IDS Annual Report 2007-08

 

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Page history last edited by Anonymous 1 yr ago

 Please add any general thoughts, comments or ideas about this wiki on this page

 

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The wiki requires a rather different way of working to one that many are used to. Wikis are usually thought of as being essentially a collaborative tool, but in some ways they require a more individualistic approach. An example would be in editing and making changes to something on the Wiki. A common collaborative approach would be to read someone else's draft, and then discuss any changes with them so that a compromise or consensus is negotiated. The Wiki approach is to just go right ahead and make the change without discussing it with the person first. That can feel like an uncomfortable use of power if you are used to working in a different way. Presumably you could have wiki wars where something is added, deleted, added, deleted endlessly until someone gives up, the deadline is reached or the two people get together for a cup of tea to discuss it. It was hard to resist the temptation to email the author of the page and make suggestions instead of just directly ploughing into the wiki to change things to your own point of view.

 

Given the enormous success of Wikipedia this may not feel like an uncomfortable way of working for many, so it might just be a minority view- but perhaps one that could potentially marginalise the less confident- especially in an academic context where to edit someone else's work is usually seen as the realm of a communications person, or an expert/peer?

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