Google Knol - Another way to share your Knowledge

Google recently just announced the open of Google Knol for everyone. Since it first annouced, Google only open this service for invited user only. Now it is finally open to everyone. For more details you can check out this two blog posted by google:



First Annouced: Encouraging People to Share Knowledge

Public Launced : Knol is Open to Everyone

Official Site of Google Knol

This some brief details about knol.

Knol : A unit of knowledge.

A knol is an authoritative article about a specific topic.

Arctic Exploration

A brief history of Arctic explorers and expeditions

by Russell Potter

Fascinated by exploration of the far north? This article will tell you something of its history, especially in the so-called "heroic age" from the 1840's through the early 1900's. Consider it a guidebook for the armchair traveller headed north.

Mouth Guards

What are mouth guards? Mouth guards are dental devices worn on the upper or lower teeth. They can be hard or soft, and...

by Noshir Mehta

People search

Doing a search for people on the Internet is not difficult and you needn’t pay a service like Intellius or KnowX. This...

by Andrew Czernek

Creating a Podcast

It seems simple really. You just get an audio recording program and a microphone, and you're good to go. Right? Wrong....

by Nick Marino

Half-Life (series)

A plot synopsis of the Half-Life PC series. For both new players, in need of catching up, and those who are just plain...

by Aubron Wood

Knol makes it easy for you to write and share your knowledge with the world.

Knol offers:

• Ease of use
  All you need is an account, a name and a desire to write and we'll take care of the rest.
• Control
  You specify the level of collaboration you want with the community. Your knol, your voice.
• Community
  You can connect with other experts in your area of interest to share and grow knowledge.
• Visibility
  We value and promote authorship. Great content will be visible on any search engine.
• Growth
  Sharing your knowledge with the world is rewarding for everyone.

The Knol site has one goal: to help you share what you know.

The Knol project is a site that hosts many knols — units of knowledge — written about various subjects. The authors of the knols can take credit for their writing, provide credentials, and elicit peer reviews and comments. Users can provide feedback, comments, and related information. So the Knol project is a platform for sharing information, with multiple cues that help you evaluate the quality and veracity of information.

Knols are indexed by the big search engines, of course. And well-written knols become popular the same as regular web pages. The Knol site allows anyone to write and manage knols through a browser on any computer.

So what subjects can I write on?

(Almost) anything you like. You pick the subject and write it the way you see fit. We don't edit knols nor do we try to enforce any particular viewpoint – your knol should be written as you want it to be written. Of course, knols are

subject to Terms of Service and Content Policy to ensure a good experience for all users and compliance with applicable laws.

What if someone else has already written an article on that subject?

No problem, you can still write your own article. In fact, the Knol project is a forum for encouraging individual voices and perspectives on topics. As mentioned, no one else can edit your knol (unless you permit it) or mandate how you write about a topic. If you do a search on a topic, you may very well see more than one knol in the search results. Of course, people are free to disagree with you, to write their own knols, to post comments and ratings.

Can I collaborate with other authors?

Of course. For each knol you can choose to write on your own or collaborate with other authors.

Can I write knols in languages other than English?

Absolutely. However, it will take us some time to localize the interface into various languages. Sorry, we cannot pre-announce when any given language will be available.

Can I search for knols on a specific subject?

Yes, you can search on Google or other search engines to find knols, like any other web pages. You can also use the Search button found on the Knol homepage and on each knol to search.

How do I get started writing my own knols?

Here are some links to knols that may be helpful to you:

Basics of Writing Knols

• Creating and publishing a new knol
• Entering text into a new or existing knol
• Using the formatting bar
  

Managing Knols

• Listing all of your knols
• Managing your author profile
  
• Managing versions of your knol
• Specifying settings for your knols

Advanced Knol Techniques

• Inserting Images
• Creating and formatting tables
• Creating links and references
• Working with the HTML source
• Changing your bio/profile

Best Practices: Writing Good Knols

• Things to do
• Things to avoid
• Publishing tips for authors

Knol Bugs and Current Issues

• Indexing and search
  
• Internationalization and localization
  
• Stability, reliability, latency

Where else can I discuss or get help on Knol?

Several authors have noticed that there is a forum at http://groups.google.com/group/knol-users/topics where people share tips and tricks about Knol. Keep in mind that this forum is user-driven and not moderated by the Knol team (although we do take a peek from time to time to look for great suggestions...)

Have other questions? You can also send us email at [email protected].