Memory Alpha
URL	memory-alpha.org
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Wiki
Registration	Optional
Owner	Communal
Created by	Dan Carlson Harry Doddema

Memory Alpha (often abbreviated to MA) is a wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe. Uniform Resource Locator is an URI which also specifies where the identified resource is available and the protocol for retrieving it A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content using a simplified Markup language. A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content using a simplified Markup language. Conceived by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson in September 2003 and officially launched on December 5 of that year, it uses the wiki model and is hosted by Wikia, Inc. on the MediaWiki software. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content using a simplified Markup language. Wikia (originally Wikicities) is a selective Free web hosting service for Wikis (or Wiki farm) operated by Wikia Inc MediaWiki is a web-based Wiki software application used by all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, all wikis hosted by Wikia, and As of March 2008, Memory Alpha contains over 27,500 articles in its English edition alone, making it one of the largest wiki projects. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The site is also available in Chinese, Czech, Dutch, Esperanto, French, German, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish and Swedish. Czech (ˈʧɛk čeština ˈʧɛʃcɪna in Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers it is the majority language in the Dutch ( is a West Germanic language spoken by around 24 million people 22 million of which are from the Netherlands, Belgium and Suriname is by far the most widely spoken constructed International auxiliary language in the world French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Polish ( język polski, polszczyzna) is the Official language of Poland. Portuguese ( or língua portuguesa) is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia (Spain and northern Portugal. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Serbian (sr-Cyrl српски језик sr-Latn ''srpski jezik'' is a South Slavic language, Swedish ( is a North Germanic language spoken by more than nine million people predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the There is also a "Mirror Universe" Memory Alpha.

The contents of Memory Alpha are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial license. Creative Commons (CC is a Non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share Because this license does not allow commercial reuse, it is incompatible with the GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL), and material from the site cannot be copied into projects that use the GFDL. The GNU Free Documentation License ( GNU FDL or simply GFDL) is a Copyleft License for free documentation designed by the Free Software This distinction makes Memory Alpha a "sister project" of the GFDL-based Wikia project. Wikia (originally Wikicities) is a selective Free web hosting service for Wikis (or Wiki farm) operated by Wikia Inc

History

Memory Alpha aims to create a comprehensive database for all fans, but was not conceived as a wiki. Two concerns spurred its creation: many Star Trek references of the time were incomplete, and the most promising would shut down regularly, like the site TrekPulse, which closed inexplicably in late 2005 to be reborn the next year as TrekCore. Doddema and Carlson christened their project Memory Alpha, after the Federation's largest information archive, from the original series episode The Lights of Zetar. " The Lights of Zetar " is a third season episode of Star Trek The Original Series, first broadcast January 31, 1969 and repeated

The two decided on a wiki format, which allowed for more freedom, flexibility and extensibility than other formats available. As Carlson said in the Charlotte Observer, "The idea I latched onto with the wiki concept is you can spread the work around. Everyone can pitch in and go in on their own special interest. " After experimenting with TikiWiki software, they switched to the MediaWiki platform, finding it less cumbersome. TikiWiki CMS/Groupware, originally and more commonly known as TikiWiki, is an Open source ( LGPL) Content Management System (CMS / MediaWiki is a web-based Wiki software application used by all projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, all wikis hosted by Wikia, and The platform of choice for Wikimedia proved to be, in their opinion, more stable and efficient, and a they brought a testsite online on 11 Nov 2003. The Wikimedia Foundation Inc is a Non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Memory Alpha officially launched on 5 Dec that year. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations.

The site gained momentum in the following months, aided by a mention on the Star Trek fan site "TrekNation" on December 23. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city Memory Alpha reached 1,000 articles by January 12, 2004, but on March 23, the site's database was accidentally erased during an upgrade of the MediaWiki software. Events 475 - Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Events 1174 - Jocelin, Abbot of Melrose, is elected Bishop of Glasgow. A Computer Database is a structured collection of records or data that is stored in a computer system Although this caused six weeks of work to be lost, the project expanded to include Dutch and German versions on April 10 and May 14 respectively. Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Events 1264 - Battle of Lewes: Henry III of England is captured in France making Simon de Montfort the It remained stable until the following year, when the fees associated with hosting the site became more than the founders could afford.

