Wiki Web Collaboration

Citation

Barker, P. (2007), "Wiki Web Collaboration", The Electronic Library, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 256-258. https://doi.org/10.1108/02640470710741421

Wikis have become an important mechanism for the support of non‐linear writing and the creation of collaborative documents. Of course, the most well‐known wiki is probably “theWikipedia”. Indeed, readers may wish to consult this in order to find a definition and explanation of the term “wiki”! This can be found at the following web address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/wiki. Within this journal, I have previously reviewed a very useful introductory text on wikis by Jane Klobas (2006) – see Barker (2006). This current book moves on from introductory issues into more technical matters – thereby focusing on the creation of wikis using two of the most popular production engines – namely, MediaWiki and TWiki. There is an accompanying CD‐ROM provided with the book and an associated Web site (www.wiki‐tools.org). The latter provides a “sandbox” area that readers can use to “try out” some of the ideas described by the authors.

The 22 chapters that make up this book are organised into five sections that deal with the following topic areas: the wiki concept; creating a first wiki (with MediaWiki); using TWiki; use of TWiki as a project kit; and tools with a future.

The first part of the book contains just one chapter. This provides a fairly comprehensive overview of wikis – ranging from their origin and history through to current applications and the advantages, disadvantages and problems encountered when using them. The second part of the book (Chapters 2 to 9) deals with the MediaWiki system. These chapters describe the creation of an appropriate support environment (XAMPP) and the installation and use of MediaWiki in both the Windows and the Linux environments. There are also some useful descriptions of the core functions available in MediaWiki; its mark‐up “language” is also described. Some of the other important topics covered in this section include navigation, namespaces, templates, categories, skins and wiki administration. This section of the book concludes with some useful examples of how MediaWiki can be used to produce some handy knowledge management tools – for example, a literature database and an appointments calendar.

The next section of the book (Part 3 – Chapters 10 to 16) deals with the TWiki system. The authors refer to this software as ‘the flagship of the wiki variants’ (p. 147). The format of this section is similar to the previous one – it explains how to install the software, its functions and how to use it. The special features of this wiki engine are also described. These include: its use of “webs”, its powerful search engine (based on regular expressions) and its “plugin” interface facility. The latter enables the system to be expanded and extended in a variety of different ways in order to meet the requirements of different applications. Other chapters in this section deal with authentication and access control, administration and designing a TWiki site. The fourth section of the book (Chapters 17 through 21) discusses the use of the TWiki software as a toolkit for implementing various projects. The five chapters in this part of the book nicely illustrate and reinforce many of the concepts and techniques that were introduced in the previous section – for example, the use of plugins (such as TWikiDraw, EditTable SlideShow and Spreadsheet) and the utility of a “shared” approach to knowledge management within the context of running a project. The case study used in this section deals with the use of TWiki as a software vehicle for organising and managing a conference event.

Like the first part of the book, the last part also consists of just one chapter. It explores and discusses some of the ongoing and possible future developments and uses of the wiki genre of software – from both a technical and a social perspective. On the technology front, some of the current limitations of this type of tool are outlined; also, descriptions are given of some of the (relatively) new projects of the WikiMedia Foundation (such as Wikinews and Wikidata) – and their implications then briefly discussed. From the social perspective, the authors discuss such issues as ownership, copyright, access, work and the role of wikis as “engines for social change”.

This is an interesting book which I would recommend to anyone who is interested in getting involved in the technical aspects of wiki creation. Although its contents are mainly of a technical nature (and apart from a few typographical errors), the book is very well written – which makes reading it a pleasure rather than a chore. The book comes with an included CD‐ROM that contains copies of the MediaWiki and TWiki systems.