Internet in Medicine University Course: Wikipedia and Medical Wikis

The 4th week of the Internet in Medicine university accredited course was focusing on Medical wikis and Wikipedia.

First slideshow on medical wikis.

• We need wikis for collaboration, teaching, organizing events, etc.
• Definition and history of Wiki
• Wikis in plain English:

• Medical wikis, featuring two examples: Askdrwiki and Radiopaedia
• How to launch a wiki on Wetpaint
• Semantic Wikis? Wikiproteins
• Classification of diseases, WHO project using a wiki in ICD classification
  
• 3D Wiki = Second Life?

Take-home message:

If you want to share and create content online, a wiki is a great tool to use.

I’ve been a Wikipedia administrator since 2006 so this topic is really close to my heart. Second slideshow is dedicated to Wikipedia issues.

• Facebook + Google + Flickr (=) Wikipedia
• How to build an encyclopedia? Pay professionals? Certainly not.
• I believe in the power of masses.
• Wikipedia statistics, history (Larry Sanger, Jimmy Wales)
• 10 most visited websites in the world: Wikipedia is the 6th one.
• Why is Wikipedia great? (Free, fast, comprehensive, discussions, easy to edit, objective, etc)
• Why it isn’t great. (Almost the same reasons)
• Vandalism and how we fight it: Huggle
• Basics of editing an article; page history, talk pages

• A Wikipedia article minute by minute:

• Basic guidelines: Be bold, objective, no hoax, don’t copy and notability issues
• 10+8 Simple Rules for Editing Wikipedia
• A few controversies (Seigenthaler in 2005; Congress in 2006; Essjay in 2007)
• Encyclopaedia Britannica vs Wikipedia; my analysis
• Medical Wikiproject, Medicine Portal, article assessment
• Editing process: from a Good Article to a Featured Article
• Sister projects
• Uncyclopedia

Take-home message:

Wikipedia is a great place to start your research, but should never be the last source you finish your research with.

Lectures this semester:

• Internet in Medicine University Course: A New Beginning
• Internet in Medicine University Course: Medical blogging
• Internet in Medicine University Course: RSS and Twitter