Various blogs (notably TechCrunch) are reporting that the introduction of a wiki service from Google is imminent. The tech giant acquired online wiki company JotSpot a year ago, but has not allowed new registrations for the service since the deal. Recently, however, the discussion boards and help desk for JotSpot moved to Google, and at least one access point for the service now provides an error screen featuring a "Google Wiki" logo. This would appear to bring to fruition Google's longstanding promise to bring JotSpot under the Google Apps umbrella.

[TechCrunch] Google Wiki Prepares to Launch

Wikipedia, a great place to start research but a lousy place to finish it, now has some competition. Citizendium is the brainchild of Jimmy Wales and Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger, and seeks to correct some of the problems of the Wikipedia universe:

We believe this project is necessary, and justified, because the world needs a more reliable free encyclopedia. We hope to create one by giving people a place to work under the direction of experts, and by expecting personal accountability--including the use of real names. In short, we want to create a responsible community and a good global citizen.

That sums up Citizendium's two big differences from Wikipedia. First, while editing of the encyclopedia is still open to anyone, all users must post using their real names. Second, articles will be monitored by subject area experts to ensure factual accuracy.

This is an interesting approach, in that not only is the website trying to earn public trust through these strategies, but everyone involved in the project will be potentially open for legal liability in the event of an inaccuracy. Thus, if a user makes a change similar to those made to pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller's Wikipedia entry, not only could an aggrieved party sue the (now easily identifiable) user who made the edit, but also the sports expert who let it slip through, and perhaps Citizendium itself because it took on the responsibility of publishing accurate content by hiring that expert in the first place. Accuracy through fear, so to speak.

(via Out of the Jungle)

Professional golfer Fuzzy Zoeller is going to court to discover the identity of a person who added unsubstantiated information regarding substance abuse and family problems to his biography on Wikipedia...

Zoeller's attorney, Scott D. Sheftall, said he filed the lawsuit against a Miami firm last week because the law won't allow him to sue St. Petersburg-based Wikipedia. The suit alleges someone used a computer at Josef Silny & Associates, a Miami education consulting firm, to add the information to Zoeller's Wikipedia profile.

"Courts have clearly said you have to go after the source of the information," Sheftall said. "The Zoeller family wants to take a stand to put a stop to this. Otherwise, we're all just victims of the Internet vandals out there. They ought not to be able to act with impunity."

The Smoking Gun obtained a copy of Zoeller's complaint and posted it online. The site provides a summary of the alleged defamatory content...

Zoeller (who is identified as "John Doe") notes that his Wikipedia page was altered to include his alleged admission to "polishing off a fifth of Jack (Daniels) after popping a handful of Vicodin pills." The page went on to claim that Zoeller had also acknowledged "the violent nature of his disease" and how he had beaten his wife and four children "while under the influence of alcohol and drugs."

This follows the 2005 controversy surrounding inaccurate content in the Wikipedia biography of writer John Siegenthaler, Sr. Following the addition of text stating his suspected involvement in the John and Robert Kennedy assassinations, Siegenthaler publicly criticized Wikipedia and its content policies. He also criticized Congress for passing the Communications Decency Act which prevented any legal action against the website. Siegenthaler did not, however, take legal action of any kind, and when the identity of the anonymous poster was discovered, he spoke with him on the phone and accepted his apology.

[AP] Golf Champion Zoeller Sues to Identify Author of Wikipedia Post

C2: Let's All Wiki Wiki! Creative Uses for Wikis in Any Library

Deborah Ginsberg, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Simply stated, a wiki is a web application for online social collaboration. The typical characteristics of a wiki include the use of lots of hyperlinks, both internal and external. A wiki usually provides for the easy creation and editing of pages by just about anyone.

There are, however, two big caveats with wikis: 1) there is no editor to control content or authority (as evidenced by the Wikipedia entry on John Seigenthaler Sr) and 2) open editing leaves the pages open for spam.

Example: WikiNews (extensive use of hyperlinks and sources)

Many wikis have a revision history that allows users to track changes to a page and compare different versions of a page (often even side by side). Users can even choose to revert to previous versions.

Wikis also provide a means to host online discussions ABOUT wiki pages.

How are wikis being used in libraries? Patrons may be using them for research, either with a general wiki like Wikipedia or with more subject specific wikis (e.g., Psychology Wiki). There are already some law-specific wikis available, including JurisPedia and Wex. An example of a library-specific wiki is LIS Wiki. Some libraries are creating wikis for patron use, such as Butler WikiRef (includes reference resources and instruction). Libraries are even creating internal wikis, like the one for UConn Libraries IT Services.

There are lots of options available for creating wikis. Some considerations include deciding where it will be hosted, what software to use, and determining who controls what. WikiMatrix is a good tool for deciding which wiki service to use. It allows users to compare the features of various types of wiki software.

People often sell the idea of wikis to new users by emphasizing the fact that you don't need to know HTML to edit a wiki, but each wiki uses its own proprietary wiki syntax, which may be just as daunting as learning html (without being as universally useful).

Popular software and/or hosting choices for wikis include MediaWiki, PBwiki, JotSpot, and Edit This.

Ginsberg has created LawLibWik, a law library wiki that anyone can edit. She hopes that everyone in the profession will start contributing. It can be used to teach research skills to new librarians and to share knowledge with one another.

Amanda Etches-Johnson has kept an exhaustive list of library blogs for quite some time on her site, blogwithoutalibrary.net. As the number of library blogs has grown, that list has become increasingly difficult to maintain. In an effort to make the list more self-sustaining (and less time consuming), Amanda has transferred all the information into the new Blogging Libraries Wiki. By converting the list into wiki format, librarians can now add their own blogs to the list themselves.

In the Academic Libraries section, I count about 9 law school libraries on the list, some with multiple blogs. There appear to be another 3 or so listed in the Special Libraries section. If your law library blog isn't included, please add it to the wiki.