We believe that the success of Davis Wiki is the result of the vision we had and the enormous effort we put into bringing that vision to life. We also believe that this type of success is replicable, but it is by no means easy or necessarily obvious. We see similarities in the mainstream adoption of blogging as a new medium. Although the concept has existed since 1994 and many users have maintained online diaries, there have been few examples of successful blogs as we know them today and it took many years and many pioneering efforts as well as the creation of specialized blogging tools to establish themselves. like a new different medium. Wikis were invented in 1994, and it took until 2001 for the first truly revolutionary project (Wikipedia) to be created, and many more years for it to gain significant popularity. Many community wikis look to Wikipedia for guidance and try to follow in its footsteps. However, we believe that local wikis are something radically different and the Wikipedia model is not the right approach. It is understandably difficult for new community wikis to reject the principles that worked so well for the world's largest wiki, and to this day Davis Wiki is one of the few successful local wikis that serves as an example of a better model for local wikis . community. To address the two specific wiki examples, there are some clear differences between their approach to building a community resource and what we did at Davis and what we propose. The most obvious difference, even at first glance, is that both of these wikis use standard, commercially available Media Wiki software. This software is general purpose, and while it is very popular, it is not suitable for a local community wiki. In contrast, Davis W...... middle of paper ...... Each local wiki must develop naturally to meet the specific needs and interests of the local community. While it is valuable to learn from other communities, it is a mistake for a new wiki to try to copy the content or organizational structure of a mature, successful wiki. Different types of content and organizational paradigms will be appropriate in different communities, depending on the geography, language, culture, demographics, and individual talents and interests of the contributors. It is important to let the character and values ​​of the local community permeate the local wiki. We have covered all of these points in conversations with community leaders and in various interviews over the past few years. For a good outside perspective on what made Davis Wiki successful, we recommend reading the Neiman Journalism Lab interview or one of the other attached articles.