What's a Wiki?
A wiki (pronounced "wicky" or "weekee") is a collaborative online encyclopedia that allows any user to edit any page.
'Wiki' comes from the Hawaiian word for quick. Read the Wikipedia's entry on wikis here.
Some Examples of Wikis
General Knowledge:
- Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/
The world's most comprehensive encyclopedia, the wikipedia is a volunteer-run collaborative project that has seen over 1,000,000 articles since its inception in 2001.
- DisInfopedia -- http://www.disinfopedia.org/
Sponsored by the Center for Media & Democracy, the Disinfopedia is "a collaborative project to produce a directory of public relations firms, think tanks, industry-funded organizations and industry-friendly experts that work to influence public opinion and public policy on behalf of corporations, governments and special interests."
- Wiktionary -- http://en.wiktionary.org/
A related project of the Wikipedia, the Wiktionary is "a collaborative project to produce a free multilingual dictionary in every language, with definitions, etymologies, pronunciations and quotations."
- Wikiquote -- http://en.wikiquote.org/
Also a member of the Wikipedia family, the Wikiquote is "a free online compendium of quotations in every language, including sources (where known), translations of non-English quotes, and links to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/) for further information."
- FoxPro Wiki -- http://fox.wikis.com/
The Visual FoxPro Wiki is a site for software developers who use the VisualFoxPro software for them to discuss the ins-and-outs of the program.
- Romance Audience Project - Bowdoin College
A Bowdoin College Professor brought together his teaching and a wiki to allow his students to annotate and discuss poems. The site, the Romance Audience Project, was used in Mark Phillipson's English 242 Class in the spring semester of 2003. ()
- Army's Counter-Insurgency Manual
Not sure what will become of this one, but Liberals Against Terrorism has posted the Army's counter-insurgency manual as a wiki. The hope is to use thousands of people's knowledge to help craft a manual that will be more useful to our troops overseas.
Wikis in the News
- Wired Magazine tells the story of Wikipedia in its March 2005 issue. ("The Book Stops Here," by Daniel H. Pink. Wired, March 2005)
- The AP explores wikis
- The Faith-Based Encyclopedia -- the former editor-in-chief of the Encyclopædia Britannica offers a none-too-flattering review of his open source competitor Wikipedia. (Tech Central Station, November 15, 2004)
- Wiki start-up JotSpot draws crowd for product beta (Computer World, October 29, 2004)
- Also, check out the The World's Shortest Wiki