I've posted a lot about wikipedia's role in the online classroom. Now, a new and unexpected competitor is in the works. Google recently announced Knol, a collection of user-created articles meant to be the first place readers go for information. Here's what the Google Blog says about the upcoming project:

"A knol on a particular topic is meant to be the first thing someone who searches for this topic for the first time will want to read. The goal is for knols to cover all topics, from scientific concepts, to medical information, from geographical and historical, to entertainment, from product information, to how-to-fix-it instructions. Google will not serve as an editor in any way, and will not bless any content. All editorial responsibilities and control will rest with the authors."

It will be interesting to see how Knol compares to Wikipedia and other content-driven websites. Because users are free to write what they will, it seems that this site will have the same problem as wikis: without editing and oversight these sources cannot be trusted as an authoritative source.