In February 2005, Memory Alpha switched hosting servers and joined Wikia, a free for-profit wiki-hosting company started by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Wikimedia Foundation Board member Angela Beesley. Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Wikia (originally Wikicities) is a selective Free web hosting service for Wikis (or Wiki farm) operated by Wikia Inc Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales (born August 7 1966 is an American Internet entrepreneur known The Wikimedia Foundation Inc is a Non-profit charitable organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, United States, Angela Ruth Beesley (born 1977 in Norwich England) is a British Internet Entrepreneur. The site remained stable on Wikia, opening a Swedish site on May 5 and a French one on November 5. Events 553 - The Second Council of Constantinople begins 1215 - Rebel Barons renounce their allegiance to King John Events 1499 - Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier ( Brittany) It also received several distinctions that year, such as the Ex Astris Excellentia award from Ex Astris Scientia, a Star Trek reference site, in September 2005, and it was featured as the SciFi Channel's Site of the Week in a newsletter dated October 10. Events 680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise writer/producer Mike Sussman joined the community that year as well. Star Trek Enterprise (simply titled Enterprise prior to season three is a Science fiction Television program created by Brannon ^[1]

Technical issues led the MediaWiki software to believe Memory Alpha was started on November 23, 2004, and despite the inaccuracy, this date was adopted ex post facto as Memory Alpha's "birthday". Events 800 - Charlemagne arrives at Rome to investigate the alleged crimes of "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " To celebrate the occasion, Uncyclopedia (which is also hosted by Wikia) altered its main page to be a parody of Memory Alpha on November 23, 2005. The spoof page was retained under the namespace "tlh:", for tlhIngan Hol (the Klingon name for the Klingon language), modeled after the way wikis link to pages in other languages. In general a namespace is an abstract container providing context for the items ( Names or Technical terms or Words it holds and allowing disambiguation Klingons ( Klingon: tlhIngan; Pronunciation /ˈt͡ɬɪŋɑn/ are a warrior race in the fictional Star Trek universe The Klingon language ( tlhIngan Hol in Klingon is the Constructed language spoken by Klingons in the fictional Star Trek universe ^[2]

The latter part of 2005 and early 2006 saw several new features added to the site. Among these was a peer review process, implemented on September 21, 2005 in response to questions about the process by which articles become featured (see below for more information). Peer review (also known as refereeing) is the process of subjecting an author's scholarly work research or Ideas to the scrutiny of others who are Events 1217 - The Estonian tribal leader Lembitu of Lehola was killed in a battle against Teutonic Knights. Memory Alpha (often abbreviated to MA) is a Wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe ^[3] On November 20 of that year, Memory Alpha began a "Babel" program, inspired by and modeled after that of the Wikimedia Commons, to help users who speak the same language. Events 284 - Diocletian was chosen as Roman Emperor. 762 - Bögü Khan of the Uyghurs, Wikimedia Commons (or simply Commons) is a repository of Free content images sound and other multimedia files Other recent innovations include an area for user projects, sometimes referred to as WikiProjects on other wikis, and coverage of fan films. A fan film is a Film or Video inspired by a Film, Television program, Comic book or a similar source created by fans

The site has remained popular since its inception, although its growth has slowed in recent times. For instance, it was the largest project on Wikia until October of 2005, when its article count was surpassed by Wookieepedia and Uncyclopedia. Wookieepedia the Star Wars Wiki is an Online encyclopedia for information on the Star Wars Fictional universe &mdashincluding information Today, it has approximately 1300 registered users (80 of whom are active) and upwards of 17 million page views since its move to Wikia. As of February 2006, it receives about half as many visitors and page views per day as the official Star Trek website according to Alexa. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Alexa Internet Inc is a California -based Subsidiary company of Amazon ^[4]

Memory Alpha has influenced the design of other wikicities dedicated to information about television franchises, including The X-Files Wiki [1] and the 24 Wiki [2]. It is a resource used by mainstream journalists for information on Star Trek related issues. ^[5]

On June 12, 2007, Memory Alpha reached a milestone of 25,000 articles with the creation of the article Robert Iscove. ^[6]

