JAVS Article 2009

WIKIVET – SOME FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is WikiVet all about?

You may have heard through the AVS or your vet school about a new initiative called WikiVet which was launched in 2008. WikiVet is essentially a veterinary version of Wikipedia focussing specifically on the veterinary curriculum, authored by veterinary students and peer reviewed by veterinary experts. It was started by veterinary lecturers working at Edinburgh, Cambridge and the RVC and now includes Nottingham vet school too. The site now has over 2,500 registered vets and students from around the world.

So how is WikiVet different from Wikipedia?

Wikipedia is now widely used by veterinary students to enhance their course material and assist in revision. Whilst some academics still frown on students relying on a web site instead of a traditional text book, Wikipedia has the great advantage of being easier to find information quickly. However, there are also a number of disadvantages in relying too heavily on a resource which has little veterinary content, can be edited by anybody and has no specialist peer review of content. WikiVet aims to address these concerns in the following ways:

• All the content in WikiVet is veterinary related - any search will provide results focussing solely on veterinary not medical conditions;

• The site is not open to the general public and only registered veterinary users can access and edit content;

• Content created in WikiVet is subject and quality reviewed by a small panel of experts

So how has WikiVet been developed?

WikiVet consists of a series of separate subject areas such as WikiPath, WikiBlood, WikiDrugs etc. The first step in developing a section is to develop a comprehensive “content map”. This describes the structure, relationships and content of the section and is then translated into a web of wiki pages. These pages are divided up between undergraduate student authors who are responsible for researching the topic from collective lecture notes and textbooks. In addition they are responsible for sourcing images and diagrams used to enhance the text and getting copyright clearance for their use. Recent graduates review the completed pages to ensure consistency of style and the quality of text. Finally the pages are checked by subject specialists for accuracy.

How could WikiVet help with my studies?

WikiVet has been developed with the undergraduate vet student in mind (though it is also proving popular with postgraduates and vets in practice too). The content is linked closely to the curriculum of most vet schools. The beauty of the wiki format is that by searching for a topic such as “pancreas” will link to topics on the anatomy, physiology and pathology of the pancreas. Each page has relevant images and many also contain innovative flash cards, videos and computer aided learning programmes. Many students seem to find the wiki a useful revision resource but it is also being used as a quick reference resource too,

Can I get more involved in the project?

WikiVet is completely free and so we are dependent on the support of volunteers to continue to develop the content. So if you are interested in helping out please register at www.wikivet.net. Once you have signed up you are not only free to browse the site but also to edit any page – for example to correct a factual inaccuracy. We really encourage our users to do this to ensure the content is correct and up to date – don’t worry we can always roll back to an earlier version if you make a mistake. If you would like to help actually write the content, we intend to employ some students over the summer to help with this. Whilst much of the work can be done from home or any vet school, we will require volunteers to attend a one day training workshop. If you are interested in doing this please send a brief one page CV to me (nshort@rvc.ac.uk) and we will get back to you with more details.

Nick Short Head of e-Media Unit Royal Veterinary College