Wikipension:About
Wikipension is an online compendium of information pertinent to retirement benefits for employees of state and local government in the U.S. This site is maintained by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA), and is intended to foster knowledge and understanding of these benefit policies, finance, and administration.
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What is Wiki?
A wiki is a website that allows users to create, edit, and link information. Wikis often are used to organize information regarding a particular subject area. The difference between a wiki site and a traditional web page is that wikis allow the content and the structure to be changed and maintained by a community.
The most popular wiki site is Wikipedia, a global, collaborative online encyclopedia. Wikipension runs on the same software—MediaWiki—as Wikipedia, and they share a similar look and functionality.
Content Validity and Transparency
One important difference between Wikipension and Wikipedia is that access to create pages and to edit Wikipension is tightly controlled and highly transparent. Wikipedia has suffered from electronic vandals who anonymously and intentionally post erroneous information on the site or delete information posted by others.
By contrast, NASRA exercises sole authority to approve users to write to and edit the site. All information posted on Wikipension, as well as other changes made to the site, is accompanied by a user name and date. The MediaWiki software allows any page to be quickly and easily rolled back in time to previous editions, in case of erroneous or inappropriate information. These features minimize the potential for vandalism and inappropriate use.
Wikipension is intended to serve as a resource for factual and objective information, although the site may also include links to papers and articles that reflect different perspectives. The site is not, however, intended to serve as a discussion forum.
Retirement System Participation
NASRA welcomes all public retirement system staff to help in the building and editing of Wikipension. Every page offers opportunities to fill in information about plan features and characteristics. In particular, assistance is sought for:
- Maintaining the appropriate page that describes your retirement system. These pages are accessible on Public Retirement System Organizations and Governing Bodies, or via the map below.
- Updating the site’s Studies and Reports page when your system or state publishes a report that may be of interest to others.
  Click on state for detail
More Help and Contact InformationIf you are a staff person from a public retirement system and wish to request access to create new pages or to modify existing pages, or if you are not a public retirement system staff person and wish to submit information to be considered for posting, please contact: Alex Brown, NASRA research associate, for authorization permission and assistance in writing to and editing the site, at alexbrown@nasra.org, 202-624-8461 Keith Brainard, NASRA research director, at keithb@nasra.org, 512-868-2774 |
