[COMM-ORG] Wikipedia Community Organizing Entry

[Discussion list for COMM-ORG]

[ed:  thanks to David for continuing the discussion.  As I move COMM-ORG 
to a content management system, one of the things it will have is a blog 
where we can work on things like a definition.]

From: "David Chavis" <dchavis at communityscience.com>


Thanks for taking this on. I was at a meeting of funders  in a large 
city n CO recently and they used the Wikipedia definition (which i found 
very weak) . Noticed that even the COMM-ORG site doesn't have a 
definition. I understand that many believe it may be near impossible to 
get a generally accepted definition, but what an important challenge to 
address.

BTW, I have found many factual errors in Wikipedia, it is the first to 
come up when doing most topical searches. I do caution the use of it if 
facts and accuracy is important to you.

david



On 3/1/2009 9:37 AM, Discussion list for COMM-ORG wrote:
> --------
> This is a COMM-ORG 'colist' message.
> All replies to this message come to COMM-ORG only.
> --------
>  
> [ed:  apologies for the delay in posting this week.  Minor crises and 
> travel got in my way.]
>
> From: Aaron Schutz <schutz at uwm.edu>
>
>
> If you type "community organizing" into google, the top result is the 
> Wikipedia entry.  When I realized how limited the article was about a 
> month ago, I took it upon myself to slowly rewrite it, mostly from the 
> ground up.
>
> I invite comm-org listerv members to take a look and critique if they 
> are so inclined.  If you want to help write, you should familiarize 
> yourself with the established procedures and guidelines of 
> Wikipedia--actually pretty interesting.  Contact me on my talk page, or 
> use the discussion page for the entry if you have issues.
>
> The current article, in addition to whatever failings it still has, 
> especially needs an expanded section on international organizing (as the 
> flag at the top notes).  There are also other sections, sometimes 
> sentences, I left because I simply wasn't sure about them.  
>
> Since Wikipedia is a key information source for the public, those on 
> this list might want to also take a stab at other entries, including 
> "Saul Alinsky."  In this new world, this is the kind of thing I think we 
> need to keep track of if we hope the wider public to slowly learn what 
> "organizing" is.  
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community_organizing
>
> You can also look at how many visits a particular wikipedia page has here:
>
> http://stats.grok.se/
>
> Community organizing seems to run about 15-20,000 hits a month recently, 
> with 70,000 in September.  Alinsky gets more.
>
>
>
> Aaron Schutz
> Associate Professor & Chair
> Dept. of Ed. Policy & Comm. Studies
> University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
> P.O. Box 413
> Milwaukee, WI 53201
> Office: (414) 229-4150
> Fax: (414) 229-3700
> Website: www.educationaction.org
>
>
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