Wikis: A Comprehensive Overview

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Wikis A Comprehensive Overview

• By Brian McFarland, Alex Wolfe, Becker Jeung,
  Victoria Burges, Paul Weidinger, and Hang Zueng

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Definition Of Wiki

• According to Oxford English Dictionary, wiki is
  defined A type of web page designed so that its
  content can be edited by anyone who accesses it,
  using a simplified markup language.
• Wiki means fast in Hawaiian language

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History of Wiki

• In 1994, the very first Wiki tool was created
  by Ward Cunningham on his website, Wikiwikiweb.
• In 2001, Wikipedia, the largest open content
  encyclopedia was launched.

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How it was developed

• First Site WikiWikiWeb
• Developed by Ward Cunningham in 1994, and he
  installed it on the Internet domain c2.com on
  March 25, 1995.
• The simplest online database that could possibly
  work."

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• Origin of name Cunningham, remembered a Honolulu
  International Airport employee telling him to
  take the "Wiki Wiki" shuttle bus that runs
  between the airport's terminals.
• Inspiration Apple's HyperCard. Apple had
  designed a system allowing users to create
  virtual "card stacks" supporting links among the
  various cards. Cunningham developed this idea by
  allowing users to "comment on and change one
  another's text.

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Wiki Growth and Uses

• Early 2000s Wikis were increasingly adopted in
  enterprise as collaborative software.
• Common uses project communication, intranets,
  and documentation, initially for technical users.
  Wikis are used in business to provide intranets
  and Knowledge Management systems.
• Wikipedia a collaborate encyclopedia one of the
  best-known wikis.

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How Wikis Work

• The Wiki model allows anyone to edit, and relies
  on a large number of well-intentioned editors to
  overcome issues raised by a smaller number of
  problematic editors.
• No article on Wikis undergo formal peer-review
  process and changes to articles are made
  available immediately.

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The Good Things about Wikis

• Wikis are incredibly easy to use and flexible.
• Its creator actually referred to them as the
  simplest online database that could possibly
  work.
• Since anyone can access and edit the information,
  wikis allow for rapid updates to keep up with the
  times, and can amass large amounts of varied
  information.
• Faster and more efficient method for group
  communication than sending thousands of emails
  back and forth
• Provides a common ground for collecting,
  organizing and sharing knowledge and experience.
• Faster, more widespread, and efficient
  communication.

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Criticisms of Wikis

• Wikis have been criticized because their easy
  writability leaves them open to vandalism by
  anyone on the internet.
• Their pages are not necessarily well monitored,
  and it can be easy for a living person to be
  defamed by their page on a wiki, with no chance
  to respond.
• The anonymity of the internet means that those
  who perpetrate these acts of vandalism or slander
  cannot be held accountable.
• The point of view of articles in wikis can often
  be slanted in one direction or another, despite
  attempts to ensure a Neutral Point of View

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Our Recommendation

• We the Wiki group hereby state that wikis are an
  excellent piece of technology worth of our
  interest, and formally recommend that wikis be
  given a more prominent place and society, and
  recognized as places of information every bit as
  legitimate as more traditional sources.