Think about some of the words we use to describe the awesomeness of coworking:

Open

Collaborative

Creative

Accessible

Flexible

User-Directed

We love coworking because it’s always new. Unlike a coffee shop, which is always a coffee shop, or a  home office, which is always lonely, a coworking space evolves into what we need it to be on a daily basis. Exposed to this marvelous flexibility, most of us laugh at the idea of returning to the isolation of a traditional office.

But what about the rest of the world? Millions of freelancers and entrepreneurs are still trapped within the confines of old ideas about where work can happen. These brilliant minds needs to be set free. They need to hear the gospel of coworking. And that means you have to become a missionary.

The Coworking Wiki is how a lot of people discover coworking (it’s consistently in the top 3 search results for “coworking” online). It gets about 500 web hits a day, and right now it doesn’t make a very good impression.

The Wiki was meant to grow the movement by sharing “Getting Started” tips, strategies and business models for space owners, and collaborative tools, but many of its sections are empty or incomplete. There are tons of broken links and outdated contact information. It has some great resources, but they are hard to find. Coworkers around the world have decided that we can do better.

The Coworking Wiki Upgrade Project is an international, collaborative effort to rebuild the public wiki into something that will be easy-to-use, useful, and inspiring.

Here are the Project’s ambitious goals:

A New, Map-Based Coworking Directory

Resources for Present and Potential Coworkers

Resources for Space Owners and Catalysts

A Platform for Greater Collaboration

Improved Organization, Layout, and Usability

Who’s going to do all the hard work it will take to accomplish these goals, you might ask? Well, that’s where you come in. Here are two different ways you can help.

1. Volunteer your time and skills to clean up some key areas of the Coworking Wiki. Sarah Cox of Cospace is coordinating wiki volunteers, and so email her if you have some time to chip in.

2. Donate money. Even just $10 goes a long way toward making sure this project is successful. Your donation provides for project management and oversight, community outreach and involvement efforts, and the development of new technologies, like the redesigned Coworking Directory. None of this would be possible without you. To say thank you, the Coworking Wiki Team will list you on the donor page, give you a twitter  shout-out, and mail you some schwag .

Want to learn more about the Project, Timeline & Budget, and the Team that’s making it all happen? Click here. You can also get updates about progress on the Project’s blog.

Image via Chris Owens/Flickr