MNopedia facts for kids
 |
|
|
Type of site
|
Internet encyclopedia project |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Launched | August 15, 2011 |
|
Content license
|
CC-BY-SA 3.0, public domain, and all rights reserved |
MNopedia: The Minnesota Encyclopedia is a fantastic online encyclopedia that's all about Minnesota. It's completely free to use and is written in English. This project comes from the Minnesota Historical Society. It's a great place to find reliable information about important people, places, events, and things from Minnesota's history.
Contents
How MNopedia Started
Minnesotans voted on November 4, 2008, to approve special funding for arts and culture. This funding helped create MNopedia. Planning for the website began in 2010. The site was built in 2011 and officially launched on August 15, 2011.
Why an Online Encyclopedia?
The Minnesota Historical Society first thought about making a printed encyclopedia. But they decided an online version would be better. It was more affordable to create and easier to update. An online site also lets people interact with the information in new ways.
Who Writes for MNopedia?
The Minnesota Historical Society pays history experts to write articles for the site. These experts include people like Rhoda Gilman and Annette Atkins. The historical society also gives out grants. These grants help other writers create new entries on specific topics.
How MNopedia Works
MNopedia is designed so that other computer programs can easily get information from it. This is done using something called an API.
The online newspaper MinnPost often shares articles from MNopedia. They publish new entries every week. MinnPost also writes news articles every two months. These news articles are later turned into full entries for MNopedia.
Linda Cameron is the project manager for MNopedia. One of the most popular articles, both with the staff and online users, is about the Wealthy Apple. This article was even shared from MNopedia to Wikipedia in 2012. This was possible because MNopedia uses special licenses, like CC-BY-SA, which allow content to be shared and reused.
