Part blog, part local database, the new Triangle Wiki launching next month is a free site that aims to change the way Triangle residents interact with each other and the region.
“This is an open source, open-content site that enables anyone in the community to contribute content about where they live, where they work and where they play,” said Wiki Organizer Reid Serozi.
Triangle Wiki, similar to Wikipedia, emerged from a September Raleigh City Camp meeting after Local Wiki founder Phillip Neustrom recommended Raleigh/Durham as a pilot community for the project.
City Camp is an open-government group that focuses on open source technology and data in government. Contributors and editors at the Record participate in the group and supported the City Camp conference last year.
It is the latest installment of a global trend of local information site that first started inDavis,Calif.
Since Davis Wiki launched in 2004, it has become the largest, most used media source in the city, with one in seven Davis residents contributing to the site, according to localwiki.org.
As Davis Wiki is unique to that city, so, too, will Triangle Wiki be unique to this region, Serozi said.
Triangle Wiki logo
“Over time, this site will be a repository of little things that make up our area,” he said. “It will be a resource for people in our area to discover the Triangle.”
In four months’ time, organizers, comprised mainly of Raleigh City Camp members, have created 220 pages of information about Raleigh.
“We’re a bunch of civic-minded geeks,” Serozi said. “So we’ve gone after hot topics like parks, transportation … things like, where to charge electric cars in town, public bus routes and plans for light rail around Raleigh.”
But they’re not stopping there. The site is branching out with outside contributors inCary,Durhamand points beyondRaleighto put the Triangle on the map, literally.
“We’ve created a Triangle Wiki map,” Serozi said, “so that, as a contributor, you can add a pinpoint to the map and users can see the pinpoints to click on things of interest in their community or areas of the Triangle they want to learn about.”
The result, he added, “will be a widespread impact because this is a completely collaborative and transparent web source for our community.
For contributor Scott Reston, Triangle Wiki serves as another platform to share knowledge he’s already collecting about one of his local passions: theRaleighparks system.
“I’ve primarily been porting content from my parks blog,” Reston said. “I’ve had some pretty good traffic to my site but I feel like it’s still a bit hidden and isolated. I’d love for more people to find out aboutRaleigh’s parks and to share the information they have.”
While Reston has been adding his knowledge ofRaleighparks, he’s finding his information often links to other contributors’ posts.
“I love finding the connections between things and people,” he said. “I’ve been really happy about how my park posts match up well with information about electric vehicle charging stations and pages about greenways.”
As a longtime blogger,Restonhas existing content for Triangle Wiki to pull from. But, Serozi surmised, “There are plenty of people that want to start a blog but don’t have time to keep it up.
“We see Triangle Wiki as your blog — as everyone’s web site,” he said.
ForRaleighnatives and transplants alike, Triangle Wiki can serve as an online tool to discover — or rediscover —Raleigh.
“I like that I can get lost on Triangle Wiki and stumble across lots of interesting content,” Reston said.
Anyone can become a contributor of trianglewiki.org to share their knowledge of what makes up the Triangle. Contributors can provide written information, maps and photos on any topic that pertains toRaleigh,Durhamand surrounding areas.
For more information on the official launch of Triangle Wiki next month or to submit content, go to trianglewiki.org.
