http://wiki.c2.com/?WikiHistory http://wiki.c2.com/?WikiHistory Start here. * There's a variant on design patterns which you can call Community Patterns. * S

http://wiki.c2.com/?WikiHistory http://wiki.c2.com/?WikiHistory Start here. * There's a variant on design patterns which you can call Community Patterns. * Some patterns are software design patterns * Some patterns describe Agile software development. * Some patterns describe how to run a wiki (and why) * Wikipedia originally adopted these patterns and extended them for its own policy. See also: http://wiki.c2.com/?WhyWikiWorks http://wiki.c2.com/?WhyWikiWorks If you want a long thoughtful writeup, check this text by Aaron Swartz http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/wikiroads http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/wikiroads That's some baseline sources off the top of my head. There's a lot more written about this. It seems like there are several concepts working together that a lot of people find un-intuitive. * In the main, human beings are honest. In fact mathematics predicts it must be so. (Game theory) * Humans "automagically" cooperate if their numbers are small (under Dunbar's number), but fail to do so over that number. * If you can keep the number of cooperating people under control, you can take advantage of this. * Conversely, if something needs attention, the ability to rapidly recruit them to the point needing attention is paramount (see eg. smart mobs) Partly by accident, partly by design, wiki engines exploit the above 3 elements. At first approximation, as long as >>51% of users are honest, the wiki will continue to function. The measured value on operational wikis is something like 60-80%.