Building and Sharing Knowledge Base with Wikis

November 23, 2007

Presenter: Newton Vivor

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

• Review of Sharing Methods

• Introduction to Wikis

• The WAHO Blindness Prevention Wiki

• Getting Started

• Training and Practice Session

• Next Steps

Wiki Development

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

• eMail– Very common, fast, cheap and easy to use

– Allows quick group or 1-to-1 communications

– Disadvantage:• Is not a sustainable method for sharing information

• Resources are on individual computers, neither organized nor accessible to others

Wiki Development

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

• Websites– A good means to store and access knowledge and

information resources

– Is semi-permanent

– Disadvantage:• Is difficult to use for those with low bandwidth

connections• It can be difficult to find what you need• It is structured and maintained by a single

person or organization

Wiki Development

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

• Websites (continued)– Websites give those working in the development sector

access to large amounts of helpful resources

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

• An Important Trend– Web 2.0

• Giving more opportunities and control to users of the internet to publish their own content: documents, files, research, knowledge, etc.

– Examples

• Blogs

• Wikis

Wiki Development

What's a blog?

A blog is an easy-to-use web site, where individuals can quickly post thoughts, articles, pictures, interact with people, and more…

 

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Sharing Knowledge, Information and Resources

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Introduction to Wikis - Wikispaces

• Wikis

Content management system

Allows people to collaboratively develop a Web site without any prior training

Wikis do not have a single author or editor, but many – perhaps thousands

Wiki = quick (in Hawaiian)

Wiki Development

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Introduction to Wikis

• Wikis & Knowledge-Information Resources– Wikis are an ideal tool to organize and store a

permanent knowledge base – online – for others to use and contribute to

– Professionals can easily contribute their expertise to a shared knowledge base

Wiki Development

Wiki Structure

• All wikis start off as a single blank page

• Pages are created and connected by hyperlinks

• No ownership of pages; anyone can change the work of others

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Wiki Components

• Pages community members can add to or edit • Discussion area for each page• List of all of the changes made to a particular page

(version control)• List of all changes made to all pages.

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Principles Advantages of Wikis

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• Easy to use• Web-based• Free • Anyone can make changes (edit other people’s work)• Flexible and extensible•No one owns content•Good for collaborative group work

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Introduction to Wikis

• Wikis in the International Development Sector– Ministries, NGOs and Funders are beginning to

understand the power of wikis, and pilot sites and experiments are beginning to appear

– Wikis can be a valuable tool to enhance our professional knowledge and effectiveness

– The technology is simple, but behavior change is often required

Wiki Development

Planning and Designing a Wiki Page

A wiki page must have:

- Good presentation

- Must be legible

- Multiple pages linked

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Guidelines

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Getting Started

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Practice Session

Setting up a Wikispace member account:

- Membership by invitation

- Activate the link in the email to access the account creation page

- Provide your username, password and email address to sign up

Practice Session

Sign Up• Fill in all spaces and click Join to submit

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View your Page• Once you have created your account you need to sign in

• You will see this screen

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

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Opening Page

• Left side is your navigationNew pageRecent changesManage spaceSearch &Home

-----Picture---- 21

Practice Session

Wiki Development

Opening Page

• Top area are your page toolsEditPageHistoryNotify meDiscussion

-----Picture----

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Practice Session

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Opening Page

• The center area is where your message will go

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Practice Session

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Editing your page

• Click on the word Edit

• You will see this toolbar:

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Practice Session

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• It works just like a word processor

• You can add lines, links, pictures, media sources, tables and special characters

Editing your page

• Type in some information

• Use the bold, underline, etc to see what happens

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

To add a hyperlink

• Type in either a website name –

such as www.ooas.org or www.cnn.com• Highlight the text and click on the WORLD icon

(the first world on the toolbar)

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

To add a hyperlink

• You will see this window

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

If you wish to link within wiki, you would use the wiki link- that is how you can link from page to page within your wiki

Try using the external link you wish to go to once you click on the text

Save Your Page

• Once you have added text to your page make

sure you SAV E your page

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

Working with your Wiki

• The lift side tools allows you to work through your page

If you wish to create a New page just click on

New page. All editing, etc stays the same on each page

Recent changes is a great way to track what is added to your page

Manage your space gives you control over your page.

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

Recent Changes - Great Tool• This tool allows you to track WHO has added data your

wiki

-Let’s pretend that your are using wiki within your class and you invite each student to join - with a nickname of course

- And you assign a question to be answered on the wiki for homework

- This tool allows you to see WHO has posted and when

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

Embedding Slides, Video and Audio

• Embedding Photo Slides

Hands On:

Signup and upload pictures to flickr.com

Use http://slideflickr.com to get the embedded code for the wiki site by entering your flickr.com account name

Paste code into the wiki page

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Embedding Slides, video and audio

• Embedding PowerPoint Slides

Hands On:

Signup and upload slides to www.slideshare.net

Use www.slideshare.net to get the embedded code for the wiki site by entering your slideshare.net account name

Paste code into the wiki page

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Practice Session

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To upload / insert pictures

• Type in word or sentence for identifying document or picture such as list of PRESENTATIONS

• Click on the PICTURE icon

• Upload the document or picture

• Position the cursor at the end of PRESENTATIONS and double click the uploaded document or picture

• The document or picture is then inserted into the wiki page

Some Thoughts

• Wikispaces also has some Tour you might wish to take at https://www.wikispaces.com/ (it has audio)

• Don’t worry if you make mistakes on your WIKI – you can also Edit/Undo or just save

• Check out the help option if you get stuck or drop me an email

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Practice Session

Wiki Development

Questions? Comments?

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Conclusion

• Wiki is an essential tool for information management and sharing among friends, families, colleagues and Institutions

• Wiki is highly useful for Best Practice dissemination

• Wikis are free to use• Wikis are easy to create and use - They do not

require special web development knowledge

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