Wild, Wild Wikis: A way forward Robert Charles 1 and Adigun Ranmi 2 1 Laboratoire Lorrain de recherche en informatique et ses applications Campus Scientifique - BP 239 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, France Abiodun-charles.robert@loria.fr 2 Department of Computer Technology Yaba college of Technology yaba – Nigeria ranmiadigun@yahoo.com Abstract Wikis can be considered as public domain knowledge sharing system. They provide opportunity for those who may not have the privilege to publish their thoughts through the traditional methods. They are one of the fastest growing systems of online encyclopaedia. In this study, we consider the importance of wikis as a way of creating, sharing and improving public knowledge. We identify some of the problems associated with wikis to include, (a) identification of the identities of information and its creator (b) accuracy of information (c) justification of the credibility of authors (d) vandalism of quality of information (e) weak control over the contents. A solution to some of these problems is sought through the use of an annotation model. The model assumes that contributions in wikis can be seen as annotation to the initial document. It proposed a systematic control of contributors and contributions to the initiative and the keeping of records of what existed and what was done to initial documents. We believe that with this model, analysis can be done on the progress of wiki initiatives. We assumed that using this model, wikis can be better used for creation and sharing of knowledge for public use. 1. Introduction Contributions to public domain initiatives can be very important in aggregation of public knowledge. Some of the public domain resources include ebooks, free music / videos, public forums, free images and public domain encyclopaedias. We can easily identify two types of public domain resources: static resources which do not change with time. Ebooks, music, images can be seen as static whereas public forums and encyclopaedias that changes with time particularly when they are shared using the internet resources are dynamic resources. In this paper, we are interested in dynamic public domain resources. We can identify several examples in this category. wikis, flickr and del.icio.us are well examples of dynamic public resources. Our particular attention is on wikis. The first question that comes to mind is what is wiki? Stafford and Webb defined wiki “as website where users can add, remove, and edit every page using a web browser”. In this study, we see wiki as one of the methods of aggregating public knowledge on the internet. Multiplicity of wikis is not a problem but an indication of its usefulness and popularity. The objective of this paper is to see how contributions in public wikis can be enhanced using an annotation model. Any contributed knowledge will normally attract criticism particularly when it is in public domain We can refer to three scenarios when an individual consults a public domain wikis. (a) He may feels that something is wrong with the content of the information (b) He may feel that the information contain therein is accurate and justifiable (c) He may feel that the information is good but can be improved upon. In the last two situations, the user may decide to improve the quality of information in the system by adding his information to negate or improve what was initially available. The question is, how can he improve the quality of information in a wiki?