An Introduction to Wikis

Wiki wiki is a Hawaiian phrase for quick, but has come to represent software for quickly putting up webpages, the term was coined by Ward Cunningham, the creator of wikis. What separates wikis from other straight-forward web-publishing software is that wikis are intended as collaborative resources rather than the work of a single author.

Wikis Generally

Wikipedia is arguably the best known wiki, but there are many other wikis. Wikis also do not require any knowledge of HTML (or hypertext markup language), but wikis generally accept HTML coding, making wikis user-friendly for both novice and experienced web users.

Because wikis are collaborative they tend to coalesce around a topic of interest to a community or can be project-based, the wiki works well as a collaboration tool for co-workers in remote offices. Wikipedia's scope is far beyond that of most wikis. Wikis can be set up on any topic or any cluster of topics.

Wiki Index is trying to develop a comprehensive list of wikis on the web.

Legal Wikis

I have a special interest in the law, and there are several legal wikis out there.

Wex is a legal wiki hosted by Cornell's Legal Information Institute. Wex was created to replace the Institute's "Law About" pages. Wex operates under much stricter editorial controls than many other wikis and contributors are evaluated based on subject matter expertise.

A list of all Wex topics is available here. Note that Wex's articles are written from the perspective of American law and at this time it does not encompass alternative legal systems.

The law student wiki at Wake Forest Law School is an example of cooperation among law students. For instance, Civil Procedure outlines page.

See also Wiki Index's Law Page

LIS Wikis

As one might expect, there are several library and information science related wikis available on the web. For instance, the descriptively named Library and Information Science Wiki is a place for practitioners to share information on LIS topics.

Library Success: A Best Practices Wiki is another LIS wiki that focuses more on practical topics.

Finally, the Library Instruction Wiki urges users to stop re-inventing the wheel when it comes to information literacy instruction and instead urges librarians to share information.

Wiki as Subject Guide

St. Joseph County Public Library's wiki is oriented towards the public and allows patrons to browse by subject. While this is a fascinating use of the wiki technology, it isn't a true wiki since only library staff can edit it.

I think once they try to start updating those links and keeping it current, they'll realize that the wiki engine is essentially a light-weight content management system (CMS) and they might be better served with a more robust CMS. You can learn more about the various CMS products at the CMS wiki.

Issues to Consider Before Setting up Your Own Wiki

Already Extant?

Intended Audience

Ease of Use

Editorial Control

Ability to Track Changes & Manage Passwords

Organizational Scheme

Wiki Software vs. Content Management System

Need to Update and Migrate Content

Comparing Wikis

A couple of resources for comparing wiki hosts/farms:

Cunningham & Cunnigham provide a comparison of wiki hosting solutions (or wiki farms) on the mother of all wikis with a quick overview of features and evaluates free versions as well as pay versions, classified by cost.

Pascal van Hecke shares his thoughts when comparing wiki services for a non-technical audience to use.