http://www.nooron.org/know/conversation_pattern_language Conversation Pattern Language is a pattern which describes an overview of conversation for collaboration. These conversations allow the declaration of Contexts, which can be other pattern languages, allowing a group to name its patterns of discourse, as well as evolve them over time. This language allows a conversation to evolve over time, coevolving what we know with what we don't know. Some of these patterns which may shape this process are listed below. Action Pallet This is the set of actions participants might do within a conversation. This couples the discussion with behavior, so that participants can see what they can do, what others have done, and replicate whatever successful activities Discussion Policy This is a list of the patterns which are used in this conversation. These patterns may be defined in pattern_languages (e.g. uplift-pattern_language , glossaries (UMLS for medical disease information), or dictionaries (standard English dictionary.) Policy Shell Discussions are threaded groups a communication, perhaps email, instant messages, news posting, blog entries, RSS aggregations, or other knowledge objects which are threaded together into a discusion in the context of the conversation. Thread Shell Expansive conversations are those which include the Unknowledge pattern language, which allows the shell to use named voids, growing the context of the conversation adaptively. RestrictedShell Shell Policy The greeter is a context for greeting newcomers to the conversation. They are introduced to the contexts employed in the conversation, the most active threads of discussion, and given a chance to familiarize themselves with the styles of the group. Participant Policy This defines the intent of a conversation, the goals the participants seek to reach as a result of interacting. Different Participants may declare different intents, which is visible to all. Context Participant Policy A list of the participants in a conversation, including agents and people. Participants are tracked by the degree of activity in the conversation, their preferred contexts, reputation, etc. Discussion This describes the policies which determine the interaction within the conversation, for example, the ability to add participants, the copyright status of the information contributed to the conversation, the privacy policy, acceptable use standards, etc. Context Participant A Restricted Shell constrains a conversation to know terminologies and contexts. ExpansiveShell Shell Linguistic Shell The Linguistic shell of a conversation is the set of contexts within which communication is intended. I ExpansiveShell RestrictedShell Context Policy A specific thread within a discussion. Discussion WITT Protocol WITTY Conversations Conversations may be linked to a stack of Contexts which then shape the conversation. These contexts may be declared at the outset of the conversation, or may be declared during the conversation itself. Conversations which are structured by the patterns contained in the contexts are said to be Witty. Ludwig Wittenstein said, "That whereof we cannot speak, thereof we must remain silent." The Witt protocol allows speakers to describe NamedVoids which thereafter allows them to speak about what is unknown. A simple instance of this is in the Wiki protocol, in which users may use Wiki words which then appear with a "?" after them. This creates a NamedVoid to be filled in later. The Witt protocol allows the graceful flow of a conversation, adding richer contexts of discourse. Pattern Weavers are able to look at the NamedVoids appearing in discourse, and collect them into future patterns and contexts. Greeter Context ExpansiveShell Discussion Thread