The Case Wiki

Wiki (a Hawaiian word meaning "quick") pages are essentially collaborative software tools that allow many users to gather and publish information. By far the best-known use of the software is the Wikipedia, which now contains 1.6 million entries in English alone (it also has counterparts in nine other languages as well). But its uses are hardly limited to collaboratively written encyclopedias. My friend Anton Zuiker also used the tool brilliantly to efficiently manage an astoundingly ambitious science blogging conference he recently co-organized in North Carolina's Research Triangle (more about which soon).

I also mentioned in my year-round roundup a few weeks ago that Case Western Reserve University would be building one to help the historian editors gather more and better information for the next edition of the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. But the official Case wiki is about so much more. According to this article from Case Magazine, the Case wiki "lowers the barriers to publishing information" and "offers students a new pathway to learning." Says one law professor, who uses wikis in his legal writing class, "given the right authorship group, I think it can produce a terrific product"--in this case, a legal brief. Please note the nice wiki-like touch to the story. According to the author credit line at the end of the piece, no fewer than three writers contributed to the article.