Walking in a Wiki Wonderland

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Walking in a Wiki Wonderland

• International Law 2.0 How to Maximize Technology
  for Research Scholarship
• ASIL Annual Meeting
• Friday, March 30th, 2007 - 1045 1215
• Presented by Ellen Callinan
• Callinan the Librarian

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What is a wiki?

• a web-based discussion site LLRX
• a collaboratively-maintained database Adam
  Smith
• a group-editable website Social Text
• a collaborative website which can be directly
  edited by anyone with access to it Wikipedia

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What does a wiki look like?
WikiLaw http//www.wikilaw.org/index.php?titleMai
n_Page
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How do you edit a wiki?
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Is a wiki really that simple?
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Ward CunninghamThe Father of Wiki
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Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia
Founder
Co-Founder
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Wiki Success
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Wiki Disgrace
Congressional Vandal Scandal Congressional
staff vandalized Members articles on Wikipedia
Seigenthaler Vandalism Kennedy assassination
claim posted in Wikipedia as a joke
Middlebury College bans Wikipedia as Source
Campbell case (CAFC) Court rejects Wikipedia
article on a febrile seizures
Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder Edits own article
to delete co-founder
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Why do we need to care?
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Public Wikis in Law
Civil Law Dictionary Wiki http//civillawdictiona
ry.pbwiki.com/
PTO Patent Review Pilot http//dotank.nyls.edu/co
mmunitypatent/system.html
WikiLaw http//www.wikilaw.org/index.php?titleMa
in_Page
WEX http//www.law.cornell.edu/wex/index.php/Mai
n_Page
WikiCrimeLine www.wikicrimeline.co.uk
Jurispedia http//en.jurispedia.org/index.php/Mai
n_Page
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Wikis for Legal Scholarship
v.

• Can be open or closed
• Allows remote collaboration within dispersed
  groups
• Central repository for group documents reduces
  email
• Thread and document modes capture content and
  discussion

• Impermanence of content
• Flaming happens
• Navigation is clunky
• Lack of economic incentive
• Measures of quality unclear at this time

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Elements of a Wonderful Wiki

• Start with a group of knowledgeable, respectful,
  motivated people collaborating on a project who
  will
• Employ a third person neutral point of view
  (NPOV)
• Link early and often
• Be bold the wiki mantra
• Add a wiki application software that
• Tracks edits and version control
• Offers some level of security to prevent vandals
  and block trolls by IP address
• May include reputation ranking to add credibility

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Play in the Wikipedia Sandbox
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WikipediaTutorial
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Try Your Own Wiki
Go to WikiMatrix.org and use Wiki Choice Wizard
(http//www.wikimatrix.org/wizard.php) to figure
out which wiki would work best for your test.
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And in conclusion . . .

• Winter, spring, summer or fall . . .
• The time is always right to go for a walk in wiki
  wonderland!

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The End?
Only the beginning . . .