Jeff Miller's Big Idea Creativity seeking form

Evidently, Google has recently released a new service called Knols. It defines a "knol" as a unit of knowledge. The Knols service has similarities to a wiki, but some significant differences, too.

I prefer a term of my own creation: "knowton" (rhymes with "proton"). You can think of it as a particle (or yes, unit) of knowledge, or something knowable.

What is the essence of a knowton?

• It is something describable or expressible.
• It is usually something nameable or identifiable.

What are some characteristics of knowtons?

• They can be related to other knowtons
• They can often be broken down into other knowtons

Examples of knowtons:

• words
• people
• places
• things
• concepts

A knowton is something you could ask a question about:

• "What is 'that'?"
• "Who is 'that'?"
• "Where is 'that'?"
• "What does 'that' mean?"

Information devices that contain knowtons include (but are certainly not limited to):

• glossaries or dictionaries
• indexes
• newspapers
• encyclopedias
• wiki pages
• credits in a movie
• books
• high school yearbooks (people)
• phonebooks (people and businesses)
• web pages
• radio and television programs
• or basically, any source of information with identifiable units of "askability"

When expressed in electronic systems, a knowton can have attributes:

• identifiers
  • numbers or codes
  • names
  • aliases
  • URIs
• description
• location
  • Example: geocoding (latitude and longitude)
  • URLs (similar to URIs)

Challenge: Spread the Meme!

What do you think? Do you like the term "knowton?"

If you think the term "knowton" is cool, usable, or meaningful, try using it in a conversation today, and see what kind of questions or reactions you get.