2011 Emerging Technologies: Wikis

A wiki is server software that allows users to freely create and edit web page content using any web browser. Wikis are created mainly by a collaborative effort of site visitors. An excellent example of a wiki is Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can change alone or together as a group. The first ever wiki site, WikiWikiWeb was developed in 1994 and installed on March 25, 1995 by Ward Cunningham. Wikipedia was launched on January 15, 2001 by Jimmy Wales and Larry Sanger. Wikipedia includes 15 million freely usable articles in over two hundred languages worldwide, and content from a million registered and anonymous contributors. Most wikis are open to the general public and there is no review before modifications are accepted. Many edits can be made in real-time and appear almost instantaneously online. Three characteristics of wikis include: pages and editing, linking and creating pages, and searching. Wikis influence millions of people worldwide. Wikis can be used to produce the following: to-do lists, operation manuals, event planning, storing contacts, solving FAQ's, and to collaborate with various people.