I’m very pleased to announce that UBC Graduate School of Journalism has been awarded a $15,000 grant to work with CBC Radio 3 to research and develop a Canadian music wiki website.

The aim is to create a “Wikipedia” of Canadian music that will enable Canadians to share their passion and enthusiasm for music, collaborating together to create a rich, online resource.

I’m excited to be supervising the partnership, with UBC journalism student Amanda Ash interning at CBC Radio 3 to work on the creation of the wiki.

UBC j-student Amanda Ash will work on the project

Amanda is currently an intern at the Victoria Times-Colonist. She has freelanced for the Vancouver Sun, CBC Radio 3, the Edmonton Journal, Exclaim! Magazine and more. Arts and culture reporting is her area of specialization, but music journalism is her forte.

The funds are being provided under the MITACS ACCELERATE Internship Program, which is Canada’s leading program offering students the opportunity to apply their research to real-world issues.

Under the scheme, MITACS is providing half of the funding towards the internship, with the rest coming from the project’s industry partners, CBC Radio 3.

Amanda will be working with CBC Radio 3 to develop a user-generated, online website focused exclusively on Canadian music and Canadian musicians, using wiki software.

From a research point of view, the project will help us evaluate the value of user-generated content in general, and specifically through wiki social software, within Canada’s public broadcasting system.

CBC Radio 3 has a reputation as one of the most innovative areas of Canada’s public broadcaster, with a track record in developing new media projects that help people discover Canadian music. This project will build on these initiatives by providing an opportunity for Canadians to be involved in the creation of an interactive digital cultural content product on Canadian culture.

The MITACS ACCELERATE Internship Program connects up-and-coming graduate student researchers in any faculty or department with B.C. companies for short-term, applied research projects that address a key business or technology challenge.