social software in academics

I'm still trying to find my way around social software, and I'm even wondering what isn't social software, because it seems like everything qualifies. To go along with this ubiquitous nature of social software, people are suggesting that forms of this software are becoming more prevalent in the academic sphere, which is of huge relevance to us.

if:book has many articles that talk about networked writing in academia. A few things that struck me as more interesting--

1) Google offers public domain downloads. These days, this isn't anything new, since public domain documents have always been available online, but we--or rather, I--keep forgetting that this wasn't always the case. The book publishing industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, and making texts available online won't significantly affect their earnings, but there are advantages for us, the consumers. These days, I don't buy all my books anymore. As an English major, there's lots of books to read, but I often either go to the library, or find downloadable versions online. As a consumer, I'm thankful that books are finally available for free. To me, the idea of putting books online in downloadable format refocuses the attention on the books as material to be read rather than commodities that make profit.

2) Another post talks about liberating the textbook from textbook publishers, and having students generate their own academic material. Part of the attraction is the spontaneous, organic, creative, collaborative generation of material by students. I totally support such a process. Although I don't think textbooks--especially math and science ones--should be phased out, I think that in more social science classes, collaborative production of knowledge is essential to the learning process, rather than being fed information from merely texts. Classes can have individual projects, but taking it one step further to produce actual academic texts for collective/future use would be even more productive for students. That way, they'd also save hundreds of $$ that would've gone to buying textbooks. Some may complain that this could be potentially very disorganized, but that's where the professor comes in as guidance and bearer of academic knowledge/experience. And to resolve the issue of having material for students to read in the meantime, I think professors should buy one copy of a text and then scan everything into PDFs so students have access and not have to pay. If enough professors do this, then textbook publishers will lose money (which I will be very happy about) and feel the pressure to lower costs of books.

3) I also read on one of the sites (i can't seem to find the exact article no matter how hard i try) an article about wikipedia being used in the classroom. How do most people feel about using wikipedia as a research/academic tool? I definitely refer to it all the time when I need background information on research topics. I find it much more useful than more "legit" encyclopedias that aren't able to be edited by anyone. It's interesting and understandable that this collaborative feature makes it at once very comprehensive and also sketchy. I tend to forget that it's sketchy, though. I usually use it to check up on quick facts without giving it a second thought.

4) And finally, a post which talks about how the digital world has facilitated the process of compiling a new edition of the Oxford English Dictionary. This, to me, is a good direction for collaborative writing and the internet. Turning the dictionary into a collaborative project instead of a top-to-bottom academic text produced by an elite group of academics makes the OED a more egalitarian text. Of course, not everyone will have their say and the process will continue to be very elitist, but I think engaging readers to be active in the production of the book is a step in the right direction.

So, in conclusion: yay for social software in academia!