Currently, wikis are considered highly relevant digital tools. Since their inception in 1995, when Ward Cunningham created a new technology that allowed the organization of information on websites,[1] wikis have evolved the way Internet users share or distribute knowledge. According to the Basque Institute of Statistics,[2] a wiki is defined as a platform where interconnected web pages are created or edited through a browser. This interconnection allows multiple users to create, edit, organize, distribute, and share content collaboratively and easily. The central idea of this type of platform lies in the accessibility they offer to users, as most wikis feature a simple interface that does not require advanced technical skills. All of this promotes the open collaboration and dissemination of knowledge.
Essentially, wikis are collaborative platforms due to their ability to facilitate simultaneous editing among multiple users, who can access the platform and make changes to content. Some characteristics that make wikis collaborative platforms are:
- They allow a revision history that shows all edits made to a page, which is an essential attribute because it reveals which user has made changes to the documented information and the date the changes were made.
- Within a wiki platform, web pages allow a space for generating discussions about the available information. This feedback tool enables the exchange of learning experiences among community users and facilitates communication between platform administrators and users when resolving an identified error. This space is generally used for people to debate how to improve the content on the pages.[3]
- Most wikis use simple markup language, which is the way a web page is coded.[4] This functionality allows anyone to edit content without needing advanced technical knowledge in programming.
- Wikis contain internal links that connect related pages throughout the platform, facilitating navigation and the search for any type of information.
- Most of these open knowledge platforms allow content collaborators to choose the license under which they wish to share the documented information. These licenses can range from public domain licenses to more restrictive ones, as specified in section 2.2.
- Lastly, these websites also have control systems that enable wiki administrators and collaborators to track the edits made by users on the pages, restoring previous versions if necessary.
From the above, when discussing project management, with an emphasis on the learning phase, it is important to establish that a wiki has the capacity to become a collaborative tool for development-promoting organizations because it creates a space where a team can easily collaborate, edit, and continuously contribute to documenting relevant information about a project from a transparency perspective. This is due to the continuous tracking of changes made to the edited pages. Thus, using a wiki as a repository for documentation allows each team member to find the documented information in one place[5] and edit it more easily compared to other software.
Now, when discussing knowledge management, it should be understood that the strategy to be followed for the administration and documentation of information within an organization must consider the ability to adapt and utilize new technologies[6] in various internal processes. This directly contributes to collaborative decision-making and, consequently, to learning in the development projects being executed. In this sense, wikis can also be ideal tools for documenting internal knowledge within an organization because people can create, update, and share manuals, guides, and other resources relevant to informed decision-making. These contributions also foster a culture of learning, best practices, and improved organizational adaptability to emerging changes.
- ↑ "Wiki", Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed September 20, 2023, https://www.britannica.com/topic/wiki
- ↑ "Wiki", Eustat, accessed September 20, 2023, https://www.eustat.eus/documentos/opt_1/tema_185/elem_16633/definicion.html
- ↑ "Help: Talk pages", Appropedia, accessed September 21, 2023, Help:Talk pages
- ↑ "What is Markup Language?", European University, accessed October 25, 2023, https://universidadeuropea.com/blog/que-es-lenguaje-marca/
- ↑ Keith Emery, "Wiki Project Management", Project Management, accessed September 22, 2023, https://www.projectmanagement.com/wikis/233601/wiki-project-management
- ↑ George Pitagorsky, "Managing Project Management Knowledge" (Presentation, PMI Global Congress, Colorado, October 19, 2008).
