eSchool News describes the effort to develop a new information source called the Digital Universe. The resource appears to aspire to be a higher quality version of something like wikipedia. Individuals will have the opportunity to contribute, but provisions have been built in from the beginning for greater supervision of resource development provided by “stewards.” It appears some, but not all resources will be available at no cost. I see that Dr. Lawrence Lessig, Chairman of the Creative Commons Project, is a member of the board of advisors.
Presently, the Digital Universe exists as a grand plan, a general structure, and a few examples. It will be interesting to contrast this venture with wikipedia and perhaps to see how Google responds to both should these ventures take off. Not certain I understand the funding model at this point, but corporate and individual donations are a part.
