Google Creates Knol: Invites Users to Share Knowleddge

Google has decided that it needs to get deeper into the knowledge management business! They have announced a new free tool called knol- still in beta - that enables authors who know a lot about a particular subject to write about it. Knol is Wikipedia, but with perks! (meaning it could be paid).

Knol stands for “unit of knowledge” and is used to describe both the project and an instance of an article. Currently, it's still in testing to a limited “invitation only” number of people.

Knol is similar to wikipedia. People with a lot of knowledge on a particular topic can write about it. So why is Google doing this? They say it's because they want to help people share their knowledge; it's about highlighting authors themselves. Google doesn't believe everything is written down and that what is isn't necessarily organized well enough for searchers to discover it. Man these guys are smart!

The basic format of knol is a web page. Authors will get tools for writing and editing content on the web page. Knol will be hosted by Google and will include a number of community tools like comments, questions, edits, ratings, reviews, references and links to additional information. The author's knol can even include ads! Google will provide “substantial revenue share” from the ads to the author.

Knols will cover all sorts of topics: technology, science, medicine, how-tos, history, entertainment - you name it. Google will not provide editorial support. What this means is “reader beware”! Anyone can write about anything, more than one person can write about a topic. The key here is that the author is known, so Google assumes they will do their best to be correct in their dissemination of knowledge.

Participation in knols will be open to all when it goes live. Google will ensure that knols are ranked appropriately in their Search indexes. They will make the content available to any search engine and will not request exclusivity of any content.

Take a look and see a preliminary view of a knol and give us your opinion on this new Google application that will soon see the light!

Google Creates Knol: Invites Users to Share Knowleddge

Google has decided that it needs to get deeper into the knowledge management business! They have announced a new free tool called knol- still in beta - that enables authors who know a lot about a particular subject to write about it. Knol is Wikipedia, but with perks! (meaning it could be paid).

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