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Dromoz is
a user-contributed and user-maintained directory of real, physical
places in Malaysia. It is NOT about websites and it is NOT
a search engine. Instead, Dromoz is an experimental project to
test the usefulness of a web resource on actual places; its content is
built and maintained entirely by volunteers.
- The directory is Malaysia-centric
- About real places, not websites
- Organized by regions and topics of interest
- User-contributed content; every user can be an author
- User-regulated environment; every user can be an editor
Malaysia is evolving rapidly.
Towns grow into sprawling cities, suburbs sprout around them, and rural
areas beat a hasty retreat. The pace of development, at times, can be staggering.
New places supplant the old ones. The network of roads connecting these
places gets ever denser. Even printed road maps are outdated before they
reach the store shelves. Sometimes, city folks can become strangers to places
that they have just visited a few months back. Changes are so extensive
and quick that keeping abreast of them all is difficult, if not impossible.
Instead of
fighting the proliferation of places, the Dromoz Project provides
the means for the places to induce their self-delineations.
As places develop, so does the number of people associated with the places
(either using, living or working there). Each of these people can supply
information on a small area that he or she is familiar with, and present
it back to the rest of the population. This approach has scalability in
size because `data producers' can increase in tandem with the places.
By cataloging the contributed information and making it available online,
a knowledge base that benefits all future `data consumers' can be created.
| The Malaysia Catalog Of Places |
Dromoz was inspired
by the Open Directory Project (ODP). Just as the ODP became the most comprehensive
catalog of websites in the World Wide Web through the efforts of volunteers,
Dromoz aspires to similarly become the most comprehensive catalog
of real places in Malaysia.
Although the
Dromoz Project is about physical places, it is also about people
as well. Data is organized using two hierarchical classification schemes,
regional and topical. One is a division by physical areas, the other is
a division by human interests. This dual ontology reflects the fact that
places are inextricably connected with people. After all, a place is what
moulds the character of its people and its people is what makes the place
interesting.
Dromoz
is created to be a useful web resource for everyone. There is no cost
to submit data to the directory. It is also free to use the directory's
content. For in-depth details, please refer to the Terms
of Use.
Why create Dromoz when there are already many good
information sources such as printed maps and travel guides? Indeed, those
information sources do exist. But each medium is different from the other.
When humanity discovered writing, speech did not become obsolete. Radio,
television, newspaper and the World Wide Web exist alongside one another
today. That's because every medium has its own merits.
Therefore, even at a time when technologies
like Geographic Information System (GIS); Global Positioning System (GPS);
computer mapping; and online interactive maps are prevalent, Dromoz
can still be a useful medium of information and communication. The Dromoz
Project brings people together to share what each knows, and to learn
what each doesn't, about places in Malaysia.
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