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August 21, 2006
Deploying a Corporate Wiki
I've been playing with wikis a bit more lately, both at home and at work, and I'm starting to really appreciate the simplicity and power that wikis can provide. They aren't complicated creatures. A wiki gives you the ability to create and edit a collection of web pages, which you can search, link to and categorize; not such a big deal, really. But if you're working with others on a project, and you want to store your collective knowledge and discoveries in one place, it's hard to beat a wiki.
As Leigh Dodds says in his article "Embracing the Wiki Way: Deploying a Corporate Wiki" (Freepint, July 27, 2006), "Creating a wiki environment is as much of an exercise in community building as it is in software installation." Dodds further explains how he used a wiki at Ingenta to create a space where the engineers could capture project requirements and incorporate documentation. He didn't stop there. He found a myriad of other ways to use wikis to enhance communication and collaboration.
Creating community spaces are certainly just as important in law firms. It's not technical data that may be stored, but perhaps instead, knowledge of a certain area of law or new legal trend. It could also related to a particular deal or client. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because it's a wiki, you have to open it up to everyone. There are levels of security available on most wiki products. Just make sure the members of the community the wiki is aimed at are allowed to contribute. There's not much point to a wiki if it doesn't engage the group that it is intended to serve.
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