The Chief Surveyor-General presents: Wiki Style Documentation A striving for panoptic documentation

The Chief Surveyor-General presents:

Wiki Style Documentation

A striving for panoptic documentation

What is documentation?

• Define why we do things• Define how we do things• Define when we do things• Define where we do

things• Define what we need to

do to do things

• Documents answer questions

What is documentation at an SG’s Office?

• SG is an animal of law• All documentation

needs to thread back to law

• It is a public document

Documentation at the SG

• Act, Regulations, Ordinances

• Manuals of procedure• Circulars• “Random Notes”• As well as random

notes• Personal notes

Alternative forms of documentation

• Spoken word• Individual notes• Formal notes• Digital documents (eg

Word document)• Digital manuals (eg

software help systems)• Web pages• Wiki

What is knowledge management?

• the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge - and its associated processes of creation, organization, diffusion, use and exploitation - in pursuit of business objectives

• "If only HP knew what it knows it would make three times more profit tomorrow" - Lew Platt, ex CEO Hewlett Packard

Why is knowledge management important

• Increased content• Shorter development times• Facilitates innovation• Manage intellectual capital (eg retirees)• Increased networking• Holistic view of organisation• Help solve wicked problems• Specific, but not exclusive, to Rural Development:

– High staff turn over– High cost of training

The wicked problem

What is a wiki

• Wiki means “fast” in Hawaiian• Developed by an American, Ward Cunningham during

1994-1995• Everybody knows Wikipedia or WikiLeaks?• Website based• Anybody can create and edit• Any number of interlinked web pages• Via a web browser

Dokuwiki

• Used for pilot study• Freeware• Written in PHP• Seemed simple enough

to get setup• Aimed at

documentation

The envisioned SG Wiki

• In the beginning…

Start capturing the current documentation

Make atomic from the start

Let more senior staff use and add to or amend

Documentation team

• Ratifies what has been amended• In consultation if necessary (as per previous

example)• Informal discussions, ad hoc meetings to feed info

to them– Eg PLS tea time discussions

• A team per SG office• Instead of a team, maybe a librarian

Staff to start using Wiki

• For example the diagram examination section

The envisioned SG Wiki

• Start sharing…• Advertise to interested parties• The land surveyor• The conveyancer• The academics• Allow them to create and edit too

And those damn circulars?

• Introducing RSS feeds

A “New” Datastructure

• How may this apply to GIS– GIS procedure– GIS operators notes– List of useful SQL statements– Etc

• Something different– What about data presentation

Our GIS Currently

With some attributes

But what if we got this

List of pro’s (cons not yet considered)

• Free-ish

• Neat

• Accessible

• Easily added to other applications

• Free

• General skill level

•Collaboration