Math Images Project
From Seo Wiki - Search Engine Optimization and Programming Languages
The Math Images Project is a wiki collaboration between Swarthmore College, the Math Forum at Drexel University, and the National Science Digital Library. The Project aims to introduce the public to mathematics through beautiful and intriguing images found throughout the fields of math. Using Mediawiki software, the Project encourages a collaborative atmosphere in which contributors find images, write an explanation, and educate members of the community through discussion.
The National Science Digital Library and National Science Foundation provide the NDR, or National Science Digital Library Digital Repository. The NDR stores links and metadata to websites for use by educators and researchers. The Math Images Project uses the wiki extension built by the NSDL to submit page links and metadata to the NDR, allowing the Project to be of use to the greater education community.
On a smaller scale, the wiki uses an internet forum wiki extension to replace the community portal, thus allowing easy discussion and administration of the threads. The new community portal is designed to allow easy interaction between contributors and the developers, as well as serving as a mini-blog and feedback forum.
The Project, like Wikipedia, requests that all images be released under the GNU GPL in order to maintain the wiki attitude. Images are culled from Google Images or reputable educational sites, the authors located and emailed a letter requesting permission, and approved images are added to the wiki.
The main goal of the project is education, and thus the wiki is oriented to provide the most useful educational experience to the community. The levels of education allow easy searching and collating of information, while the community discussion elaborates upon the basic information provided with each image.
The project has recently completed its third summer of development. The site is now in a functional beta test, while undergoing evaluation and modification.