Wikimedia Foundation says it has won an $US890,000 ($A1.37 million) grant to create ways to make it easier for people to add their knowledge to its widely-used Wikipedia online encyclopedia.

US-based Stanton Foundation is giving the non-profit foundation the money to make the website’s writing and editing tools more inviting to people new to making entries in the communally-crafted compendium.

“Wikipedia attracts writers who have a moderate-to-high level of technical understanding, but it excludes lots of smart, knowledgeable people who are less tech-centric,” said Wikimedia executive director Sue Gardner.

“One of our key priorities is to attract those people and persuade them to help write and edit the encyclopedia.” (from the Melbourne Age…Link)