Crowdsourcing

The challenge with an audiobook based on a newly coined word is that after about five hours the reader gets the point--and there's still another five hours to go. In this case, WIRED reporter Jeff Howe has coined the term "crowdsourcing"--when a company takes a task previously done by employees and outsources it in the form of an open call to a large, undefined group of people. (Think Wikipedia and iStockphoto.) Explaining the concept works fine in print as the reader can skip about, and it works even better in Howe's crowdsourcing blog, but it doesn't seem to gel in audio. Considering that Howe speaks publicly--frequently and quite convincingly--on the subject, the audiobook might have been better served by his narration rather than Kirby Heyborne's meticulous and careful delivery. R.W.S. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine

Starred review from January 15, 2009
Journalist Howe introduced the term crowdsourcingthe process by which the power of the many can be leveraged to accomplish feats once the province of the specialized fewin a June 2006 Wired magazine article; here, he expands on that concept. He cites examples of the application of crowdsourcing by such companies as NetFlix and YouTube, also discussing the drawbacks of the phenomenon. However, he remains confident that, under the proper circumstances, crowdsourcing offers tremendous benefits to society. Reader Kirby Heyborne (Little Brother) does a stellar job presenting this thought-provoking work, sounding appropriately serious or funny as warranted. Recommended for all audio collections. [Audio clips available through library.booksontape.comStephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. Lib., Parkersburg

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