What, Me Wiki?

Some people, old people that is, will recognize the above image as Alfred E. Newman. His picture was always on the cover of Mad Magazine, which you smuggled to school when you were in the 4th grade. It was a very subversive thing. It would definitely be confiscated if seen by a teacher, and could even cause you to be kicked out of class. Alfred E. Newman's motto was: "What, me worry?

Keeping in mind the title of this article, can you guess where I got the above image? Yup...Wikipedia. If you're like most people, you've heard of Wikipedia but you don't know that much about it and wonder "Just what is this weird wiki-thing anyway?" The word comes from the Hawaiian language and means quickly, which is surprising in itself because Hawaiians hardly ever do anything quickly. Why would they need a word for it?

A wiki is a web site that anyone can read and/or contribute to. Depending on your permissions, it allows you to add, delete, or reorganize content, all without benefit of HTML or web editing skills. Its strength lies in its use as a collaborative tool.

The following are some reasons you might want to participate in a wiki:

• We need to use new and better ways to create, share, store, and retrieve knowledge, especially during the Magnet process, upon which this hospital has embarked.
• Wikis work well with any shared governance model because they make collaborating to create content really easy and sometimes even fun.
• Wikis can be private, that is, open only to members of the organization. In addition, within any given wiki, some pages can be open to all and some can be private depending on the nature of the content.
• Wikis offer content as well as discussion pages.
• Wikis break down silos, a cliche meaning organizational divisions.
• Wikis distribute the editing workload and take the pressure off the web master who probably never wanted the job in the first place.

Please leave a comment if you'd like additional information on the advantages of wikis over email or organizational intranets. This post is already way too long but hey, why should I worry?