[Jagera]

A very rough draft... looking for places to improve

Quote: World Assembly Repository of Knowledge

Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

The WA:
-RECOGNIZING the inestimable value of knowledge of a nations history and culture,

-DESIRING to safeguard such information from destruction and loss, deliberate or unintended,

-WISHING to increase ease of access to such knowledge,

-REALIZING unrestricted access to information is inappropriate in some cases

1.CREATES the World Assembly Repository of Knowledge (WAROK)

2. MANDATES the WAROK to:
a) receive and maintain archives of all forms of knowledge and information
b) accept submissions only from national governments and legal publishing entities
c) allow free access to those records in the public domain
d) restrict access to copyrighted, patented, or secret government information unless the owner of such information consents or the copyright/patent/classification has expired

3. ESTABLISHES several sites for the WAROK, each to contain all the information collected

4. ENCOURAGES all nations, whether or not WA members, to contribute to the WAROK

5. SUPPORTS the idea of nations creating their own parallel Repositories of Knowledge[/quote]

*EDIT: Stupid forum... you make one teensy spelling mistake in the topic title (Wa instead of WA) and you can't change it. :angry:

[Antrium]

No, actually it de-capitalizes the second letters in words. So you probably typed it right and the forum screwed it up. If that makes you feel better

Quote: World Assembly Repository of Knowledge

Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

The WA:
-RECOGNIZING the inestimable value of knowledge of a nation's history and culture,

-DESIRING to safeguard such information from destruction and loss, deliberate or unintended,

-WISHING to increase ease of access to such knowledge,

-REALIZING unrestricted access to information is inappropriate in some cases,

1.CREATES the World Assembly Repository of Knowledge (WAROK),

2. MANDATES the WAROK to:
a) receive and maintain archives of all forms of knowledge and information,
b) accept submissions only from national governments and legal publishing entities,
c) allow free access to those records in the public domain,
d) restrict access to copyrighted, patented, or secret government information unless the owner of such information consents or the copyright/patent/classification has expired,

3. ESTABLISHES several sites for the WAROK, each to contain all the information collected,

4. ENCOURAGES all nations, regardless of WA membership status, to contribute to the WAROK,

5. SUPPORTS the idea of nations creating their own parallel Repositories of Knowledge.[/quote]

I added some punctuation. (That's really all I'm good for. )
I also rephrased part of clause 4. It sounds better to me that way.

I like the idea, I haven't seen any similar proposals.

The only thing I can think of to criticize is that maybe it's a bit vague?
For example:
"several sites": Where? How many?
"allow free access": How do they access it?
"all forms of knowledge and information": A song might be important to culture, and I wouldn't consider a song knowledge or information.
That might be a bit picky, and perhaps it should be vague, but yeah. That's all I came up with.

[Federalist]

I agree with Antium on the points. And I know I'm probably being a little anal here but who is going to oversee this? Fund? What approval process (if any) will the information go through before archival? Are all archives going to have the same information or different archives hold different sets of data? Will there be a internet connection with all of these documents uploaded for people to use?

I probably went a little overboard, but you wanted suggestions....

[Jagera]

Quote:   No, actually it de-capitalizes the second letters in words. So you probably typed it right and the forum screwed it up. If that makes you feel better [/quote]

Yep. Definitely.

Thanks for the feedback; that's the type of things I'm looking for. I'm working on addressing the issues in a 2nd draft, but here are my thoughts on them so you can see where I'm going (in a mixed up order):

who is going to oversee this? Fund?
I guess I may have to reword this slightly to make it clear: this is to be an organization in itself, so it will oversee itself (under the WA) and be funded from it.

"several sites": Where? How many?
Will be up to the organization. I know this clause was badly worded; it was a last minute addition as I realized backups might be needed to fulfill the mandate.

Are all archives going to have the same information or different archives hold different sets of data?
All the same. They are to function as backups and multiple public access points.

