Welcome to week 2 of Web 2.0: Introduction to Second Generation Web Tools.
In this week’s assignment, we’ll cover wikis.
Wikis
If you’ve ever wondered if the version of a shared document you’ve got is the most recent, you will appreciate a wiki. A wiki allows a document to be stored and edited online, and it saves all previous editions. Collaborate instantly without worrying about emailing revisions to everyone in your project group.
Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for “quick” or “fast.” It’s defined as a website that allows visitors to add, remove, and edit content. (Wikipedia). It is a tool for:
- collaborative document drafting and editing
- rapid document prototyping
- collaborative problem-solving
- knowledge organization
- consensus building
- document version tracking
- web design and content provision
- but mostly COLLABORATION
NOTE: A wiki is only as good as its community
Discovery Exercise:
- Step 1: Wikis can be used for many different reasons; document management, group collaboration projects, knowledge base, and internal communication. Check out these examples of wikis to discover how you might use one at your workplace.
Flu Wiki – The Fluwiki is meant to develop and share information about coping with a public health problem, prevalent community illness from circulating influenza A virus.
The INSIGHT Project on Infectious & Chronic Disease – A class project on estimating diseases.
Mouse Biomedical Informatics Research Network (BIRN) – Part of the LONI ( Laboratory of Neuro Imaging Collaboration) wiki set of pages
Familypedia the geneology Wiki – A place to create articles about your ancestors and collaborate with others to build ancestoral networks.
University of Minnesota Libraries Staff Wiki – Internal communication among library staff as well as a document repository.
- Step 2: Join the class wiki at http://librarylabs.wetpaint.com/. Click on “Join This Wiki” and you will be asked to “Sign up now.”
- Step 3: Create and design a basic wiki based on a potential use. For the purposes of this class we will be using WetPaint http://www.wetpaint.com/. Go to WetPaint and create a wiki by clicking on start your own wiki. Tip: Your wiki can be on anything you like.
- Step 4: One of the great things about wiki is the easy way it fosters group collaboration. Go to the class wiki, http://librarylabs.wetpaint.com/ and contribute. Go to the page called “Wiki List NJ Web 2.0.” Edit the page and add a link to the wiki you’ve started. Then go to the page called “Blog List NJ Web 2.0.” Edit the page and add a link to the Blog you’ve started in Week 1. We will now be able to see each other’s wiki’s and blogs!
- Step 5: Go to the class wiki and find a page which you could contribute information towards and add information to it.
- Step 6: What is the difference between a blog and a wiki? What sort of things might be better suited for a blog and better suited for a wiki? Write a brief response on your blog. Submit the link to your blog post to the instructors using the activity tracking report.
Discovery Exercise Resources:
Step 1
Your guiding question for Step 1: How do you think you could use a wiki in your job? How do you think your colleagues could use a wiki that you created? Do you work with a team that could use a wiki?
What Is a Wiki (and How to Use One for Your Projects)
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2006/07/07/what-is-a-wiki.html?
Understanding a wiki community
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki1.htm
There are many types of wikis for different needs. To find out which best suits your specific needs check out the WikiMatrix to compare and contrast different wiki applications:
http://www.wikimatrix.org/.
Step 3
Your guiding thought for Step 3: “The only reason that a wiki works is because the community of people who work on it make it work.” (from http://computer.howstuffworks.com/wiki1.htm)
Wide Open Spaces: Wikis, Ready or Not
http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/WideOpenSpacesWikisReadyo/40498
Step 4
Using Wikis to Support Online Collaboration in Libraries
http://library2.usask.ca/~fichter/articles/2006.01.Using_Wikis_to_Support_Online_Collaboration_in_Libraries.pdf
Steps 5
Do you want to start a discussion? Create a page in the Class Wiki where others might add information. Or add information to a collaborative page another person has created.
Step 6
Post a new entry in your blog from week one commenting on the questions posed here. Click on the Blog header. This produces a unique URL for that blog entry. Copy the URL. Go to the Activity Tracking Report. Fill out the information (again) and paste the URL for your Week 2 blog in the last box.
