Trinity Wiki acts as campus reference

'Critical Mass' campaign generates new interest, highlights changes on Web site

By: Marcus Funk

Posted: 11/10/06

Last Thursday, the Trinity Wiki reached "critical mass" when a new promotional campaign for the Internet resource introduced online course evaluations, video tutorials and anonymous editing.
According to Trinity Wiki founder Mark Russell, senior, a Wiki is a customizable online database. Unlike traditional reference guides, anyone with an Internet connection can write or edit an entry, and an emphasis is placed on comm-
unal knowledge rather than individual expertise or scholarly research.
Administrators retain con-trols over determining libel and ban pages about individual students but rarely edit content.

"We see this initially as a very good resource for students to go and look at classes," Russell said. "Our goal is that we'll get so many users, even-
tually equilibrium will be reached."

New features of the Web site include video tutorials explaining the editing process, pages about classes and professors and the abolition of editor profiles, which allows anonymous editing. The most significant alteration, according to Russell, is the introduction of online course evaluation forms.

"Since there's no way in hell class evaluations will ever come into the public eye, I'd like to create an online teacher evaluation form that links directly to the Wiki," Russell said.

The Trinity Wiki was originally launched in August 2006, but student interest had waned until the "Operation: Critical Mass" campaign was launched last week. In response to the effort, the Web site's hit rate jumped 278 percent, up from an average of 9.5 hits a day in October to 26.57 hits a day during the first week of November.

According to Russell, at least 50 people have edited the site since the campaign, and a significant number of visitors likely reside outside the Trinity campus.

"One of the objectives for this to take off is that a lot of people have to check it every day," said Junior Ron Fortin, marketing manager for the Trinity Wiki. "It hit me. We had a mission and 'Operation: Critical Mass' just came together."

Fortin built displays in Mabee Dining Hall and the Coates University Center last Thursday, showcasing the Web site on several laptops.

On average, according to Fortin, one out of three students who saw the display asked about the site, and one out of six accessed or edited the program.

According to Reference Liaison Librarian Jeremy Donald, Wiki-style sites share some characteristics with traditional reference guides, but differ in key respects. Both function best as a starting point for research, both provide more background information than qualitative research, and both contain a sizable number of errors. Traditional guides include differing viewpoints, unlike some Wikis, and are not written anonymously.

Most notably, there are few accessible local references like the Trinity Wiki, according to Donald. As a local guide, the Trinity Wiki could be a great addition to the Trinity community but should be considered a reference rather than a qualitative source, Donald said.

"There's an argument that the correct answer will emerge over time, and that's not always true," Donald said. "Other than defining local terms and jargon, I'm not sure it can give you a scholarly debate on something."

The Trinity Wiki can be accessed and edited at www.trinitywiki.com.