Good morning,
VTR's chief judge, Darrell Floyd, was involved in a list discussion
that centered primarily on matters of originality and the need to
document some inaccuracies published in reference books such as Bill
Piggot's Original TR series. VTR member Jerry Van Vlack suggested
that VTR would be a logical host. Then lister and VTR member Hoyt
posted, "If the VTR wants to organize and publish the information
using a Wiki environment (to make it easily interactive) and using a
Creative Commons license (to make it freely available), that's fine
with me. VTR?"
I made a proposal regarding this to VTR's (Vintage Triumph Register)
Board of Director's about the idea, specifically that VTR might host
a Wiki-type database with open access to all Triumph enthusiasts, be
they members of VTR or not. I am happy to announce this morning that
VTR, in an effort to provide further support for Triumph enthusiasts
worldwide, will establish and host a Wiki environment devoted
entirely to Triumphs using a Creative Commons license that will make
it freely available to all.
If you are unfamiliar with what a Wiki environment is, here is a
description: "Wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to
freely create and edit Web page content using any Web browser. Wiki
supports hyperlinks and has a simple text syntax for creating new
pages and crosslinks between internal pages on the fly. Wiki is
unusual among group communication mechanisms in that it allows the
organization of contributions to be edited in addition to the content
itself. Like many simple concepts, "open editing" has some profound
and subtle effects on Wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to create
and edit any page in a Web site is exciting in that it encourages
democratic use of the Web and promotes content composition by
nontechnical users."
As VTR's acting webmaster, I have created such a forum, called
WikiVTR, and now need several volunteers for test editing and to
provide ideas and feedback on it's format prior to it going
"live." If you are interested in helping out in this preliminary
step, please drop me an email and I will provide access
information. I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Hoyt for his off-list
emails to me regarding his vision for WikiVTR.
Because I anticipate the question will be asked, it is the intention
to migrate the VTR maintenance Handbook pages to the WikiVTR database
thereby making that information freely available to all. Hopefully,
this will encourage many more to contribute to what will likely
become a valuable source of knowledge for all in our hobby.
May everyone have a safe and terrific New Year.
Cheers,
Blake Discher
------------------
With your help, we did it! We raised more than $37,000 for the
National Children's Cancer Society by driving our vintage British
cars in the 2005 America's British Reliability Run. Please visit
<http://abrr.org/> to learn more about the run. Thank you!
=== This list supported in part by The Vintage Triumph Register
=== http://www.vtr.org
|