Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
converge. There will be fewer, more capable, and
more differentiated platforms; others will fail to
maintain a critical mass of users and developers.
This consolidation will be difficult, but ultimately
beneficial.
Wikis will continue to be valuable for col-
laboration and KM, particularly in areas and
organizations with extensive tacit knowledge, or
explicit knowledge which evolves quickly and is
this not conducive to more structured KM systems.
As wiki-based KM systems grow in scope and
are used in larger organizations, they will need to
strike a balance between consistency, for enhanced
efficiency, and customization, to adapt to the ever
changing knowledge landscape.
In addition to the organizational and techni-
cal opportunities described above, there will
be other research opportunities, particularly in
the social sciences. Collaboration tools, such as
wikis, discussion forums, task tracking systems,
and version control systems, provide a rich data
source which can be mined in a variety of ways
(e.g. Borges & Levene, 1999; Jensen & Scacchi,
2007). In addition to studies focused on how people
use specific tools, such data could also support
studies of how people learn and different styles of
learning, particularly for adult learners. There are
also opportunities to study how KM systems and
other virtual communities grow and evolve over
time, including their norms and expectations for
participation (e.g. O'Mahony & Ferraro, 2007).
tools and techniques. It emphasizes the flexibility
of wikis, including the ease with which they can
be used to prototype and refine user interfaces for
KM tasks and activities. The chapter also discusses
future directions and implications in these rapidly
changing areas. It is clear that wikis and related
tools will continue to evolve rapidly, supporting
knowledge management and information sharing
within and between organizations, and providing
opportunities for scholarship and innovation in a
variety of related disciplines.
reFerenCes
Antoniou, G., & van Harmelen, F. (2004).
A Se-
mantic Web Primer
. Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Press.
Berners-Lee, T., Fensel, D., Hendler, J. A., Lie-
berman, H., & Wahlster, W. (2005).
Spinning the
Semantic Web: Bringing the World Wide Web to
Its Full Potential
. Cambridge, MA: The MIT
Press.
Blake, P. (2006). Using a wiki for information ser-
vices: Principles and practicalities. In
Proceedings
of New Librarians Symposium
. Sydney:Australian
Library and Information Association.
Borges, J., & Levene, M. (1999). Data mining
of user navigation patterns. In
Revised Papers
from the International Workshop on Web Usage
Analysis and User Profiling
, (pp. 92-111). Berlin:
Springer.
ConClusion
Box, G. E. P., & Draper, N. R. (1987).
Empirical
Model-Building and Response Surfaces
. Hoboken,
NJ: Wiley.
This chapter examines the uses of wikis and related
tools for collaboration and knowledge manage-
ment. Using wikis for collaboration and KM pres-
ents challenges involving organizational issues,
tool and platform tradeoffs, and larger trends in
technology and society. The chapter identifies and
discusses best practices involving organizational
factors, project factors, and tool and platform
factors. The chapter also reviews complementary
Cayzer, S. (2004). Semantic blogging and
decentralized knowledge management.
Com-
munications of the ACM
,
47
(12), 47-52.
doi:10.1145/1035134.1035164
Search WWH ::
Custom Search