[pct-l] Wiki or Not?

[Richard Thalhammer]

Responding to Steel-Eye's opinion rejecting a wiki for a FAQ for the  
PCT-L, my difference with that is based on what may be a different  
perception of what this FAQ would try to address.  From the  
discussion, my impression is that it will NOT attempt to resolve  
matters of opinion or controversy, which is where a wiki can get into  
trouble.  Wikipedia, for example, has taken many hits for allowing  
edits of political information by partisans without adequate  
attribution or supervision.  Obviously, if there are various answers  
to a question, a wiki is vulnerable to manipulation.  I think that is  
where Steel-Eye's skepticism of a wiki comes from and I agree with his  
point, as far as it goes.

However, if the FAQ addresses what Steel-Eye describes as "primarily  
quanitative" matters, then the issue simply is whether the information  
is correct and up-to-date, or not.  For example, trying to answer the  
question, "How many miles a day should I try to accomplish on my thru- 
hike?", is fraught with variables and subject to everyone's opinion.   
The true answer will be up to each individual's situation, and thus  
not a question to be undertaken by the kind of FAQ I had in mind.  In  
my view, the correct type of question would be more on the order of,  
"What permits do I need to hike a thru-hike?", or "What are my public  
transportation options from Manning Park to Seattle?"   At present,  
the answers to those questions are straightforward and can be given  
without controversy.  However, whenever the information changes, a  
wiki would allow a rapid update to the FAQ and, unless someone posts a  
bogus bit of information, should allow the FAQ to remain current and  
useful.  The "credibility" of the author of any piece of information  
would not be an issue, as it would be if the answer were a matter of  
opinion.

Certainly, even the most objective facts can be altered by ignorance  
or malicious behavior, and a wiki is vulnerable to both.  But, by the  
same token, readers of the PCT-L know that readers of this forum are  
almost uniformly responsible, helpful and sincere contributors to the  
hiking experience of others through their posts.  Whenever anyone  
posts incorrect information, for whatever reason, rapid corrections  
follow.  Based on that history, I think a wiki format for the FAQ  
being considered would be quite effective.

Having said all that, I think it most important that we get a FAQ  
together in whatever format works for those creating it.

Rick Thalhammer
rickt at macnexus.org