Wikidbase combines the functionalities of a database system and a wiki web application. WikidBASE aims to allow non-technical users of a database system to create and evolve their d... More
Wikidbase combines the functionalities of a database system and a wiki web application. WikidBASE aims to allow non-technical users of a database system to create and evolve their database model over time.
In a conventional DBMS, the schema and queries are created and optimized based on a data model that is difficult for non-technical users to change and maintain.
A wiki, on the other hand, is relatively easy to modify and manage, even by non-technical users, and can be likened to an unstructured database, since there is no predetermined modle for the information that will be stored, However, unlike a structured database, information held in a wiki cannot be treated like that found in a database, and structured information from a wiki is not easy to retrieve. The main data retrieval interface tends to be the text-search interface.
Wikidbase can be thought of as more than just a database, as a rich groupware application that will be capable of storing and organizing all sorts of information (e.g. fully relational data, plain old information pages, files, images, media, semi-structured data, shared calendar type information, etc.). It is targeted at a non-technical audience, including people working with non-profit and charity organizations, who might not have a database administrator on staff.
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One of the nice things about open source software is that it can experiment easily. Projects that don't have an obvious commercial route to success can still thrive and prove their usefulness, free of the demand to make money. One interesting project I've run across recently is WikidBase, which as the name implies crosses a wiki with a database.