Wiki anyone?

[Jeff]

Lately, I have  been thinking about this forum and how it functions. It seems that as new people join, they have to either dig through previous posts to see whether their questions have been discussed previously; or they must post these questions again. While I have no problem with this repetition, it seems that there may be additional ways to help people that could help avoid repetition.

I am proposing that we discuss adding a wiki of some kind. For those who are unfamiliar with a wiki, perhaps the best example is Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page. Wikipedia is an encyclopedia that is created collaboratively by people all over the world. Anyone can set up an account and edit pages. I am thinking that we could create pages that would serve as repositories of information and resources. For example, many studies have been cited in various threads. It might be nice to create a page where links to all studies mentioned can be posted. This would allow users to view one page listing many studies. A page could be created to serve as a physician directory, where a person could view a list of doctors and their contact information. I am sure that many of you can think of many other uses for this tool.

If this is something that the group is interested in pursuing, some initial decisions need to be made. First, we must decide whether to ask the ANA to host the wiki or to create a hosted site using providers such as Wikispaces http://www.wikispaces.com/ or PBWiki http://pbwiki.com/. Second, it would be important to set some ground rules for adding/deleting/changing pages and information. I would suggest that personal opinions and experiences not be posted on the wiki, and that anything posted as fact be cited so that others can locate and read the source of the information. I am sure that many of you could suggest other guidelines.

I want to stress that this needs to be a group decision. The success of such an endeavor requires participation by others. It seems that there are a number of people who have acquired a great deal of knowledge and resources, and that this could be a way to help them to share if they are willing. Please let me know what you think. I am interested to hear your thoughts and opinions.

Jeff

[ppearl214]

Hi Jeff. Thanks for noting Wiki and the proposal of such an option.

Please know there are activities going on behind the scenes at the ANA recently regarding changes to the ANA Discussion Forum website.  The ANA forum admins/Director have been very open-minded to our suggestions and hope they see your's as well.  If you'd like, you can email your suggestion to them at:

admin@anausa.org


I know certain threads and forums will be merged and purged, with an archive also created for reference.

Will lurk this thread to see other's thoughts on implementing such a suggestion.

Thanks again,
Phyl

[Brendalu]

Sounds like a really great idea. 
BrendaO

[Jim Scott]

I'm not opposed to a user-friendly 'wiki' database for general information regarding the spectrum of AN-related issues.  However, I have to note that, aside from the often-informative personal comments on this message board, much of the 'raw' information new members are seeking is readily available on other sections of the website.  It seems as if some newly-diagnosed folks visit the site and jump on the message board, never seeming to look anywhere else on the site for information.  Thus, we often see repetitive threads/posts regarding very basic AN-related issues here, which is not a terrible thing, but could probably be cut back with a 'wiki' database for those who cannot (or will not) check out other sections of the website.

I suspect that the allure of instant, 'personal' feedback sometimes draws 'newbies' to the message boards.  No doubt, they find that feedback a lot more interesting than reading a relatively 'dry' AN-related article from someone they don't 'know', that may have been written some years ago.  Of course, I could be wrong about that.  Maybe its just me. 


Jim[/color]   

[GM]

Great idea!  I'm up for it.

GM

[lmurray69]

Sounds great.but someome has to be in charge of getting it in order...yeah,,,

[nancyann]

  This might sound crazy,

   but don't we already have something like a Wiki when you go to search?
   Like, I've gone to search, put in 'facial paralysis', & every post with those words comes up.

   Is that what we're talking about ?     Nancy

[Jeff]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions. I do not envision using a wiki to replace any part of this forum, but rather as a support tool. A wiki would lend itself to things like listing and organizing relevant research or creating a list of physicians. In browsing the ANA website, I discovered that while there are pages dedicated to these two topics, the Physician page still says "coming soon" and there is a link to the latest research that contains 2 studies. It seems that we can wait for the ANA to post some sort of compilation or we can do it. And indeed the power of this tool is in the collaborative nature. The sheer number of people here who have read numerous studies and could contribute would allow us to quickly build a useful library that could be a tremendous help to those wanting to read the research. Additionally, we could create a physician page that not only lists physicians, but we could also list our names (if we choose) under a physician by whom we have been treated so that others could contact us directly. These things could also be accomplished through a "sticky" thread that members could add to. Such threads could remain at the top of the category under which it is started.

Again, these are just my ideas. If the group does not think it necessary or useful, that is fine too. I certainly won't be offended. I am just trying to think of ways that we can share information more efficiently.

Thanks again for sharing your thoughts and ideas.

Jeff