UsingWikis

Using Wikis for Collaborative Documentation Projects: 

Using Wikis for Collaborative Documentation Projects Scott Cooley Administrative Information Services cooleys2@ais.msu.edu

Session Agenda: 

Session Agenda Wiki basics Documentation Development basics Applying commonly-accepted principles of documentation development to wiki organization Taking advantage of wiki features to enhance the documentation development process

What is a Wiki? Fast Facts:: 

What is a Wiki? Fast Facts: A wiki is a community-based collaborative website which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it A guy named Ward Cunningham developed the first one, called WikiWikiWeb, in the early 90’s It’s a Hawaiian name that means “fast” Wikipedia, a free online encyclopedia, is probably the most popular example

Wikis are for you if you want:: 

Wikis are for you if you want: A place to centrally store your project resources A place for your community to share information Ability to collaborate A ‘net-based system (either intranet or internet) Track page revision history Simplified authoring

Wikis are not for everyone: 

Wikis are not for everyone You might not want a wiki if you need: One-way communication Automated indexing capabilities Ability to dynamically merge into another app More control over layout than content

Similar Systems: 

Similar Systems Documentation Repositories, Document Management Systems Knowledge Management Systems, Business Intelligence Systems Concurrent Versioning Systems, Content Management Systems Blogs, Forums, Social Networking Sites Enterprise Collaborative Management Systems

Expanding on the Conference Mission-why we’re here: 

Expanding on the Conference Mission-why we’re here Come together as a cohesive group and learn from each other Recognize and share your collective contributions to the University Meet with your broader community of university colleagues How wikis facilitate the same

Today’s “Virtual” Teams: 

Today’s “Virtual” Teams

Geographically-Dispersed Team Organization: 

Geographically-Dispersed Team Organization Process Documentation Communication Virtual Headquarters Centralized, Shared Storage and Access Contact Information Schedule, Milestones, Metrics Roles & Responsibilities

Documentation Project Organization: 

Documentation Project Organization Stages of documentation development New meaning of “getting everyone on the same page” Wiki Voyeurism – page “watching” Recently-updated “junkies” Automatic notifications of page updates Attachments Review & approval

Stages of Documentation Development Workflow: 

Stages of Documentation Development Workflow Requirements and Strategy Standards and Procedures Draft Editing Review Approval Publishing

Demo & Lessons Learned: The Kauli Foundation Wiki: 

Demo & Lessons Learned: The Kauli Foundation Wiki Common complaints: Too hard to find things Outdated, irrelevant, unnecessary material Great for technical documentation, not production, print-friendly documentation Creeping featurism and the need for standards The need for wiki gardening, reduction of number of cooks in the kitchen

For More Information: 

For More Information Angel - http://training.angel.msu.edu/create_wiki/ Great Lakes Wiki – http://www.greatlakeswiki.org/index.php/Main_Page Comparison of Wiki Software – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison of wiki software Wiki Patterns – www.wikipatterns.com

Session Summary: 

Session Summary Wiki basics Taking advantage of wiki features to enhance the organization of the documentation development team Taking advantage of wiki features to enhance the documentation development process Proof of concept – The Kuali User Documentation Project This presenter’s opinion on the future of wikis

Slide16: 

Mahalo!