PSA -- I get mail

The following arrived in my inbox today. Figured it was best to just reproduce it whole. Have at.

-----
Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 14:36:30 -0500
From: kmakice@indiana.edu
To: thomaslknapp@yahoo.com
Subject: PoliticWiki -- Could you help recruit participants in a research study?

Greetings,

I am a graduate student at the School of Informatics doing some research into online political collaboration. I have a 6-month project that is entering its second phase of study (ending by February). In the first phase, I asked the public contacts of political organizations and discussion groups to distribute a recruiting message to solicit participation in "PoliticWiki," a wiki asking members to help build a political platform from scratch. Now, I am asking owners of political blogs to do the same, by posting a call for participants.

I have included below some text that includes a description of the project as well as a link to the consent form (where there is more information). I would appreciate it if you could post this message or some version of it in your blogspace, Knappster.

Thanks in advance,
Kevin Makice
kmakice@indiana.edu

----

POLITICWIKI: Build a Political Platform from Scratch

Researchers in Indiana are currently examining the effectiveness of a wiki in helping multiple authors create a political platform. A "wiki" is an internet site that allows multiple authors to edit pages through the web. Although more than a decade old, wiki forums have only recently started to be used widespread for collaboration projects.

Participants in this six-month study, offered by Indiana University in cooperation with 3rdparty.org, are asked to create a new political party platform from scratch. The findings could help improve and innovate political forums in the future. If interested in participating in this experiment, please go to the following web site URL:

http://www.politicexchange.org/politicwiki/consent.cfm

If you have questions at any time about the study or the procedures, you may
contact the researcher, Kevin Makice, by sending email to kmakice@indiana.edu.
-----