Wikis, Blogs and RSS For
Operational Communications
Darlene FichterUniversity of [email protected]
OLA Super ConferenceFebruary 3, 2006
Overview
Internal collaboration & communicationWikis and weblogs and RSS
– How do they work– What are some of the benefits– What to use when
QuestionsWhat is your primary role at your organization?
Reference/Instructional Librarian Library ITS (web developer, systems librarian) Library manager Other
Are you interested in using weblogs/wikis and RSS for:Business processesPersonal web publishingCommunity building IntranetDon’t know
Do you blog, read weblogs or contribute to a wiki?
Does your organization use blogs, wikis or RSS?
Poll: Committees and TeamsHow many groups do you belong to?
None one to two three to five More than 5How do you share information?
– Email– Mailing list– Shared file server– BBS– IM
What are some of the limitations?
What if …
Reduce email overloadHave an archive of the work done to dateBuild a knowledge base auto-magicallyHave an easy way to write reports,
documents, policies, and procedures together
Technologies Enabling Online Collaboration
Dozens:– Discussion forums– Email– Instant messaging– Newsgroups– Webcasts– Web conferencing
– Weblogs– Team rooms– Text messaging/wireless– RSS– Wiki– Expertise location– FOAF
What is a Weblog?
Blog/ Weblog is web site with pages:Containing brief entries arranged
chronologicallyCan be a diary, a ‘What’s New’ page or
comments / links to other web sites“To me, the blog concept is about three things: Frequency, Brevity, and Personality.”
Evan Williams (creator of Blogger)
Weblogs Meet Two Primary Needs
Informing
Interacting
Questions and comments
Publishing and syndicating
Excellent at one-to-many communication
Can allow participation and commentsBreak down the silosCreate “connected content”
Weblogs Can Create New Relationships
Why are Weblogs Adopted So Quickly
Simple way for employees to share ideas
FlexibleA good match between the
“need” and the “knowledge worker”
Primary Uses of Internal Weblogs
Knowledge-sharing (63%)Internal communications (44%)Project management (30%)Personal knowledge management (23%)Event logging (23%)Team management (20%)
Personal knowledge management (23%)
Blogging in the Enterprise: Executive Summary from the Guidewire
Group Market Cycle Survey - October 2005
Key Benefits
Improved internal communications (77%)Replacement of other existing work processes
(41%)Replacement of email (39%)
Blogging in the Enterprise: Executive Summary from the Guidewire
Group Market Cycle Survey - October 2005
Internal communications
Admin News, Personnel News, Staff news, etc
blogwithoutalibrary - http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/?page_id=94#internal
What is RSS?
“When people ask me what RSS is, I say it's automated web surfing. We took something lots of people do, visiting sites looking for new stuff, and automated it. It's a very predictable thing, that's what computers do -- automate repetitive things.” Dave Winer
Really Simple Syndication Blog http://www.reallysimplesyndication.com/2005/09/11#a951
Automated Web Surfing
One Click to Rule Them All
Yahoo Search
New IT Books
BBC Data Ref Blog Ref Desk Blog
NYT
IT Status LoansTrials Staff Events
RSS News Readers / Aggregators
http://www.coldal.org/clips/3rings.mp3
What if …you don’t want an RSS reader
Many tools that support RSS to email notification– Rmail http://www.r-mail.org/– Bloglet - http://www.bloglet.com/– Bot a Blog - http://www.botablog.com/– Squeet - http://squeet.com/
What if … you don’t want email or RSS
Personal “RSS” newspaper– Superglu
Build a web page with feeds in columns
http://dev.morainevalley.edu/lrc/blogs.htm
Data Blog
Build a knowledge base collaboratively– Frequently asked questions– Best practices– Login information for external services
Current updates– Track status and issues with data files
Movable Type Software Features
Multiple authorsMultiple blogsCreate categoriesSimple to use (very little training)Built-in search engineArchives by month
User Acceptance and Adoption
Everyone has postedThree people are the most active and post oftenIs used as a “reference” and not read daily by most
staffEmail notifications are used for “alerts” on any
urgent posts
Build off email adoption.
Weblog Exercise
Brainstorm a few ways weblogs might be used in your organization?
Identify how weblogs would be better than the existing approach.
Identify obstacles / resistance to using weblogs inside the firewall.
Weblog Roadmap*: Project Approach
Now Identify a need and find a supporter (buy-in) Start with a simple system Pilot it Make sure users understand the basics Create employee blogging guidelines
especially if the blogs are public
Expanded and Adapted from John Robb, Userland Software
Weblog Roadmap
Near Term Get ‘em publishing about what they’re working on
(projects, database trials, marketing plans) Help them to start "subscribing" to each other and
to news sources Begin to build / encourage "team blogs" around
key topics / areas
What is a “Wiki”?
Web application invented by Ward Cunningham in 1994 that allows anyone to add content and anyone to edit it. “It’s a tool for collaboration, really, we don’t know
quite what it is but it’s a fun way of communicating asynchronously across the network”.
Wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian
Wiki’s Characteristics
Intended to be simple so you can focus on the writing, not the mechanics and syntax
No HTML know-how required
Wikis: Collections of Pages
Main Page Contact Us Electronic Virtual
edit edit editedit
Wiki pages look like web pagesAnyone with a web browser can read a wiki site
Illustrations adapted from Guillaume du Gardier. What is a wiki? June 2, 2005
Click, Write and Save
edit editsave
...KMWorld 2005
…KMWorld 2005
Anyone with a web browser can edit a wiki siteAnyone can undo any change at any time
Make a new page by typing the name in CamelCase, aka WikiName
Creating New Pages
Title
… NewName …
edit edit
NewName
Click on any WikiName to see pages that link to it
Wiki Design PrinciplesOpenness and trust
– if a page is incomplete or inaccurate anyone can edit it Incremental
– pages can cite other pages, even those not yet writtenObservable
– you can see the changes being madeOrganic
– site structure is up to everyone, and it will evolve and changeMore principles…
Wiki Design Principleshttp://www.c2.com/cgi/wiki?WikiDesignPrinciples
Wiki Gardeners
Person who goes around tidying up the wiki, pruning, editing, organizing, and cleaning up
Usually liked and respected
On a library wiki, you might want to assign this role.
External Library Wiki: Subject Guides
http://www.library.ohiou.edu/subjects/bizwiki/index.php/Main_Page
Tour: Library Wikis
Internal uses– Staff Intranet– Projects– Event planning– IT documentation– Helpdesk – reference / library ITS
Internal Wikis in Libraries
Collaborative writing (projects, teams developing procedures, policies, plans)
Meeting notes and reportsShared knowledge repository
Wiki (Jotspot) Anatomy: FeaturesAttach a File
Import Word
Emails
Send an Email
Make a comment
Inviteusers
Changesvia RSS
Search
Wiki Reactions
Well, I wasn't sure about that wiki (sounded like something from Star Wars), but I decided to try it out. It is fabulous! Every conference should have one.
Gail Curry, UNBC
Conference / Wiki Support
Participants signed up for wifi, dine-arounds, connected with each other before the event
Shared notes during the presentation and uploaded slides
Evaluation of the workshop
Wiki Roadmap*
Install wiki software on web server Plan rollout and content Build the initial structurePopulate initial content with early adopters Initial rollout with smaller group Train and coach users Do not underestimate inertia and time
*Peter Theony, Wiki Based Collaborationhttp://twiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Codev/TWikiPresentation17Feb2005
Build the initial structure
Practical TipsHave a champion
– New way of “thinking”, paradigm shift from Intranet / webmaster or CMS (content management system)
Choose the right features:– Attach files– Access control– Version control– Ease of use: make sure “add a page” is self evident– Match look and feel– Alert and post via email to wiki
Tools to Help You Choose
Wiki Matrix– http://www.wikimatrix.org/
Emma Tonkin’s charts in – Making the Case for a Wiki. Ariadne, January
2005http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue42/tonkin/
Weblogs and Wikis Face Off
Photo Credit: Pascal Vuylsteker http://www.flickr.com/photos/pvk/
CC Attribution 2.5
Wikis Weblogs Group voice
Unstructured, organic
Anyone edits
Fluid medium: change any time
Better management: versions, rollback and change log, syndicate changes
Less familiar
Individual voice
Default is by date, reverse chronological
Anyone comments
Post medium like email (comment, reply, comment, …)
Edits aren’t tracked usually, new items are syndicated
More familiar
Wiki Exercise
Look back at your ideas for weblogs – would some work better as wikis? Which ones?
Identify 2 or 3 areas where a wiki web would help with collaboration and communication.
Identify the “biggest obstacles” and how you might overcome them.
Wiki Summary
Wikis help support collaborationTools are simple, quick and inexpensiveThey belong in our collaboration toolboxOur workplaces are diverse
– Diverse users– Diverse needs– Diverse software choices
Wiki Brainstorm
Think about collaborative/team activities in your organization and library.
Identify 2 or 3 areas where a wiki web would help with collaboration.
Identify the “biggest obstacles” and how you might overcome them.
More Resources
Ten Guidelines for Developing Your Internal Blog – Michael Stephens– http://www.tametheweb.com/ttwblog/archives/000422.html
List of Blogs for Internal Communications – Amanda Etches-Johnson– http://www.blogwithoutalibrary.net/?page_id=94#internal
Wiki Resources– http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/wiki/
Flexibility of the blog format– Long and short items– Categorize content– Granular (comment at the post level)– Handle unstructured nature of CI content– Post to 2 different blogs by applying 2 labels– Restrict some blogs to particular users
Why Weblog/Wiki and Not a CMS?
Weblog Roadmap
Long Term Build an overall community system for the weblogs
(aggregate feeds, new posts, search). Write up the results and start to sell the concept. Next, begin to experiment with ways to slice and
dice the knowledge that is being generated. advanced search engines and directories aggregate RSS streams alerts social software analysis
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