Wikipedia: the inside story
Andrea Rankin, June 2007
What is a Wiki?
The simplest online database that could possibly work (‘wiki wiki’ means ‘rapidly’ in the Hawaiian language).
Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser.
Open editing encourages democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by non technical
What is Wikipedia?
A free content, multilingual encyclopedia
written collaboratively by contributors around the world
The site is a Wiki - anybody can edit and add to an article. Offers quick understanding on controversial issues. Strong in current affairs.
(Google search: define: Wikipedia)
What isn’t Wikipedia?
It is not an archive (it was decided that
poems and other literary works were not
suited to Wikipedia)
Wikipedia’s dream
‘Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're doing.’
(Jimmy Wales, founder of Wikipedia, Masters in Finance, and nearly a PhD)
Goal: 250,000 articles in every language spoken natively by at least 1m people
(ie 347 languages)
How and why it works
Operates on an open society basis, where people trust each other!
Written by 1000s of volunteers in all languages
Run by a non profit organisation – Wikipedia Foundation
Wikipedia will spend $2-3m in 2007 – all donations (mostly from the USA)
Cost to run Wikipedia - $25-30,000 per month in bandwidth
See Margaret Fulton’s entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Fulton
Free?
Free access (if you have the internet)
Free speech (although it is vigilantly checked)
Freedom to:
– copy
– modify
– redistribute commercially or non commercially
Popularity
9
thmost popular site on the internet; 6
thin Germany; 12
thin India, Japan and Iran
2.23% use cnn.com every day, 6.19% use Wikipedia every day
2005-6 there was a big jump in popularity
How good is Wikipedia?
A study compared Wikipedia with Encyclopedia Britannica
– Wikipedia had an average of 4 errors per article and Britannica 3
– Wikipedia followed up on errors after the study, whereas Britannica just got defensive (according to Jimmy Wales)
How should it be used by students?
RESA Online discusses this
www.unisanet.unisa.edu.au/learn/resaonline/?
PATH=/Resources/LitReview/Methodology+in+
the+social+sciences+and+humanities/&default
=Research+methodology+issues/Wikipedia+as +a+research+tool.htm
Main point – articles are not refereed, so
Wikipedia should be a starting point only
Offshoots
Citizendium http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Main_Page
Aims to improve on the Wikipedia model by adding ‘gentle expert oversight’ and requiring contributors to use their real names – founded by an ex founder of Wikipedia, who was losing sleep at night!
Uncyclopedia http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Anonymous http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Anonymous
Kangaroo http://uncyclopedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo
How can you create a wiki?
Use some free software and web space
eg Wikispaces www.wikispaces.com/
‘Create simple web pages that groups, friends, and families can edit together’
Pick a username
Set your password
Enter your email address
Wikis in universities
1. Education
2. Communication
UniSA courses – for student assessment and
resources eg Information Architecture and Design
Boston College student wikia (Wikia offers free MediaWiki hosting for your community to build a free content wiki-based website)
CaseWiki – an encyclopedic reference about Case Western Reserve University and its surroundings
More examples: School and university projects
