New Web Site For Kaitiaki Mäori

Innovative web site to be launched for kaitiaki Mäori

Tënä koutou katoa - (greetings to you all)

Last Thursday saw the launch of a new web site for Mäori involved in environmental and heritage management issues. Faced with a growing workload to protect the heritage of their people, Mäori working in these fields suggested a web site to ease communication and information sharing.

Project team member Greg Ford explains: "The site is based around participation. It is innovative in using a new software concept called 'trust metrics' which have been used with good success in the free software community on sites like www.advogato.com. Trust metrics ensure that those community members who are recognised for their contribution are given the greatest influence over the content and management of the web site. In this way we can encourage information sharing and organic growth of the site, whilst ensuring the focus of the site is on the issues identified by the community collectively."

Mäori environmental and heritage guardians are encouraged to visit the site at www.kaitiaki.org.nz and join up as new members. Indigenous people and other interested groups are invited to visit and browse the public documents and databases on the site.

The web site management software is based on mod_virgule by Raph Levien (http://www.levien.com/) and is released under the GNU public licence; source code may be downloaded from www.kaitiaki.org.nz .

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