As you may know, I create a monthly newsletter as part of my means of supporting and encouraging teachers in their use of computers and software in the classroom. On the front page, I use a Tag Cloud as a means of letting visitors to the newsletter site know what’s inside in terms of content this month. It’s also a way to show people how to use the cloud as a way of demonstrating content. Here’s last month’s.
![Wordle_February[1]](http://dougpete.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/wordle_february1.jpg "Wordle_February[1]")
That previous sentence was difficult to type because the terminology that I used, “tag cloud”, isn’t the way that I normally refer to it. I would normally say “I use a Wordle” to show the content.
Wordle is an online “toy” that creates clouds of words from input that you provide. The more frequently a word appears in a text, the larger it appears. It’s really a visual histogram. The developer, Jonathan Feinberg, adds all kinds of options for colour, design, and orientation of the text within the Wordle. In education, the term “wordle” has become the term that you use when talking about tag clouds.
I use the service for a number of different reasons and follow the author’s wishes for attribution of his work in the newsletter itself. Over time, it really isn’t needed – everyone knows what a Wordle is these days – but it’s a way of sending some kudos and giving credit to the author.
So, it was with great surprise when I went to http://www.wordle.net yesterday to generate a Wordle only to find the message that the site was offline until further notice. Apparently, there is a legal claim to be addressed with respect to the copyright of the term “wordle”. Until that issue is addressed, the site looks like it will be offline. Tech Crunch has an interesting article here this morning.
I opened a search in my Twitter client to see how the world is responding. The messages and support for the developer are flowing. Good intentioned folks are offering alternatives services.
It will be interesting to follow the resolution to this. Since this is a free service, you wonder if there is funding behind the scenes or will this be tackled with personal finances should it proceed to the courts. Is the copyright holder seeking money for the term? If so, how do you put a value on something offered for free? Would copyright issues go away if the server was relocated to a country with different rules? How fickle are Wordle users? Will they jump to another service? How many lesson plans scheduled for tomorrow will be affected?
Let’s hope for a speedy resolution.
