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I am looking for a word that represents a place where knowledge is shared. Words like academy or school convey the idea of one-way sharing (from teachers/instructors to students), and I want something where everybody shares knowledge, preferably technical.
The proposed usage is to brand a group where people will meet to share knowledge (and anyone can be a teacher at any given time).
Any ideas?
Thanks!
a colloquium TFD
- an informal gathering for discussion
- (Education) an academic seminar
As in: X = the technical subject
Our x colloquium will begin monday.
b. a public meeting place for open discussion
The club provides a forum for people interested in local history.
c : a medium (such as a newspaper or online service) of open discussion or expression of ideas
Are you thinking of the salon? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salon_(gathering):
Original held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation. These gatherings often consciously followed Horace's definition of the aims of poetry, "either to please or to educate" (Latin: aut delectare aut prodesse).
Personally, I would go for the word Forum, but I notice that has already been suggested.
So, as an alternative, and because it is a word I like very much although I do not think it has quite the same meaning, could I suggest Phrontistery: a place or establishment for thinking, studying, or learning?
[collinsdictionary.com]
Repository, community, colloquy, conference, council, panel, panel discussion, parley, powwow, round-robin, roundtable, seminar, symposium
From some technical perspectives, I would suggest either repository or archive. Both of these words are very similar to each other and generally describe a place where things and/or data are stored. From a technical/computing standpoint, both have some more specific meanings beyond their normal definitions that focus specifically on data/information, which might make them more appealing to use for your purposes.
In computing, a repository is usually a common abbreviation for "data repository". If a programmer is creating a repository, then they are creating a data layer/interface for when other logical blocks of code that are doing a thing a user to access where the data is stored (a database, a file share, whatever).
An archive is a snapshot of a particular data store (again, database, file share, whatever) from a particular point in time and possibly a subset of data that is then stored long-term and not touched unless needed for some reason. Usually, those situations are when researching a current problem that may have been caused by something done in the past, or possibly to recover data that was lost in the live system.
"Archive" in particular also has some pop-culture references to describe a place where one goes to research a problem. For example, the Jedi Archives from Star Wars is described as a repository of knowledge.
Due to their technical meanings and pop-culture references, these terms could be appealing for branding a technical group meeting to share information with each other.
INSTITUTE
An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose.
Often they are research organisations (research institutions) created to do research on specific topics. An institute can also be a professional body, or one involved in adult education, see Mechanics' Institutes.
I was surprised to find that this hadn't yet been mentioned, but based on your description I believe that consortium would fit nicely.
Something like the Consortium of Knowledge while somewhat cheesy, is, in my opinion, apropos. Plus you could call your users CK'ers (seekers)!
This is not exactly a physical place (is an educational institution first and foremost a physical place?), but people who gather at a particular place to share knowledge and study together can be called a study group:
an informal gathering of people who convene regularly to exchange ideas and information on a specific subject.
If you want something that has to do with the world of computers, then consider the term hackathon:
A hackathon (also known as a hack day, hackfest or codefest) is a design sprint-like event in which computer programmers and others involved in software development, including graphic designers, interface designers, project managers, and others, often including subject-matter-experts, collaborate intensively on software projects.
