Being that we’re into technology, we love seeing others in our industry embrace some of what is offered out there in the wired world. And that’s what the The University of Georgia’s Bugwood Network is doing: They started the BugwoodWiki. A wiki, just in case you’re wondering, is a community powered and supported internet reference site or collection or pages. It’s defined by Wikipedia, the undisputed mother of all wikis, as follows:
A wiki is software that allows users to create, edit, and link web pages easily. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites. These wiki websites are often also referred to as wikis; for example, Wikipedia is one of the best known wikis. Wikis are being installed by businesses to provide affordable and effective Intranets and for Knowledge Management. — Wikipedia
Why the BugwoodWiki?
So what’s the deal with the BugwoodWiki you may be be wondering. Why have another wiki when there’s already the well-known and immensely popular Wikipedia? Here’s what the BugwoodWiki folks have to say about it:
The purpose of the BugwoodWiki is to provide a source of reliable information for homeowners, scholars, industry professionals, and researchers. Despite the considerable merits of Wikipedia, it is unlikely that it will gain the full support of the academics and professionals due to its open nature. However, “wiki” technology does provide great promise in it’s ability to centrally consolidate information, promote collaborative writing, and provide a channel of authoritative information for academics, extension personnel, and industry professionals as well as the general public. — BugwoodWiki (about page)
What It’ll Offer
In a nutshell the BugwoodWiki will offer peer-reviewed authorship (written by “scholars” like us) of various resource articles on subjects pertaining to a wide variety of horticultural- and agricultural-related topics ranging from different kind of plants, projects, and even an entire section of commercially available biological controls. The BugwoodWiki also features and extensive and ever-growing image database.
Check it out. It’s just-launched so much of the content still needs to be written, but you may recognize its great potential. It’s worth keeping an eye on, which is, of course, facilitated by way of their recent changes page. Stay tuned!
