This is a suggestion that I've seen on
Deinde and the
NT Gateway, that the community is better served by improving
Wikipedia than by having a dedicated wiki for religion studies and biblical scholarship. And so I am getting feedback from everyone, and especially from present and past contributors to TheoWiki, on whether we should roll the current information on TheoWiki back into Wikipedia and direct future efforts to improving the biblical and religion-oriented material on the Wikipedia. You can see the
TheoWiki entry here where I announce the issue and solicit feedback. I am also soliciting feedback here on my blog (such as for those who aren't registered at TheoWiki), so please use the comment feature to leave your opinion.
Pros:
- No duplication of efforts
- Utilization of existing Wikipedia efforts
- More visitors
- More collaborators
- More likely to endure
Cons:
- Some articles might not be strictly "Neutral Point of View" and may not survive the Wikipedia review process.
- Copying them over could be a lot of work.
- What to do with this domain name / site?
- Sentimental reasons
My opinion at present is that we should probably merge with Wikipedia. As to what to do with this domain name / site, I would probably just link the existing articles to their Wikipedia equivalents with no additional content. I would keep the site active, or at least the domain name, to prevent spammers from taking it. Other than that, I'd take suggestions for what to do with the site.
I will copy the entries over myself, unless others volunteer to help. Anyone is entitled to do so, as the content is GNU FDL.
We will just have to see whether the editors decide to edit the articles that are submitted.
The advantages are listed above. It would be a good thing to avoid fragmentation of efforts and to participate in a project that gets more exposure and has more momentum and staying power.
Thanks for your comments on this matter!
6 Comments:
Another possible negative, I looked seriously at your pages wanted section, but even if Wikipedia had such a section I'd be unlikely to look at it... I think as a seperate entity you stand more chance of involvement by specialists, which is what you really need to make it work well.
But then I'm biased, still not convinced that a totally open Wiki can really achieve the level of reliability that's needed for a serious reference work... Lord I believe help my unbelief!
You just gave me a great idea about what to do with the remaining Theowiki site. I can make it into a kind of entrepot into the Wikipedia for biblical scholars and other religion academics. From the Theowiki site, one could find out what most needs addition or correction at Wikipedia and then be linked through to the Wikipedia entry to be edited. That way we get the best of both worlds: a dedicated center for theology type wiki editors, and all the benefits of the Wikipedia. What do you think?
I prefer working with well-established wikis, if possible. I would think we could work with the Neutral POV principle just fine, since Biblical scholars should be able to present their information without doing so in a biased way. One might need to ask a collegue to help ferret out any bias, but I think there can be good scholarship without the typical negative statements made about other POVs.
Sorry, but I cannot help but think of "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Rom 12:2). I definitely understand the desire to merge with Wikipedia, as that is one heck of a well-established encyclopedia. The trouble I see is that a compromise is being made. In the effort to gain "more visitors, more collaborators", you will have to sacrifice theowiki's core, which is the truth of scripture, and go to a system where many people who contribute to the system will not agree with this. Certainly, these people won't want to contribute, but that's not the point.
My main point is, if theowiki is the Will of God, then the contributors will be there, people will find it. After all, He is able to do "exceedindly abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph 3:20).
Just one humble servants opinion...
I think you should not merge. We can not sacrifice being able to keep the truth of the scripture. Also other froms of theology may end up in the middle of this and loose it's root in The Christ. We can stand alone on our own it may be hard work but we can do I am goiing to start. I do not have a account at theowiki.com right now but I am going to go get one and I am going to tell all my friends about the need and promote it as much as I possiable can we all need to do this and never give up. We can do all thing though Christ Jesus who strengthens us because He that is in us is great than he that is in the world. Anyways let get together and make this thing happin.
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