It’s no secret that the software known as a Wiki has managed to change the world. The obvious examples like Wikipedia have shown that it is possible to hand over editing power to distributed teams of researchers, editors, and “gardeners” — but can any organization leverage this approach? Maybe.
Many of the organizations that I work with have asked about the potential of using a Wiki as part of their technology strategy, and eventually they ask for some good examples — not quite at the Wikipedia scale — that they can use to sell the idea to their co-workers. So, having answered that question a few times now, I thought I’d just do a short run-down here and — hopefully — keep it updated (with your help!).
Keep in mind, these examples (and the ones I’m interested in) focus on: positive social impact, non-commercial activities, community engagement, a user-friendly interface, and a critical mass of entries.
So, here we go:
SourceWatch: A collaborative project of the Center for Media and Democracy to produce a directory of the people, organizations and issues shaping the public agenda.
Congresspedia: The “citizen’s encyclopedia on Congress” that anyone can edit. Another project by the fine folks at the Center for Media and Democracy.
BillHop.com: A Wiki for Legislation and Issues of the Day.
Debatepedia: Debatepedia is the new free wiki encyclopedia of arguments and debates.
DavisWiki: The definitive resource for Davis, California. (One of my favourite examples of a hyper-local city wiki!)
Rochester Wiki: The People’s guide to Rochester, NY.
Transition Towns: The aim of the site is to be a focal point for all towns, villages, cities and localities around the world that are self-organising for an energy-lean future.
WikiCancer: A place for people with a connection to cancer to share real-life experiences — fears, insights, stories and advice
And, just for fun, you should probably check out Wookieepedia — The Star Wars encyclopedia that anyone can edit.. If you’re interested in the software itself, there’s a good list of Wiki software found on the Wiki Matrix.
Have other great examples? Please pop them in the comments.
UPDATE: I’ll be doing a follow-up on event-specific Wiki examples next week.
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Hi there Phillip,
Toronto and Mississauga now have their very own city wikis at
Both are based on the largest English language city wikis that the folks in Davis California and Rochester, New York have put together: http://www.daviswiki.org/ and http://RocWiki.org both of which you mention above.
Wikisauga just got launched and Torontopedia! is well into the seeding of pages stage, where entries are being created with an initial few sentences or a photo.
Both city wikis need all the help they can get.
Everyone is invited to improve the basic seed entries or better still, create their own pages for what they would like to see on Torontopedia!
Just like the ["Literature"] page ( http://www.Torontopedia.TYO.ca/Literature ) created this morning by ["Amy Lavender Harris"] ( http://www.torontopedia.tyo.ca/Users/alharris ) of Imagining Toronto.
Think of Torontopedia! as the people's guide to Toronto by Torontonians for Torontonians (and the occasional visitor).
Don't know what a wiki is or how it works? You can start with our introduction page:
http://www.Torontopedia.TYO.ca/Introduction
If you're already hip to wikis, here's a page that needs a little tender loving care...
http://www.Torontopedia.TYO.ca/Community_Bandwidth
After that, we hope that you'll log in and edit your own userpage and start adding and editing other pages, we need all the help we can get!
HiMY SYeD
Co-Founder
http://www.Torontopedia.TYO.ca