Wikinfo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wikinfo, formerly known as Internet-Encyclopedia (renamed in January 2004), is an online encyclopedia and a fork of the English language Wikipedia[1] initiated by Fred Bauder in July 2003. It is hosted by ibiblio.
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[edit] Wikinfo policies
Rather than adopting Wikipedia's neutral point of view editorial policy, Wikinfo's policy on a contributor's point of view is to edit for a sympathetic point of view.[2][3] This policy endeavors to present a subject or concept in a favorable light. A main article is written from a sympathetic point of view, described as "a way of encouraging a pluralism of content, rather than limiting content to an unattainable encyclopedic goal."[4] A critical article in the style of "[Main article title]: A critical view" is likewise encouraged. A set of articles about a particular topic are split into a number of articles with a specified point of view—thus Wikinfo can have several points of view on each topic, each linked to the other at the top of the article.
Users of Wikinfo feel this policy is a way of escaping debilitating edit wars (disagreements in which wiki editors undo one another's changes repeatedly), which they perceive to be frequent on Wikipedia. They aim to avoid becoming "hamstrung by squabbling sysops getting legalistic about their biases," as Wikinfo user Proteus describes Wikipedia.[5] Some Wikinfo users appreciate the fact that their submissions are not edited as frequently as on Wikipedia.[5]
Wikinfo accepts and encourages original research from their writers, and states: "Creativity and diversity are strongly encouraged in our articles. This means we do not encourage the capricious generation of factoids, but the deeper connections and discussion of new patterns revealed to us by other knowledge."[6]
[edit] Importation and modification of articles
Wikinfo uses the GNU Free Documentation License for most of its text, which allows verbatim copying and modification as long as derivative works remain licensed under the same terms. Wikinfo also supports signed articles, which are not subject to substantial editing by others and can be released under another license.[7] In contrast with Wikipedia, Wikinfo does not allow unregistered editing; this is done to prevent vandalism and protect users' privacy, as unregistered users still have their IP addresses publicly revealed and recorded. As of December 2006, there is some activity on Wikinfo, with a small number of articles edited each day. The site lists approximately 30 "active editors" from some 1,800 user accounts. There are 26 administrators, including Bauder himself.[8]
By December, 2006 Wikinfo had approximately 35,700 articles, most of which have been copied from Wikipedia with minimal modification.[citation needed] The process of importing articles has been accelerated by using an interface called GetWiki, a highly modified version of release 1.1.0 of the MediaWiki software (2003) used to power Wikipedia and other websites. The intention of GetWiki's author, M.R.M. Parrott, was to add some new features to MediaWiki, but it was decided to fork the codebase from the MediaWiki project in January 2004.[9] Instead of red links, GetWiki uses green links to point to articles which do not exist locally.
When the user follows such a link, GetWiki tries to dynamically fetch it from the wiki designated as an external source (in Wikinfo's case, the English Wikipedia), then renders and displays the article text. A local copy is created only if the page is edited. Effectively, Wikinfo therefore provides a transparent "wrapper" around Wikipedia pages which have not yet been copied.
[edit] See also
Other general-purpose wiki encyclopedias:
- Wikiweise (German)
- WikiZnanie (Russian)
- Susning.nu (Swedish)
- Enciclopedia Libre (Spanish)
- Citizendium (English)
[edit] References
- ^ Roy Rosenzweig (June 2006). "Can History Be Open Source? Wikipedia and the Future of the Past". The Journal of American History 93 (1).
- ^ Joseph M. Reagle Jr. (2004). A Case of Mutual Aid: Wikipedia, Politeness, and Perspective Taking.
- ^ Erik Möller (2005-04-11). Der Stein der Wikis. Telepolis.
- ^ Wikinfo: Sympathetic point of view. Retrieved on September 12, 2006.
- ^ a b Wikinfo: Village pump. Retrieved on September 12, 2006.
- ^ Wikinfo:About. Retrieved on December 22, 2006.
- ^ Wikinfo: Signed articles. Retrieved on September 12, 2006.
- ^ Wikinfo:Site summary. Retrieved on December 22, 2006.
- ^ GetWiki:1.0. Retrieved on February 7, 2007.
[edit] Further reading
- Klobas, Jane et al. (2006). Wikis: Tools for information work and collaboration. Oxford: Chandos Publishing. ISBN 1-84334-178-6. OCLC 63136958. pp 45-46.
[edit] External links
| History of Wikipedia | |
|---|---|
| Main articles | Bomis · Nupedia · Wikipedia · Wikimedia Foundation · Wikimania · MediaWiki |
| People | Jimmy Wales · Larry Sanger · Tim Shell · Wikipedia community |
| Events and individuals | Alan Mcilwraith · Blocking of Wikipedia in mainland China · Congressional staffer edits to Wikipedia · Essjay controversy · Henryk Batuta · Joshua Gardner · Seigenthaler controversy · QuakeAID |
| Related projects and forks | Citizendium · Enciclopedia Libre · Interpedia · WikiZnanie · Wikinfo · Wikitruth · Wikiweise |