Structure

Several aspects of Memory Alpha set it apart from other reference works, such as its method of citing sources. All information must be cited from a valid source (see Canon section below), but rather than a "Works Cited" or "References" list, Memory Alpha prefers stand-alone inline citations, which are placed in parentheses after the sentence or section in question. Memory Alpha (often abbreviated to MA) is a Wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe For television episodes, this consists of an abbreviation for the series from which the information came (e. g. DS9 for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), followed by the name of the episode in double quotation marks. So, in order to cite information from the Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) pilot "Encounter at Farpoint", one would add: (TNG: "Encounter at Farpoint"). Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry " Encounter at Farpoint " is the first episode of Star Trek The Next Generation. The same rule applies for films, sans the series prefix and with italics in place of quotation marks. The same method of notation is also used in the printed Star Trek Encyclopedia, which is unrelated to the Memory Alpha wiki.

Articles on Memory Alpha are written from two points of view: "in-universe", which are written as if the reader is a part of the Star Trek universe, and "production", which speak from a real-world perspective. For "in-universe" articles, behind-the-scenes information is not included in the main body of the article; rather, it is placed in a separate background section or included indented and italicized to separate it from the in-universe perspective. The latter method is used in cases where either the information is particularly important (such as conflicting information from two canon sources) or there is not enough background to justify a separate section. In most cases, the background method is preferred and italics are used sparingly.

Like many wikis, Memory Alpha has a section for "featured articles", those believed to represent the best the community has to offer. The criteria for this distinction are that an article must be well-written, comprehensive (which includes citing sources), accurate and undisputed – criteria any article could hypothetically fulfill. This has caused some conflict over the criteria involved (see Current issues section). Memory Alpha (often abbreviated to MA) is a Wiki that is an encyclopedic reference for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe To be featured, an article must be nominated by a user and unanimously supported by at least five other users; any objections must be fixable and may be invalidated if deemed irrational or unreasonable. Each week, one of the site's featured articles becomes the "Article of the Week" to be displayed on the project home page.

Several methods of communication are available beyond conventional talk pages. The "community portal" section of the website is named after Ten Forward, a locale frequented by characters on The Next Generation. The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D (or Enterprise -D, to distinguish it from prior starships with the same name) is a 24th century Starship Issues discussed there range from disputes between users to new ideas on how to improve the site to upcoming projects. A separate area, the reference desk, exists for discussions and questions related to what is considered canon, discrepancies between sources, and other such topics. The reference desk or information desk of a Library is a public service desk where professional Librarians provide library users with direction to library However, "meta-Trek" topics (a term used for Star Trek-related topics that do not pertain in any way to Memory Alpha) are not discussed on the wiki; a separate IRC chatroom exists for these discussions.

Canon policy

The question of Star Trek canon is a complex one and has plagued fans since Star Trek began in 1966. The Star Trek canon is usually defined as comprising the television series ''Star Trek'', Star Trek The Next Generation, Star Trek Deep Space The general policy of Paramount Pictures is that anything outside live-action television episodes and movies is apocryphal, or non-canon. Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and Distribution company, based in Hollywood California. ^[7] However, grey areas in this policy, especially in relation to the canonical status of Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), further complicate the matter and have led to many debates among fans. Star Trek The Animated Series (also known as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry 's Star Trek) is an Emmy Award winning In light of this, Memory Alpha crafted its own unique definition of canon in relation to what may be used as a "valid resource". The Animated Series is included as valid, or canonical, for a number of reasons, such as the fact that Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry and most of the cast of the original series were involved with it and the existence of several references to TAS events in later series. Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry (August 19 1921 &ndash October 24 1991 was an American Screenwriter and producer. Star Trek is a Science fiction Television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 through

Information taken from the Star Trek Encyclopedia and Star Trek Chronology is mostly accepted on Memory Alpha as well, to the extent that it does not break from established on-screen facts. The Star Trek Encyclopedia A Reference Guide to the Future is an Encyclopedia of all the In-universe information from the Star Trek Content from these sources is an acknowledged grey area of Memory Alpha's canon policy and is disregarded if deemed speculative or contradictory. Thus, in some ways they hold the same weight as novels and other publications do for Star Wars canon: a "second tier" of canonicity, which is subservient to primary (on-screen) sources. The Star Wars canon consists of the six Star Wars feature films along with all officially licensed non-contradicting spin-off works to the

