Libraries of the future

doi:10.1136/bmj.b4065

Published 5 October 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b4065
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b4065

Letters

Wicked encyclopaedia

Libraries of the future

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

As David Rothman, who blogs about medical informatics, says,"It is as ridiculous to say ‘wikis are good’ or‘wikis are bad’ as it would be to say that ‘booksare good’ or ‘books are bad.’"¹ ²

He lists 69 medical wikis on his site.³ They vary in terms ofwho can make particular changes—just as Wikipedia lockscertain entries that can be e-vandalised, and entries are reviewedby the administrators. They range from "Ask Dr Wiki," wherelicensed clinical professionals can contribute, to "WiserWiki,"which is provided as a free service by the publishers Elsevier.Many medical students also use Wikipedia because it is easyto understand and they think that it is reasonably reliableand accessible.⁴

Wikis are the libraries of the future, mainly because they arecontemporaneous.⁴

Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b406

Imraan Jhetam, independent section 12(2) doctor¹

¹ Exeter EX4 4UY

imraanjhetam@doctors.org.uk

Competing interests: None declared.

http://davidrothman.net/2008/01/12/acp-internist-on-medical-wikis/
Spence D. A wicked encyclopaedia. BMJ 2009;339:b3814. (16 September.)[Free Full Text]
http://davidrothman.net/list-of-medical-wikis/
http://medinnovationblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/med-wikis-and-ed-quickies.html

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