Bhamwiki:About

BhamWiki is part of the Project to Document the Birmingham District. The BhamWiki is based on the Wikipedia model and runs on MediaWiki software.

• BhamWiki aims to be the foremost resource and guide for anyone curious about Birmingham and the region around it. It is hoped that by erecting a framework such as this, into which all manner of information can be added and interlinked, that we will be able to build up a body of work that has lasting and ever-growing value. (For more, see Bhamwiki:Philosophy)
• To that end, we have adopted policies based on those that have evolved at Wikipedia, with a little more tilt toward accountability, at the expense of rapid growth. (For more, see Bhamwiki:Policy).
• The model adopted for BhamWiki has both strengths and weaknesses. We constantly aim for a reliable publication, but the user should be aware of that Wiki-based projects are hopefully in a state of constant improvement (i.e. never complete) and that the process of editorial review is far different than would be expected of an authoritative work of reference. (For more, see Bhamwiki:General disclaimer).
• Lastly, this project, like Wikipedia, relies on the contributions of volunteers. There is no business model behind this project. The site's contents are made available, for free, for any purpose, so long as the source is attributed and the same license is granted to all derivative works. (For more, see Bhamwiki:Copyrights)

Logo

The current version of the BhamWiki logo was adopted on May 24, 2006. The lower part is a partial geologic "structure section" of Red Mountain, taken from the "Birmingham Folio" of the Geologic Atlas of the United States, published in 1910 by the U. S. Geological Survey (a work that, by virtue of its age and authorship, belongs to the Public Domain).

Status

BhamWiki was launched on March 15, 2006. The first article was an early version of the List of interstate accidents involving dropped steel loads. During the "alpha" phase of site development (pre-dating any formal announcements) over 1,400 articles have been created, mostly by 4-6 active users eager to help document the region. See Bhamwiki:Milestones for more on the growth of the site.

As the project emerges from it's "alpha" phase, we'd like to start bringing more enthusiastic contributors on board. If you are interested, take a look at the Bhamwiki:User agreement and shoot us an email to get a username and password.