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User:Stewartadcock/notes

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An introduction to the wonderful world of WikiWikiWebs and one research group's experiences

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Or, a short Wiki case-study

See also: An associated article

Wiki - a powerful, community-based, collaborative editing environment

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  • enables documents to be authored collectively using a web browser
  • e.g. Wikipedia
  • Freely editable.
  • Auditable history

The McCammon group had an internal website

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  • awkward to maintain content.
  • Hand-crafted HTML.
  • Non-standard Apache configuration.
  • "Secret" passwords.
  • progressively more out-dated content.

The "McWiki"

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  • Implemented using Zwiki.

Many lessons

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  • Good...
  • Easily maintained contact information
  • Constantly maintained HOWTO and FAQ documents.
  • A collaborative forum.
  • Interactive documents.
  • Auditable history.
  • ...and bad (but not so many!)
  • slight learning curve (more behavioural than technical)
  • no formal editorial or peer-review process
  • poor medium for discussions and debates
  • addictive!