Loomio
Thu 15 Oct 2015 12:06AM

NZCommons & case studies

MM Matt McGregor Public Seen by 47

Mid last year, we started a new site, called NZCommons. It was intended to enable us to publish a wider spectrum of commons-related stuff. We've got a few things in the pipeline, though I'm keen to hear about what folks would like us to publish on. As writing is hard and time-consuming and everyone is busy, we're happy to interview people and publish case studies on both CC licence users and CC advocates around the country.

DS

Danyl Strype Tue 10 May 2016 5:23AM

Personally, I think NZ Commons is worth keeping around as broader umbrella, but perhaps stewardship (ie the costs and time required to maintain the site) could be shared between CC ANZ and a number of other commons organisations, such as the OERf, NZOSS, NZ Open Street Mappers, DigitalNZ, Open Government Ninjas, NZ Makers, WikiHouse?

I think a more diverse range of content could be achieved by having a collective of volunteer 'editors' (with the volunteers rotated regularly to keep it from becoming an onerous task), each affiliated with one of the stewardship organisations, who would seek out and upload articles on aspects of the commons relevant to their organisation. Using the list of organisations above as an example, one 'editor' would cover articles on CC, while another 'editor' would cover articles on open education, another covering free code software, another covering open mapping (OpenStreetMap.org, openGIS etc), and so on.

Does anybody know what the latest thinking is on this at CC ANZ HQ?

DS

Danyl Strype Thu 2 Mar 2017 3:14AM

I notice that no new articles have been added to the NZCommons site since the end of 2015. Is there a need for volunteers to take on editorial tasks for the site (writing articles, seeking articles, finding accompanying images and multimedia, uploading articles etc)? Or has a decision been made to discontinue the site, and leave it up in its present form as an archive?

M

Matt Thu 2 Mar 2017 9:48PM

Heya! Obviously I don't know what decisions have been made now, though I'm responsible for the initial lag at end of 2015. I had a Grand Vision to bring NZCommons back into the CCANZ site (discussed above and elsewhere), but some discussions around development approach coupled with my own technical in-expertise meant I couldn't wrap it up before leaving.

DS

Danyl Strype Thu 2 Mar 2017 11:07PM

Kia ora @matt3 great to see you're still around. Hopefully now that the funding uncertainty is over (or at least kicked down the road a bit ;)) the Advisory Board members and the new Public Lead can start some conversations here about the future of sub-projects like NZ Commons.

KB

Keitha Booth Fri 3 Mar 2017 12:47AM

Thanks, Strypey. This last year, as Interim Project Lead, I have been working only two days a week/ My priority has been to find immediate funding and continue the projects agreed with funders of the time. So, yes,I hope that work with volunteers will get back on track this year as well as work on the websites. Cheers, Keitha

Keitha BoothInterim Public Lead
Creative Commons Aotearoa New Zealand
[email protected]
Mobile: 0274 454 616

DS

Danyl Strype Fri 3 Mar 2017 1:45AM

Thanks for keeping things on track @keithabooth :)

EH

Elizabeth Heritage Thu 9 Mar 2017 1:02AM

Kia ora @strypey, thanks for getting in touch. Yes we tried having a volunteer editorial board, as you may recall, and unfortunately that didn't really work out either. We haven't made any final decisions but we're leaning towards discontinuing the site and folding the NZCommons content back into the CCANZ site. We'll see what the new Public Lead thinks as well (and we're hoping to make an announcement about that appointment later this month).