Steel Guitar Wiki

[Jonathan Slyker]

Thanks, Jeff, for your well-informed view. The wiki scenario we're talking about is one that starts now and proceeds into the future, right?

But what a lot of folks are pining for is the input going way back in the forum, and also the comments of the greats.

So maybe now we're talking about 2 different projects: one past and one future.

So to mine existing sources, is there an IT solution to the task, for example, of organizing the info in SGF posts about copedents (present and/or past)? If netflix can know what movie I'll like, can the computer see patterns, threads, themes, and cut out the "garbage?"

Let's say an IT guy/gal were to start the task of analyzing the posts theme by theme. We would all feel it was fair to have to pay for something like that that gives "instant gratification."

I would think that it would be ethical, regardless of the law, to request permission to cite each virtuoso steeler's comments.

The issue arises that a top tier player will not want his comments and info used to turn a profit to somebody else. Who would blame them.

I think players would feel ok if the money went into a kitty to be managed by a group of trustees. We'll call it the PSG foundation. Can we use the first few bucks to rent a real piano for the ISGC?

[Dave Mudgett]

Sure, you can do lots of things with wikis, but I was going by this comment in the original post and others like it:

What prompted this thought is that I've been trying to find an MSA steel, and I was looking for some history and the difference between some of the models. I was also advised not to get a push/pull, so I was also curious to understand some of the mechanics behind it and why it's ill-advised. Since none of this information is exactly easy or simple to find, I think it would be a great resource.

That sounds, to me, like trying to catalog settled knowledge that people are arguing is 'hard' to extract from the forum, and most of the interest in this over the years here, at least, has gone to that. FWIW, I don't think it's the slightest bit hard to extract info like this [e.g., advantages vs. disadvantages of push-pull vs. all-pull systems] from the forum using any reasonable search engine and a few well-formed searches. If you were to put this kind of info in a wiki, that would definitely be trying to 'catalog settled information'. My concern is that the process of cataloging can lead to very undesirable filtering and revisionism if it's not done by people who really understand things with good breadth and depth. Count me in as an 'original source' kinda' guy.

As far as this goes:

A practical example... If there were a PSG wiki, there might be a page that lists upcoming seminars and conferences. That could be updated regularly. That wouldn't be anything like an encyclopedia.

... the steel guitar forum already has that kind of stuff covered in spades in the various announcements sections like these

http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewforum.php?f=4
http://bb.steelguitarforum.com/viewforum.php?f=31

For 'community-of-practice' issues, I really think the forum approach is easier to administrate and easier to assess the information owing to the transparent nature of the postings. I also just 'like' that approach better for such matters and we already have a forum dedicated exactly to this. I really think the utility of wikis is mainly in the wikipedia world. But YMMV, no problem there. The OP asked for opinions, and that's what we're getting here.

BTW, I teach information sciences and technology at a major university, I'm really not ignorant about these issues. Some people really like wikis - go for it if you feel like that. Others prefer forums, and IMHO we have the best music forum on the internet right here. I think a 'community-of-practice' steel guitar wiki is trying to re-invent the wheel, but again - if you really believe in a wiki, go for it. But if you do that, I think you would be wise not to ignore the concerns raised here.

[Dave Mudgett]

I just noticed this:

So to mine existing sources, is there an IT solution to the task, for example, of organizing the info in SGF posts about copedents (present and/or past)? If netflix can know what movie I'll like, can the computer see patterns, threads, themes, and cut out the "garbage?"

Let's say an IT guy/gal were to start the task of analyzing the posts theme by theme. We would all feel it was fair to have to pay for something like that that gives "instant gratification."

I would think that it would be ethical, regardless of the law, to request permission to cite each virtuoso steeler's comments.

The issue arises that a top tier player will not want his comments and info used to turn a profit to somebody else. Who would blame them.

I think if you start to mechanically data-mine the SGF, there are many possible issues. IMO, first you need to talk to b0b. I also completely agree that you are ethically bound to ask permission to publish posts by anybody, regardless of what you think about legalistics. I don't think most people mind occasional and casual quoting, but wholesale publication of the ideas of other people, especially for-profit, requires permission. It's easy enough for anybody here to include a copyright in their signature, and I think if you go this way, many people may feel the need to do that.

As far as technology goes, sure there are ways to data-mine information like this. But ultimately, it requires very knowledgeable practitioners to make sense out of the output, and it is that filtering and interpretation process that concerns me. I also think that someone who is knowledgeable about steel guitar and has reasonable historical perspective about this forum could do this manually - if they were so motivated.

Still, to me, this is a solution looking for a problem.