Other sources such as books and computer games are not included as canon, but are covered by Memory Alpha in a way which sets it apart from other Trek resources: books, comics, and other products are included as articles about the products (i. e. from a "production point of view"), but "in-universe" information unique or new to them is covered on the product page. For example, in the Star Trek: New Frontier line of books, a new host of characters is introduced to the Trek universe, and their vessel is known as the USS Excalibur. Star Trek New Frontier is a Star Trek Novel series created by John J The characters, ships and information from New Frontier books do not receive pages of their own, but they are covered on the pages about the books. In this way, Memory Alpha remains all-inclusive while attempting to distinguish canon from apocrypha.

Current issues

Several issues face the Memory Alpha community, one of which is the question of which articles should be given "featured" status. Under Memory Alpha's current policies, both major and minor topics are eligible; however, the question has been raised of whether the criteria for featuring should be more subjective, i. e. , if a topic is not significant enough, it should not be featured regardless of how comprehensive its article is. ^[8] There is currently no consensus in the Memory Alpha community about the topic, although there has been no change in featuring policy.

The question of what content Memory Alpha should cover has plagued the project since its creation. On the project's home page, it describes itself as "a collaborative project to create the most definitive, accurate, and accessible encyclopedia and reference for everything related to Star Trek", but fans often have different interpretations of what "everything" means. In some cases, one or more users may add content about a subject – such as a website, fan club or parody – that does not fit existing pages, necessitating a community decision about whether to keep the content and, if so, what to do with it. Such incidents led to the creation of an article on Star Trek parodies after several questions were raised about where to put information related to, but not a part of, the Star Trek franchise. An example of the reverse case is "The Sunspots", a musical group consisting of Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, LeVar Burton and Michael Dorn. Patrick Hewes Stewart, OBE (born 13 July 1940 is an English Film, Television and stage Actor. Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American Actor and director best known for his portrayal of Commander Levardis Robert Martyn Burton Jr (born February 16, 1957, in Landstuhl, West Germany) professionally known as LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn (born December 9, 1952) is an American Actor known for his role as the Klingon Worf in multiple Although the actors involved were all prominent parts of Star Trek: The Next Generation, several articles on the group have been deleted because the community deemed the topic not directly related to the franchise. Star Trek The Next Generation ( STTNG or TNG) is an Emmy and Peabody Award-winning science fiction television program created by Gene Roddenberry As of 2006, information about The Sunspots can be found on the different actors' pages rather than a single, separate article. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar.

Perhaps the most heated issue on Memory Alpha in recent months is the controversy surrounding their canon policy. Aside from issues of length and excessive use of legalese, this new policy has been put into question by several of the site's regular users because of its rule that articles and information which were not seen on-screen but were derived from official production sources are not considered canon on Memory Alpha. Legal writing is a type of Technical writing used by Legislators Lawyers Judges and others in Law to express legal analysis and The site's archivists are divided as to exactly whether such information should be allowed as canon; some want only to allow what was seen on-screen while others wish to include that which was originally intended to be used on-screen but never made it, such as information from deleted scenes, early script drafts, etc. The latter archivists believe that such information can be included so long as it does not contradict what was seen on-screen and so long as it states where the source of the information comes from. As of July 2006, this debate has died down significantly, with most having accepted the terms of the new policy. ^[9]

There is also some concern as to the canonicity of the in-development Star Trek movie, and how it will be represented on the site if the film is a reboot of the franchise (not set within the same fictional universe as the previous TV shows and movies), as it may well be. Star Trek is a Science fiction film directed by J J Abrams and written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. ^[10]

Notes

References

• Barnett, Cynthia (September 1, 2005). "Wiki mania". Florida Trend, Vol. 48, No. 5; Pg. 62; ISSN: 0015-4326. [3]
• Lee, Ellen (January 1, 2006). "The world's gone wild for everything wiki-wise". The Charlotte Observer, p. 4E.

External links

• Memory Alpha's home page