First research steps (aka first posting)

I used ixquick.com because it allowed me to search multiple engines at once to (hopefull) narrow done to the most helpful sites. I used the search terms “wikipedia,” “wikipedia works” and “wiki works.”

“Wikipedia” obviously popped about dozens of sites from wikipedia.org and I chose to avoid those for now to see what information other sites had.

“Wikipedia works” found me this site:

On the website http://howwikipediaworks.com/ the complete book “How Wikipedia Works: And How You Can Be a Part of It” can be found. It was written by Phoebe Ayers, Charles Matthews, and Ben Yates and is funded by No Starch Press. Their biographies are available on the publisher’s (No Starch Press) website.

The mission of No Starch Press (http://nostarch.com/): “No Starch Press seeks to make computing accessible to a broad audience of technophiles and novices alike, and our loyal readers appreciate our unique points of view, our straightforward presentation, and our fearless approach to the complex world of technology.”

The information is current as the book was published in 2008. The site provides information on what type of articles are on Wikipedia to the history of Wikipedia to how to edit Wikipedia, etc. This site provides A LOT of information, but it only has a small section on the sorts of controversy that might arose from Wikipedia use, and decides instead to focus on the structure and technical stuff. I think searching for articles that discuss more of these controversies should suffice. It’s very information, which also makes it rather long.

“Wiki works” found me this:

The website http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki.htm/printable contains an article written by Marshall Brain, who created the site (How Stuff Works) that the article is found on and has a BA in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Masters degree in computer science from North Carolina State University. How Stuff Works is a subsidiary of Discovery Communications (http://corporate.discovery.com/our-company/). I could not find when the article was published.

The mission of How Stuff Works (http://www.howstuffworks.com/about-hsw.htm): “From car engines to search engines, from cell phones to stem cells, and thousands of subjects in between, HowStuffWorks has it covered. No topic is too big or too small for our expert editorial staff to unmask ... or for you to understand. In addition to comprehensive articles, our helpful graphics and informative videos walk you through every topic clearly, simply and objectively. Our premise is simple: Demystify the world and do it in a simple, clear-cut way that anyone can understand.”

The site provides background information about wikis as well as information on how to work with them. It also constantly refers to Wikipedia itself. Unfortunately, at the very bottom of the page it reveals that wikipedia.com is the source for the article. Needless to say that makes the information biased, but at the same time it is still useful for background information.

It also provides a video featuring Jimmy Wales, who created Wikipedia.

It provides these sites as other ways to get information:

Wikipedia.org
WikiWikiWeb
Java-Source.net: Open Source Wiki Engines in Java
SwitchWiki
FCW.com: Wikis find role in community governance