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World of Wikis

Trying to keep his ancestral history alive, Steve Hargadon, a father of four from Sacramento, California, started a family history using wikis this year. Each ancestor has a web page including when they immigrated, whom they married, and medical history notes such as whether they were allergic to penicillin. By putting this information in a wiki, Hargadon's family members can collaborate to add information or change errors even though they may live in different parts of the country.

By Elizabeth Wasserman

Trying to keep his ancestral history alive, Steve Hargadon, a father of four from Sacramento, California, started a family history using wikis this year. Each ancestor has a web page including when they immigrated, whom they married, and medical history notes such as whether they were allergic to penicillin. By putting this information in a wiki, Hargadon's family members can collaborate to add information or change errors even though they may live in different parts of the country. "It's become a repository for family information that is more than my own personal notes sitting in a drawer," Hargadon says.

The success of Wikipedia (wikipedia.org), the online collaborative encyclopedia, has spawned thousands -- if not hundreds of thousands -- of similar sites. Wikis are now in use in schools, business offices, book clubs, and even families. They are named after a Hawaiian word meaning "quick," according to Wikipedia, and allow users to collaboratively edit articles and resources.
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