're allowed to make contributions.
2. Material submitted for inclusion would need to be screened to prevent
off-topic and inappropriate information from winding up on the wiki.

    This would mean that someone will need to be responsible for screening
content and contributors to the wiki. Let's keep the discussion going to
find a solution that addresses the need for descemination of math-related
information while protecting the wiki from inappropriate use.

Peter Donahue

 ----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary Patterson" <gpatterson002 at mchsi.com>
To: "'Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics'"
<blindmath at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 11:39 PM
Subject: Re: [Blindmath] Wiki

I believe a wiki would be nice for those of us who don't have experience in
working with LaTeEx. See, I probably have the name bunged up!

Thanks to all who contribute their knowledge and expertise.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindmath-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Alastair Irving
Sent: Monday, February 02, 2009 12:10 PM
To: Blind Math list for those interested in mathematics
Subject: [Blindmath] Wiki

Hi All

I know its been mentioned in the past, but I think we should give serious
thought to having a blindmath wiki.  Several topics recur quite frequently
on the list, and although people could find the answers in the archives, it
would be a lot simpler if the rellevent information was presented in a
logical way in a wiki.

There probably wouldn't be much need to write articles as a lot of content
could just be extracted from the archives.

What do people think?

Alastair Irving

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