The Wiki: An Environment for Scholarly Conversation and Publishing (IT tools for Science)

          @misc{ pirsa_08090056,
            doi = {10.48660/08090056},
            url = {https://pirsa.org/08090056},
            author = {McKiernan, Gerry},
            keywords = {},
            language = {en},
            title = {The Wiki: An Environment for Scholarly Conversation and Publishing (IT tools for Science)},
            publisher = {Perimeter Institute},
            year = {2008},
            month = {sep},
            note = {PIRSA:08090056 see, \url{https://pirsa.org}}
          }
          

Abstract

\'The Medium Is The Message ... The Audience Is The Content\', Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964. A \'wiki is a ... collaborative space ... because of its total freedom, ease of access, and use, [and] simple and uniform navigational conventions ... .\' \'[It] ... is also a way to organize and cross-link knowledge ...\', Ward Cunningham, Father of The Wiki (Leuf and Cunningham, 2001, 16). Most wikis provide the user with a set of navigation or utility tools such as the ability to create and edit a page, view recently changed pages, and rollback to previous page versions. In addition, many wikis include a discussion forum for proposed page changes. Among its many perceived benefits are its potential for facilitating a more creative environment and expanding knowledgebase, and a significant ability to harness the power of diverse point-of-views in creating collaborative works. In this presentation, we will speculate on the Wiki as a digital environment that not only supports current scholarly practices, but more importantly, offers a framework for their enhancement and transformation.