Changes

===Why is this site a wiki?===

===Why is this site a wiki?===

In late 2013, the [[Wayne County Public Library]] began a large project to improve their online presence by developing a completely new website. The Genealogy section of the old website was quite large and designed with a different intent than the library website at large. It contained numerous databases, scanned documents, and reports—resources of potentially broad interest, produced by an active community of volunteers, librarians, and researchers. The new genealogy section required a platform that could contextualize existing information for a potentially global audience, adapt to demands of ongoing research, and serve an existing community of contributors. With its collaborative intent, mutable structure, and emphasis on linking information, a wiki seemed like the clear choice.

In late 2013, the [[Wayne County Public Library]] began a project to improve their online presence by developing a completely new website. The Genealogy section of the old website was quite large and designed with a different intent than the library website overall. It contained numerous databases, scanned documents, and reports—resources of potentially broad interest, produced by an active community of volunteers, librarians, and researchers. The new genealogy section required a platform that could contextualize existing information for a potentially global audience, adapt to demands of ongoing research, and serve an existing community of contributors. With its collaborative intent, mutable structure, and emphasis on linking information, a wiki seemed like the clear choice.

As pre-launch development of the "Genealogy Wiki" was under way, a "Local Business Wiki" emerged from the flurry of activity. This led to a reconceptualization and a broadening of intent. The "research tracks" of Wayne County genealogy, business, and history are distinct, and yet they are still deeply intertwined by the locality of their constituent data. Splitting them into separate wikis would be to complicate the rich possibilities that may emerge from their "local knowledge" connections. To address this, the website was shifted from "WCPL Genealogy Wiki" to "Wayne County (OH) Wiki", with a "portal" added to each of the three major tracks: [[Portal:Genealogy]], [[Portal:Local history]], and [[Portal:Business]].

As pre-launch development of the "Genealogy Wiki" was under way, a "Local Business Wiki" emerged from the flurry of activity. This led to a reconceptualization and a broadening of intent. The "research tracks" of Wayne County genealogy, business, and history are distinct, and yet they are still deeply intertwined by the locality of their constituent data. Splitting them into separate wikis would be to complicate the rich possibilities that may emerge from their "local knowledge" connections. To address this, the website was shifted from "WCPL Genealogy Wiki" to "Wayne County (OH) Wiki", with a "portal" added to each of the three major tracks: [[Portal:Genealogy]], [[Portal:Local history]], and [[Portal:Business]].