Bhamwiki:About
Bhamwiki is part of the Project to Document the Birmingham District.
Bhamwiki is based on the Wikipedia model, but has no affiliation with Wikipedia. It runs on open-source MediaWiki software, but is privately hosted and published as a public service.
- Bhamwiki aims to be the best and most accessible 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 good will. All contributions are made by 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 June 13, 2008. The lower part is a partial geologic "structure section" of Red Mountain, taken from the U. S. Geological Survey's Geologic Map of Alabama (1926)
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. Currently there are approximately 18,125 entries on a wide variety of subjects (from Aaatix to Zyp) and more than 4,500 illustrations. See Special:Statistics for current data.
As the project advances, we are happy to welcome new contributors. If you are interested, take a look at the Bhamwiki:User agreement and shoot us an email to get a username and password.