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Wikis

Wikis. Presentation by Stephanie Guerdan, Jason Mooney, Clair Hann, Clare McKendry, and Kaitlin Healy. Introduction. What is a Wiki? A wiki is a piece of server software which allows a group of people collaborate on a website. It uses a simple markup language of only text and links.

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Wikis

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  1. Wikis Presentation by Stephanie Guerdan, Jason Mooney, Clair Hann, Clare McKendry, and Kaitlin Healy

  2. Introduction • What is a Wiki? A wiki is a piece of server software which allows a group of people collaborate on a website. It uses a simple markup language of only text and links. • Wiki” is Hawaiian for the word “fast” • It is also said to be an acronym for “What I Know Is” • Wiki content is written and edited by users constantly

  3. Background • A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. • Markup language is a type of code (like html, for example) that gives instructions on how text should be displayed. • The first wiki software was called WikiWikiWeb and was created by Ward Cunningham and published in 1995. • The best known Wiki is the encyclopedic wiki page Wikipedia.org , but hundreds of wikis exist for various subjects.

  4. Pros • They allow anyone to easily edit any page. No HTML knowledge is necessary to edit pages. • Any web browser can be used to edit a page. • Errors such as broken links, spelling errors and factual errors are quickly and easily corrected by users. Insightful comments are also easily added to any page. • Community users can easily catch and correct malicious content. • Comments by users are integrated directly into the web page. • Key words are automatically highlighted by colored text and linked to another wiki page. • Wikis are free.

  5. Cons • Wikis are vulnerable. All the data on a wiki can be destroyed by automated attacks. • Pages are easily tampered with and vandalized. • Pages and edits are not reviewed before they are posted. • Wikis rely on readers to correct erroneous content which may take a long time if the page is not popular. Therefore less popular topics or pages on wikis are less reliable. • It it difficult to ban single attackers from posting maliciously. Malicious comments are corrected, not prevented.

  6. The Most Popular Criticisms of Wikis • Anyone can edit an entry • This leads to: • Wrong Information • Sometimes articles are written by experts but sometimes they are not • Misinformation • The deliberate placement of wrong information; may be hard to spot • Vandalism

  7. Opinion • Wiki’s provide an easy and fast source for research and projects. • Students working on research reports can easily contribute their new found results. • Unfortunately, the ease of altering doesn’t always make Wiki’s reliable. Students can create wiki’s on anything. If its doesn’t already exist, one can be created to prove a point, regardless of accuracy.

  8. Credits • Slide Show Organized by Stephanie Guerdan • Introduction presented by Clair Hann • Background presented by Stephanie Guerdan • Pros and Cons presented by Jason Mooney • Criticism presented by Kaitlin Healy • Opinion presented by Clare McKendry

  9. Sources • http://webtrends.about.com/od/wiki/a/wiki_downside.htm • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki • http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm • Leuf, Bo and Ward Cunningham. The Wiki Way: Quick Collaboration on the Web. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 2001: 16. • Brain, Marshall.  "How Wikis Work."  13 July 2005.  HowStuffWorks.com. <http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm>  30 November 2008.

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