IVSA Article 2009

The WikiVet Project - article for IVSA Magazine

WikiVet is a collaborative initiative currently involving UK veterinary schools with support from the Higher Education Academy and JISC funding. 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.

The WikiVet project started work in April 2007 and initially involved academics from Cambridge, Edinburgh and the Royal Veterinary College. The first stage involved the creation of WikiPath covering the veterinary undergraduate pathology curriculum. This has subsequently been extended to include the major topics taught under the veterinary curriculum including an extensive clinical section, with over 40 student authors working together from all over the UK. The site has now grown to a point where there are almost 2,000 pages and over 1,500 users from vet schools around the world.

WikiVet has been created in a similar way to its big brother Wikipedia. However there are three distinct differences between the two systems. Firstly all the content relates specifically to the veterinary curriculum. Secondly all the content has been authored by vets and students and is peer reviewed by subject specialists at one of the participating veterinary schools. The pages which have yet to be reviewed carry a banner stating it is awaiting peer reviewing. Finally, access to the site is restricted to the veterinary community in order to ensure that the general public are not able to view or edit the content. WikiVet's credibility depends on the professional quality of its content - this is what makes it stand out from Wikipedia.

The task of coordinating veterinary schools involvement is already starting to grow and will need some form of centralised coordination to ensure that all partners are fully involved. This work might also extend to recruiting students to work on the project and academics to peer review content from countries around the world. There are also needs to ensure that publicity for the site is distributed widely, public enquiries are handled efficiently and press and funding contacts developed.

The more veterinary students that use the site from around the world, the better wikivet will become. Currently a large proportion of the medicine and diseases focuses only on the UK and Europe. It would be beneficial for other veterinary students from around the world to contribute to specific diseases that they encounter commonly in their country which will broaden the wiki’s audience and relevance, especially with the huge increase in pet travel occurring across the globe.

If anybody is interested in contributing in any way to the project, or has any suggestions, please contact wikimaster@wikivet.net

Natalie Brown RVC Student