Assignment # 8 - Wiki resources

I am intrigued by Meatball - as found from reading FrontPage. I find FrontPage difficult; after reading a conversation between more highly technical individuals than myself, I find I only understand half of what they're on about. Perhaps that's the point of wikis, is that they serve their community and, since I am not part of their community, I can't add value. I need to find a wiki that's closer to my needs.

Meatball, on the other hand, is interesting because it sets itself as a resource for groups setting up their own on-line community. Their opening statement is very welcoming:

Meatball is a community of active practitioners striving to teach each other how to organize people using online tools. Members here are either community managers or are building supporting tools; MeatballOutreach lists some of our affiliated projects. We gather here in a spirit of BarnRaising, exchanging help when needed, mostly by teaching each other.

BarnRaising is exactly what we need to do to create enough impetus to start an internal, or local wiki resource.

At work, sometimes we don't have all the answers: as much as we'd love to, it's not possible using our currently resources. Since I fear redundancy, I think a wiki might be the answer. If all the staff at Lutherwood had the ability to update an internal wiki, we'd be one step closer to knowing everything! The next logical step, as I see it, would be to create a community services wiki that anyone in the community would have access to modify. After speaking with the client, I would search the community wiki to find a possible service match.

Could this lead to information overload? I hope not. It would make our resource centre more resourceful. Also, it would stop me from having to google for information that I might not find - or if I do, it's often out-of-date.

WatStart Wiki is a refreshingly, user-friendly wiki. It's also easy to read and easy on the eyes... especially after reading the dense comments in FrontPage. However, it doesn't seem to have much participation: few comments, many comments are a year old, and some sections are still blank. Perhaps the community did not find much value here.

Mfagan wiki is dangerous for those of us who enjoy learning about our physical surroundings. This is a serious time waster. That being said, I really enjoyed visiting this wiki. It might also prove more useful than mapquest or google maps. I particularly like the Waterloo Region Locator map:

Though I see many uses for a wiki, there are two issues. One, is abuse or neglect, of the content. If you don't have a strong community that will participate in the wiki, there is no point to it's existence. If members of the community post misleading or incorrect information, this too can be dangerous. The community must be self-monitoring and aware of this issue to keep moving forward.

The second issue is information overload. Concise information is crucial. Say it once, clearly. Create a good search engine and organize the topics carefully. This too is important for the flow of the ever-accumulating list of things I think I should know.

Then again, I do tend to go on a bit. Practise what you preach, eh?