Wiki-What I know is

 First of all I sign up to WIKI as nicweb101. Did you know that WIKI stands for what I know is. I didn't..I must admit I thought that wiki and wikileaks were one.  Not so!

Anyway this week we have learn t about wiki and how it uses a WYSIWYG editor,utilities calibration and allows you to edit in your web browser. The idea for WIKI came from the idea to provide one space that can be simultaneously worked on. An interesting video we watched described it so simply.. using the example of how emails can not be used to collaborate information.

 I like the idea of people being able to contribute to this information but one has to be cautious because you really do not know how authentic the information is, and this why you are warned not to use WIKI for academic research.

 

Activity One - Testing Out Wikitext

Although this activity might seem somewhat trivial, it is important that you experiment with wikitext in order to prepare yourself for Activity Two.

• Open this page in a new window - It contains the first page of the wikipedia editing tutorial (Don't worry, there are only 3 pages of it!)
• Read through the page, then continue to the next page (formatting) and the next (linking)
• Then, use the sandbox link at the bottom of the page to experiment with what you have learned.
• See if you can create a link in the sandbox to an article that already exists on wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_policy_of_the_United_States

• Now contemplate the fact that you could, should you wish to, edit any page on the world's largest encyclopedia!

Since wikitext is designed to be used by someone with no technical skills, most wikis do not allow the use of non-HTML elements such as Javscript, although increasingly wikis are allowing the embedding of Flash and other more dynamic elements.

Activity Two - Knowledge Sharing

In this activity we're going to attempt to contribute to Wikipedia!

• Go to Wikipedia and locate a topic that you know something about. Brokaw Bullet
• Find something that you believe is missing from the article or that you think should be changed.
• IMPORTANT NOTE: DO NOT VANDALISE THE PAGE. Merely make a small change or addition to the content that you feel is warranted.
• Make the change and/or addition. (Don't forget to log the change you have made)
• Return to the page later in the week to see how the community has responded to your input.

 Page changed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brokaw_Bullet

What changes were evident upon your return?



So now I will wait a week and see if anyone makes changes or comments on my changes.