Wikis Wikis Everywhere

It would seem that mankind has embarked upon a most ambitious endeavour...writing our own encyclopedia. Now, you may say wait a minute, we already have encyclopedias, to which I would answer, yes, we do already have encyclopedias. But this is a different kind of encyclopedia. Mankind as a whole (or at least those that have Internet access) is writing it, in a grand group effort, rather than the "old" way where select researchers and editors get to determine what makes it in and what doesn't.

Of course, I am talking about Wikipedia. As a very liberal minded academic I find the concept of wikis simply amazing. On the practical side, however, there are some issues that arise. While doing some in depth research (Wikipedia of course, what else?) I came across some interesting information on Trustworthiness and Security. Given that our topic is wikis this week, I'd actually recommend the whole article! Here's an excerpt:

"... It sounds like offering free spray cans next to a grey concrete wall. The only likely outcome would be ugly graffiti and simple tagging, and many artistic efforts would not be long lived. Still, it seems to work very well."  - Ebersbach, 2008

I would like to suggest to you that searching on Wikipedia, or any other wiki for that matter, is no different than looking up information from any other resource, digital or not. Yes, we have some that are unequivocally trusted...the undisputed repositories of knowledge in a particular 

field. That is, until someone else comes along with a new technique or way of thinking and disproves all that we held true. What now? Well, a wiki simply evolves. Now when someone uses it they get the new information! The trick though is to ensure that the information there is updated and accurate and that only happens when users contribute and entries are somehow validated. This usually involves verifying, in some way or another, the credentials of the contributor. So we no longer have "open access" but "open access to those we trust to know something about this subject". I can live with that I guess.

I thought that would mention that I debated tying this post to Wikipedia because it brings a lot of conceptual baggage along with it. So, why did I? I think that Wikipedia exemplifies all of the good and bad points of wikis (they even summarize them on their own site!). As a teacher and researcher, I can stretch the list of pros a little longer: I can use a wiki to EXEMPLIFY why students need to question resources they use. Wow! How about that!? By getting students to follow the references and dig a level or two deeper, they learn how to critique information; a very important skill in the world we live in today. In addition, they become of other, hopefully, more reliable resources.

In closing, I should say that I have been using wikis for about a year now (Wikipedia longer but never contributing) and love them. The ability to collaborate with colleagues is astounding and the tools are simple to use. What else could someone ask for?

Thanks for reading.