Monday, December 1st, 2008

University launches Wiki site

Site to be used to educate

By Brenna Hawley (Contact)

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Connect coalition members launched a Web site called WiKUpedia last week.

The site was created from the same software as encyclopedia site Wikipedia. Connect’s goal in creating the site was to create a resource about Student Senate for students, said Riley Dutton, Pittsburg junior and the site’s Web master.

Since the site’s launch on Jan. 27, the site has grown from around 80 pages to 547 articles yesterday afternoon. The site had 21,063 visitors and pages were edited 3,828 times. Like Wikipedia, visitors can edit articles and create new ones.

Creators were concerned about vandalism to the site, but Dutton said it hadn’t been much of a problem yet.

“What’s happened has been more experimentation,” Dutton said. “Some people made a page about their friends.”

Dutton said many different members of Connect are monitoring the site for vandalism. He said he was on the site three to four hours a day.

Curtis Marsh, program director for KU Info, said his involvement in the site began when a creator approached him for help with the article about KU Info. He then realized that the goals of WiKUpedia and KU Info were very similar.

KU Info partnered with the site to provide a tip of the day for the home page. Marsh said he wanted the sites to link back and forth between each other so users can find more information.

“It’s a way to create synergy instead of building two complete sites,” Marsh said.

Marsh said KU Info was always looking for different ways to use the Internet. He said they had thought about creating a Facebook application, but that WiKUpedia was a good way to reach students.

“It’s a neat way for students to educate other students,” Marsh said.

Students are contributing unique information to the site that other students may not know. Mark Pacey, Manhattan graduate student, wrote the first version of the basketball camping article. The article is the fourth most-viewed article on the site according to the home page.

Pacey coordinates the system used to organize camping groups. The system has a defined set of rules that are posted in Allen Fieldhouse but not readily available elsewhere online.

“I’d been looking for a place to put the rules online,” Pacey said. “It was easy web space.”

Pacey also started the KU traditions article, but hasn’t made edits since then. He said the site was a good place for students to write about the University from a student’s perspective.

“Students can put things up there that aren’t necessarily the University’s viewpoint,” Pacey said.

Duke, Clemson and Case Western University all have their own Wiki sites. Mark Sublette, a former Clemson student, is the administrator of the Clemson Wiki. Sublette was also contacted by WiKUpedia creators and has been making form and content edits to the site.

Sublette said the Clemson Wiki grew out of another university project, which had restricted the project.

“Being independent from the Unviersity will give you more latitude,” Sublette said.

Sublette offered advice to the WiKUpedia creators to help them grow the site.

“I told them to expect lots of help on popular topics, but expect to dig into the archives for back stories,” Sublette said. “For stories on professors and when departments were started, expect to look them up.”

Despite starting last week, WiKUpedia is already a registered organization at the University.

“I want to increase awareness of student government and happenings at the University in general,” said Austin Kelly, presidential candidate for Connect. “We want to put it all in one place that’s easy to get to.”

To see the site, visit www.connectku.com/wiki. ­­

—Edited by Daniel Reyes

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