Since 2003, the Center for Media and Democracy has sponsored Sourcewatch, an online directory of the "people, issues and organizations shaping the public agenda." Sourcewatch is powered by Mediawiki (the same software that powers Wikipedia) and is designed to serve as a wiki-based, collaborative research tool for journalists, activists and anyone else who is interested in understanding and influencing politics and public policy. Projects that are part of Sourcewatch include:

• Congresspedia, an encyclopedia of every member of Congress, candidates for Congress, legislative, campaign donors, etc.
• CoalSwarm, a shared information tool for groups and individuals on issues such as coal mining, coal-fired electrical generation, coal-based synthetic fuels, etc.
• TobaccoWiki, an online research project that explores the millions of pages of previously-secret, internal tobacco industry documents now posted on the Internet.
• The Nuclear Issues portal, which studies the individuals, lobby groups, PR companies and trade associations involved with the nuclear power and and nuclear weapons industry.
• Front Groups, a collaborative project with Consumer Reports Webwatch to identify front groups which pretend to be independent while actually representing hidden special interests.
• The Superdelegate Transparency Project, which compiled information on the role of superdelegates in the 2008 Democratic presidential primary.

CMD research director Sheldon Rampton and senior web developer Blake Hall will describe the origins of Sourcewatch, discuss experiences and lessons learned to date. He will also describe upcoming plans to add social networking features to Sourcewatch and will ask workshop participants for advice on how to improve Sourcewatch as a collaborative research tool.