A wiki (or wikiwiki) is a website that can be updated or edited by anyone. Wikipedia is an wiki encyclopedia which is a very useful resource. The entries are well written and hyperlinked to other resources. Check it out.
When I first encountered the concept I was skeptical, thinking that pranksters or people with an agenda to push could re-edit and contaminate the content. While there seem to be attempts at this (George W. Bush and John Kerry are among the most edited entries.) it seems to be self correcting because others can correct and invalid edits can be removed.
So far most of the entries I have read have seemed accurate and valuable and some have provided unexpected insights. For example, I was reading the entry on the first amendment to the constitution which included interesting information on the use of "free speech zones" to limit the activities of protesters which has arisen since September 11. I have found multiple wikipedia entries to be more current and comprehensive than the corresponding entries in traditional encyclopedias.
Posted by apopheniac at October 10, 2004 09:43 AM