Consultant Dialog – Nicole Hallberg – Part 1

April 18, 2020

Hi, Stan
These questions are meant to grab your thoughts and goals as they exist right now. They might shift, coalesce or change completely as we go through this process. Go with your gut and what feels right, right now. We're not going to worry just yet about what's feasible or what your goals "should" or "should not" be, just what they are right this minute.

The Why

What is the role of "serendipity" in this project?

Serendipity has a great deal to do with what I'm doing. It's how I work in the world. I grab on to ideas and opportunities as they show up.

Has the wiki succeeded in its purpose _if_ it becomes a place for some people to get hit with the right info at the right time, by happenstance, like a community corkboard where folks can pin flyers, notices and business cards?

Yes, in part. I like to think that some people (perhaps a lot of people, some day?) will be able to browse Wikidelphia in their process of "Exploring Digital Philadelphia." But, its role for "notices" is limited. Instead of posting time-sensitive information, we reference pages for projects that offer their own Event Calendars

Or would you like it to be more specific, strategic and structured than that?

Wikidelpha currently has four main types of entries:

1. As an Index, Wikidelphia has pages that reference websites and other media.
2. As a home for curiosity, Wikidelphia has "Question" Pages.
3. As a repository of reference material we've built "Resource" Pages.
4. As a pool of things that "could" be, I love building "Idea Pages" and other people have contributed ideas of theirs as well.

When is the Wiki succeeding in its purpose?
- When it is creating opportunity?
- When it answers someone's very specific question?
- When it supports/fosters a community of well-connected people?
- When it tackles a general social problem?
- When it helps solve a Philadelphia-specific problem? Several?
All? None of these?

YES, All of these, plus more... can it promote helpfulness? Can it help to move humanity away from people killing, exploiting, and degrading each other and the planet?

What DON'T you want to see Wikidelphia be or become?

I don't want it to become a commercial cesspool.

Would you like to see Wikidelphia operate more like an up-to-the-minute reference library, or a museum archive? Or somewhere in the middle? Or both?

Neither of these... It's an index to 1)PEOPLE 2)other reference sites, 3)enterprises, 4)cultural sites, 5)activists, 6)advocacy groups.

Is this an online version of the Everything for Everybody store, or is this the spiritual successor to it which happens to exist online? Or are they completely unrelated in your mind?

Everything for Everybody was a storefront that I now describe as "Craigslist on Three by Five Cards." The difference between Everything for Everybody and Craigslist is the active participation of the store staff. Wikidelphia and the other ideas are an extension of the desire I had to have collaborator staff in every neighborhood where a wonderful tool would help to identify appropriate matches among the needs and resources of the clients of "Information Advocates."
Wikidelphia is a collaborative reference tool called for in Librarians for the Community.
The "Librarians" would be "Information Advocates" as described in Idea: CrowdHelping
The systems that allow for Crowdhelping is called Social Media Level Two

If someone were to email you tomorrow with exciting news about Wikidelphia, what would be the best thing that message could say?

They would be saying how they were able to grow their network and collaborate with new people to make an impact on the causes they support.