Theosophy Wiki:About

TS Wiki arose from an idea that Pablo Sender expressed to Janet Kerschner in the Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library in May 2009. Both were employed in the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in America - Pablo in the library and Janet in the archives. They saw potential for a collaborative encyclopedia to be highly useful as a reference and research tool, and as a repository for historical information. The Kern Foundation supported development efforts and hardware expenses. Mediawiki software was installed in 2011, and the infrastructure was established.

Early in 2012, the team realized that the wiki could serve as a tool for study of the Mahatma Letters. The TSA Archives had a set of about 1300 color slides that had been purchased by George Linton from the British Library. The slides had been scanned as a preservation measure, and the images turned out to be stunningly realistic. Viewing them brings a sense of immediacy, a connection to the writers and their time that is inspiring. The wiki format provided an excellent opportunity to make these high-quality images of the letters available for study by people who might never be able to view the originals in London. After consultation with Vic Hao Chin, Jr., editor of the The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett Chronological Edition, and other scholars who were visiting the Olcott campus, a three-column format was selected to show the images of the letters with transcriptions to the left and notes to the right. Physical description, publication history, context, and commentary sections were added, along with intra-wiki and external links to more information.

On July 22, 2012, the TS Wiki was demonstrated to the membership of the Theosophical Society in America at the 126th Summer National Convention.