Wikis

So I'll admit that when I first heard (not read...heard) the word "Wiki" I was immediately taken back to my childhood when I used to visit my aunt, uncle and cousins in Tampa, Florida at Christmas time.  We used to always to go this silly little theme park called Weeki Wachee Springs which I remember mainly for some brightly colored parrots and the REAL LIVE MERMAID show that I was just obsessed with.  I remember calling this place "Wi-Kee Watchee", so naturally when the word "wiki" first started popping up as it is linked to things like Wikipedia, I couldn't help but have a flashback to the good old days.  But I digress...  As I was tasked with writing about wikis this week, I couldn't help but think about those fun times in Florida almost 30 years ago and wonder what the heck the word "wiki" means and did it have any connection to the name of that crazy park?  After conferring with my buddy, Google, I discovered three things: the word wiki means "fast" in Hawaiian, the park that will forever be engraved in my most fondest of memories is called WEEki Wachee...so there is actually no relation at all, and lastly, it surprisingly still exists today and still boasts of it's famous live mermaid show on it's website! 

So back to the real wiki...I can understand where the computer gurus got the idea for the name considering it is just that....a really fast way to get information shared on the internet.  No one ever said it had to be credible or significant information, but fast information is definitely part of the deal with wikis.  As I learn more about them through the creation of the couple we have in the works for our ITS class, I can definitely see some of the benefits to creating one.  I guess the most important part is making sure you can trust the people you work with to make sure they are doing a good job of putting reliable information that is actually worth sharing up, at least if that is the type of wiki you are going for.  I'm interested to see what our Advocacy, ITSotopia and On the Run Wikis will turn out to look like when they are completed.  It's interesting to see the process of creating them.  To be continued...

http://www.weekiwachee.com/  (for those who are interested! ha!)