Memory Alpha

Memory Alpha
Type of site	Fan wiki; Online encyclopedia;
Owner	Communal
Created by	Dan Carlson; Harry Doddema;
Revenue	Advertising
URL	memory-alpha.fandom.com
Commercial	Yes
Registration	Required
Launched	December 5, 2003; 20 years ago
Content license	Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

Memory Alpha is a wiki encyclopedia for topics related to the Star Trek fictional universe. Created by Harry Doddema and Dan Carlson, it uses the wiki model^[2] and is hosted by Fandom on the MediaWiki software.^[3] As of September 2023^[update], Memory Alpha contains over 56,000 articles and 62,000 images in its English edition.^[4] The site is also available in several other languages.^[5]

History

In 1995, Dan Carlson created a personal Star Trek starship database called Starfleet Ship Registry. By 2000, he had expanded the database's scope and renamed it Starfleet Reference Database, including it as one of the five basic sections of his newly-launched website The Gigantic Collection of Star Trek Minutiae.^[6]

In the fall of 2003, Harry Doddema proposed the creation of a Star Trek wiki in a post on the Flare Sci-Fi Forums. Carlson was interested in the concept and the two of them went to work. Using Starfleet Reference Database as a framework, they named the project Memory Alpha, after the Federation's central library from the TOS episode "The Lights of Zetar".^[7] Memory Alpha officially launched on December 5, 2003, as a section of the Star Trek Minutiae website.^[6]

In April 2004, Memory Alpha was launched as its own website. In February 2005, Memory Alpha joined Wikicities (now known as Fandom).^[3] By September, it was the largest project on Wikicities and a central hub for Trekkies.^[8] That month, Memory Alpha received the Ex Astris Excellentia award from Ex Astris Scientia, a Star Trek reference site.^[2] The site was featured as the Sci-Fi Channel's Site of the Week for the week of October 10.^[9]

Blogger Will Richardson called the site "one of the most impressive [wikis] out there."^[10] By October 5, 2006, Memory Alpha had reached the 20,000 article mark.^[11] On June 20, 2007, Memory Alpha reached 25,000 articles.^[12]

In 2007, Entertainment Weekly named Memory Alpha one of the 25 Essential Fansites.^[13] Simon Pegg, actor and writer for Star Trek Beyond, used Memory Alpha as a resource in the writing process of the film,^[14] even asking the community's founders to name and establish etymology for vokaya, a Vulcan mineral that enables Spock to locate Nyota Uhura.^[7] Star Trek: Discovery's showrunners have described Memory Alpha as "an amazing resource."^[15]

References

^ "Memory Alpha: Copyrights". Memory Alpha. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "EAE Award Winners 2005". Ex Astris Scientia. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "Memory Alpha: History". Memory Alpha. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
^ "Statistics". Memory Alpha. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
^ Crockett, Christine (September 17, 2006). "A 40-year 'Trek'". Sun Journal. p. B1.
^ ^a ^b Carlson, Dan (August 3, 2020). "History of Star Trek Minutiae". Star Trek Minutiae. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Carlson, Dan (July 29, 2016). "The Story of Vokaya: Beyond a Fan's Wildest Dreams". Star Trek Minutiae. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
^ Barnett, Cynthia (September 1, 2005). "Wiki Mania". Florida Trend. Vol. 48, no. 5. p. 62. ISSN 0015-4326. Archived from the original on October 17, 2006.
^ Newquist, Ken (October 10, 2005). "Sci-Fi Site of the Week". SciFi.com. Archived from the original on December 13, 2005. Retrieved November 30, 2005.
^ Richardson, Will (2006). Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press. p. 62. ISBN 1-4129-2767-6.
^ Michelle (October 5, 2006). "Memory Alpha Surpasses 20,000 Articles". TrekToday. Christian Höhne Sparborth. Retrieved September 23, 2023.
^ ""Memory Alpha," the Online Star Trek Encyclopedia, Surpasses 25,000 Article Mark". PRWeb. Cision. June 20, 2007. Archived from the original on February 7, 2023. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
^ ABV. "25 Essential Fansites". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved August 29, 2023.
^ "Simon Pegg: "Memory Alpha Has Been So Helpful" During STAR TREK BEYOND Writing Process". TrekCore. July 23, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
^ Martinelli, Marissa (September 21, 2017). "The Keepers of the Canon". Slate. The Slate Group LLC. Retrieved September 23, 2023.