The Wonder of Wikis

Wikipedia is a great source to learn the basics of something new. It is an online encyclopedia available free in 285 languages. Information that might have taken you hours of reading in books can be easily found on sites like Wikipedia. Use caution though, wikis are meant to be a starting point. Be mindful that, even though monitored, anyone can edit a wiki and replace information, therefore accuracy is not always guaranteed. Further academic research is needed if you want more accurate information.

Here are 2 Informational videos from Ward Cunningham, the creator of Wikipedia

Ward Cunningham, Inventor of the Wiki

The Federated Wiki: Ward Cunningham

If you are looking to learn something interesting, acquire further knowledge or just browse something new why not try going down a Wikipedia rabbit hole (or Wikihole)! We’ve all been there. Went to a wiki for general information about something we saw or heard, and ended up spending hours jumping from one topic to the next.

For example:

“Yesterday, I stumbled upon a distressing fact: Air Buddy, the basketball-playing golden retriever and star of the 1997 classic Air Bud, died of cancer in 1998.

I didn't mean to find this out. And I really didn't want to know that Air Buddy had to have his right hind leg amputated the same year he became a star. But I found out anyway because I had wandered into a Wikipedia Rabbit Hole.

This is how it happened, according to my browser history: I was reading about skyscrapers, looked up the list of tallest buildings in the world, clicked on the Transamerica Pyramid, then clicked on San Francisco, then—and this is where I start to lose focus, I think—clicked on San Francisco in popular culture, then (naturally) Full House, then Air Bud, then Air Buddy. The path from skyscrapers to Air Buddy, just another Wikipedia Rabbit Hole.” - Shirley Li, The Atlantic

Try going down a wiki-rabbit hole yourself. Tell us what you learned! Where did you start? Where did you end up?

Here are a few interesting starting points if you don’t know where to start. Click on any highlighted link on the pages and keep reading. Careful with these, you could spend hours!

Flags of extinct States

Timeline of the far future

List of Sandwiches

There’s even a wiki game (not available on smaller smart devices). Play as a guest or group. Each round you start off on one wiki page and must find your way to the goal page and record how you did it!

For Example, start with “Edward II of England” and find your way to “Hawaii”.

One possible path:

Edward II of England → List of English monarchs → Kingdom of Great Britain → History of the United Kingdom → American Civil War → United States → Hawaii

Try this game using our database’s Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia here (Sign in using your library card, choose EBSCOhost research databases, scroll down to Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia)

Instructions

Figure out the path from the first topic to the second, only using in-text links. (Hint: some paragraphs will have an “also see” link)

Example: World Health organization → Ice Ages

Ballotpedia - A free online political encyclopedia that covers American federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy. Written by a staff of researchers and writers.

References

Li, Shirley. “WikiGalaxy: A Visualization of Wikipedia Rabbit Holes.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 12 Dec. 2014, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/12/a-visualization-of-wikipedia-rabbit-holes/383712/.