A number of years ago, I created The URL Clearinghouse. This is a collection of instructions for creating URLs to databases and e-journals licensed by libraries from publishers.

I became interested in this work because I maintain the EZproxy configurations for my library. Figuring out the appropriate URLs each time a new publisher came along was a chore. And when it was time to create new URLs from the same publisher, I had to look up the information on the publisher's site (if it existed) all over again. Even after my library got SFX, many of us still had to create URLs in various locations on our Web site. And I still had to come up with new proxy server configurations.

When I imagined my colleagues all over the world doing the same thing, I was struck by the fact that this scenario just didn't scale. You see, I'm into scale. Reinventing the wheel doesn't sit well with me.

I proposed the idea of a clearinghouse at a presentation at The Charleston Conference. The audience was all for it - especially if I was willing to create it! The idea was exciting to me, so I forged ahead. I built a database on my library's installation of SQL Server, populated it with data, programmed a public search and retrieval application, and The URL Clearinghouse was born.

Maintaining this data on my own - currently for 59 publishers - has been difficult. Over the years, I've wondered if there might be a way for the community to work together on this project. There have been a few interesting suggestions for enhancements that I haven't had time to make. I certainly couldn't create a publicly-accessible data input form that would be writable to our secure database server.

Times, thankfully, have changed. Web 2.0 has come along, so now there's a way to open this resource to community input. Today, I moved The URL Clearinghouse to a public wiki: http://urlclearinghouse.wikidot.com/.

I selected the Wikidot platform because of its very good features. It's far superior to, for example, PBWiki. (In fact, I created a new version of the Clearinghouse on PBWiki and ended out deleting it. The results just weren't that good.) Wikidot is currently in beta, but it's a great beta, and even more features are on the way. There's some risk involved, because it's the project of one developer, Michal Frackowiak. But I'm glad to support his project and help give it traction. He's used only open source software to build Wikidot, and I'm all for it.

As with anything, there are pros and cons to making this move. The community might not be interested in helping to maintain this resource. Because the wiki will be open to edits by anyone with a Wikidot account, abuse might take place. But that's always the risk - and adventure - of openness in the 2.0 world.

The positives of opening up this resource outweigh all. I'm looking forward to seeing what the community chooses to do with it.