2007 Ellen Callinan

Walking in a Wiki Wonderland

International Law 2.0: How to Maximize Technology for Research & Scholarship

ASIL Annual MeetingFriday, March 30th, 2007 - 10:45 – 12:15

Presented by Ellen CallinanCallinan the Librarian

2007 Ellen Callinan

What is a wiki?

a web-based discussion site [LLRX]

a collaboratively-maintained database

[Adam Smith]

a group-editable website [Social Text]

a collaborative website which can be

directly edited by anyone with access

to it [Wikipedia]

2007 Ellen Callinan

What does a wiki look like?

WikiLawhttp://www.wikilaw.org/index.php?title=Main_Page

2007 Ellen Callinan

How do you edit a wiki?

2007 Ellen Callinan

Is a wiki really that simple?

2007 Ellen Callinan

Ward Cunningham

The Father of Wiki

2007 Ellen Callinan

Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia FounderCo-Founder

2007 Ellen Callinan

Wiki Success

2007 Ellen Callinan

Campbell case (CAFC)

[Court rejects Wikipedia article on a

febrile seizures]Jimmy Wales,

Wikipedia Founder

[Edits own article to delete co-founder]

Congressional Vandal Scandal

[Congressional staff vandalized Members’ articles

on Wikipedia]

Wiki DisgraceSeigenthaler Vandalism

[Kennedy assassination claim posted in

Wikipedia as a joke]

Middlebury College bans Wikipedia as Source

2007 Ellen Callinan

Why do we need to care?

2007 Ellen Callinan

PTO Patent Review Pilot

[http://dotank.nyls.edu/

communitypatent/system.html]

WEX

[http://www.law.cornell.edu/

wex/index.php/Main_Page]

WikiLaw

[http://www.wikilaw.org/

index.php?title=Main_Page]

Public Wikis in Law

WikiCrimeLine

[www.wikicrimeline.co.uk]

Civil Law Dictionary Wiki

[http://civillawdictionary.pbwiki

.com/]

Jurispedia

[http://en.jurispedia.org/

index.php/Main_Page]

2007 Ellen Callinan

Wikis for Legal Scholarship

• Can be open or closed• Allows remote

collaboration within dispersed groups

• Central repository for group documents reduces email

• Thread and document modes capture content and discussion

• Impermanence of content

• Flaming happens• Navigation is clunky• Lack of economic

incentive• Measures of quality

unclear at this time

v.

2007 Ellen Callinan

Elements of a Wonderful WikiStart with a group of knowledgeable, respectful,

motivated people collaborating on a project who will:

• Employ a third person neutral point of view (NPOV)

• Link early and often• Be bold – the wiki mantraAdd a wiki application software that:• Tracks edits and version control• Offers some level of security to prevent vandals

and block trolls by IP address• May include reputation ranking to add credibility

2007 Ellen Callinan

Play in the Wikipedia Sandbox

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Tutorial

2007 Ellen Callinan

Try Your Own Wiki

Go to WikiMatrix.org and use Wiki Choice Wizard (http://www.wikimatrix.org/wizard.php) to figure out which

wiki would work best for your test.

2007 Ellen Callinan

And in conclusion . . .

Winter, spring, summer or fall . . .

The time is always right to go for a

walk in wiki wonderland!

2007 Ellen Callinan

The End?

Only the beginning . . .