Discussion Group B4: Wiki Strategies to Support the Needs of External Groups
Issues
Based on your previous discussion and related points from the other discussion groups you should now seek to identify a Wiki strategy for your institution. Possible strategies for providing Wiki services include:
- A large-scale enterprise Wiki service for use within your institution.
- A distributed and decentralised approach, in which departments, ad hoc groups, individuals, etc. may choose their own preferred Wiki tools, which could be installed locally or use of free or licensed externally-hosted services.
- Use of Wiki functionality provided in other enterprise tools, such as VLEs, Blogs, etc.
- In-house development of a Wiki service.
- Doing nothing, either because effort is limited and prioritisation is given to other areas or a view that Wikis are of marginal relevance to the institution.
Please address the following issues:
- What are the pros and cons of these approaches?
- Which approach(es) best satisfy the user requirements you have identified?
Based on your preferred approaches to the provision of a Wiki service:
- What potential problems and difficulties might you expect in the deployment of a Wiki service?
- What approaches would you recommend for the effective deployment and support for your preferred Wiki service?
Notes
Providing an enterprise service is a solution that will succeed in most institutions but in many institutions departments will want their own because they'll want something different. Whether that is commercial or a open-source product will depend upon the institution, local expertise and money available. Small groups might choose to use an external hosted service just because it's are available.
A managed service can be provided but you have to choose the application carefully and have the foresight to anticipate what difficulties you need to try to get over.
Problem areas:
- User expectations (artificially high?)
- User resistance
- Archiving and preservation
- Ensuring the there is thorough knowledge of what the service provides - routes in and out
Approaches:
- Evangelism, training and support
- Strategies for moving into supported wiki from other wikis
- Seeing further than the technology and giving users a necessary reason to use the wiki
Exploiting The Potential Of Wikis