the practical application of blogs and wikis: the isn case study jonathan landau international...
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The Practical Application of Blogs and Wikis:The ISN Case Study
Jonathan Landau
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND SECURITY NETWORK
Managing information, sharing knowledge
Introduction
Why examine blogs and wikis? Why implement them?
IT tools come and goWhat is the significance for the IR community?
Because blogs and wikis are not simply IT tools
They are a manifestation of a broader change with profound ramifications for our work
What kind of changes are we talking about?
“The companies that design their software, their systems, their Web sites ... to encourage participation will be the ones that draw the most users“
“As the tools for individual uploading and collaboration become more diffused ... every big institution or hierarchical structure will feel the effects.“
Thomas L. FriedmanThe World Is Flat
“The companies that design their software, their systems, their Web sites ... to encourage participation will be the ones that draw the most users“
“As the tools for individual uploading and collaboration become more diffused ... every big institution or hierarchical structure will feel the effects.“
Thomas L. FriedmanThe World Is Flat
Participation and Collaboration
Blogs, wikis, and other tools are signs of a broad shift towards:
Individual empowermentMore - and more effective - collaborationIncreased two-way communication and user participation
Online information management is no longer a one-way street, as individuals are increasingly
Authoring their own content (blogs)Collaborating on that content (wikis)Distrubuting content on their own
Information gathering and dissemination not anymore top-down; it’s bottom-up and “globally side-to-side”
(Friedman)
Blogs, Wikis and the IR community
This is impacting the work we do...
Inside organizationsRelations with partners and users
... our role as information providers...
Notion of experts handing down information challengedWikipedia demonstrates the possibilities (and limitations?) of collective expertise
...and the IR community as a whole
Political blogs challenging traditional journalistic outletsWikis in classrooms and universities for collective learningAcademics and politicians jumping on blogging bandwagonEffects of 21st Century communication on int’l relations
Blogs and Wikis
Blogging software
Simple-to-use platform for any individual to publish his/her thoughts, ideas, opinions, recipes, jokes, etc
Wiki websites
Easily edit (add, remove, change) any content on Wiki websites, often without need for registrationEffective tools for collaborative authoring
Blogging at the ISN
Internal blog (in development)
Communication between ISN teams and team members (three buildings with staff working in various fields)Announcements of all kind - replacing tiresome CCs and email forwardsFeedback for new services; internal development
External blog
http://blog.isn.ch
Why an ISN Blog?
Provide an additional tool to promote the ISN, its mission, and its areas of expertise
Communicate our activities; comment on key debates; show who’s behind the ISN and the many things they know
Improve two-way communication with ISN users & partners
Survey users on new and upcoming servicesDiscuss key issues as well as projects with partners
Strengthen the ‘N’ in ISN
The ISN as a network: promote partners, endorse initiatives
Examine and discuss research areas of interest to the ISN
The impact of IT on IR, knowledge sharing & management, network building, etc
ISN Blog: Challenges
Initial response of some ISN staff cautious to negative
Questioned value of blogging for ISN; no need/demand for ISN BlogManagement concern about informal nature of blogs, lack of editorial control
Most posts by same group of people
Confusion over what should/can/cannot be postedInhibition to post - some people just too shy!People can’t and shouldn’t be forced to post
Few comments so far
ISN Blog: Achievements
Success in convincing many staff members of blog idea
Incorporated them in development of ISN BlogMiddle management understands potential of ISN Blog
Number of visitors steadily growing
Many subscribe via RSSMany referred by other blogs we have interlinked with
Fears of inappropriate posting have not materialized
On the contrary: Many interesting posts on various subjects
Only in existence for two months!
More and more staff members asking for blog loginBlogs take time to find their user base
WikISN: Internal
Editorial Board Wiki
Minutes, contact details, decisions taken (for future reference)Suggestions for dossiers, case studies and new partnersAnyone can make, add to others’ suggestions
Intranet replacement
Resource sharing (possibly in conjunction with internal blog)
Collaborative editing
Preparation of documentsE.g. vision paper, meeting minutes
Customer management tool
Free, easy to edit, accessible to anyone from any team
WikISN: External
Dossiers
Collections of regional and topical information drawn from ISN’s various online services Wikis allow for simple yet powerful interaction with users and expertsEasy to update whenever necessary (news, new publications and links, etc)Changes easily traceable and reversibleOrganic rather than static texts
IR Portal (Wikipedia)
Develop and expand an IR portal on WikipediaMirror on ISN website to position the ISN as the primary source for IR information
Image 2: Wiki Dossier
WikISN: Issues
Scepticism towards wiki idea
Many unfamiliar with this kind of decentralized collaboration - who is in charge?Examples of vandalized articles on WikipediaEspecially in academia, aversion towards making content (e.g. dossiers) freely editable
Wiki software includes features to deal with problems
Can allow for strong permission schemesChanges can always be reversed, traced to author; indeed, wikis enable ultimate accountability
Must allow time for model of shared control to be adopted
Conclusion
Participation, collaboration, individual uploading - key concepts that are transforming our area of work
This is true both within our organizations as well as for what we offer our users
We must closely follow and adapt to these developments
