What's it all about?
Funders are supporting plaques at key locations to enable visitors and residents alike to wave their portable phones over a QR code to get information about the particular site.
What's a QR code?
It's like a bar code and it points your smartphone to a specific web page. As over 60 per cent of portable phones are now "smart", there's an increasing number of people who can benefit.
What do you get when you scan?
Access to a Wikipedia page specific to that location.
The Siop Nain page was created last month. Here is the history. On the page itself, as things stand at today's date, there are at least two mis-spellings (including "center") and at least four punctuation errors... but that can be typical of Wikipedia
Is Wikipedia a good thing?
Well, it maintains it is the fifth most popular website and it's true that millions rely on it for its encyclopaedic information. But it's stitched together by self-regulation and this means anyone can upload all sorts of nonsense. This is why schools deter Wikipedia use, though pupils obviously being pupils will take the shortcut and use it anyway! It may be that as part of the project there's been or will be some sort of control but that doesn't prevent rogue edits.
But more than that, if there is some sort of Wikipedia guardian, custodian, warden or curator, then what right have they to determine what people might wish to contribute? This freedom is at the heart of what Wikipedia purports to do and to be.
Are there Wikipedia problems affecting Rhuthun?
Yes. One of the most humourous, on the page about an African dictator, was when some wag once said that Robert Mugabe was a regular visitor to the Rhuthun area, enjoying in particular walking on the Clwydian Range, even contributing financially to its upkeep. And, yes, that edit actually happened.
Wikipedia screenshots taken in 2010
No doubt there are other issues relating to Rhuthun pages as well, peppered across Wikipedia's sites or, at best, out-of-date info. Wikivoyage still refers to the Visitor Centre on the Square, for example, and neglects to mention the information point at the craft centre.
The main Ruthin page began its life in 2003 and, since then, has seen hundreds of edits, including the equivalent of almost one a day in September.
What are the benefits?
Monmouth was one of the first UK Wiki towns. It's said to drive tourism Monmouth's way. It may do the same for Rhuthun but as more towns get wikified then will momentum continue as things are diluted?
It also means that residents and historians are able to think more about what their town has to offer and accordingly write about it. This in itself can be very fulfilling.
It's possible to go well beyond locations and buildings, to talk of geology, flora, fauna, history, politics, personalities… and anything that adds to the narrative of Rhuthun. Perhaps even this blog. Oh, you're specifically forbidden by Wikipedia to mention blogs.
And the disadvantages?
What does this mean for publications such as Slow Walks around Rhuthun? What's wrong with a good old-fashioned guidebook, anyway?
Will hundreds of QR codes splattered around on listed buildings actually detract from the visual nature of the town which, after all, is a conservation area. Could these be self-defeating by blighting the very environment visitors in Rhuthun come to see in the first place?
And finally...
As an early adopter, Rhuthun joining the latest in the digital revolution might be a good move, before this sort of thing really takes off. As at the date of this post, Rhuthun has yet to feature on the Wiki project pages.
On the other hand, can you really see hordes of tourists scanning QR codes as they wander around?
The following pages retrieved today are taken from Wikitravel. Note Wikitravel is *not* affiliated to Wikipedia but looks identical, is similarly editable by crowds and gives an indication of what may happen were people to be irresponsible.
Tags:
Wiki Project