Please find a brief introduction here.
The Flexikon is based on the Wiki technology by Clifford Adams. Richard Stallman, one of the founders of the open source software-movement, descibes the necessity and the usefulness of open encyclopaedias in his article "The Free Universal Encyclopaedia and Learning Resourcce".
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Idea
The Flexikon is a free medical lexicon – no dictionary, no discussion forum, web portal or anything similar. The Flexikon has two major attributes:- The Flexikon is an open system: Everybody can edit its pages. The integration into the DocCheck healthcare portal facilitates the integration of many qualified experts and authors.
- The authors provide their articles to the public according to the GNU free documentation license. Everybody may spread the Flexikon content if the original source is mentioned. It is not possible to restrict this right in later versions! This fact is the main motivation to participate in the project.
Note about the contents
The Flexikon is an open project. The articles may therefore include mistakes, the content may be wrong or misleading. As a user you should always check the information carefully and compare it to other sources – this goes for the Flexikon as well as for any other information on the net. By including a history of versions for any article, the Flexikon still provides an ideal environment for further education.
Rules
To keep the project simple and productive, please stay to the following rules:- Articles should be as unbiased as possible. The aim is not to write an article from one point of view, but in a balanced and neutral fashion. So please allow other opinions to get a word in.
- To discuss major changes in the text, you may use the DocCheck discussion forum (even though it is advisable to include changes right away; see also “be brave in editing articles�).
- Please do not simply delete longer passages if you think they are nonsense. It is better (and much more polite), to add a comment and start a discussion.
- Final encouragement: “If these rules make you depressive and you do not feel like taking part in the Flexikon anymore – simply ignore them and carry on.�
Community
The Flexikon is created by a large number of volunteers. Many physicians, pharmacists, scientists, students and other enthusiasts have decided to add their knowledge to the project.Many dedicated people participate in the Flexikon. Some are called administrators. They have the authorisation to delete or lock articles. Everybody who engaged himself for the Flexikon for some time has the possibility to gain these extra rights.
“Very well, but why should I participate?�
Similar projects
The name “wiki� technology originates from “wiki wiki�, which means “fast�. Several free encyclopeadias with various themes and in many languages are based upon on the wiki idea (see (1)).
Introduction
If you would like to participate in the Flexikon project or want to contribute anything in general, please start with the Flexikon: Help for beginners page. Please find some frequently asked questions on our FAQ page. This leads you to the Flexikon manual.
