StructuralWiki:FAQ

Who is the author of StructuralWiki?
StructuralWiki is being maintained by Long Tail Group. Contributions come from Long Tail Group editors and other contributors.

How reliable is the information in StructuralWiki? Can it be used for professional use?
Every attempt is made to verify the data that are entered in StructuralWiki. However, no resource or publication, including StructuralWiki, can replace professional judgement. Therefore if the information provided in StructuralWiki is used to perform professional services (such as design of structures), it is the responsibility of the professional to verify the information and its fitness for a particular purpose.

What type of content is permitted for StructuralWiki?
The main goal of StructuralWiki is publish unbiased information that is of immediate use to professionals in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry (designers, architects, structural engineers, contractors, software developers, software developers, researchers, students, ...). The suitable content therefore consists of original articles, articles compiled from other sources, references, links to books and professional publications, sample calculations, photographs etc. Links to commercial sites and commercial information are permitted only if they provide generally useful technical data.

Why Structural Wiki?
There is already Wikipedia. What are then the benefits of having separate StructuralWiki? While Wikipedia is the most extensive wiki and online encyclopedia, Wikipedia policies and guidelines state that it can contain only encyclopedic content. Material not meeting this criterion will be removed. It can be more suitable for another Wikimedia project or for its own wiki, such as the many wikis hosted by Wikia. (Wikia is a for-profit company run by Jimmy Wales, the founder of non-profit Wikipedia). And this is where StructuralWiki comes into play. The goal of StructuralWiki is to be more than just encyclopedia, with the key focus on structural and civil engineering. The vision of StructuralWiki to create a community where all participants (students, researchers, designers, specification writers, software developers, construction professionals, etc.) can freely contribute content of interest to the community.

In addition, majority of respondents to two survey launched by BridgeArt.net in 2007 expressed relatively strong interest in wiki specifically for the architecture, engineering and construction community:


 * Survey 1 - distributed by email, 250+ respondents
 * Survey 2 - survey targeted to Civil Engineering major at faceboook.com

Can I be financially compensated for working on StructuralWiki?
If you have expertise in certain area and would like to contribute to StructuralWiki on a continuous basis, we may offer possible cooperation in the future. If you are interested to join our editorial team, please contact us.

What if I have a question that is not answered here?
Please edit this wiki page to ask your question or contact us.