Wisdom in wiki production

What is a wiki? See Wikipedia article about wikis

What are the purposes for which wikis can and should be used? Can large groups of people collaborate and produce high-quality materials for organisations or for educational purposes? How does one get started with wikis? The answers to these questions, among others, are available in this guide.

The material in Wisdom in wiki production is intended as a guide for all those interested in the use of wikis, already using them, or planning to use them. This material aspires to bring up various views and potential uses such as wikis in education, civic activities, business, communications, project work and even collaborative writing.

'''The production and enhancement of this material is open to anyone interested in it. Please familiarise yourself with the material, form your opinion and edit, insert or delete text as necessary. Wisdom in wiki production will be increased in this way.'''

Learn about users' experiences with wikis

Contents
1. Introduction This introduction gives a summary of the guide, shedding light on the history and character of wikis; it also gives some arguments for why and in which cases wikis are the best choice. 2. Starting to use wikis

How does one get started with wikis? This chapter assists beginners in taking their first steps and discusses issues that might bother new wiki users. There are also tips for experimenting with wiki platforms.

3. Different uses of wikis

This chapter explains the differences in wiki usages regarding e.g. workplace wikis, project wikis and wikis in education. Wikis intended for educational use are discussed on page Wikis in education.

4. Target groups of wikis

Wiki readers are often also wiki writers. It is important to remember your target group. This chapter discusses the use of wikis in view of the needs of various target groups (e.g. citizens, organisations, professional groups, etc.).

5. Introducing a wiki for use

This chapter explains how a wiki can be introduced for use in an organisation. It also discusses technical issues relating to wikis. How to select the wiki is discussed in Wiki selection. The introduction process is naturally more demanding in an organisation than when initiated by individual users, because the benefits of wikis depend on how active their users are. When the process is first started, it is not rare to encounter change resistance.

6. Wiki content production process

This chapter describes the production and writing of wikis. What is different in wiki production and wiki writing compared to traditional text production? How do we maintain the pace in writing?

7. Good wiki material

Good wiki materials inspire and feature high quality. But how do we measure wiki quality, and how do we promote it?

8. Wiki literature

Bibliographical references for further studies of wikis. As you search for data in wikis, note also the lists of references in the different parts of the material.

Target group

 * Widely taken, all citizens
 * Civic organisations
 * Businesses

Related books

 * Starting and Running a Wiki Website

Background
The production of the material was started in a developer group for wikis and blogs and their contents in education, working under the ESF-funded project AVO - Open Networks for Learning. The seed was produced during October 2009 - March 2010. The following experts, who regularly work with wikis, took part in the brainstorming and writing of this wiki: Elias Aarnio, Antero Aunesluoma, Ari-Matti Auvinen, Tiina Front-Tammivirta, Joanna Muukkonen, Marko Mäkilä, Juha Pihlaja, Jukka Purma, Anne Rongas, Maija Saraste, Titi Tamminen, Jarmo Tanskanen, Tarmo Toikkanen, Tere Vadén, Outi Vahtila and Anna Vilhula.

The materials production started as early as November 2009. The core contents were ready in March 2010, after which the material was allowed to live on and take form according to users' needs. Anyone interested can take part in this production.

The seed for the material was produced in connection with the AVO project. The project was funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment in Lapland.

Viisautta wikin tekoon