In reply

Abstract

The letter from WikEM’s founders1Ostermayer D.G. Donaldson R.I. The wiki: a key social media tool.Ann Emerg Med. 2015; 65: 466Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar regarding the importance of wikis raised some valid points. We agree that wikis are valuable social media tools for the dissemination and organization of knowledge. The OpenEM Foundation, in particular, has done an admirable job of developing a useful resource in WikEM and deserves recognition and support for their efforts.However, the strategies in our article2Thoma B. Joshi N. Trueger N.S. et al.Five strategies to effectively use online resources in emergency medicine.Ann Emerg Med. 2014; 64: 392-395Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar focused on effectively using online resources and not on specific resources. Wikis have been defined as Web sites that can be openly edited and use crowd-sourcing as a method for improving and revising their content.3Thoma B. Chan T.M. Benitez J. et al.Educational scholarship in the digital age: a scoping review and analysis of scholarly products.Winnower. 2014; 1 (e141827.77297)Google Scholar However, for the users consuming content (our article’s target audience), they function as freestanding resources that are similar to others created by individuals or groups. They were not considered a sixth strategy in our article for this reason. However, we do believe WikEM warrants a position of high-quality online resources; there were simply too many great Web sites to list them all in our summary table.The authors would like to thank the OpenEM Foundation for the substantial work that they have done in creating WikEM and encourage the readers of Annals of Emergency Medicine to use and contribute to this resource. The letter from WikEM’s founders1Ostermayer D.G. Donaldson R.I. The wiki: a key social media tool.Ann Emerg Med. 2015; 65: 466Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (2) Google Scholar regarding the importance of wikis raised some valid points. We agree that wikis are valuable social media tools for the dissemination and organization of knowledge. The OpenEM Foundation, in particular, has done an admirable job of developing a useful resource in WikEM and deserves recognition and support for their efforts. However, the strategies in our article2Thoma B. Joshi N. Trueger N.S. et al.Five strategies to effectively use online resources in emergency medicine.Ann Emerg Med. 2014; 64: 392-395Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (36) Google Scholar focused on effectively using online resources and not on specific resources. Wikis have been defined as Web sites that can be openly edited and use crowd-sourcing as a method for improving and revising their content.3Thoma B. Chan T.M. Benitez J. et al.Educational scholarship in the digital age: a scoping review and analysis of scholarly products.Winnower. 2014; 1 (e141827.77297)Google Scholar However, for the users consuming content (our article’s target audience), they function as freestanding resources that are similar to others created by individuals or groups. They were not considered a sixth strategy in our article for this reason. However, we do believe WikEM warrants a position of high-quality online resources; there were simply too many great Web sites to list them all in our summary table. The authors would like to thank the OpenEM Foundation for the substantial work that they have done in creating WikEM and encourage the readers of Annals of Emergency Medicine to use and contribute to this resource. The Wiki: A Key Social Media ToolAnnals of Emergency MedicineVol. 65Issue 4PreviewWe were pleased to find 2 articles in Annals’ October edition that focus on social media best practice in emergency medicine.1,2 But although these articles provide several good recommendations for tools to aggregate online content, both overlook one of the main categories of social media performing this function, the wiki. Full-Text PDF