Changes

==Introduction==

==Introduction==

WikiVet is a collaborative initiative involving UK veterinary schools with support from a number of commercial and government [[Sponsors|sponsors]]. The project is creating a comprehensive online knowledge base which covers the entire veterinary curriculum. This will provide a reliable reference source to supersede Wikipedia for veterinary students, nurses and graduates anywhere in the world. To find out what WikiVet has to offer see [[WikiVet Introduction]].

WikiVet^® is a collaborative initiative involving UK veterinary schools with support from a number of commercial and government [[Sponsors|sponsors]]. The project is creating a comprehensive online knowledge base which covers the entire veterinary curriculum. This will provide a reliable reference source to supersede Wikipedia for veterinary students, nurses and graduates anywhere in the world. To find out what WikiVet^® has to offer see [[WikiVet Introduction|WikiVet^® Introduction]].

 

The WikiVet site is managed by the [[WikiVet_Educational_Foundation|WikiVet Educational Foundation]] a UK Registered Charity number 1160546.

==Site Development==

==Site Development==

WikiVet has been created in a similar way to its big brother Wikipedia. However there are three distinct differences between the two systems. First, all the content relates specifically to the veterinary curriculum. Second, all the content has been authored by vets and students and is peer reviewed by subject specialists at one of the participating veterinary schools. Finally, access to the site is restricted to the veterinary community in order to ensure that the general public are not able to edit the content.

WikiVet^® has been created in a similar way to its big brother Wikipedia. However there are three distinct differences between the two systems. First, all the content relates specifically to the veterinary curriculum. Second, all the content has been authored by vets and students and is peer reviewed by subject specialists at one of the participating veterinary schools. Finally, access to the site is restricted to the veterinary community in order to ensure that the general public are not able to edit the content.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In January 2009 the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons Trust provided funding to cover the development of an interactive question bank called WikiQuiz.

Pfizer are funding the general WikiVet site development and sponsoring the WikiMaster from 2009 - 2014.  

A unique feature of WikiVet^® has been the level of cooperation not only between academics at different schools but also involving the students. At the beginning, over 40 student authors have worked together writing most of the content and this has been reviewed by recent graduates. The students have enjoyed this work and claim that they have learnt a lot more about the subject matter as a result. Their inspiration has also resulted in a number of significant improvements to the site such as interactive content maps, flash cards and clinical cases.

Restructure to improve the user-friendliness of the hole site was started and we hope for it to be finished soon. This will make it easier to use the search function and get to the topic of interest fast. Categories are being used to allow for navigation via different routes. The work is to continue in 2011.

WikiVet was established in 2007 to provide online access to a comprehensive veterinary curriculum. The consortium was initially formed by three UK veterinary schools (RVC, Edinburgh and Cambridge) and was subsequently joined by Nottingham. It has now grown to include over 10 additional associated academic institutions as well as forming a close association with parts of the commercial veterinary sector. WikiVet now has a registered user base of over 35,000 members of whom about 60% are veterinary students from over 90 countries around the world.  

Snakes and Lizard sections are completed now.

At present, the WikiVet site provides an extensive knowledge base supported by interactive learning materials. This pedagogical mix of online resources has been developed based on feedback from veterinary educators and focus groups of learners. This mix has evolved with time from a multi-user generated wiki to a more complex learning package integrating curriculum resources with supplementary text and references provided by an employed team of authors. The site now has one of the largest veterinary collection of educational resources on the web.  

A new collaboration with CABI has allowed links to CABIAbstracts literature search to be inserted on many pages. Some direct links to full text articles have also been included. The full text articles can be accessed by any WikiVet user but the literature search is only accessible via CABI subscribing organisation or personal subscription.

WikiVet continues to and now offers registered users free access to:

Restructuring the site work continues.

The number of users of the site has grown significantly since its launch as the content has improved and developed to cover more topics. In addition there has been increasing interest from academic institutions, veterinary organisations and the commercial sector. Figure 2 shows the growth in international registrations to the site.  

A new function has been added to allow users to view pages in PDF format or create their personal 'book' to print.

A proportion of the site was made open for public access in 2010 and as a result this content has been widely indexed by Google and the number of visits has steadily grown to over 1 million individual visits in the last year alone.

Recruiting expert reviewers for the content is now one of the priorities.

WikiVet has been dependent on the generosity of a large number of organisations committed to supporting veterinary education. These include the Higher Education Academy, RCVS Trust, Pfizer Global Alliances, Ceva, Mars Ltd and the Donkey Sanctuary who have all provided funding. Other organisations which have assisted with providing content and support including Elsevier, Mansons Publishing, CABI, IVIS and VetPrep. In addition colleagues and students at all the collaborating veterinary schools have been fundamental to the projects success. Finally the site has been dependent on the good will and time of numerous volunteer students and academics around the world.

==More Information==

==More Information==

*More detail about some developments can be found on [[News_Archive|Wiki News]] pages

*More detail about some developments can be found on [[News_Archive|WikiVet^® News]] pages

*You can find out more about the team currently working on the site at [[WikiVet Team]] and the community of practice which has been working on the wiki in the past: [[Introduction|Wiki Vet Community]]

*You can find out more about the team currently working on the site at [[WikiVet Team|WikiVet^® Team]] and the community of practice which has been working on the wiki in the past: [[Introduction|WikiVet^® Community]]

*Companies and organisations that sponsored WikiVet: [[Sponsors]]

*Companies and organisations that sponsored WikiVet^®: [[Sponsors]]

*Educational research behind the WikiVet approach [[Theories]]

*Educational research behind the WikiVet^® approach [[Theories]]

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Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/ Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License]

Except where otherwise noted, content on this site is licensed under a [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial No derivatives 3.0 License]