What approval process (if any) will the information go through before archival?
I'm thinking none. I am restricting the submissions to governments and publishers, so while some information may be grossly wrong, hopefully other submissions will counterbalance this. Besides, who is the WA to definitively say what a nation's own culture is?

"allow free access": How do they access it? / Will there be a internet connection with all of these documents uploaded for people to use?
My mind's eye envisions the concept like a Great Library, so I was thinking library type access, but all documents in the public domain would be available on the internet and other similar apparatuses.

"all forms of knowledge and information": A song might be important to culture, and I wouldn't consider a song knowledge or information.
I should better define this, because the definition should include songs, traditions, costumes, but also government documents, scientific discoveries, books, etc. I guess I should be careful on this, though, as I don't want some government submitting the entire internet, for example, in print form, or giving a lot of physical samples. Maybe the entire collection should be electronic, with only one or two physical backups... after all, now that I bring up some of this, the project could get a little preposterous. Of course, if I do this, I'll have to make sure there will be physical points of access for our less technologically advanced friends to use.

[Jagera]

Draft 2: (I still can't believe I missed the apostrophe in "nation's". I'm usually a grammar nazi in my own writings!)

Quote: World Assembly Repository of Knowledge

Category: Education and Creativity
Area of Effect: Cultural Heritage

The WA:

-RECOGNIZING the inestimable value of knowledge of a nation's history and culture,

-DESIRING to safeguard such knowledge from destruction and loss, deliberate or unintended,

-WISHING to increase ease of access to such knowledge,

-REALIZING unrestricted access to knowledge is inappropriate in some cases,

-DEFINING knowledge as anything that enhances understanding of a nation including, but not limited to, history, culture, politics, geography, and scientific achievements as well as any information that contributes to the advancement of civilization as a whole,

1.CREATES the World Assembly Repository of Knowledge (WAROK) as an independent organization funded by the WA,

2. MANDATES the WAROK to:
a) receive archives of all forms of knowledge and information,
b) maintain archives in both virtual and physical forms, with emphasis on the virtual,
b) accept submissions only from national governments and legal publishing entities,
c) allow free access to those records in the public domain through both physical sites and virtual access through international networks, with resources to access virtual archives at physical sites,
d) restrict access to copyrighted, patented, or secret government information unless the owner of such information consents or the copyright/patent/classification has expired, as well as to any information condemned by the WA,

3. EMPOWERS the WAROK to establish sites as necessary, each to contain access to all information collected,

4. ENCOURAGES all nations, regardless WA membership status, to contribute to the WAROK,

5. SUPPORTS the idea of nations creating their own parallel Repositories of Knowledge.[/quote]

I tried to incorporate the concerns raised. Instead of defining the number and location of sites, I leave that up to the WAROK itself. I also added the rider to the end of 2(d), as I realized otherwise it could allow child porn and the like to be freely accessed (you could argue it's a part of a nation's culture and include it. That's a sick nation, but the argument could stand. On another note, it could include bomb building instructions, and the like).

[Antrium]

JageraApr 30 2008, 07:18 PM 2. MANDATES the WAROK to:
a) receive archives of all forms of knowledge and information,
b) maintain archives in both virtual and physical forms, with emphasis on the virtual,
c) accept submissions only from national governments and legal publishing entities,
d) allow free access to those records in the public domain through both physical sites and virtual access through international networks, with resources to access virtual archives at physical sites,
e) restrict access to copyrighted, patented, or secret government information unless the owner of such information consents or the copyright/patent/classification has expired, as well as to any information condemned by the WA,

4. ENCOURAGES all nations, regardless of WA membership status, to contribute to the WAROK. [/quote]
Some super small fixes there.

I still think your definition of what should be included should be more broad, as I still don't think it incorporates things like songs, or film, or a novel, or even a flag. "All forms of knowledge and information" means facts and ideas to me. I don't know how you could word it to include those things...maybe someone else does?

I do like your addition to 2. (now e.), I hadn't thought about that. That is a valid concern.