WikiVet

WikiVet

Screenshot of www.wikivet.net home page
Type of site
Veterinary content
Website www.wikivet.net
Commercial No
Registration Optional
Launched April 2007
Current status Online

WikiVet is a wiki of veterinary content based on the MediaWiki platform. The project is a collaborative initiative involving veterinary schools between UK and international veterinary schools. It provides a comprehensive online knowledge base which covers the entire veterinary curriculum, and is a reliable reference source for veterinary students, nurses and graduates anywhere in the world. The WikiVet project is now part of the WikiVet Educational Foundation (registered charity number 1160546) which was established in February 2015.

Objectives

WikiVet's principle objectives are:

Development

A feature of WikiVet is the level of cooperation involved between academics at different schools and the direct involvement of students. The project grew out of existing collaborations between veterinary schools, and over 40 student and graduate authors have worked, or are working, together writing most of the content which is then reviewed by recent graduates and/or experts in a specific field.

Although WikiVet is created in a similar way to Wikipedia, there are three distinct differences between the two. Apart from the content relating specifically to the veterinary curriculum, articles are peer reviewed by subject specialists, and access to parts of the site is restricted to the veterinary community. This ensures accuracy of information and reflects the sensitive nature of much of the content.

History

WikiVet was established in 2007 to provide online access to a comprehensive veterinary curriculum. The consortium was initially formed by three UK veterinary schools (the Royal Veterinary College, the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies University of Edinburgh and the Department of Veterinary Medicine University of Cambridge) and was subsequently joined by Nottingham. It has now grown to include over 15 additional associated academic institutions as well as forming a close association with parts of the commercial veterinary sector. WikiVet now has a registered user base of over 45,000 members of whom about 60% are veterinary students from over 100 countries around the world.

Content

The WikiVet site provides an extensive knowledge base supported by interactive learning materials. This pedagogical mix of online resources has been developed based on feedback from veterinary educators and focus groups of learners. This mix has evolved with time from a multi-user generated wiki to a more complex learning package integrating curriculum resources with supplementary text and references provided by an employed team of authors. The site now has one of the largest veterinary collection of educational resources on the web. WikiVet continues to grow and now offers registered users free access to:

WikiVet has been dependent on the generosity of a large number of organisations committed to supporting veterinary education. These include Mars Petcare, the Higher Education Academy, RCVS Trust, Pfizer Global Alliances, Ceva, and the Donkey Sanctuary who have all provided funding. Other organisations which have assisted with providing content and support including Elsevier, CRC Publishing, CABI, IVIS and VetPrep. In addition colleagues and students at all the collaborating veterinary schools have been fundamental to the projects success. Finally the site has been dependent on the good will and time of numerous volunteer students and academics around the world.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/29/2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.