In a move to put building and historic environment conservation at the forefront of digital collaboration, the Institute of Historic Building Conservation (IHBC) has launched a knowledge-sharing platform that is the first of its kind.
The free-to-use, open-access platform is the first expert portal to be created on Designing Buildings Wiki, the world-leading construction industry knowledge base.
Conservation Wiki http://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Conservation_wiki is a specially-designed, self-contained site led by the IHBC within Designing Buildings Wiki.
Conservation Wiki has launched with 100 articles already available on subjects ranging from adapting semi-detached dwellings to reduce summer overheating, to VAT policy for historic buildings. It is also linked to the 3,500 articles on Designing Buildings Wiki, making it part of a truly comprehensive resource. The IHBC is now calling on conservation professionals to upload their expertise to help the site expand, making conservation knowledge freely available to everyone.
IHBC Director Dr Sean O’Reilly said, “Conservation Wiki is a collaborative resource that everyone can use and improve. We are calling on anyone with conservation expertise or specialist interest to add to the site to help spread best practice, promote innovation and prevent mistakes. Don’t leave your knowledge gathering dust on your hard drive, add it to Conservation Wiki, improve the industry and raise your own profile at the same time.”
Dr Gregor Harvie, co-founder of Designing Buildings Wiki said, “The IHBC is leading the way with the creation of Conservation Wiki. We hope it will be the first of many special interest areas on Designing Buildings Wiki. Piggy-backing on our platform gives IHBC access to our established audience of 10,000 users a day, as well as thousands of existing articles.”
