Applying Contemporary and Collaborative Web Applications to a Geo-Knowledge Tool

To enhance use of an existing data archive of a park management organisation, a research project is underway that is developing a methodology for a geo-knowledge tool. The digital archive comprises different media types that are predominantly geo-referenced, and the question to be investigated is whether emergent Web 2.0 and geographic Web applications can be applied to such a tool. The participatory and collaborative nature of Web 2.0 results in passive and active user generated information and gives rise to a collective intelligence. If captured, these have potential organisational, economic and other benefits. Sharing information can benefit organisations by capturing knowledge from less traditional sources available on the Web. Organisations and special projects have applied these principles and used collaborative Web applications to generate and capture user generated data including in the geo realm. If the quality of these data can be assessed, could these non-traditional data sources potentially enrich the existing park management data archive and fill information gaps? Can traditional data be amalgamated with data from non-traditional sources to form an effective geo-knowledge tool for data access, assist with decision making and improve park management?