I spent some time with Michel Bauwens over the weekend as he is visiting to do presentations on his research into peer-to-peer (P2P) at Melbourne University, RMIT and Monash. In our conversations I have not only learnt about his research into P2P but also the methods he uses to do his research. For example, using the social bookmarking tool del.icio.us as means to develop networks and then utilise those bookmarking networks for specific research. This is similar to using RSS to scan blogs, except in this instance the idea is to develop a focused list of bookmarkers who have connections with your research interests. Another aspect that I fund intriguing is Michel’s library training and experience as a researcher which enables him to set up comprehensive approaches towards categorising information. A good example of this is in the structure and layout of the P2P foundation wiki. This wiki is an example of huge resource of material collated and documented around a topic. A key aspect of developing an online resource like this or even as part of the broader process of tagging - folksonomy - categorising is working out relative categories that do not disappear into the information overload. Even tagging bookmarks for del.icio.us is an example of this skill.

I was inspired by the use of a wiki as a place to document and build research. Michel explained how he may start with a simple quote from a source which is collated into a category with referencing recorded back to the source. Quotes around the same subject could be built up under this topic heading which eventually may lead to a more comprehensive personal written response around that specific subject or idea. Using a wiki like this represents the traditional literature review and note-taking of research offline but also provides the ability to link to sources and at the same time shares that research pubically on an ongoing basis. The wiki as a larger resource over time provides an excellent starting point for publishing in other forms.

So, yes I have set up my own wiki ‘net-video’ and will trial this wiki as place to document and build my own research. Up to this point I have been building a significant resource around the video vortex conference using my del.icio.us address, but have felt the need to start funneling this exposure into more substantial outcomes. Of course the blog is tied in with this process where cross references flow back and forth across the two. For example with the P2P Foundation blog, which kind of acts through regular posts as morsels that lead to more substantial meals on the wiki.