Spotted this post by reika over at educatewandie. What caught my attention was…
… the last line, “Read about your kampong here”, with a link to a Wikipedia entry on ‘Places of Singapore’. Don’t worry, I’m not about to start a lengthy discussion on the pros and cons of Wikis. I see Wikis are a boon rather than a bane. Just that reading Reika’s post reminded me of the issue with Wikis, especially if it’s used as a tool to publish heritage information (here’s one discussion on the general problem with Wikis).
Hence I wonder if Singapore should own our Wiki for our community & heritage information (rather than being hosted outside Singapore), i.e. public-contributions with regular but selective verification from ‘the authorities’. Something modelled after the concept of Wikis, marrying its advantages (ease and speed of updating, minus the red-tape) while minimising potential problems (which is what the “red-tape”, when properly applied, is supposed to do).
Alas, I don’t know nearly enough about Wikis, or have enough experience with it, to offer any concrete ideas here. I’m hoping some who’s reading this might be able to share an idea or comment. Or maybe you don’t see a need for such a proposal.
5 Responses
A wiki is an interesting idea. But I feel things should be kept relatively simple at the moment by building up this blog. Definitely something for the future.
Posted on March 1st, 2006 at 6:22 am
I wasn’t aware of the problem with Wikipedia and thanks for pointing that out. Some of the kampong histories found on Wikipedia gel with what I was told when I was a kid. Of course it doesn’t mean that what I was told (plus what I haven’t read) were true. Nevertheless, I see it as a good starting point for interested parties to dig further.
Posted on March 6th, 2006 at 3:23 am
Actually, if you think of heritage as the interesting stories we have to tell about Singapore, then I’m not so hot about the idea of a wiki for our history. To me, wikipedia reads more like an encyclopedia, but the really interesting personal viewpoints tend to get squeezed out when they decide what to include… and I’d rather hear 5 interesting but unverifiable stories about that tomb on the hill in Tiong Bahru / town area, than the simple fact of its existence and the name of its occupant.
Posted on March 6th, 2006 at 1:31 pm
Hey,i’m all for wiki cos of my experience with IX (InfoXpress) and Singapore Infopedia. It seems the local British Council used the wiki software Jotspot for an inhouse practice (read informal) to formulate their training material. Read about it here Using Wikis on the Intranet: The British Council Case Study, Jun 22 2006, By Maish Nichani
http://www.pebbleroad.com/article/using_wikis_on_the_intranet_the_british_council_case_study/
So using Wikis need not always translate to something formal as in an encyclopedic entry. Am guessing that discussions on an article can also be preserved using Wiki software. Go for it Ivan… i am behind you all the way.. although is rather far away.. ha..ha…
Posted on July 27th, 2006 at 2:53 pm
By Maish Nichani http://www.pebbleroad.com/article/using_wikis_on_the_intranet_the_british_council_case_study/ So using Wikis need not always translate to something formal as in an encyclopedic entry. Am guessing that discussions on an article can also be preserved using Wiki software. Go for it Ivan… i am behind you all the way.. although is rather far away.. ha..ha…
Posted on May 16th, 2010 at 3:01 pm
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