Web 2.0 and Social MediaBusiness in a Connected World

Chapter 5

© McHaney and Sachs 2016

Wikis and Collaborative Documents

Collaborative Document Creation OnlineWeb 2.0 concepts may have emerged with Wikis.

Many Wikis are free

Wiki Overview

Quick‘Wiki’ is derived from the Hawaiian language and means quick.

Multiple AuthorsRepresents a class of applications with tools for the collaborative development of documents.

Support ToolsProvides features to edit content, develop topics, link pages, add tags, and cross reference material.

http://blogs.atlassian.com/news/2008/03/how_do_you_use.html

2011 Axio Conference

Many blog features are available in wikis. Collaborative documents are flexible and used to display content on a Web page with the added bonus of allowing updates.

Wikipedia: massive online encyclopedia with more than 27 million pages, 17 million users, and 260 languages. More than 5 million English pages.

Wikis

Criticized for lack of rigor but some studies have found otherwise.

Most Popular Wiki: Wikipedia

Mistakes quickly corrected

Broad repository of knowledge

Dynamic and Up-to-Date

Amazing Collaborative Effort

Wikis and collaborative documents may have a variety of user rights. Some offer open viewing and editing (public). Others limit access to particular editors and selected readers (private). Semi-public Wikis require users to register and obtain a user name and password prior to access.

User Rights

Wikis maintain a history of all changes to each page and permit discussions about those changes.

Wikis Maintain History of All Changes

Wikis are often the target of vandals and spammers

Wikis Must Combat Spam

Example Page Created by Spammers

Identifying and Stopping Spam on Wikis

More Example Spam Pages

Wiki Master Finds Spam Creators Using Wiki Tools

DELETE SPAM IMAGES

Wiki Master Takes Steps to Block Spammer

Medicine and ScienceInformation posting that requires high editorial standards. Material must be accurate. Uses expert-moderated approach.

Can be used almost anywhere collaborative document creation makes sense.

Example Wiki Uses

BusinessInternal collaborative documents, knowledge repositories, internal documentation and software application information. Customers may help produce documentation of products.

Academics and ClassroomsCollaborative grant writing, academic unit documentation, committee reports, strategic planning documentation, and knowledge repositories. Collaborative student projects, and exam study guide development.

GovernmentInternal procedures, and public reporting, so constituents can post and answer questions.

WikiIndex is a Wiki Indexing Wiki Communities

Wiki of Wikis

Self-hosted

Wiki Software Examples

Self-hosted

Wiki Software Examples (Continued)

Other hosts

Wiki Software Examples

1. Worldview definition 2. Paradigm development 3. Technological considerations 4. Content ontology 5. Risk assessment 6. Sustainability planning

You create and edit!

Steps in Building a Wiki

World View: Wiki Purpose?

Content DecisionsDecision regarding how content will be viewed, developed, and used by its community.

Contribution ParadigmPrivate, semi-private or completely open.

Web 2.0 ConceptsFacilitate sharing intellectual resources and encourage contribution.

Content OwnershipUsers understand contributions will remain available with a Creative Commons license.

Community ValueEnsure Wiki will be used as a communal construction of knowledge, online discussion, and reflection for an interacting group of users.

Paradigm: Wiki Look and Feel

Choose Development Platform. Provide a mechanism for easy page creation and consistency (for example - Mediawiki script language).

Templates

Technical Considerations

Provides a mechanism for tagging topics

Categories

Technical Considerations

• Provides users with order• Comfortable way to tag

contributions • Simple starting point that can

expand as the site evolves• Enable potential users to

develop initial contribution

Wiki Organization

Ontology

• Establish Wikikeeper (as opposed to Wikimaster)

• Initial vigilance and human oversight

• Maintenance of academically sound contents

Oversight and Quality

Risk Assessment

Clay Shirky (2008), in Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing without Organizations, provides a helpful perspective. He suggests that a social tool such as a Wiki needs to achieve a balance between promise, tools, and bargain. When the correct balance is achieved, a community will emerge and sustainability will result.

Community Building

Sustainability

Wikis were among the first collaborative, online document systems. The core concepts of wikis, including co-creating content, tracking history and providing rollback features, are now commonly used with other families of online applications. Among these, word processors, databases, spreadsheets, calendars, and many others have become popular.

Other Collaborative Documents

Collaborative Software System Examples

DocumentWeb 2.0 collaborative document concepts emerged and took shape with Wikis. .

Summary

Collaborative FeaturesCollaborative document systems provide features to co-create and edit content, develop topics areas, link pages, add tags, and create cross references..ToolsAdditional tools permit document owners to determine who can access material, what type of access is granted and how material is distributed.

RepositoriesMost collaborative documents serve as work spaces and become knowledge repositories.

Contact: Roger McHaney, Kansas State University, mchaney@ksu.edu