Feeney answers: What in the world is a wiki?

by Katie AnthonyStaff Writer

Being a student pretty much guarantees that you’ll get at least a couple of e-mails everyday about campus updates. But what if there was one place students could go to in order to get all of their updates at once?

Simpson cool wiki is just that place. The Web site, created by Marty Feeney, associate professor of communication and media studies and the director of academic recruitment, is the latest resource the Simpson community can use to help promote the college.

“A wiki is a collection of web pages where faculty, administrators, and staff can now share information, so marketing and admissions can access the latest news, quotes, photos, internships, faculty research and other great happenings,” Feeney said.

On the site, you can find information ranging from departmental updates to finding out where some of the graduating class of 2008 ended up. There’s a picture of the day and a featured weekly class.

Not only can members upload their own information, pictures and videos, but Feeney also picks a “wonderful wiki contributor” that wins a “six pack of non-alcoholic Hershey bars.”

Feeney created the wiki to help spread the word about Simpson.

“Last year was my first year here, and I had impressions of Simpson College,” Feeney said. “And I found that my impressions were completely wrong, A lot of the students don’t see how strong the classes are, so that’s one of the main reasons I started the wiki,” Feeney said. “I’m just trying to tell the story of Simpson College and show the talent that is in our area.”

While the Simpson wiki may sound pretty similar to the Simpsonian, there are many differences between the two.

“Yeah, we have the Simpsonian,” Feeney said. “However, that’s a weekly newspaper and the wiki is updated daily. We’re merely a partner of the Simpsonian.”

Despite having similar names, the Simpson wiki is nothing like the site Wikipedia.

“The first thing I thought when I heard we had a Simpson wiki is, ‘How is this going to be different than Wikipedia?'” freshman Jessica Volk said. “Now that I’ve checked it out, it’s got some really important and interesting information.”

The Simpson wiki has more information that’s important to the student body, and is more appealing to the eye.

“I wanted it to be both factual and appealing,” Feeney said. “Another way it’s different from Wikipedia is that your name is on your work, so if you upload something that isn’t necessarily appropriate, it shows who you are.”

Many of the students on campus, however, have no idea that this wiki even exists.

“Prior to this class [Introduction to Communications], I had no idea what a wiki was, let alone know that Simpson has one,” freshman Jessica Drobot said.