What are wikis?
The term “wiki” comes from the Hawaiian word for “fast.” Wiki technology creates a webpage that anyone with access to it can modify—quickly and easily. A wiki is essentially a webpage with an edit button.
Why would I use a wiki?
A wiki allows you to collaborate with others online easily. You can make wikis public or password-protected. Users can add pages or documents to a wiki and edit them—and you can view changes made by different users or roll back to previous versions. Wikis reduce the potential confusion of having multiple contributors to documents or projects.
Who uses wikis?
Community-based organizations, governments, schools/universities, and businesses are using wikis. The most famous wiki is Wikipedia, a free, multilingual, open content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is a blend of the words “wiki” and “encyclopedia.” As of September 2008, Wikipedia had over 10 million articles in 253 languages.1
How are people using wikis to respond to HIV?
- To work with others to create resources such as websites, fact sheets, and policy papers on HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and research.
- To maintain up-to-date resource lists for HIV/AIDS directories.
- To create calendars for HIV/AIDS-related events.
- To manage projects among individuals in different geographic locations.
- To create on-line journals for youth support groups or other social networks.
- To write grant applications.
What technology do I need to use a wiki?
To use a wiki you need Internet access. You also may need a password and login, depending on the security settings of the wiki you want to access. There are many free and inexpensive wikis, such as PBwiki, Wetpaint, and Wikispaces.
Where can I learn more about wikis?
Examples of wiki resources include:
Examples of wikis addressing HIV/AIDS include:
- AIDS.gov’s internal wiki for developing blog posts and other collaborative documents.
- Wikipedia’s HIV
and AIDS pages - International AIDS Vigil, Toronto HIV-AIDS Statistics
- 1 Wikpedia, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia . Accessed on 8/26/08.
Information and resources taken from the AIDS.gov blog.
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