Wikis and More...

Online Places To Write Content Together... Quick Quick! Fast Food?

Contents

What's a Wiki?

It is actually old technology, created by programmer Ward Cunningham about 10 years ago. He defines it as:

The Hawaiian word Wiki Wiki means quick so we are talking about a quick (and easy) way to create and connect web content. It's largest manifestation is the WikiPedia, a collaboratively written enclyclopedia, where you will find even more information about wikis.

At first the idea of creating a web page that any other person can edit sounds very strange, but when thought of as a vehicle for brainstorming, collectively building a resource collection, or sharing information, it becomes much more exciting than forwarding Word documents by email.

And of course, if you have not figure it out, this very web site you are looking at is a wiki.

Taste Some Wikis

Explore a few of the wiki examples below and be sure to make some notes about what you find. You may want to right-click (Windows) or hold-click (Mac) and then select the option to open the link in a new window. That way you can keep these instructions in view) See the HowTo for instructions for editing your notes

• The Big Wikis (all powered by the software that does WikiPedia
• WikiPedia encyclopedia
• WikiQuote famouse quotations
• WikiTravel travel guides
• Wiktionary dictionary

• Library Instruction Wiki "a collaboratively developed resource for librarians involved with or interested in instruction. All librarians and others interested in library instruction are welcome and encouraged to contribute."
• TeachingWiki
• The Design Encyclopedia A growing, collaborative resource that describes, tracks and explains culture, commerce, politics, media, sports, brands - everything possible, really - through design.
• wikiHow a how to manual done via a wiki
• World 66 Travel Wiki
• Knowledge Sharing with Distributed Networking Tools a presention done via a wiki by Leigh Blackall and Sean Fitzgerald
• Romantic Audience Project Bowdoin College
• Romantic Audience Project University of Maryland
• HDoIP wiki "news, related works, and know-how that aims to

• Juggle Wiki all about juggling
• WikiFish "a collaborative website created by the Students, Faculty and Staff of the Auburn University School of Architecture. This Wiki serves to protect the delicate collaborative environment of Design studio culture, and to serve as a protocol and reference guide to keep these balances in check."

PBWiki

The site we are using for this workshop's materials is PBWiki where the motto is:

This service allows you to quickly create your own wiki, add content, and control whether it is publicly available or not. There is a single password that you can share with people you wish to have editing capability.

For more, see these examples of PBWiki sites:

• Professor Cooper's Freshman Composition Wiki! by Alisa Cooper, South Mountain
• easy wikis for educators - pbwiki a review from edugadget
• Freeware wiki
• Eng 602: English Fifteen in 15 Weeks! Penn State University
• Katrina Help!

Beyond Wikis- Collaborative Web Writing with Writely

A number of new tools have merged that provide wiki-like functionality for doing shared document writing via the web. One of the most interesting is called Writely

You can start from scratch or even upload an existing Word document, and Writely converts it to a web format. Then you can invite others by email to edit the document. When it is ready, you can then publish it to a weblog, as a web page, or export it to a word processor file format.

As a demo, I created a silly Word document with a few headings, web links, lists, and a left aligned image

I then imported this into Writely, which offers a WYSIWIG editing interface where I can do things like correct a typo and add new content:

I can then invite others to edit the document, like Tom Foster (in the workshop, we will demo inviting other participants).

You can also see an example of this document published from Writely to a Blogger web site:
http://cogdoghouse.blogspot.com/2006/01/web-writing.html

If you wish to explore Writely, you can create an account for free at http://www.writely.com/

What To Do?

Think about a need where you might want to have a group of people collaborate on a written document, and what that would mean if it could be done via the web. What are the advtantages? Disadvantages? How would this work as a simple way for non technical people to assemble their own web site? What would students use this for?

Some examples that may get you thinking:

• Using a Wiki To Plan a Camping Trip
• Planning a web site re-design
• Publishing a Presentation
• Mapping a Bus Route in Shanghai, China
• Sharing notes on a book reading

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