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An article in the newspaper USA Today on June 30, 2003, starts off by asking the following questions: "Are you an experienced kayaker? Unusually knowledgeable in all things Hobbit? An expert on any subject how profound or pointless?" And continues, "If you are, the Internet's Wiki community is ready to take advantage of your expertise."
Created by programmer Ward Cunningham in 1995, Wiki technology (from the Hawaiian word for "quick") allows visitors to a Wiki website to edit its contents and add their own, all without having to download additional software. The goal, enthusiasts say, is to create encyclopedic entries on subjects that are the culmination of the knowledge and experience each contributor brings to the table.
Where Cunningham's collaborative forum for programmers (c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiWikiWeb) is hailed as the first Wiki, those launched by Internet luminary Jimmy Wales are credited with bringing Wikis to the masses. Wales, together with philosopher Larry Stanger, started Wikipedia, (netlink: ww.wikipedia.org) in January 2001. Wikipedia is an open source multilingual general encyclopedia. Here, thousands of volunteers write articles, edit those written by others and otherwise add to an ever-growing body of knowledge.
